Wisconsin 2013 Fun - Week 3

Ah, yes... fresh blueberries! YUMMY! I've been watching the berry patches for weeks waiting for the berries to rippen - and oh what a treat! The kids love them too!

 

 

Well, without any "official" items to celebrate this past week, it was as quiet as it can be with a 1 year old and 3 year old! We are filling our days with all kinds of fun activities.



 

Lukkas is quite the flower man! He loves to go around and smell Grandma's flowers. Grandpa let Lukkas pick a flower one afternoon - so now he thinks he can pick all the pretty flowers!

 

 

We've had tractor rides and

 

 

boat rides.

 

 

(Hey - a little help- I can't see where I'm going!)

 

Big McKenzie Lake boat ride

Grandma stayed with the kids while they napped and Leif and I went fishing with Grandpa - we caught 25 fish (mostly blue gills) and had a yummy dinner the next night.  Leinna enjoyed the boat ride as long as Lukkas didn't try to drive.  Lukkas- he wasn't a fan of the boat.  So strange, because he loves the tractor rides and 4-wheeler.  Maybe he just doesn't like the life jacket?!

 





He was certainly much happier on shore crawling around in the water!

 



It's been pretty warm- so we made some play dough to entertain us while we cooled off inside for a bit.

We finally took the paddle boat out for a ride.  Letting the kids do the steering meant we didn't go far and did lots of circles by the shore.  It was still fun!

We've been helping Grandpa with the chores - 

 Here Viking (left) and Jed (right) are nudging heads to see who will get the treat from Leinna. Leinna can just about tell you the name of each cow. Yes, Grandpa has named the cows! I sure am enjoying the cows too!
 

 The kids love watching the cows and I think if Lukkas could figure out a way to get into the pen with them, he would be so delighted!

 

Grandpa making whistling sounds with a blade of grass had Lukkas laughing for awhile!
Just love the simple ways of enjoying the summer!

 

As we head into our last week in Wisconsin, we hope to go fishing again, play another round of golf and of course go swimming each day. We sure have enjoyed the warm, sunny weather and time spent with our family.   We head back to Alaska on Sunday, July 21st - praying for a better flight with Lukkas - we'll see.  We'll spend 3 or 4 days with Leif's parents in Fairbanks and then head home.  It's going to be hard to say good bye, but as we are starting to get emails about new teacher paperwork and start of the new school year, its time for us to make our way home and get settled into our new place and establish our routines! I'm so thankful for this time we were able to spend in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin 2013 week 2 fun and Happy 3rd Birthday!

We kicked off our week with more fun at Loon Lake. Grandma gave Leinna her first fishing lesson...

 

and she caught her first fish! She thought it was great and loved touching the fish. Although after our fishing lesson, she was a bit nervous about swimming in the lake for fear the fish were going to get her.  It lasted about 5 minutes and then she was back to jumping into the water.

 

Momma and Papa were able to have a golf/lunch date while Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids for us. Grandpa brought out the Tonka trucks that use to be Uncle Allan's. No cheap plastic on these toys- all metal and still tons of fun!  Grandpa taught Lukkas how to build a road.

 

 

Next on the agenda (didn't I say last week this week was suppose to be calmer?) we made a trip to Shell Lake. It's about 16 miles from Grandma's house and it's a large lake with a very nice sandy beach. Both kids love to play in the sand and when Leinna saw the sand she said, "Momma, look at the big sand pile!" 

 

 

It was a perfect morning full of sunshine and fun!

 

Happy 4th of July!

 

Although it wasn't quiet dark enough for sparklers - the kids got the idea.

 

We did keep Leinna up and Grandma and Momma took her to see the big fireworks over the lake.

 

So worth letting her stay up a little later than normal!  She loved the sparkles in the sky.

 

Look whose turning 3!



 

 

She was so excited that it was finally her birthday!  It was great to be able to celebrate with my extended family who live here and others who were in the area for 4th of July weekend!

 

 

3 fruit butterflies on a jello-cake kicked off the party!

 

 

 

Every birthday princess should have a crown!  Papa was not happy- but I thought it was pretty cute. The  crown was a gift from Leinna's cousin - how could we refuse :o)

 

 

Many of our family members understand that we are flying home, so they gave a gift of money so that we could go shopping for some special items when we get back to Alaska.  Leinna would open the card and say, "More money!" Of course the teacher in me made her identify what number was on the bill and then count it out!

 

Whew - you'd think we'd all sleep for a week after all the excitement this week.  However, we had more in store!

 

Usually, we'd go swimming in the lake in the morning, eat lunch, take naps and then play in sand or go 4 wheeler rides in the afternoon.  Well, it was so stinking humid and hot that after our naps, we had a lesson in sprinklers. Lukkas wasn't so excited about it, but Leinna thought it was great! 

 

 

Lukkas is turning into quiet the gardener!  He loves walking around the house and smelling all of Grandma's flowers.

 

Okay- I do think this week is going to be quieter.  The only thing officially scheduled is Momma is going to enjoy her birthday gift and get her hair cut and colored!  

 

For my Alaska family and friends- I'm trying hard to send some warm sunshine your way! 

 

 May you all have a wonderful week and whomever you call family - create a special memory this week.

Wisconsin 2013 Fun - Week 1

What a fun week we had with Uncle Allan and Cousin Oliver and James.  Grandma and Grandpa's house was busy, busy, busy - but so many fun memories were made.

 

One of our many activities was taking the kids to the Wilderness Walk in Hayward. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time checking out all the animals.  I'm relying on Grandma's pictures because her computer isn't letting me download pictures from my camera. 

 

 

All throughout the walk there are coin food despensers to feed the animals.

 

 

Feeding the camel was probably the favorite spot!

 

 

After a fun day in Hayward, we spent all but one day swimming in Loon Lake!

 

Both of the kids love the water! Mister needs to learn that just because he can touch the bottom of the lake by the shore, does not mean he can touch where the bigger kids are playing :o)

 

Leinna- pictures says it all! No fear and let's do it again and again!

 

The one day we didn't go swimming due to on and off again showers during the day- we found ourselves having a blast playing in the "mud" puddle - more like sand puddle! Oh what a mess but oh so much fun!

 

We ended our fun filled week with Lukkas' baptism. Lukkas' godmother Shannon couldn't make the trip from Alaska, so we had her participate via Facetime during the service. With a 3 hour time difference- bless her heart she was ready to go at 6:30am Alaska time.  The service went great and the kids did exceptionally well.  We had a fun picnic at the farm with all our family who could make it.  It was a great afternoon to see everyone.

 

This week will be a little quieter since Uncle Allan and the boys had to head back to South Dakota.  We are looking forward to some golfing, a trip to Shell Lake that has a really nice beach, seeing real fireworks on the 4th of July and celebrating Leinna's 3rd birthday.  Did I say this week was going to be quieter?  Hmmm.... Loving that we are able to spend all this time in Wisconsin!



Time for some relaxation!

My apologies to my fellow blog followers- it's been a busy couple of weeks!

On Saturday, June 15th we left Cordova.  We weren't able to get into our rental place in Eagle River until Tuesday night, so we spent some time with our friend Ruth.  This was "normal" for the kiddos since we usually stay with Ruth when we were in town. 

Tuesday night we ended up highering a couple of guys from the moving company pictured. Highly recommend them and it was money well spent.  We were able to get the UHaul unloaded and all the major furniture in the correct rooms in 2 hours!!

 

 

 We didn't get to spend much time at our new house. Tuesday night I went back after putting kids to bed at Ruth's house and stayed up late getting the kitchen all unpacked.  That's just a job that you really have to not be interrupted.  Then on Wednesday we spent the full day at the house organizing and getting all the rooms set up the way we wanted.  I'm sorry I don't have more specific pictures- but I will post some when we get back to Alaska.

 

 

Thursday we headed to Fairbanks. It was beautiful drive and Denali was soaring into the sky! It was such a beautiful sight- I don't think this phone picture does it justice.  We spent Thursday night in Fairbanks and then Friday night at 11:45pm we loaded the family up and headed to the airport for our month long trip to Wisconsin to see my family.   I thought that a 1:05am departure to Seattle would mean the kids would fall right back to sleep - WRONG! Leinna is a great traveler - Lukkas - well, let's just be thankful that he's still here :o)  He DOES NOT like to fly and he made sure that everyone on the airplane knew it!  So, it was a very long flight to Seattle and we arrived at 6 am.  We had a long lay over until our flight to Minneapolis - also by design.  I planned it so the kids would eat breakfast, we could walk around and play, eat lunch and walk around and play some more to be worn out for the next flight.

Leinna loved the "little train" between the different concourses at the airport.

 

 

 

We did good with the eating, playing and walking around (pictures above from the playroom at the Seattle airport).  We boarded our flight with high hopes of both kids taking a nap.  Leinna understood and slept the entire flight to Minneapolis.  Lukkas- well, we at least got an hour of sleep and then the rest of the flight - 2+ hours worth- was him screaming his lungs out.  Poor kid was hoarse by the time we landed.  I tried everything I could think of to help him - but he just doesn't like to fly!  I don't believe in "drugging" kids with a little Benadryl before traveling - but I may just have to for everyone sanity when we fly back to Alaska at the end of July. 

 

 In the meantime - we are all happy to be settling into a routine in Wisconsin.  My brother and nephews are here this week too! So fun to have everyone all together.  We've been swimming in the lake, helping Grandpa feed the cows, to the park and 4-wheeler rides. One of the favorites is riding around in the wagon :o)

 

 

I will be posting more pictures of our fun adventures. Thank you for checking in and I'll do my best to get back to my weekly updates!  Until next time - smile at a stranger- it may just make their day :o)



Good Bye Cordova

Well, I figured I'd better get a least one more update before the internet is turned off and we head off on our new adventures.  The Uhaul arrived Tuesday afternoon with my in-laws. Thankful they are able to come help us out.  The kiddos are still going to day care this week - we thought it would be best for them to have some sense of "normal" this week.   So, we've been busy during the day and then trying to keep the evening as "normal" as we can for the kids.

We've had AMAZING weather which is both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because we can load things out onto the deck to see how to fit things in the truck.  A curse because we just want to go out the road and play in the sunshine.  We did take a break last week from packing and took the kids to probably their last outing to the park. 

We had a great time playing on all the fun jungle gyms.  I'm looking forward to seeing what community activities we'll have in our new place.   Speaking of new place- what a crazy week we had.  We have a purchase agreement for the sale of our house!  We are VERY EXCITED but also remaining cautious - it will feel official when we sign the papers at the end of August.  The new buyers are okay with the renters we have lined up for the house, and the renters knew upfront that if the house sold, they would have 2 months to move out.  I can't even express how much of a blessing this whole situation is.  Another blessing this past week - we thought we had the perfect rental place lined up.  When we received the lease - my gut sank and I was extremely uneasy and felt like something was up.  God is good and with Leif's support we followed the "gut instinct" and it turned out that the rental person was a scam artist.  We were literally at the bank trying to decide whether to send the deposit the person was requesting.  Whew... So then, we shifted gears to finding a new place to rent and another blessing was presented.  We found a place through the help of the potential new day care provider in Eagle River and the place is available for us to move in on the 19th.  This puts our timelines a little tight as we leave for Wisconsin on the 22nd - but none the less- so very thankful to find a rental that's affordable, has the space we need, garage, fence yard, allows pets and we can move in now before we go on our trip.

Whew... I tell ya - it's been a CRAZY week and a half.  In the words of Leinna, "Two more sleeps and we'll be on the big boat to Anchorage!" 

Not sure when my next opportunity will be to blog, so

Good bye for now!

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day ~ May 2013

We decided to take a break from the business of packing and went out the road to join our friends for a BBQ lunch and fun while we remember and are thankful for all the men and women who fought and continue to fight for freedom.

We couldn't have had better weather, sunshine was shinning and a slight breeze to keep the bugs away.  We took the 4-wheeler about 1/4 of mile in to our pick-nick spot.

Leinna thought she could take her brother for a ride by themselves!

I just love how laid back Lukkas looks :o)

It was a fun afternoon of learning to skip rocks into the river and hanging out with some great friends.  It was a well needed break from wrapping up the end of the school year and now focusing on packing up the house.