Birthday Boy

"Mmmmmm, my mom can bake!"
The Birthday Boy and his cake face!

My baby is 1. How sad is that? He woke up early this morning and I took him downstairs for breakfast with a quick stop at the couch to check the news and he fell asleep in my arms. That's a rarity for Jace, he usually fights sleeping unless he's got his blankey, his binky and his bed. I just held my sweet boy for a good 1/2 hour until big sister woke him. We had cake (which he called numma num) and presents (which he called DA cause he got a toy dog and noah and the ark set). Here are a few things about Jace to mark the occasion. Really probably boring, it's actually mostly for me.

He likes to kick off one sock and one shoe every time he sits in his high chair.

He will eat anything as long as it is covered in shredded cheese.

He loves to smile and has his daddy's huge grin.

He prefers walking.

He loves me to cuddle him and as soon as I flip him into the cradle hold his thumb goes right in his mouth. Actually he is quick enough to stick it in on the way down.

He loves dog and he barks.

He says, "doe tushhh" whenever mike and the remote are in the same vicinity.

If you lay down on the floor and loudly say "Ohh I am tired, Goodnight!" he will come and lay by

you and suck his thumb.

He adores Austin, plays doll house with Avery, and laughs with (at) Quinton.

His favorite place to be is tucked in Mike's arm when he is watering the lawn.

He loves to be outside.

Midnight

Just kidding. These pictures of our Moose visitor were actually taken at about 11:30, but you get the idea. Because of earth's rotation the summer months up here are pretty much never dark. Sunset was 11:41 on june 21st, and now it starts getting darker sooner, sunset tonight is somewhere around 11:29 or so. To answer some questions, Yes, it is hard making my kids go to bed, and making them actually fall asleep. It looks like 4 o'clock in the afternoon when we send them up to bed at around 9 ish. Also don't even think about sleeping in, at 7 when I usually get up the sun is almost at its zenith. But with months of darkness coming on, I am actually really really enjoying it!

We are now "Smart"

Mike and I went on a date Friday night to see the new Steve Carell movie "Get Smart" It was hilarious. I don't remember laughing so hard in a theater in awhile, Mike said I was the only one laughing in the theater on some parts. I do remember almost choking a couple times. The best part is it is pretty clean. I remember only one swear word, and just a titch of innuendo. Mike and I watch "The Office" religiously so that was part of the appeal to us I think. I give it 4 thumbs up!

Summer Solstice

Summer solstice (june 21st) is sort of a big deal up here, as the sun doesn't set until 11:42 p.m. and so people are up late fishing, hiking, biking, yada yada yada. We went on a free hike sponsored by the Eagle River Nature Reserve. We hiked to the river, were the guides built a fire and we all cut willows and roasted marshmallows and ate smores. Of all the things I've seen up here, some of the most beautiful views were of this glaciated valley that the eagle river runs through. It started out cloudy, but the sun burned through the clouds just for us and we had a glorious hike and even met some new friends! Here are some pics of the day.

There are cottonwoods in Alaska. Giant ones. This one is called the Grandfather Tree. The kids could have stayed there all day.
Mr. Jace is walking!! Well not in this shot, but he is toddling around these days.

Jace mooching smores from Austin, the gourmet smore maker.

Avery and Daddy. One of Avery's pony tail holders snapped leaving her a little lopsided.

Quinton's new favorite thing is to whittle sticks he found a cozy spot to carve away.

Deep Thoughts, I'm bringin back Jack Handy.

You know how it is kinda cute and funny the first time you catch your little boy peeing outside?

It is not so funny when you catch your little girl doing it.

Burning Question of the Week #5

So yesterday was totally boring and as usually happens when I am bored, I also find lots of things to make me mad. You know how it goes, Dad is home, kids are bugging each other, oh... and I had literally 7 loads of laundry on my bed waiting to be folded..........it was rainy and like 50 degrees. BLAHHH! Anyway I won't bore YOU with the details of my onery attitude, let's just say that within a 1/2 hour I was all better. That's because I have a great solution for my grouchy problem, which leads me to the burning ?

#5. What do you do to escape the disgruntled anger that builds up in your life?

I ran. I got my running shoes on at 9:30, taking full advantage of that fabulous midnight sun and just ran and took out my anger on the pavement. Sing it with me.... "Ain't no buddy gonna break my stride, no buddy gonna slow me down.... sorry. Anyway when my 30 minutes were up (that's all I can manage these days) I came home with a smile. I think sometimes Mike wonders what happens to me in that 1/2 hour. Maybe aliens ate his mean wife, and spit out the nice one, or maybe I got bit by the happy misquitos, whatever it is I'm sure he appreciates it as much as I do.

A bawling sandwich

Diary of a Great Vacation.... Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa!

At our house today, we are mourning the leaving of Grandma and Grandpa. We had'nt seen them for almost a year, so when they came we cried and after a wonderful week of adventure, laughing, and overeating, we cried again when they left. Thus I have dubbed the whole affair the "bawling sandwich." Since the best part of the sandwhich is the stuff in the middle, I will focus on the "meat and cheese" of the vacation. Above is a picture of all us ON the Matunuska Glacier. That's right folks, we hiked on a glacier, and it was sooooo cool! Here are more photos of the awesomeness.

The Matunuska Glacier

Austin and Avery playing in the glacial sand

Jace has discovered "peek a boo" whenever mike says his name he thinks it's time for a game, so he was a little confused when mike just wanted to take his picture. He had a great time crawling around in the dirt and eating rocks.

After she buried her hand Avery made a "dirt angel" and said, "Hey look at my sister!"

Mike and Quinton standing on the morraine. Morraine is the debris field the glacier pushes in front of it. My dad took this picture, I love it.

High adventures on the frozen seas!

That's right folks, I'm still sportin' the Snow college gear.

Grandpa and the boys, you can see Quinton's brand new toothless grin.

There are patches of moss growing on the glacier. Grandpa calls them "glacier turds" much to the little boys delight, and since most things end with turd, so will we!

bye bye for now, I promise I will be back much sooner next post. I'm bringing back the burnin' question of the week!