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Abundant Sunshine

Last Friday, Dave woke up and read the weather forecast: abundant sunshine. Only in a rainforest do you get such adjectives to describe the day’s weather. It was a good omen for a wonderful weekend filled with lots of different kinds of sunshine.

I rarely have to travel for my job, but last Friday was one of those days. I left the house to fly to Anchorage. Dave and Garrett left the house to ski all day. The flight out of Juneau was breathtaking, and Dave was kind enough to keep my homesickness at bay by sending some great pictures from Eaglecrest.

No one likes having to work on the weekend, unless you get to attend the kind of event that I did. I represented my organization at the Spirit of Youth (SOY) annual banquet. SOY is a campaign to recognize Alaska’s teens. Each year, communities across Alaska are encouraged to nominate youth for the good things they do in their communities. This year, over 125 youth were nominated. 20 were chosen for their outstanding contributions to their communities. They were honored in Anchorage on Saturday night.

One of my favorite sayings is by Anthony J. D’Angelo: “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” These Alaskan teens took at a look at their communities, identified needs and brought their ideas and talents out to shine and benefit others. We’re often inspired by the philanthropy of our peers, but how often are we inspired by the giving spirit of teenagers? Compassion, generosity, and can-do attitudes were in abundance Saturday night. To be inspired, take a minute to go to www.spiritofyouth.org to read about the nominees and winners from this year’s SOY banquet. It was truly an honor to be present for this event.

The icing on the cake was the flight home. Sunday morning in Anchorage was as breathtaking as Friday afternoon in Juneau had been. I thanked my past travel-booking self for the window seat, and my coworker Claire for the pictures.

I hope the sun is shining, wherever you are!

Vacation-isms

Garrett and I worked together to keep a travel journal this past vacation to San Diego. Almost every day I had him write a few sentences about what we did and what he thought. I added a note here and there, and we rounded it out with drawings, postcards and pictures. In the back, I kept a separate log of some of his funnier moments. And here they are.

Everyone we saw had some sort of comment about how Garrett looked like Dave and/or I. He heard a lot about his height. One evening during dinner, he leaned over to me and said, “Mom, I have Dad’s legs. What do I have of you?” Feeling a little sassy, I replied, “My sparkling personality.” He slowly sat back, looked at me thoughtfully and said, “Right. Of course.”

We visited friends, and Garrett got to play with an 8 year old girl and a 10 year old boy. The kids threw on their swimsuits and jumped into the hot tub to play. When they got out, they wandered into the house soaking wet, needing to dry off and change. We mothers trailed behind the kids, and as they got to the bedrooms, my friend directed her kids into one room and Garrett into another, saying to Garrett, “Why don’t you have to go into that room to change so you don’t have to see any of my kids bits and pieces.” She said it off-handedly, and I didn’t even really pay much attention until Garrett said to me, “I’ve already seen her bits and pieces,” referring to the 8 year old girl. “How’s that?” I asked, as lightly as I could. “Have you been in her room, Mom?” Garrett asked. “She’s got a TON of stuff.”

While visiting Dave’s mom’s house, Garrett, Dave and I all shared one room. Garrett had a blow-up bed on the floor next to our bed – next to the side that Dave slept on. For the first time ever, Garrett had a hard time adjusting to a new place. He was so anxious that he woke me up twice in the middle of the night that first night, walking around the bed in the dark bedroom to stand above me and wake me up. On the second night, he asked me to change sides of the bed so he didn’t have to walk so far if he woke up. “Wake up your Dad – he’s right there!” was my response. Garrett’s comeback: “But Dad doesn’t know everything like you do.”

And finally, Garrett thoroughly enjoyed the fact that his Grandma has cable television, and because we were on vacation, we let him watch a lot more TV than we normally do. As we drove to the airport on the day we were scheduled to fly home, June sighed and said, “Oh, the house is going to be so quiet without you all.” Garrett piped up from the backseat. “Grandma, just turn on Cartoon Network. That will help.”

 

 

The Very Best of San Diego

We Klein’s recently returned from nine wonderful days in San Diego. I’m not a big fan of traveling during the holidays, but we took advantage of holiday closures from work and school and got the heck out of dodge after Christmas. We missed our pets and friends (but not the weather) while we were away from Juneau. But the vacation was long overdue and pretty darn terrific.

The great part about traveling during the holidays is that other people are too. We were so fortunate that our visit to San Diego overlapped with some far-flung friends and family. Dave’s brother Mike came down from San Francisco, and we all stayed with my mother-in-law, June. Dave’s childhood friend, Steve, his wife Julie Ann, and their two children, Nate (10) and Jenna (8) overlapped one day with us, and we enjoyed a fantastic evening together. Dave’s aunt Jeannette and her friend Chuck were visiting from Arizona, and Dave’s cousin Teresa hosted a wonderful family reunion brunch, spanning four generations! And after 9 long years we reconnected with the Thornton family. Dave and Daryl have been friends since high school. The last time our two families got together it was just the four of us – pre-kids! We were so happy to meet their three amazing children, Miya (7), Olivia (5) and John (3). Of course, we spent lots of time visiting Great Grandma Helen. She lives with Dave’s Uncle Dean and Dean’s wife, Sue. We were blessed to have so much quality time with family and friends.

You all know the saying, “when in Rome….” While in San Diego, we took advantage of so many things that the city and surrounding areas offer. Garrett got to see his first IMAX film after exploring some of Balboa Park. We got a little shopping in. Along with thousands of others, we rang in the New Year in Legoland. We went to the beach twice, witnessing “big surf” days with 15-18 foot swells. We visited SeaWorld for the first time. And Dave and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary a little early, enjoying a walking wine tasting tour in La Jolla.

We asked Garrett what his favorite parts of the trip were and without hesitation, he said, “everything!” We teased him that he was taking the easy way out of answering, but when he turned the question on us, we couldn’t pull out favorites either. Because everything was a favorite! Overall, it was a solid, excellent family vacation.

I’ve decided that I like starting the new year with a vacation. I think we may have found a new Klein family tradition? Reality set in with the 6 am alarm clock this morning. Dave said he spent his first day at work peeking at our trip pictures. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Click here for more pictures of the trip.

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is filled with special memories for you as well.

Family

There are dozens of reasons why I love living in Juneau. Only in the deepest, darkest parts of winter do I start to dream of living elsewhere, which is only natural, right? Over the years I realize that I do have one regret about living here: being so far away from family.

I grew up surrounded by family. My parents had a half dozen or so siblings each, most who lived within a couple of hours if not a couple of minutes from us. They all had kids. While my immediate family is small  (I have one brother) I was raised with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins – so many cousins. I look at my only child who has never met any of his biological cousins. And I worry over the fact that he only sees his Grandmas and Papas and Uncles once a year – if that.

There are no easy solutions. Our families are spread all over the country. We don’t want to live where they live and as much as they love visiting Juneau, they don’t want to live here either. None of us are wealthy enough to travel more than once a year. I actively keep those distant family members close in our hearts and minds through pictures, letters, stories, phone calls and skype. Beyond that, the only other thing I can do is try to let go of the regret and focus the opportunities we do have.

We have a beautiful “Juneau family.” To that end, Garrett has plenty of wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins. Our network of caring people in our lives continue to grow with our years here, and I am so grateful for that. And when it comes to biological family, we are lucky and blessed for that one trip a year. This summer, we were especially blessed with visits from Dave’s Mom and brother in June and my Mom and brother in July. And later this year we will travel to San Diego to see aunts, uncles and cousins on Dave’s side of the family as well as Garrett’s only living great grandparent, his Great Grandmother Helen Garrett.

This post is a tribute to the very special time we had this summer with our families. It takes a lot to make these visits happen – time off work, cost of travel, leaving things unattended at home. But without a doubt, these visits are priceless.

Big Sky Vacation

Montana 2007…a great trip! Garrett loved hanging out with Grandma and Papa. Every day had a highlight. Some of Garrett’s favorites include playing with the remote control John Deere tractor Papa bought him, riding a steam engine train in historic Virginia City with Grandma, floating the Beaverhead river with Mom and Dad and catching his first fish! I think he probably liked the waterpark a bit too. Highlights for Dave and I included watching Garrett enjoy the adventures of each day. The day we went to Missoula we had perma-grin…it was so much fun to experience the day (the carousal, playground and waterpark) through Garrett’s eyes. I will miss looking out the window to see Garrett strolling through the farmyard, hand in hand with Grandma. I won’t forget watching him give Papa bear hugs at the end of each day, as he headed to bed exhausted and happy. To see the highlights in photos, visit the photo gallery.

Yultide Weekend

What a fun weekend we had last weekend – traveling to Skagway by fast ferry for their Yuletide Festival. We heard about this from some friends who were hoping to attend with us, but were unable to make it. The great thing about Skagway is that the locals are friendly and welcoming, and we made plenty of new friends in the 48 hours we were there.

The festivities began with Christmas Caroling in the town square Friday evening. Garrett joined the kid carolers and sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reinder in Japanese and Silent Night in German. We were so impressed! Santa arrived by the town fire truck, decorated from front to back bumper with lights, to throw the “Master Switch” and light the town Christmas Tree. Lots of ooohs and ahhs filled the night.

Saturday was the big day, though. At 11 a.m. Santa arrived again, this time by train. Garrett had a look of pure joy – two of his favorite things combined: Santa and a choo choo. Santa visited with all the kids, and then everyone boarded the train for an 8 mile ride up the tracks. This once-a-year event is donated by the White Pass Railroad, and we felt so fortunate to take part. Santa did another walk through, and Garrett mustered up the courage to give him a hug. We spent the rest of the 1.5 hour trip watching the scenery. The view back down to Skagway was clear and gorgeous and we visited with a lot of friendly locals and some folks from Canada, taking advantage of the opportunity as we were.

When in Rome, you do as the Romans do, so we joined the locals for the Yuletide Ball, which took place at the Skagway Rec Center. It’s an impressive facility for such a small town, and it was decorated beautifully. There was a live band, and Garrett joined about 30 kids to dance and run and wrestle and play for 2 hours before the “evening” crowd kicked in. Skagway is a community of about 800 people in the winter, and so this event was well attended. The locals wore everything from ballroom gowns to jeans and rubber boots. We felt right at home.

It was nice to get away for a weekend. We stayed at a terrific B&B – Mile Zero. The pace was relaxing and it was a joy to celebrate the festivities through the eyes of a two year old. Everything is magical again and we look forward to the wonders of the rest of the holiday season.

Be sure to view the weekend photos and the YouTube video of Santa arriving into Skagway on the White Pass and Yukon railroad.

The Long Drive to Haines

 

Guess you never know if you have wireless at your hotel until you check! Today while Garrett and I were exploring the hotel we found what looked like a wirless antenna just outside our room… so here we are, able to share some of our trip with you from Haines!

We’re into our first full day here in Haines after what turned out to be a rather long ferry ride with an unexpected inspection by the Coast Guard while docked in Juneau. We probably could have driven here just as fast.

We heard Haines had a great playground for kids, and we weren’t disappointed. Garrett explored and climbed and swang and slid…and posed for a few pictures too. We also attended the first Farmer’s Market of the year and had a bonfire dinner on the beach, complete with sockeye salmon caught this morning…”deeeLIcious.”

Select Haines photos to see a few shots taken so far during the trip.

The Return

We’re back home in Juneau. The vacation was non-stop with lots of great trips and wonderful visiting time with family and friends.

All our vacation photos are now posted in the Gallery.

Our visit stared with seeing the Pennix family by driving north (about 4 hrs) to Inyokern, CA. It was a great visit and the kids had a wonderful time.

Other memorable items included a visit to the San Diego Zoo, Scripts Marine Aquarium, trolly ride… all in the Californian sun!

Visits with family and friends included high school pals Jennifer Niskey, Jeff Foster and Julie Magana. It had been 19 years since seeing Jeff so that was really cool.

It was wonderful seeing family as well and spending time with Great Grandma Garrett, Sue and Dean Garrett, Aunt Jeannette and Annie and Ray. Garrett and Mickey had a great time playing in and out of the house.

We’re back now to the rain and snow, now only more anxious for summer to arrive- now that we’ve had a sneak taste of the stuff.

We’re Here

This photo says it all. Sun and barefooted fun! Garrett did very well on the flight as usual.

We’re now visiting Steve and Julieann in the desert and will be here till Monday morning when we take the 4 hour ride back south to San Diego. The Pennix house is beautiful with lots of things for the kids to do.