A New Car For Me Because I'm 3!

Kendall's third birthday fell over our Alaska trip so we celebrated there with some cake and with my family.  It was fun to see her get so excited over a Ballerina Barbie cake from the local grocery store!  My parents gave her a "Birthday Girl" shirt that she insisted on wearing the entire day!  

Look at that smile!

Thinking about what to wish for

When we arrived home her present was waiting to be picked up at our local Wally World.  To say she was excited when she saw me get it out of the box would be an understatement.  The girl was beyond happy to finally get her Barbie car.  It's a pink convertible Ford Mustang - I would have loved the same thing at her age, but maybe in red and without all the Barbie stickers on it!

Here we are trying assemble all the pieces

Riley contemplating the directions

Both of them trying to help Momma work

Getting closer

Just waiting for stickers and the battery to be charged

Ready to roll!

Thank you to all who helped contribute to this birthday gift for Kendall.  She loves it but I've requested Andy give her driving lessons.  She drives like she walks - she looks down at her hub cabs instead of at the road!  When she walks around in "pretty" shoes, she looks over her shoulder down at them so she can see herself walk in the shoes!  She's already run her car into the neighbor's garage door!  I'm not ready to teach a 3 yr. old how to drive so since I had to assemble the car, Dad can teach her how to drive it!

Alaska Trip - The Sideways Spanker

You are probably wondering by now, what in the world is a "sideways spanker?"  It's a name Riley made up for a halibut.  He said that when you catch them and bring them on deck, they lie there sideways (because their eyes are on the same side of their body) and spank their tails against the deck.  The boys went on an all day wildlife/fishing charter the same day the girls went on the Gilligan tour.

They started out by seeing different parts of the bay and the wildlife, then started casting their lines.  All 4 boys were disappointed that they didn't catch more salmon (not enough time spent trying for salmon), but I think they were still happy with all of halibut, cod and rockfish they got.

Aboard in the small boat harbor in Seward

Checking out the boat

More exploring

And they are off to see wildlife in the bay

I can only imagine what Uncle Matt and Riley were discussing

Another in depth discussion with Dad

Looking for wildlife

First catch of the day!

Andy was thrilled!

Uncle Matt helping Riley with the fishing rod

Everyone checking out the next catch

Got 'em!

Getting him off the hook

Uncle Matt giving Riley a personal tour

Pointing out whales to Riley

Taking a snack break to try to settle his stomach

Looking for more whales

Riley even made a buddy on the boat

Uncle Matt's catch

Looks like a rockfish

A sideways spanker!

Got another one

Andy not feeling so good

Filleting the fish for the boys

Meeting up on the dock - our boats docked across from each other at the same time!

Happy to see her Daddy

I think Andy and Riley ate my brother out of his own personally canned salmon - well, at least put a serious dent in his supply.  Andy was determined to eat as much salmon as possible while in Alaska and I think he came close to eating it daily!  Riley enjoyed all the fresh fish as well.  He ate a lot of his favorite salmon - the sockeye salmon.  He likes them so much he got a sockeye salmon stuffed animal at a gift shop!

After we had our happy reunion, the boys took their catch to the dock to have it vacuum packed and shipped to our homes.  Ours arrived Tuesday after we returned.  Mom and Dad's will arrive after they get home from their bike trip. I know my boys are anxious to try some here on the grill.

The night after the big fishing trip, we went to a restaurant where they will prepare YOUR catch of the day and serve it to you.  Pretty cool idea, huh?  The guys took a bunch of the fish in and everyone enjoyed eating it.  Kendall even tried a fish stick that they made for an appetizer.  Sadly, I was alone in not eating anything that swims, so I enjoyed my veggie calzone instead.

Alaska Trip - The Gilligan Tour

Yes, that's right, we went on a three hour tour of Resurrection Bay - jokingly called the Gilligan Tour.  All of the girls went on this tour together while the boys went fishing all day.  The little ones were so excited for it.  They couldn't wait to get on the boat and check it out.  We were on a boat called the Orca Song.  I would have been nervous if it was the SS Minnow!

Some of the views from the boat

The sea lions were hanging out together enjoying the sunshine

More picturesque views

Isn't it gorgeous?

Bear Glacier - you can kayak around the bottom of this glacier which might be a fun trip sometime

This is how Kendall spent a majority of the trip - between my lap and my mom's.  Why is it when I want her to nap she won't, and when I want her to be awake, she sleeps?

Another view of Bear Glacier

This is what we waited about 25 minutes to see, but it was well worth the wait!

My cute little niece watching for wildlife from the boat

They both found wildlife to look at!

The girls had a blast and Kendall enjoyed the Dall's porpoise the most - she kept saying "Yook Mom!  Orcas!"

These guys were so cute - maybe 4-6 of them playing around in front of our boat after we saw the whale.

We also got to see a sea otter (but I had a sleepyhead on my lap so I could see it but not get a picture).  There were lots of birds to be seen on this cruise too!

The puffins were so cute!

I'm glad we got the chance to go see some of the bay and some wildlife - especially the whale!  Thankfully our 3 hour tour didn't end up the way the SS Minnow's did!