Off the Groom
For the first time this winter season, Garrett and Dave went downhill skiing last Saturday. It was one of those picture perfect days, and the guys returned from the mountain happy and exhausted.
Dave: We went into the West Bowl today.
Me: Great! (I can barely stand up cross country skiing, so this meant nothing to me).
Dave, lightly: You know, off the groom.
Me: Wait a minute, you took our son back-country skiing today??!!
Dave, not looking me in the eye: I wouldn’t call it back-country skiing.
Me: Just how do you define “off the groom??”
With his back to me, he chuckled. “Check out the pictures we got,” he replied. He knows how to distract me with shiny, pretty things.
It’s not like they went where no man has gone before. But when I heard him sharing details of their traverse across the West Bowl with a friend, I had to plug my ears and sing “La la la!” I have to remind myself that they had a great time and no one got hurt. A friend made a really good point today – at least Garrett went with his dad, who was able to show him how to do something like this safely. “Won’t be long now before he’s up there by himself, trying this stuff,” she warned. So very, very true. And they did get some mighty great pictures!
Father & son quality time.
Picture perfect day!
Headed into the West Bowl. Lean left!
The view.
Look at those trees! (Double click on photo to enlarge)
What??? It’s still winter!
Taking a vacation in the heart of winter is such a blessing. But returning to the cold, dark, snow is a bit of a shock to the system. Especially when there are still several months of winter left. Note to self: vacation in late February/early March next time.
We’ve gotten about two feet (or more) of snow in the last week. This after a wicked cold snap of temperatures at 25 below zero with wind chill. I’m not complaining – we could be Valdez or Cordova – two Alaskan communities struggling with record breaking, life threatening snow fall this winter. Check out some pictures from Cordova at this link: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/09/2254598/reader-photos-cordova-snow.html#id=2258123&view=large_view
And check out some of our pictures from recent outdoor adventures, back at home.
Smiles at the Glacier
Here we are!
Getting the runs on the sledding hill ready before the friends arrive.
Our "Dicken's Pole" complete with snowy hats.
This is what Dave looked like every morning this week.
To the beach!
I’ve noted more than once how much we love the beach. A couple of years ago I had a conversation with Garrett that sticks with me still. He was whining and griping about going to the beach, but I made him come anyway. And on the way home he said, “anytime I tell you I don’t want to go to the beach, just ignore me and make me go anyway. I love the beach.” So today, after school, when he asked me if I wanted to go to the beach, I hesitated only long enough to change my shoes. Below are some pictures of our blustery beach walk.
Today's forecast: blustery, with a view of Admiralty Island.
High tide. What little beach was available was prime real estate for the seagulls.
Shoulders hunched against the cold wind, he was still ready to beachcomb. That's my boy!
Will you? Yes!
In July of 1996, I was living in Juneau for a summer job, soaking up as much Alaskana as I could. Attending the fireworks at 11:59 pm on the 3rd sounded like a grand adventure. My friend, Dave, suggested that we up the adventure and watch them from a kayak. We borrowed a car and a double kayak and launched in the dark waters of Lynn Canal. It was a gorgeous night. The full moon was out. The fireworks mirrored perfectly in the smooth water. Festive firework watchers called out to us from the shore and Douglas Bridge above. Afterward, a bagpiper struck up a tune under the bridge, and a half dozen other kayakers appeared for the impromptu concert, emerging around us from the darkness. Corny as it may sound, it was a magical and romantic evening.
Flash forward five years. It was a cloudy, rainy, blustery Tuesday – July 3rd, 2001. Dave suggested we watch the fireworks from kayaks again, “like old times.” Nah, I responded. I had plenty of excuses. We had just come off a long weekend, kayak camping on the back side of Douglas. The weather was crummy. We had an invitation from friends to watch the fireworks from the comfort of a warm home on Douglas. But Dave was insistent. So we launched our kayaks in the spitting rain into the dark, swirling waters of Lynn Canal. The tide was so strong I paddled in place for 10 minutes before making any headway. Once we got under the bridge, we had to paddle constantly against headwinds just to stay in place. Drunks on the shoreline cursed and shot bottle rockets at us. More than once I suggested we turn tail and head to our friend’s house. And then the first fireworks launched into the air. Dave reached across the gap between our boats, pulled me closed and kissed me. A ring appeared from some obscure location. With fingers frozen from the cold wind, I took it, desperate not to fumble it into the depths. “Will you be my wife?” he asked. Friends strategically placed on the bridge received a walkie-talkie call from Dave shortly after I said “yes!” and a whole section of the bridge began cheering for us. Corny as it may sound, it was a magical and romantic evening.
Takin’ a Swing
We’ve discovered a great rope swing only a short walk from the house. We’ve been in hiking training for our cabin trip coming up and have used the trail near this swing as training grounds for our young hiker. Now it’s more about the swing and less about the trail. For photos check our Outdoor Photo Gallery and the short YouTube video below .
BearCam
Today, just minutes after leaving the house for our morning routine, we were visited by bruin buddy. The bear was picked up by our KleinCam Web camera. The bear can be seen in the right side of the photo. Not sure what he’s doing other than looking down our drive way. He was picked up again by the Web camera just 30 minutes later only on the other side of the light post by the wood shop. Needless to say, we’re careful about leaving our trash out before trash day!
4th of July Parade
A parade is an exciting thing, especially for a three year old. We joined the Chengs this year, and the boys could barely stand the wait. We were about 20 minutes along the parade route, and you can see in the gallery photos Garrett and Gabe pointing towards the fire trucks, slowly making their way towards us. Lots and lots and lots of candy was collected. We were excited to see Timi and James actually in the parade. We were lucky not to get rained out, and even enjoyed an outdoor lunch at a nearby cafe after the parade. Garrett proudly wished everyone he knew a “Happy 4th of July!”
Be sure to check out our Gallery with photos taken during the parade!