Where to begin? We got there on Monday night, and Liz and I were pretty pooped out from the flights, so we just hung around Debbie and RD's cool house. The windows are amazing, with a great view of at least part of Sitka. On Tuesday we went for a hike up Harbor Mountain, which was pretty laidback for everyone except RD, who had a bit of a harder task because he was carrying Grace in a back-pack carrier (which he did the whole week on our hikes). The scenery was beautiful, with tall trees towering throughout the trek (along with bushes, shrubs, flowers, etc.). The top of the mountain offered a commanding view of the whole Sitka city and harbor, as well as the surrounding mountains and distant volcano protruding through the clouds. We had a great picnic lunch (anything with Doritos is great), I played some tag with the kids, and we sat around enjoying the sun and watching bald eagles flying overhead.
After the hike, we went to Sandy Beach, where RD and Grace played around in the cold ocean spray while Liz, Reese and I hunted starfish. Liz ended up finding a giant cache of purple and orange ones hiding beneath the rocks, while Reese went on to find many a crab and sea anemone. After playing there for an hour or so, we headed back to base camp to enjoy a yummy dinner and play Carcassonne with the adults (we played plenty of it that week!).
The next morning Debbie was doing a dance performance and wanted us to wait until Thursday's show to see her, so while the Boardmans went to support their mom Liz and I wandered over to the Sheldon Jackson museum, home to many of this old missionary's tribal items that he gathered during his many years in Alaska. It was pretty cool! Afterward we wandered down the main street and had king salmon and halibut at the Wild Spot, a small street vendor. The salmon was good, but the halibut definitely took the cake!
That afternoon we went on another hike to Mosquito Cove, which thankfully--despite its name--is not home to swarms of mosquitoes. With our bear mace to defend us, we hiked through to a nice little cove with tall grass to play in. However, some dogs off the leash came through to disrupt us, so we made a quick hike out, stopping to take some pictures of course! After the hike, we hurried over to Fortress of the Bears, where one of RD's colleagues graciously showed us the bears and small petting zoo. We saw five different brown bears, from a safe distance of course! Unfortunately they were mostly sleeping, but one did humor us a bit and walk around. They are huge animals! We then had a fun time feeding the sheep, dwarf horse, and goats. Speaking of goats, they are mean little buggers! The one ram would butt aside the little babies to get at the carrots we were offering, so we had to resort to subterfuge to get them to the babies (thankfully, goats aren't the smartest animals in the wild).
That afternoon we went on another hike to Mosquito Cove, which thankfully--despite its name--is not home to swarms of mosquitoes. With our bear mace to defend us, we hiked through to a nice little cove with tall grass to play in. However, some dogs off the leash came through to disrupt us, so we made a quick hike out, stopping to take some pictures of course! After the hike, we hurried over to Fortress of the Bears, where one of RD's colleagues graciously showed us the bears and small petting zoo. We saw five different brown bears, from a safe distance of course! Unfortunately they were mostly sleeping, but one did humor us a bit and walk around. They are huge animals! We then had a fun time feeding the sheep, dwarf horse, and goats. Speaking of goats, they are mean little buggers! The one ram would butt aside the little babies to get at the carrots we were offering, so we had to resort to subterfuge to get them to the babies (thankfully, goats aren't the smartest animals in the wild).
We had a lazy morning the next day, eating Debbie's delicious blueberry morning (think French Toast + blueberries + cream cheese + blueberry sauce = yummilicious!). Then we went to see Debbie's performance, and she did awesome!!!! She is part of the New Archangel dancers, a group of women that performs traditional Russian and Ukrainian dances in honor the Sitka's unique historical heritage, being the former capital of Russian America. She performed in four of the six dances, and was very graceful and had a great smile on her face :) The kids loved clapping for her, and RD and Liz were vocal in their cheers. After the show, the weather turned sour (for the only time in the whole week, luckily!!!), so we had another night of dinner and Carcassonne.
Friday, we went fishing!! RD, Liz and I went out early am to the same place I went last year where I caught my first fish ever, an Alaskan silver salmon. The pink were in season this time, so we went ahead and started our casting. Liz did amazing--she caught four fish her first time every fly-fishing!! I hooked a bunch of salmon, but only ended up bringing one in to shore (though I did catch a bass and another, small fish). After our great fishing trip, we went to Totem Park, which is home to many native Alaskan totem poles, which was a fun little hike. Some bear scad had been spotted in the park, so we brought along the bear mace again, but luckily we avoided any contact. Gracie and the boys loved around picking and eating wild berries; or rather, Reese and Cameron loved picking berries while Gracie loved eating them. She's learning quickly, that one!
After the hike, RD and Debbie got a babysitter and the adults went down to the city to see Harry Potter VII(b)! I loved it, and I think everyone else did too, though Debbie mentioned she wished everyone were more excited at the end of the epic battle. After the movie and dinner, RD and I headed out again to see if I could have any more luck fishing, but unfortunately it was just not my day! There were a number of salmon, but none biting my line at least. It was still fun and peaceful out there, though.
Saturday we went to Cameron's and Reese's soccer practices, which were a lot of fun. Cameron was acting out as Luke Skywalker in one of his drills, and he certainly did look like a Jedi, darting between the balls going for him. He fell valiantly in the end, but it was a good fight. Reeser was one of the fastest kids in his group, so it was fun to watch them.
That afternoon, we had a weenie roast! RD built a great fire, and Reese and I skipped rocks while Debbie and Liz relaxed on the rocky beach. Err.... Well, they at least sat on it watching us. After eating hot dogs, we roasted marshmallows and had delicious smores. A great way to end the week! On Sunday, we went with the Boardmans to church, and they have an awesome, log-cabin-style meetinghouse (kind of like the lakehouse, Mom and Dad). We had awesome fish tacos and some more games of Carcassonne.
Monday came far too quickly. RD had to go to work as well, which was unfortunate, so we just kind of hung around the house playing with the kids. One o'clock and our departure came far too quickly, but vacations must end at some point. After what seemed like forever, we ended up back in Cambridge, MA.
So we had a wonderful, wonderful time in Alaska! It was full of natural beauty and fun things to do, and above all, family! Thanks again Boardmans for the fun times, hearty laughs, Italias sodas (just one or three more, right RD?), great photos, and good memories.
Friday, we went fishing!! RD, Liz and I went out early am to the same place I went last year where I caught my first fish ever, an Alaskan silver salmon. The pink were in season this time, so we went ahead and started our casting. Liz did amazing--she caught four fish her first time every fly-fishing!! I hooked a bunch of salmon, but only ended up bringing one in to shore (though I did catch a bass and another, small fish). After our great fishing trip, we went to Totem Park, which is home to many native Alaskan totem poles, which was a fun little hike. Some bear scad had been spotted in the park, so we brought along the bear mace again, but luckily we avoided any contact. Gracie and the boys loved around picking and eating wild berries; or rather, Reese and Cameron loved picking berries while Gracie loved eating them. She's learning quickly, that one!
After the hike, RD and Debbie got a babysitter and the adults went down to the city to see Harry Potter VII(b)! I loved it, and I think everyone else did too, though Debbie mentioned she wished everyone were more excited at the end of the epic battle. After the movie and dinner, RD and I headed out again to see if I could have any more luck fishing, but unfortunately it was just not my day! There were a number of salmon, but none biting my line at least. It was still fun and peaceful out there, though.
Saturday we went to Cameron's and Reese's soccer practices, which were a lot of fun. Cameron was acting out as Luke Skywalker in one of his drills, and he certainly did look like a Jedi, darting between the balls going for him. He fell valiantly in the end, but it was a good fight. Reeser was one of the fastest kids in his group, so it was fun to watch them.
That afternoon, we had a weenie roast! RD built a great fire, and Reese and I skipped rocks while Debbie and Liz relaxed on the rocky beach. Err.... Well, they at least sat on it watching us. After eating hot dogs, we roasted marshmallows and had delicious smores. A great way to end the week! On Sunday, we went with the Boardmans to church, and they have an awesome, log-cabin-style meetinghouse (kind of like the lakehouse, Mom and Dad). We had awesome fish tacos and some more games of Carcassonne.
Monday came far too quickly. RD had to go to work as well, which was unfortunate, so we just kind of hung around the house playing with the kids. One o'clock and our departure came far too quickly, but vacations must end at some point. After what seemed like forever, we ended up back in Cambridge, MA.
So we had a wonderful, wonderful time in Alaska! It was full of natural beauty and fun things to do, and above all, family! Thanks again Boardmans for the fun times, hearty laughs, Italias sodas (just one or three more, right RD?), great photos, and good memories.
