AHHHHHHH, Mexico!

We just got back from Mexico!! We took a Mexican riviera cruise to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. Wow! what a breath of fresh air that was!! the night we left it was 12 degrees and we were shivering. During our cruise the temperature ranged from 75 to 90 degrees!! yahoo!! hey, if you live in alaska, you gotta get out sometimes to thaw!

So here are some pics....

The top picture is a shot of the bay at Cabo San Lucas. It was taken from the resort we spent the day at.... Casa Dorada. Nice place!

The next pic is of Elias flipping into the pool at the same resort as above. The next picture is of Elias and Caleb playing on the beach in Yelapa - near Puerto Vallarta. The next picture is of the village of Yelapa. The last picture is all four of us taking a boat to Yelapa.

Great book!

Ok, I just finished reading a book that has changed my life. yes, you read that right....changed my life. If you have not read the book Bonds that Make Us Free by C. Terry Warner, you are missing out. It has helped me immensely. It has changed my perceptions, the way I love, my outlook, my understanding, the way i treat others.....everything. I am recommending this book to anyone who wants to enhance their relationships, whether it be with a spouse, children, friends or just neighbors/strangers. awesome read. Enjoy!!

New glasses

Feel free to opine.....(please be at least somewhat nice!!). Also, just ignore the backgrounds - I am not a professional, as you can see :)

Only in the great white north...

I like to go walking daily despite the below-freezing temperatures lately. So on this walk along Campbell Creek, there is a beautiful lake. This week I noticed a new sign put up..... Thin Ice - Don't Swim! Am I the only wimp who finds this an amazing sign? the lake is indeed frozen over - so for those of you who wanted to come up here and swim in the frozen lake, you're out of luck! I think i'm ok with the prohibition :).

Off to Kentucky..

Ok, so now that I FINALLY put a new post up - the one of our train ride/glacier tour - don't expect any new stuff for a week or two. We are off tonight to go to Kentucky for eight days. Rob has a convention and Caleb and I get to go. So I've never been to Kentucky. Not sure what to expect. I'm excited anyway. Nice to get away. We'll finally experience some summer weather! Yay!! See you when we get back!

Our glacier tour in Prince William Sound

On Monday - Labor Day - we took a 2-1/2 hour train ride to Whittier, Alaska, at which point we boarded a large catamaran and took a cruise of Prince William Sound to see some gorgeous glaciers. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs. We loved it anyway :). Here are a few pictures... We saw seals, sea otters, a gray whale (well, some saw it - i didn't) and some beautiful glaciers. That first picture is of Caleb and I on the train. Trains are so relaxing - i love them!! I'm sure on a clearer day those glaciers would have been stunning. We actually boated through some stuff that looked like slurpee consistency. Catamarans are pretty cool - ideal for boating through ice floes and stuff.

My life lately...

I haven't blogged for awhile....mostly because I've been busy with a new puppy, a son on summer vacation and a little bit of company. More company coming. My summer so far has been, well, somewhat blah. I must say that Anchorage summers are, well, spring and fall-like. We had one day over 70 degrees. Most days are in the low to mid 50s. They say this is not a normal summer. Let's hope so!! It has rained and been gray so many days that when the sun comes out, i literally dash outside to soak it up. It has been hard for me to get used to - all the gray and chilliness. Caleb is much less affected by the blah-ness. He doesn't feel cold and doesn't seem to miss the sunshine. I was hoping to get some great sunny days in before the gray and blahness of winter set in.

So here's what i do to conquer the blues when they come....take long walks along the creek, play with our puppy, go on bike rides in the rain with Caleb (you should see the looks people give us), take long walks in the rain (i've had people offer a ride - not understanding i was doing this on purpose), go hiking (until a grizzly attack happened on the same path caleb and i take), go shopping. This winter i MUST take up some winter sports or i think i might actually become the poster girl for SAD (seasonal affective disorder). What do you think.....snowshoeing? skiing? snowboarding? (i've always wanted to learn that but fear i might break something in my middle age). Maybe i'll try all of them. I'll keep you all posted :).

Frankie, the cutest puppy ever!

This is our new basset hound puppy, Frankie. He is named after Rob's boss who recently passed away. He is the sweetest thing and so well-mannered! We picked him up on July 4th. We love him!!

Here are some of the sights we saw today on our walk in the mountains. Isn't that green amazing? We saw a moose trudging through the marsh, and a little family of ruffed grouse right on the path as we came around a corner. The chicks were so cute!!

Thyroid surgery

I had half of my thyroid removed on June 20th. It went smoothly, the lump was benign, and I'm recuperating nicely. When my scar fades, it'll hardly be noticeable!!

Competitive fishing anyone?

If you're a fisherman, you've probably heard of the Kenai river. Well, I've never seen anything like what we saw on Saturday.....fisherman as far as the eye could see along the stretch of the Kenai river that we stopped at. Those dots on the far bank are fisherman. and this was just one small frame of the river. And apparently at the peak of the season the fisherman stand shoulder to shoulder all along the shores of this river. It is unbelievable. The second pic is of Caleb near some already-caught and defleshed salmon. The third pic just shows you how pretty the water is :)

Homer Alaska - it's beautiful!!

We took a road trip to Homer, AK, on Friday. It is 225 miles south of Anchorage at the tip of the Kenai peninsula. It is so beautiful!! We saw bald eagles, sandhill cranes, moose and even a bear along our way. We stayed in a bed and breakfast overnight that overlooked Kachemak Bay. We drove home Saturday because it was so rainy and gray. Despite the rain, we had a great time and loved it.

Hiking up Flat Top mountain in Anchorage

Caleb not only wanted to hike up the mountain, he wanted to climb a tree, too!! I'm not sure if you can tell from this small picture, but the second picture is taken from the hillside with downtown Anchorage framed between the trees. (I live in a beautiful place!!)

You might live in Alaska if...

...you have these in your yard all winter (moose dropping piles). Moose came often this past winter into our yard and chewed on our bushes. Just in case you were wondering....moose love to eat tulip buds. One moose ate all but one of my tulip buds. I was so mad!!!

You might live in Alaska if...

this is what life is like on April 25! (two feet of snow in one day. really)

You might live in Alaska if...

This is how light your backyard is after midnight. Really. Actually taken after midnight. Really. :)

You might live in Alaska if...

you see this view from downtown. That's Ship Creek and this is relatively mild for this time of year (salmon!!).

You might live in alaska if....

You see these pictures around town (they're like hotdogs)...

Grand Cayman

This is Grand Cayman Island. Rob and Caleb are next to a couple of parrots along the main tourist walkway. The next picture is of Hell. Part of the island is called Hell because it has these old limestone formations that used to be deep under the ocean (where they were white), but are no longer under water and have blackened. It is a weird look. Anyway, it's called Hell. The next picture is of a hen and her chick pecking at a coconut that has been opened. i guess chickens like coconut!! The last picture is of a rooster and hen just walking around town. it's pretty common to see chickens walking about all around town. We got rained on quite a bit in Grand Cayman from Tropical Storm Arthur, so not a lot of pretty pictures.

Roatan Island, Honduras

This is the beautiful island of Roatan, Honduras. I loved this island! It is hilly and beautiful. Top picture is self-explanatory. Next is Caleb with some of the locals dressed in some traditional garb. I think he got a bit scared by them. The next picture is of the bites we got at the beach. Mine were pretty painless, itchless, and flat. Caleb's itched for a week and became raised. Not sure what they were. Next picture is of a church on the hillside (see it again from farther away in last picture). i loved the look of this church. it is in a really picturesque setting. Although there is much poverty on this island, they still keep it beautiful and clean.

Rob is looking down the front side of the highest Mayan ruin at Altun Ha. The second picture is looking up the backside of the same ruin. behind it was a tropical rainforest. Just so you know, that climb down was pretty steep with huge steps.

This is a tree in Belize City that i loved. Pretty, isn't it?

This is representative of the less desirable part of Belize City. Junk out in the yards. this actually had cars for sale out of the bunch of crashed cars.

This is a house in the good part of Belize City. According to our guide, you'd have to have the Queen's wage to buy this house.