First Camping of the Season

May 2-3, 2009

It is finally time to roll out the camper from the garage. The weekend was predicted to be sunny and warm, a sharp contrast from last years summer. The destination for the s weekend, Eagle River Campground. Eagle River is just a short drive from Anchorage. It is the perfect destination for a shake down outing. If we forget anything, there is always the Fred Meyers in Eagle River!!

The Burro really works out well for one to two day weekend adventures. We are getting too old, or maybe just too set in our ways to sleep in a tent on the ground anymore. A few of our friends have campers as well, it makes it easy to get the kids together and enjoy the outdoors. Laurie and Karl along with their two kids brought their camper along for the weekend. Dustin and Cecile with their two kids just recently purchased a small motor home and brought that along for it's very first outing. It will be a fun shakedown weekend for all involved.

We got kind of a late start so I was worried about finding a spot together in the campground for the three families. It is always more fun when everyone can be together. The problem with getting there late was that this was the opening weekend for the campground, this campground is really a short drive to Anchorage, and on top of that the weather was for casted to be sunny and in the 70's all weekend. I just imagined everyone and their cousin heading out to Eagle River Campground for the weekend. We left our house around 11:00 and headed to Carr's grocery store to meet up with Dustin. We ran in to get a few things and then waited in the car. Dustin and his crew must have been busy with last minute packing because we waited an hour before they rolled into the parking lot. Now we were really behind schedule!! We headed out to Eagle River, and didn't roll into the campground until after 1:00. The campground looked crowded so I was a little nervous. We headed down the back loop and found a spot half way down the road. I immediately pulled in not wanting to chance someone pulling in behind me and grabbing the spot. We got lucky this time. The spot immediately next to our spot was also open, so Dustin pulled right into that one, as an added bonus, it could accommodate two campers. This left room for Karl and Lori's camper. All three of us were able to camp together despite the fact that we got to the campground late on a Saturday. The planets must be in alignment!!

The weather was warm enough to run around in shorts and a t-shirt. The kids took full advantage of this an ran down to the river to throw rocks into the water. The little bit of snow and ice left on and around the river reminded us that it was still early spring, even thought we were currently enjoying 70 deg. temps.

We all had a kind of pot luck style dinner with everyone bringing their favorite dish.

The little Burro camper has undergone quite a transformation since we first bought it in 2006 at a Houston pawn shop. In addition to a totally new interior, flat screen TV and a retractable awning, this year I built a bunk bed for the two boys. While the camper is very small, the addition of the bunk bed has made a big difference to the living space.

Dustin was showing off his new "toy". This class III motorhome is really a nice size for his family. The cool thing about this motorhome is the VW van front. Dustin has a red VW van at home for his daily driver, and he said that this camper drives much like the van. The interesting thing is that the van is front wheel drive.

Scootering around the campground was the favorite activity of the weekend. The road was paved and there was a hill with a nice grade right in front of our campsites. There wasn't much traffic on this back loop, so we didn't have to worry too much about the kids in the road.

We had a great spot for a fire, right next to the campsite. There was a nice hill behind the campfire where the kids could run up and down away from the road as it got dark. The adults could relax for a bit around the campsite, but still maintain visual contact with the kids on the hill. At one point some older kids were making a bunch of noise on the hill, it was after 10:00 and Sammie was trying to get to sleep in the camper. Someone went over and told them to keep it down as to not wake the little ones. A few minutes later, the group was still making noise, a bit more than earlier, so I went over there and asked them again to keep it down, I think that I said something like, "If you don't keep it down, one of you will have to take care of the kids when you wake them up!!!". I used the "stern" voice as to not create any confusion with the group. I found out later that one of the group had actually stepped in a hole and blown out his knee. They were initiating a "rescue" of some sorts. Opps . . . I felt kind of bad for yelling at them, but the end result was that they didn't wake the kids up, so I guess it all worked out.

The fire in the above picture is the last remnant of a lawn ornament we "acquired" with the house. There were two reindeer woven out of some sort of reeds. They originally stood up in the yard. They looked kind of old when we got them, and the legs were bent funny so they didn't stand up anymore. We started a fire with one of them last year, so it was fitting that the first campfire of the season be started with the last and final stick "reindeer". I'll say one thing, that sucker really burned hot. It took only one match and we had flames shooting up 3 - 4 feet. Goodbye Mr. Reindeer, thanks for ushering in summer for us!!

Sunday's weather was even better than the day before. We awoke to more sunny skies and warm temps. Everyone had a peaceful nights sleep in the Burro, the kids slept til 8:30. I had bought these cool trays the day before at Fred Meyer's with Dustin. I called them "prison trays", because they remind me of what you see prisoners eating on in the movies. Renee had prepared a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, muffins and fruit the day before. All we had to do was microwave everything. By preparing the day before, there is a lot less prep work . . . and more importantly a lot less clean-up.

After breakfast the three families all got together , let the kids play for a while (more scooters), and then went on a short hike to the Eagle River rapids. We maybe hiked a mile and took a short break on a sandbar, throwing rocks, and playing on the banks of the river, before heading back.

Our trip to Eagle River Campground was a great first trip of the season. We didn't forget anything too important, the camper worked flawlessly and we got to explore a campground we had not been to before. We will be in for a fun summer if every trip goes as flawlessly as this one, and the weather cooperates!!

Zoo Run

May 2, 2009

The Alaska Kids Zoo Fun Run was a really fun event sponsored by the . . . well the Zoo.

We got to the zoo fairly on time and marched directly over to the sign in tables. There were already quite a few people that had signed up. The event was well attended and there were scores of parents hovering over their kids as they prepared for the big run. We had dressed Zach in running shoes, shorts and an "Alaskan Grown" T-Shirt. The event had t-shirts included in with the runners packet of "stuff", so we switched out shirt so Zach could look like all of the other kids in his age bracket.

I love this picture of Zach. This was his first race, and he was very excited to be there for the event!

Zach was in the one of the first age categories to run. It was smart to split the kids up into different race heats, otherwise things could have gotten ugly. The race start line was super crowded with parents trying to send off their kids. This made it next to impossible for the kids needing to be in the next race to make it to the start line. So, I got as far up as I could, and then told Zach to muscle his way to the front and I would see him at the end. It was a bit disconcerting to leave Zach in such a large group of people by himself (Renee was with Sam), but he did fine. As I started to head to the finish line to watch the racers come through, I realized that Zach wasn't in the first round of kids to race, the first race was for the girls. So I raced back to the start line and now I had to muscle my way to the front. There I found Zach waiting with the other boys getting ready to run in the second heat of the race (I didn't want him disqualified in his first race). He was on top of things.

Since I was there anyway, I stuck around for the start of the race, and found a good spot to take a few pictures of him heading out. Racers . . . On your mark . . . get set . . . GO!!! Off they went, this crazy mass of little kindergarten aged kids all in red shirts. They followed the race marshall around the course set up in and around the zoo. As the kids took off and Zach went around the corner on his way to the finish, I hopped back over a small fence and raced back to the finish line.

The flyer for the race said that the course for the young kids would be a quarter mile, but I don't think that this was the case. The course may have been a hundred yards at most. By the time I reached the finish line, racers were already coming in. I did however make it in time to see Zach cross the finish line.

Zach was very proud to show off his ribbon for finishing the race. There were no 1st, 2nd, 3rd place ribbons, just ribbons to show that you participated.

Afterwards, Zach got a blue Gatorade that was being handed out to racers, and he got to meet Grimmace. I have not seen Grimmace from the McDonald's gang in a very long time. I guess that they must have dragged him out of retirement for this event.

The sun was out, the race was just the right amount of time, and everyone had a great time at Zach's first big race!

1st Friday Art Show(s)

May 1, 2009

We hardly every get invited out to attend a special event anywhere in town. But on this particular Friday we got invited to two!!

I guess I never realized that we had such talented friends. The first event that we attended was a first Friday Art showing for our friend Gina Murrow. The art show was in Anchorage at the newly remodeled Kinley's Restaurant. Gina in the wife of someone I used to free-lance for, Dave. We have kept in touch over the years, but it had been a while since I had visited with his family. Time flies, the kids are grown and have kids of their own, and Gina has emerged into an artist; painting Alaskan scenes, flowers and other tropical things on silk scarfs with watercolors.

The boys did pretty good at the event. Sam did not want to miss out on any of the action, so he requested that he be held most of the time. Zach was not content to just walk around quietly and look at all of the nice artwork. He would rather be five and run around the restaurant. We didn't stay long. But we cherished the few moments that we had, and then quickly left. On to the next juggling act!!

We drove out to Jitters Coffee Shop in Eagle River for the next event, another art showing. The people hosting this show, our good friends Ed and Georgia are armature photographers. Over the past few years Ed and Georgia have really honed their hobby into a semi-professional gig http://www.bennettimages.com/. They shoot mainly Alaskan nature scenes, with a slight emphasis on panorama shots. This show also featured some of the photographs the two of them had taken on a trip to France. A little something for everyone.

We did a bit better at this show with the kids than we did at the previous one. This event had food, which did wonders at keeping the kids busy for a bit. Then when we realized that the food had no more allure for Zach, I remembered I had my i-Phone with me. I gave it to hem so he could play a game, and it was like someone switched him off. He took the phone, sat on the couch and played games on the i-Phone for about 30 minutes before it was time to leave. He didn't run around, he didn't talk loud, he just sat there. If for no other reason than to let Zach play games, I will always have an i-Phone. It is the best money I have ever spent. We finished up the party like normal adults, and then headed back home. It was a fun evening; two art shows, good hoers d'oeuvres, and the new knowledge of the power to control kids, locked inside an i-Phone. Fun for the whole family!!

Volcano

Volcano Time!

We live just over a hundred miles away from a very active volcano. Mt. Redoubt is building up a large lava dome and is thought to erupt at any moment. Of course the people at the Alaska Volcano Observatory have been telling us that for months. I am sure that we are due for another explosion, the big question is when!?!

I was talking to Dad the other day, and he was excited about a new web cam that the Alaska volcano observatory had installed on their webpage. I told Dad that I too was looking at the volcano. He asked if I was on the webpage and looking at the camera, "No", I replied, "I am looking at the volcano from my bedroom window!!". We don't get to see the volcano all that often due to atmospheric conditions, but when we do get a chance to see it, it is usually pretty spectacular. Redoubt in these shots was shooting steam and some ash 15,000 feet into the air.

When it is out, Mt. Redoubt is most spectacular at night. The glow from the sunset really accentuates the steam plume coming from the mountain. No one knows when the volcano might blow, but I hope we are ready. In the meantime, it is just neat to look at something I had only previously seen in textbooks.

Birdhouse

April 25, 2009 - Guest blogger, Renee

Grandma and Grandpa took Zach to Lowe's to build a birdhouse while we were in Belize.  It is pretty nice in that it has a clear plastic back so, when hung against a window with the suction cups, you can see inside of it.  We hung it up and listened to Zach's disappointment for a couple of days that no bird had flown into it yet.  Doug and I took advantage of Grandma and Grandpa's last day in Alaska and went to a non-PG or G movie.  After the movie we went to Michael's crafts and purchased a fake bird complete with nest and eggs.  

We all laughed until our sides hurt.  Zach came down to breakfast the next morning and spotted the bird right away.  We don't know if he truly believes, or wants to believe that it is real.  The bird never moves, yet Zach wants to know when the eggs are going to hatch - I am not sure how we are going to pull that off!

Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!

April 26, 2009 - Guest blogger, Renee

All good things must come to an end.  We all had a great time during the 4 weeks that Grandma and Grandpa were here in Alaska.  Zach and Sam sure did enjoy their visit.  Doug and I appreciate them taking on our daily routine for 10 days so we could go on vacation!  Now they fully understand the craziness at our house and why it is so hard for us to talk on the phone some times!

Grandpa sure is a favorite.....he thinks the same of Zach and Sam.

I think there is a sweet spot in Grandma's heart for Sam.  Mom and Dad have really gotten to know Sam well as they were retired when Sam was born and were able to spend the first 3 months of his life with him.  It has been a lot of fun for them to see the changes in a year.  

Thanks again for all your help, we hope to see you again soon!

Zach's New Ride

April 19, 2009

Every so often you run into a good deal on something, and have to get it. The deal this particular time benefited Zach in a big way. A few days ago, on the way back to the house, we all spotted a "open house" sign in the neighborhood. Renee's Mom really enjoys looking at the different layouts of the houses in our area so we stopped in for a peak. The house was nothing too special, and everyone did a brief tour. On the way out, Zach asked the owners where the garage was. The children were grown and off to school but the family selling the house still had a fun toy, from when their kids were smaller in the garage . . . and he was willing to sell it cheap!!

We left the house empty handed, but I ended up going back the next day to buy this new fun "toy". I kept it a secret from Zach until I had it ready to roll. Once all of the adjustments were made, I blindfolded Zach and led him out side. He was very excited!!

His very own 4-wheeler!!! Talk about an excited little boy. I told him that this was an early present for his 5th birthday. He kept saying this was his first present, so I went along with that for now. The 4-wheeler is in perfect shape. It had been lightly used, and despite being seven years old, looked almost new. I bought the unit for about a third of what they go for new online. The 4-wheeler took about 20 minutes to get tuned up. That included filling it up with gas, airing up the tires and charging the battery. I thought that I would probably need a new battery, but everytime I start it, it fires right up.

The thing is really cute, and just the perfect size for Zach. I governed down the throttle so it won't go too fast.

He loves the 4-wheeler. He likes the fact that it is just like his Daddy's machine. Zach took a few days to get acclimated to driving on the sidewalks. We make sure that he doesn't go too fast (even governed down and in 1st gear it is capable of going faster than I can run, it has four gears!!!), he stops at the street crossings and looks both ways, and most importantly, that he keeps his eyes on the road. He had trouble with that at first. He was always looking back making sure that we were behind him. He ran into a park bench while not paying attention!!! He got much better with a bit more experience.

Here I am demonstrating the best safety feature of the 4-wheeler, the safety leash! There is a loop on the back of the machine that you can attach a leash to. I used our retractable 20 foot dog leash. The idea behind the leach is if Zach gets going too fast, or if he looks like he is going to run into something he shouldn't be running into, I can just yank on the leash and kill the engine. The loop on the back is really a kill switch. On yank on the loop with the leash and the engine dies. It is a great fail safe.

A giant bunny left what?!?

Easter 2009 - Guest blogger, Renee

Zach had colored an Easter Egg at Church with Grandma and Grandpa during a kid's craft day. He was thrilled to color a few more eggs.....these were actually done a week after Easter.  Zach had a hard time understanding that you don't get to color them and then keep them forever, he was quite upset that we would crack them and use them!  His hands were stained brown for about two days after the coloring adventure!

The morning of Easter Zach was up early inspecting what the Easter bunny brought him. Grandma and Grandpa had done a great job of putting together a wonderful Easter basket for him.  He is such a believer at this age, we don't really encourage or discourage the belief in the Easter Bunny, Santa, Tooth Fairy, etc, but Zach wants to believe so much.

Checking out all the goods that the Easter Bunny left.

There was still a little snow on the ground and the grass was wet, so we decided to put out the Easter eggs inside so Sam could also get involved in the action. Zach and Sam had a great time picking up the eggs and putting them in their baskets.  Zach wasn't even upset that they were empty.  Later in the day, when Zach was in the garage with Doug and Grandpa, Grandma and I put all the eggs out in the house again.  Zach was so upset and angry when he came back in, we simply told him that the Easter Bunny must have come again and he was instantly into collecting them again.  Oh, the joys of being the Easter Bunny!

Doug up to no good with a plastic egg.  Doug also believes in the Easter Bunny as long as a chocolate rabbit shows up every year!

One small step for Sam, one giant leap . . .

April 20, 2009

Sam really started putting one foot in front of the other this week. He is really proud of himself for being able to walk like the "big kids". I guess it is the end of life as we know it in the Huntman household!!

He started out using his walker, but quickly grew tired of that and just walked on his own. Seems like not that long ago that Zach was doing the same thing . . . with the exact same walker!

Grandpa was having an excellent time teaching young Sammie the virtues of walking on two legs.

Everyday Sammy takes a few more steps, and goes a bit further each time. I notice now that he is getting into things that he wasn't able to reach before. The force is strong with this one. I think that he is going to be a challenge for some time to come. What a cutie!!

Spring has sprung

April 19, 2009

Well it has finally warmed up enough to begin doing a little yard clean-up. I had a couple of trees in the backyard that blew down last fall and needed to be cut up for firewood. Duane took some time to help me out with this job.

We got the ol' chainsaw out and started working on the smaller of the two trees first. It didn't take long to get it cut up into sections. Some parts of the tree were still stuck to the ground. I guess everything wasn't as un-frozen as I thought.

Duane helped out with bucking up the tree so I could move it from it's present location. He also helped out by splitting all of the logs, so they could be used as firewood for our camping trips. (big job!!!) There is now a bunch of wood on the side of the house, waiting for the next adventure. Thanks Duane!

The Z-man was also anxious to get outside and "help out". He had his safety helmet on and really helped . . . by not helping. He was very interested in how everything worked, and what we were going to do with the tree once it was cut up. He too wanted a turn with the chain saw. No . . . not this time.

Almost over the Hill

April 18, 2009


Another year older. Glad I made it this far. Can't believe I am almost 40?!? Where did the time go?


I initially wanted to get a caramel and peanut butter pie from Carr's for my birthday, the store was out of pie so I got this cake instead. It turned out to be really good. Thanks Duane and Anne for the cake!

I had some help blowing out the candle from my big helper. Zach takes any opportunity he can get to blow out a birthday candle. I don't know if he is in it for the wishes or what??

Birthday tradition of eating at Panda for my big day. Panda is kind of a hole in the wall, but they have the best Mongolian Beef on the planet. I believe that this is the third year in a row going to Panda for my birthday. I may have to spice it up next year for my 40th, and go somewhere a bit fancier, or maybe I'll just go back to Panda . . . in a limo!!


A great shot of all of the "Boys" after enjoying a great meal of Mongolian Beef. It was a great birthday spent with family. Here is to another year!!