Uncle Jared

I am pretty certain there is not a more patient uncle on this planet than Jared Choate.  While waiting to leave on his mission he came to visit us for 2 weeks.  He endured 8.7 million questions about Minecraft, Legos, and Star Wars.  Clark is now a Star Wars junky despite never having watched the movie. 

We tried to show Jared some Alaska sites, but my pregnant/tired body didn't prove to be that adventurous.  We did a few fun things, but mostly just hung out.  He was able to check a few things off his bucket list though -  seeing a moose (3 right out in our front yard!), seeing the Northern Lights (a poor display of them after driving around for an hour, but we saw them!), using an apple/peeler/corer/slicer, and eating moose meat.  I count that as a successful trip.  

The boys loved having him here and Isaac cried the whole way home from the airport, "Me no want Jared to go on his mission. That my uncle!!"  Jared will be missed but we're excited for him to be a missionary! 

Caterpillar wonders

Jared made "robot" costumes for the boys. They were a hit.

We tried ice skating at the local arena. And by "we", I mean Jared and Clark went for 20 minutes.  Clark did pretty good for his first time. 

And Isaac just looked cute in his beanie

We tried a cool park in Anchorage that had zip lines and cool swings.

Anchorage Museum served us well - we even got the membership. 

 

This kid is killing me lately with his cuteness.  Add that to his new found love of talking and it's pretty awesome.

Jared is an animal whisperer. 

Isaac's face is the BEST. Zoom in.

Jared, come back in 2 years and we'll try to do some more exciting things!  But my boys will talk about your visit for weeks.

Preschool

Clark started preschool at the beginning of September.  He goes 2 days a week for a few hours at a local church.  I was hesitant to send off my first born, but it has been really great for him (and me). He is super social and loves to learn, so getting out of the house a couple times a week is great for him. Parents have to volunteer about once a month and Isaac gets to go on those days with me.  He loves it too.

 

The Rosenvalls Come to Town

Chris' parents and brother Alex came to visit the first week of August. We tried to show them some of the popular sites in Alaska. Despite a few days of bad weather, we were able to see a lot and had a great time visiting! 

Matanuska Glacier

Just because he usually gets left out of the pictures because he's taking them :) 

Cook Inlet - view from Point Woronzof in Anchorage

We stopped at Portage Glacier on our drive down to Seward - another coastal town on the Kenai Peninsula.

You have to take a ferry to see this glacier.

It rained the ENTIRE time we were in Seward. The boys made the best of our trip there without any toys. Hopefully the vacation rental owners don't mind that their cushions turned into a "jail". 

Strawberry patch outside our vacation house. Our berry loving children were a little obsessed.

Don't mess with this captain! 

We stopped at a Blueberry Festival in Girdwook, AK on the way back from Seward. 

Wild blueberries all over for the pickin'!  We didn't really come prepared to pick  buckets of them but Clark enjoyed a few handfuls.

Random wood carving competition on the drive home.

Independence Mine in Hatcher's Pass

Playing in the old mining cars

Clark and Uncle Alex really bonded on this trip.  They teased and teased each other. And laughed and laughed. I didn't seem to get any pictures of them together though!  Unfortunately Vova (grandma in Portuguese) had to sit between them on every car ride we went on. But she was a good sport and I think she'll still come back to visit again sometime! ;)

Thanks for coming!