Gone Fishing

I had this vision in my head. Of a wonderful father-son fishing trip, where they would laugh and fish, and the sun would shine and birds would chirp cheerfully overhead. I would stand off to the side waiting to take that treasured first fish picture, and at the end of the day we would all retreat towards home, smiles on our faces.



The way it went was more like, Wyatt swings his pole back and forth a few times, smacks the water, gets it stuck in a tree, then just chucks the whole pole into the river, fusses and asks to go home. Not exactly the father son bonding experience I had imagined. I guess we will try again next year. He had fun for a few minutes at least. Maybe for next summer I will lower my expectations a little.




Still though, we don't get to see Daddy near enough with his work schedule, so anytime with him in special. And I love on long drives, such as the one to our fishing spot, where he reaches over and holds my hand. And even though we are sitting in silence listening to the radio, he tells me he loves me by squeezing my hand three times, still melts my heart after six years.



(on our honeymoon - Greece)


And when we arrived home, the sky gave us a grand finale, to cap off a not so grand day. But evening skies like this one serve to wash away the stress of the day. And I love having all my boys around me to gaze at the sky together.

Another thing I love about evenings when Justin is home, is being able to spend a little extra time cuddling my baby. Not having to rush putting him to bed so that I can take care of Wyatt. I love rocking him and feeling his head settle on my chest and his body sink down into my arms which are wrapped snug around his warm little body, as he drifts off to sleep. And how just like his Daddy and brother, as he falls deeper into dreamland, his mouth hangs open, just the slightest bit. I can't believe that two months have already flown by, and now my little is cooing and smiling and rolling around (or falling over).

When Wyatt talks to Ben (he calls him brother), he will call out, getting progressively louder until brother (aka me) answers. He starts with "hi brother", "hi brother", "HI brother!", "HI BROTHER!!!" So I've started conversations between them lately, and I have to try so hard not to laugh, but I am positive that Wyatt thinks it is Ben talking, and I can tell that he is tickled about it because he will keep randomly planting sloppy kisses on Ben's cheeks and giving him sometimes too tight squeezes.

As much as I want to treasure this time with Ben as a "little", I can't wait for the day that they can play together, and I don't have to do Ben's voice anymore for Wyatt. But, it will be here sooner than I think

P.S. Did I mention that Wyatt is now a DJ?

and that he has found a new favorite phrase?

3, 9...

Wyatt can count to 10! Of course by the time I pull out the camera he is starting to fade, but he still makes it to ten, eventually!

A Little Sun, A Lot of Fun

I'm the type of person that has a few really good friends as opposed to lots of not so close friends. And even though now we are separated by (the lack of) time and space, when we do get to see each other I enjoy every second of it. Especially since we all seem to be in a race to pop out the kids!

And when my dear friends decide to come into town to visit, it is a wonderful excuse for a play date. We all gather around a toy covered floor and have to shout across the room over the rumble of kids playing. But it's oh so fun to see them run and play and steal each other's toys and make nice again.

Wyatt & Giraffe ................Holly with Ben

Wyatt cleaning house .......... Jennifer & AJ

Sariah ............ Courtney with Ben

Between five of us, we have 9.5 kids! (Jennifer is still baking one)

Jacob, Carter, Jessalyn, Aizlyn, Sariah, Kayla, Wyatt, Ben and AJ in the back!

And we couldn't let Jennifer sneak back out of town without taking a trip to her Grandparent's cabin on Harding Lake. The day wasn't quite as nice as we had requested, but still warm enough to have a little fun. Wyatt and Jessalyn had a ball chasing each other, exploring the woods, and riding in the canoe with their Daddies.

Here's to many more summers filled with wonderful memories and wonderful company!

F R E S H

Nothing tastes better then fresh picked veggies, especially when they come from your own backyard. Well I can't take credit for the crisp sugar snap peas (they came from the local farmer's market), I can take credit for the plump juicy tomatoes. And my little picker helps me check each morning for more fresh "matos" to eat.

And you have to balance out all that goodness, with a little sugar every now and then. And an icy cool popsicle goes down nice and smooth when it's 95 degrees out. Yep, that's right, I didn't reverse those numbers, it hit 95 degrees here today in chilly ol' AK.

And while you're on that sugar rush, you can't let a huge sheet cake go to waste, right?

Somehow, even with his diet consisting only of veggies and sugar, he manages to keep things in line.

Another One Down

Our summers are short, wonderful, fiery, full of laughter and passion, but short. And before we know it, fall sweeps in with a crisp breeze that quickly progresses to a cold wind that nips our noses. And then in the blink of an eye, the ground is covered in a fine dusting of powdery white snow. Another summer come and gone.

The state fair has always been my warning bell. The hurry up and squeeze in every last drop of fun because school is about to start and winter's coming, bell. And that bell is sounding, ringing loudly even though I'm trying to ignore it, counting down.

Fair time, also means rain time. And even though the skies threaten with every step to explode over your head and shower you with rain, we tempt it. We pack up the car with one sleeping baby and one eager little boy and head on over to the fun.

You can smell the food from the very last row of the parking lot, the deep fried everything, the sugar, the spice, anything a hungry tummy might desire. We eat our way through the fair. It's the only way to do it. Hot yellow ears of corn on the cob, dipped in butter. Homemade Greek Gyros with cool cucumber sauce, funnel cakes with powdered sugar that sticks to your fingertips, only to be licked off seconds later.

Mmm Mmm, and my favorite fair time treat, elephant ears. Whenever Wyatt won't eat his lunch or dinner I ask him if he wants to eat an elephant. He always responds with a smile and head shake yes, so I knew he would have no problem when the opportunity presented itself to chow down on an actual "elephant."

And somehow we justify stuffing ourselves to the gills with all the walking that we do at the fair. And in between the walking we ride a few rides. Unfortunately the top of Wyatt's head falls below that magic line on just about every ride. So he got to ride the Super Slide, and the carousel. Such a trooper though he watched the big fancy rides looping and swooping with a smile on his face, and I promised him next year, he could do a lot more.

He did however have free run at the animals. Chickens, and cows and goats, oh my! The smell of who knows what in the barn was a little over powering, but it didn't bother that little nose one bit.

Well there it is, another one down. Another summer drawing to a close, and another birthday for Wyatt just around the corner. Sigh, where does the time go!?

Georgia On My Mind

There's something so comforting about walking into the arms of your Grandfather, feeling his embrace, and his kiss on your cheek. That is such a special moment, especially when he is 90 and I know, that those moments are quickly slipping away from me.

Wyatt, Ben and I, along with my Mom, made the journey from Alaska down to Georgia this past week. The flight down was one I wish to never repeat. We caught the red-eye which seemed like a great idea since Wyatt would in theory sleep the whole way. Well that theory didn't really pan out for us and Wyatt stayed up all night. And Ben, even though he slept the whole time, still managed to throw up all over me, I'm sure I smelled wonderful.

Finally after 13 hours of flying, we landed in Atlanta. A sticky humid breeze greeted us as we left the airport, and the wonderful smell of summer filled the air - a smell we have been missing in Fairbanks. Two hours and two very tired kids later, we pulled into the driveway at 1608, a turn that I've always looked forward to almost every summer of my childhood.

At Papa's house, time stops, it's a journey back in time, as nothing has changed in all the years, with the surprising exception of new granite counter tops. But the warm wood walls covered in pictures, and cool brick steps on which I've stubbed my toes many times, all remain the same. And my favorite, Papa's brown leather chair. Papa used to grab us by our ankles and pull us out onto the floor. And nowadays he has moved into the more comfortable rocking chair, which means at night after the kids are asleep, I can curl up into his leather arm chair and stay until my eyes get heavy.

Wyatt was cut out for life in Georgia, picking tomatoes ("Pick mato"), swimming in the pool, and visiting the farm, to Wyatt that is the life. Even when the temperature peaked over the 100 degree mark, Wyatt was still going strong. And Ben, while he just hung out and soaked in the scenes and the sun like Ben does.

We capped off our trip with a visit to the aquarium. I'm pretty sure that this place is Wyatt's version of Heaven. His eyes light up and his feet move oh so quickly. And somehow his little voice gets so loud and excited that you can hear it over the roar of hundreds of people milling about.

And then, it was home again. And every hour of our flight that passed my joy escalated a little more. I couldn't wait to be in the arms of my husband once again.

The sun in our part of the world sure isn't as hot as it is down south, but it suites me just right.

Our trip was wonderful, as any time with Papa is, but now it's home again home again, and I sure do miss his chair!