Hang on to your hats, this is a big one.

We have had an adventurous week.

Last Sunday a congregation member took us on a great hike in Kincaid. We were down on the beach and up in the hills and it was all beautiful. Oskar likes to sing on hikes apparently. When we stopped walking he would stop singing, but as soon as we started moving again he was all about sharing his opinions. It was a wonderful sound.

Oskar had his six month check up on Monday. He was 19.5 pounds and 27.25 inches long. We should be able to get a couple more months out of our car seat. Yay! He was weirdly crabby toward the end of his appointment and was already crying when he got his shots. He handled them like a pro though and didn't get a fever at all this time. The retired ladies at church threw Oskar a book shower on Monday too. It was very fun and we couldn't believe that out of all the books he got he only got two multiples. Lots and lots of good stuff though and they even offered to ship them home for us, which was very generous.

Dan's mom flew in late Wednesday night and the next day we drove down to Seward. I was irritated at first because it hadn't rained in weeks and it rained most of the drive down there, but when we got there it cleared up and we had some beautiful days down there. We had a relaxing first evening there and settled in to our bare bones cabin. We pretty much stayed at a campground, but they happened to have a couple very simple cabins. We had to bring our own linens, which wasn't a big deal at all but it was pretty difficult to fit three adults, a baby and all the things we needed into our tiny Saturn. The first night we went to the Seward Brewing Company for dinner, which is where we went last August and I got to eat that delicious beer cheese soup again. The night in the cabin was pretty brisk, but Dan was able to build us a roaring fire in our wood stove to keep us a little warmer. The only real downside to the cabin is that we had a squirrel friend stashing supplies in the roof and there must have been some sort of scuffle because when we got back to the cabin one day there were a lot of pine cones around the stove that fell down from above. 

We had a little trouble finding our cabin because we figured there would be a sign indicating this cabin as "Crow's Nest." Clearly we just weren't looking hard enough. 

It is important to know that our resort had a goat. It was raised as a pet, but two employees bought it with the intent to eat it. The owner of the resort didn't want this news to get back to the original owner so he bought it and now it wanders around being awesome. Since it was basically a campground there was a central bathroom facility and I walked up the steps and pretty much ran into a goat. Very unexpected and it provided a nice chuckle for me. But yea, he seems to pretty much lives on the deck of the bathroom facility but can also be found playing with the resort dogs, standing on picnic tables and eating leaves off of trees.

Dan and I got up bright and early the next day to go on a guided kayaking trip in Resurrection Bay to Bridal Veil Falls in Kenai Fjords National Park. It was calm, clear, and beautiful, so not very much like what they are used to. The other people signed up for the trip didn't show up so it was just Dan, me and our guide, Ben. It was a lot of fun. Note to all of you out there, glacial water falls are extremely cold. We kayaked for a ways, then got out and took a short walk to the waterfall. It was freezing back there, and it wasn't an overly warm day to begin with. It was definitely worth the temporary discomfort.

We went to Exit Glacier in the afternoon and enjoyed a healthy hike and some stunning scenery. It was also a chance to warm up a bit. To me it seemed to be about twenty degrees warmer up there than on the shore. I was still chilled from the kayaking so this was absolutely wonderful. After a morning of pretty much exclusive arm exercising, it was nice to get our legs moving as well. 

In the afternoon we went to the Alaska Sealife Center and were educated about all sorts of things. It was a pretty cool facility for any city, but especially surprising to find it in such a small town. It was very cool. I recommend it.

Barb and Dan wanted some fish for dinner so we went to Chinook’s on the bay. Beautiful view, delicious food. I had a southwest Caesar salad, steak , peas,  potatoes and lemon cheesecake made from goat’s milk. I also had a drink called a Blackberry Shrub. Everything was great.

The night was chilly again. Another roaring fire helped.

Saturday we packed up and left in a fog. Literally, not figuratively. We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the way back and saw some animals. Some of the animal they have there were orphaned, injured and other things that made them unable to exist in the wild anymore, but they were also in the process of reintroducing an entire herd of bison back in to the wild. It was a pretty neat facility and offered another opportunity to warm up after a brisk morning.

We rushed back into town to try to get some stuff done before meeting our friends for dinner at the Jewel Lake Tea Garden. It may sound sophisticated, but let me explain. Jewel Lake is the name of the lake-pond close by the restaurant and it is located on Jewel Lake Road. Tea garden, loosely translated means pizza and Chinese food. You read it right folks. And you know what? It was fantastic. Also, we had two babies with us and it was a very baby friendly environment.

I’m exhausted and I have more whirlwind days to come. Maybe a three hour time change and an eight hour car ride to North Dakota will help… oh wait…

More adventures to come!