After our travel experiences we decided to take it easy on Sunday. Oliver was up at 5am, he just couldn't get off East Coast time. Jason was a super sweetheart and got up with him and let me sleep. I woke up at 8am and looked out the large window at the head of our bed and saw snow falling - what a beautiful thing to wake up to. It continued to snow all morning despite being able to look at the valley opening and see blue skies - it's amazing what a change an increase in altitude can make.
I fixed Oliver's favorite breakfast - pancakes and sausage - and thankfully our boy seemed completely back to normal. We ate, played and relaxed in the living while enjoying the beautiful snow falling.
Around 11am we ventured down into Anchorage to experience some of the Fur Rondy events. The goal was the Hide and Horn Auction that the state hosts every year. During this event they auction the hides and antlers from animals that were in the states possession for a few reasons... 1. The animal was illegally taken by a hunter/poacher who was caught; 2. The animal was involved in an automobile accident (the meat would have been donated to a food for the needy organization). I had a goal of getting a few things but when we got there at 11:55 (auction started at 12) we discovered that you had to register for the auction at 11:45am. Boooo... I wasn't a happy camper but we ventured back up to 4th St. to watch the Rondy races.
These team vs. team dog races THRILLED Oliver - he loved the count down and watching the dogs take off down the road. As we were watching some of the mushers getting their teams ready Jason recognized two guys from Yukon Men, one of our favorite Alaska tv shows. We were able to watch Nations race his team in the Rondy races.
We would have stayed longer but Oliver started hollering that he was hungry and I had left all of his snacks in the truck. :( So we headed back down the street, stopping at a few vendors on the way to the car. I got the hide I had been wanting and a couple other little things. We stopped to get Oliver a treat, the boy wanted ice cream even though it was 35* and super windy, and then headed for a quick walk a Potter's Marsh. No Moose, or any other animal was spotted but it was a beautiful walk as always. We then ventured back to the house for nap time. Once Oliver woke up we ate dinner and just enjoyed relaxing in the living room.
*Monday*
After waking up at 4:30am because he "heard a noise" I woke Oliver up at 8am this morning. We got dressed and jumped in the car to get more groceries and make the drive up to Talkeetna to see Denali. We picked the perfect day - the sky was almost cloud free so Denali was standing proud against that clear sky.
We were the only ones at the photo opp stop and our boy wanted to build snowmen so we did. After taking some pictures we would chop off ice blocks from the snow piles and stacked them up. We made a snowman, snowlady and a snowdog all with mini pinecones for eyes and noses. Oliver loved it!!
We ate lunch at the Denali Brew Pub - Oliver and I shared delicious Fish 'n Chips and Jason had their special - cod fish tacos. The food and brews were all delicious - we love these little places that we find up here.
We ventured home and Oliver is now napping while Jason and I relax on the couch. Little man requested "sghetti" for dinner, Lego building and Mighty Machine watching tonight - and our little traveler will get exactly what he has asked for!
*The pictures that go with this blog will be on my Facebook page again in the Alaska 2016 - SunMon folder*
Monday, February 29, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Renaming this blog... "Adventures In Travel With A Toddler!!"
Ok, where do I start?!?
We have arrived in one piece despite being pretty worn down! As I typed this Oliver is PASSED out in the backseat while Jason ran into Walmart to pick up a few things for the house.
Last night we had dinner with mom and dad in Crystal City and then we settled into our hotel room.
In hindsight the hotel did not save us any sleep because I was up most of the night due to missing my bedtime creature comforts (2 fans). Oliver ended up with a runny nose that had him sneezing and coughing all night so he didn't sleep well either. We was awake awake at 5am so I oiled him up and put him up in our bed with a toon while I pulled stuff together. Within 20-30min you would have never known he hadn't slept much. We boarded the shuttle with a "whoa" from the driver when he saw our cart of luggage, and headed for the airport.
We breezed through the airport - everyone was so sweet and helpful because we were traveling with a young child. We knew Oliver was tired and didn't feel 100% but he spent 60% of the first flight (just under 6hrs) in either mine or Jason's lap. He even fell asleep while watching a movie. Towards the end of the flight he got weird - I thought he needed to go potty - he was hot, sweaty, beyond exhausted (couldn't keep his eyes open), and just not himself. We promised him that when we got into the next plane we would fix him up a nest and he could go to sleep. He was so sweaty that I thought maybe I had put too warm of clothes on him so I changed him into some jammies when we got to SeaTac. By the time we boarded the plane he was our Oliver again - happy, joking, playing, eating and saying he didn't want to nap. We didn't push him because he was having so much fun.
That fun only lasted until we began descending into Anchorage. He started crying, shaking his legs and generally freaking out. We figured it was his ears so I gave him gum (that he swallowed) and then a lolliepop - neither made a difference. Next thing we knew he was breaking a sweat again because he was freaking out so much. The cherry on top was the turbulence we hit just above Anc - it was BAD - worse than roller coasters bad!! He started showing some signs that he was going to be sick (we learned on our New England road trip that he either has some anxiety with too much movement or some motion sickness issues). We made it off the plane and got him in his stroller, I thought we were in the clear - NOPE - he christened the Anchorage Airport and my scarf that I managed to catch most of it with! :( Now he is back to being just plain exhausted!
The upside to all that turbulence and craziness was that even though Anchorage has some cloud cover sitting on the mountain tops - Denali was bold and bright, looking beautiful and majestic! Sorry, no pictures, we were a bit distracted between Oliver freaking out and trying not to fall out of our seats!
*Finishing this a few hours later*
We called in a pick us order from Moose's Tooth to continue our tradition of their AMAZING pizza for our arrival dinner! Pizza of choice... Macaroni n'Cheese pizza for me and Jason and cheese for Oliver. It was just as good as always... Best pizza ever!
We arrived at the house to find that we are at a high enough altitude to have snow on the ground at the house and BEAUTIFUL snow covered mountains surrounding us and snow flurries falling!! (Jason and I have both said that we would be perfectly fine to spend all 10 days in this living room)
We're semi unpacked, filled with pizza and exhausted but trying to hold out to a West Coast bedtime. Our little guy didn't make it... At 6:30 AK time (10:30 east coast time) he said "I want to go to bed." He is tucked in and never made a peep but we'll see what time we wakes up in the morning! :/
Jason, being the awesome husband he is has gone to Walmart to get me a fan so that I will sleep tonight! I am on the couch, in front of the fire place, watching Fuller House, finishing this blog post and enjoying this amazing view!
Thanks for the prayers - they were definitely felt!!
[I'm doing this from my phone tonight so all pictures are on my Facebook page]
We have arrived in one piece despite being pretty worn down! As I typed this Oliver is PASSED out in the backseat while Jason ran into Walmart to pick up a few things for the house.
Last night we had dinner with mom and dad in Crystal City and then we settled into our hotel room.
In hindsight the hotel did not save us any sleep because I was up most of the night due to missing my bedtime creature comforts (2 fans). Oliver ended up with a runny nose that had him sneezing and coughing all night so he didn't sleep well either. We was awake awake at 5am so I oiled him up and put him up in our bed with a toon while I pulled stuff together. Within 20-30min you would have never known he hadn't slept much. We boarded the shuttle with a "whoa" from the driver when he saw our cart of luggage, and headed for the airport.
We breezed through the airport - everyone was so sweet and helpful because we were traveling with a young child. We knew Oliver was tired and didn't feel 100% but he spent 60% of the first flight (just under 6hrs) in either mine or Jason's lap. He even fell asleep while watching a movie. Towards the end of the flight he got weird - I thought he needed to go potty - he was hot, sweaty, beyond exhausted (couldn't keep his eyes open), and just not himself. We promised him that when we got into the next plane we would fix him up a nest and he could go to sleep. He was so sweaty that I thought maybe I had put too warm of clothes on him so I changed him into some jammies when we got to SeaTac. By the time we boarded the plane he was our Oliver again - happy, joking, playing, eating and saying he didn't want to nap. We didn't push him because he was having so much fun.
That fun only lasted until we began descending into Anchorage. He started crying, shaking his legs and generally freaking out. We figured it was his ears so I gave him gum (that he swallowed) and then a lolliepop - neither made a difference. Next thing we knew he was breaking a sweat again because he was freaking out so much. The cherry on top was the turbulence we hit just above Anc - it was BAD - worse than roller coasters bad!! He started showing some signs that he was going to be sick (we learned on our New England road trip that he either has some anxiety with too much movement or some motion sickness issues). We made it off the plane and got him in his stroller, I thought we were in the clear - NOPE - he christened the Anchorage Airport and my scarf that I managed to catch most of it with! :( Now he is back to being just plain exhausted!
The upside to all that turbulence and craziness was that even though Anchorage has some cloud cover sitting on the mountain tops - Denali was bold and bright, looking beautiful and majestic! Sorry, no pictures, we were a bit distracted between Oliver freaking out and trying not to fall out of our seats!
*Finishing this a few hours later*
We called in a pick us order from Moose's Tooth to continue our tradition of their AMAZING pizza for our arrival dinner! Pizza of choice... Macaroni n'Cheese pizza for me and Jason and cheese for Oliver. It was just as good as always... Best pizza ever!
We arrived at the house to find that we are at a high enough altitude to have snow on the ground at the house and BEAUTIFUL snow covered mountains surrounding us and snow flurries falling!! (Jason and I have both said that we would be perfectly fine to spend all 10 days in this living room)
We're semi unpacked, filled with pizza and exhausted but trying to hold out to a West Coast bedtime. Our little guy didn't make it... At 6:30 AK time (10:30 east coast time) he said "I want to go to bed." He is tucked in and never made a peep but we'll see what time we wakes up in the morning! :/
Jason, being the awesome husband he is has gone to Walmart to get me a fan so that I will sleep tonight! I am on the couch, in front of the fire place, watching Fuller House, finishing this blog post and enjoying this amazing view!
Thanks for the prayers - they were definitely felt!!
[I'm doing this from my phone tonight so all pictures are on my Facebook page]
Friday, February 26, 2016
Yes, we're going to Alaska during Winter!!
I've been asked for it so here it is... Our Alaska 2016 travel blog!
This is our 4th trip and the last season to see in the beautiful state of Alaska! Sidenote: this will be the best 30th birthday EVER - Winter in Alaska with my two guys (would only be better if my mother would get her tush on a plane and come with us)!!
We have a very excited little boy on our hands who is ready to be back in "Laska" and do all of the fun stuff that we have planned - this trip is heavily focused on the Iditarod and the annual Fur Rondy festival but we will of course hit some of our favorite trails and parks as well as driving to explore some new areas.
We are renting the same house that we rented last time so we are looking forward to some of the comforts of home and having a beautiful place to relax while enjoying the beautiful views of the valley.
I will try to do posts nightly but we'll see how it goes - I hope you guys will enjoy seeing the beauty of our favorite place!
We would appreciate prayers tomorrow for safe travels! We have an early start in the morning with an 8am departure - goodnight all!!
This is our 4th trip and the last season to see in the beautiful state of Alaska! Sidenote: this will be the best 30th birthday EVER - Winter in Alaska with my two guys (would only be better if my mother would get her tush on a plane and come with us)!!
We have a very excited little boy on our hands who is ready to be back in "Laska" and do all of the fun stuff that we have planned - this trip is heavily focused on the Iditarod and the annual Fur Rondy festival but we will of course hit some of our favorite trails and parks as well as driving to explore some new areas.
We are renting the same house that we rented last time so we are looking forward to some of the comforts of home and having a beautiful place to relax while enjoying the beautiful views of the valley.
I will try to do posts nightly but we'll see how it goes - I hope you guys will enjoy seeing the beauty of our favorite place!
We would appreciate prayers tomorrow for safe travels! We have an early start in the morning with an 8am departure - goodnight all!!
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