August 2014

Dear friend,

This month began with a visit from a dear friend.  I woke up one morning thinking about my grade school friend Alya, looked her up on Facebook, and shot her a message only to find out that her husband is from Albuquerque and they would be heading through Santa Fe a few weeks later.  We hadn't spoken in over 10 years.  It was so fun to catch up!

One weekend Elias and I took the kids down to the plaza for some Santa Fe adventures.

We tried some gourmet donuts and a new "New Mexican" food joint.  They sure are fun, but the kids are getting a little more tricky at restaurants.

The next weekend we took the kids to the zoo.  Summer loves the hippos.

Boyd absolutely loved all of the animals.  He was so excited the entire time.

Smith couldn't care less about the animals...in fact, I'm pretty sure he didn't even crack an expression until we pulled out the snacks.

Another great outing came when a friend set us up with a tour of a local organic farm.  

Summer was a little disappointed when there were no hippos...and no cows...but the carrots seemed to satisfy.  

The boys on the other hand were focused on one thing. The farm cat.  

As docile as that cat was, it didn't take long before I realized that my boys were a little too much for her.     (She actually made it quite clear by drawing a little blood from Boyd's head.)

The month was filled with lots of growing-toddler activities.  Including shaving cream painting with Daddy, 

enjoying a new slide, 

visiting with firefighters, 

crafting, 

staying out of the sun at the park,

running around the house, 

going to the children's museum, 

facetiming, 

becoming mesmerized by the washing machine, 

and setting new fashion trends.  (The boys love wearing sweatbands.  Boyd wore this for hours one day, just tromping around the house like a thug.)

Summer and I were even able to take a little gymnastics class together.  She was awesome!

This month I also turned the big 3-0.  Elias came home early with flowers and babysitter.  He took me out to a gorgeous dinner and we had a great night.  He's the best!

The month came to a climax as we spent the last 10 days in Alaska!  We have yet to fly out of the Albuquerque airport with all of our children without a delay.  This time we showed up at 8:30 for our 10:00am flight only to find out that we would be delayed until 5:30pm.  It actually worked out great.  Instead of two layovers, we only had one and we arrived around the same time we were planning to anyway.  So we just took the kiddos to the Albuquerque children's museum and then all took a nap in the airport parking lot before heading in for our flight.  (Seriously...all 5 of us were asleep for over an hour!)

We began our Alaskan adventures in true style as we hit up the State Fair.  We saw some gorgeous flowers and the largest cabbage I have ever seen.  

We enjoyed the fair spectacles, 

saw lots of animals, 

and shared the best ruben sandwiches ever!

From there we headed to my parents place for a little grandparent bonding. 

Unfortunately my dad continues to try to influence their style.  

But they were in heaven!

Summer had been waiting months for this.  

She talked my parents' ears off.  

It was fun to hear about the campaign and see everything they had been working on the last few months. 

After a few days of visiting with friends and family, we picked up an RV and hit the open road for five days.  

The RV was bigger than expected...lots of room for monkeying around!

Whenever the kids got a little restless, we would just pull off for an in-house party...or a nap.  

Our first stop was Alyeska, which was absolutely gorgeous.  After a quick look around we headed further south. The wildlife reserve was incredible.  We saw so many huge animals.  It was a little scary; they were far more wild and alive than anything you see in the zoo.  

We hit the road again and the kiddos got a little restless in Soldotna so we pulled over, only to find a toddler rest-stop paradise!  A room full of bounce houses.  It even happened to be "Toddler Tuesday"!

After that party the kids fell asleep in the RV, but that didn't stop E & I from trying some of the local eats.  

That night we stayed in a luxurious RV campground right on the beach in Homer.  

We walked down the spit, 

enjoyed the shops and found a place to eat.  

Boyd would pick up large rocks and then bring them into his carseat so he could talk into them as though they were cell phones.  

I wish I got a picture of the RV in its full glory.  We had a blast in it.  Summer loved her little bunk bed.  She would go in there with all of her books and pull the curtain closed to have her own private hideout.  

Homer was gorgeous!

We spent the rest of our RV time traveling to, and enjoying Seward.  On the way there, Summer fell asleep in her carseat, but the boys wanted to party, so we just pulled over to look at a lake and let them walk for a bit.  One minute into it, they of course wanted to touch the water so their coats came off. 

Then they desperately wanted to stick their feet in, so their shoes came off.  

Minutes later they were completely in the water.  

They were soaked and sandy, but luckily we could just flip on the hot water and shower them right there in the RV.  All while Summer soundly slept.  

Seward was absolutely gorgeous!  It was rainy when we arrived at Exit Glacier, but we just bought cheapo ponchos, wrapped up the family, and walked the mile to the viewing spot.  

It was breath-taking.  

We also loved the SeaLife Center.  

Even the view outside the SeaLife Center was beautiful.  

From there it was back up to Anchorage to explore downtown with my parents.  

And try the famous Moose's Tooth Pizza with the Walsers.  It totally lived up to its reputation.  So did the Walsers!  I grew up with Mandy and Ian and they are one of the coolest couples I know.  They now live in Anchorage and have two darling little girls that became Summer's heros and they introduced her to all things princess.  They opened up their home to us and getting to spend time with them made this trip that much better.  Thank you Mandy & Ian!  My parents were kind enough to watch all of our kids for an evening so we could go see a movie.  I felt like I was in high school again. Thanks Mom & Dad!

We spent the next day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  Boyd especially loved seeing all the sled dogs.   

Doesn't Elias just look like a mountain man?!

This is the only situation in which I could be that close to a whale and still have a smile on my face.  

On our last day we were able to squeeze in a hike.  

Luckily the path was smooth enough (kind of) that we were able to use our stroller, but...we still got a few stares.   (This picture is Elias asking, "Really, Brittany?  We're really going to do this hike!")  Of course we are!  I didn't marry all that muscle for nothing!

All in all, it was an awesome trip.  A lot of work, but a lot of fun.  The flight home was something we'll have to forget before booking another trip like that, but no worries!  It was a blast to spend so much time as a family.  We have great kids and Elias is the best ever.  I hope things are going well for you and yours.  Wishing you the best!

Love always, 

Elias, Brittany, Summer, Boyd & Smith