Something special along Lake Superior

Lyndsay's and Bud's wedding was held at the Lutsen Resort along Lake Superior. It was incredibly beautiful! After a couple of drinks to unwind from the long drive from the airport, followed by a nap in the car, I woke up just in time to meet up with the girls who were headed down to the lake. There was a bonfire on the shore of the lake and I had the chance to meet Lyndsay's friends and family. Everyone was so nice and so much fun to be around.

I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at the last minute with 3 super awesome women! Jack, (who was the only one there I already knew), Mel, and Karen. Lyndsay stayed overnight in the room with us and we had a little jacuzzi party, drank margaritas, and had some good quality girl talk. It had been years since I had seen Jack and about 2 since I had seen Lyndsay. Some of my most memorable single days include my adventures with Lyndsay and Jack. It felt so great to be there with them.

The day of the wedding I didn't know what to expect. I thought I would end up being in the way, but instead I was fortunate enough to be able to help out a bit. Curling hair may not seem that exciting, and it may seem silly, but I was as happy as a pig in poop to be curling my friend's hair on her wedding day.

The wedding itself was very simple and very special which reflects Lyndsay all the way. I was so incredibly fortunate to be present. Lyndsay is just an awesome person, and there's no other way I could ever make anyone who doesn't already know her see that about her, aside from just stating it. I don't know Bud except from what I've heard about him from Lyndsay, but I have to believe that he's a very good man in order for him to have Lyndsay as his wife. I'm so very happy for them both, and I wish them all the very best that marriage has to offer.

And to my friend and partner in life: Darius, there's no way I can adequately express how extremely grateful I am to you for graciously handling up on the boys and giving me the opportunity to be there at my friend's wedding. I have some very special memories now that I'll have with me forever, and you're at the root of them. I love you, thank you!

Lucky me!

The Thursday before last we had planned on flying out of Cordova with the Bacon's as far as Seattle. They were scheduled to leave the following morning back to FL, and we had plans to fly to MN for my friend Lyndsay's wedding. The flight load to MN went from good to terrible in about a week, and we knew there was no way all 4 of us would make it there in time for the wedding let alone get home in time for Darius to be back to work. Since Darius already had the time off from work he volunteered to stay home with the boys and at let me try my luck on the flights. He didn't like the idea of me traveling alone but knew how important it was for me to be there. Lucky me for having such an awesome hubby!

Getting to Seattle almost didn't happen for the Bacon's. The rest of my family were actually traveling with us on the same flight, and we ran into a little issue when we stopped over in Juneau. Turns out the flight wasn't fully booked, but the plane was loaded down with so much fish that they were going to bump the Bacon's from the flight. Joy was headed down to Seattle for just the weekend and volunteered to be bumped instead so that they wouldn't miss their flight in the morning. I guess her empty seat was enough for the weight and balance to be just right, and the Bacon's were able to continue on to Seattle. Lucky me for having a thoughtful sister!

That night after arriving in Seattle I parted ways with Michael, Patti, and Dylan. My flight out in the morning was so early that I had planned to just stay overnight in the airport. My parents instead talked me into staying in their hotel room. I have generous parents, lucky me! In a few short hours I was up again and back at the airport waiting on standby for the first flight out to MN.

I knew ahead of time that the flight was pretty much full and that it would probably mean I wouldn't get a seat unless someone didn't show. Sure enough an agent told me that the flight had checked in full, and she would add me to the standby list for the other flight out to MN that day. I was asked to stick around the gate until it was boarded. I'm so glad I did because someone didn't show, and at the last minute I was handed a boarding pass for the last seat on the plane. Lucky me!

Sweet!!

I was hoping that we could bring a little sunshine and heat back with us from Florida...didn't happen. But despite the dreary weather we're continuing to have, we're trying to make the best out of it. Darius took Michael and Dylan fishing over the past few days. They caught one good-sized halibut and were able to see some wildlife and a couple of the fishing vessels from Deadliest Catch.

Patti and I stayed closer to home. We walked around town a bit, took the boys to lunch, did a little shopping, and Patti graciously allowed me to go off on rants about everything and talk her ear off. I must keep reminding myself not to get so carried away....you're a saint for putting up with me Patti!

Dylan was excited about his first encounter with snow.

Today we took a drive out the road to Childs Glacier. The weather was chilly and overcast and we weren't too sure how enjoyable it would be when we got there. We left prepared to have a good time regardless. We took firewood, hot dogs, and fixings for smores. We ended up having a great time. I've been to the glacier a number of times, and I was blown away with how much activity there was today. I have never seen it calve so many times, and I was so excited the Bacons were there to see it.

We had a full carload as it was, so the boys stayed home with Grandma. Thanks Mom for helping out!

West to East and back again...

Last weekend I took off from Mom responsibilities for a few days and flew down to FL to pickup our lovely Bacon friends who are here visiting Alaska for the first time. I'm an excellent pilot in my spare time. I arrived on Thursday evening, and we left the following morning. We arrived in Seattle and had the rest of the day to explore. We took the train from the airport to the Westlake Center and walked down to Pike's Place Market. It was their first time there, and it was fun to see how much they enjoyed it. I took advantage of the great fresh produce and filled 2 bags to take home with me. I was also pretty excited to eat a delicious pocket full of goodness from Piroshky Prioshky, and if that wasn't heaven the coconut ice cream that followed later on certainly was. Mmmm!

We worked our way over to Chinatown after walking along the waterfront. There we stopped by the awesome Uwajimaya Asian Food and Gift Market. We were starting to hit a wall when we arrived and probably could have spent a lot more time exploring the store if we had more energy.

After unloading our goods at the hotel we headed back out for dinner, and after a quick and delicious meal we promptly headed back to get our butts to bed. It had been a super long day that started around 3:30 AM on the East Coast and ended an exhausting 19 hours later on the West Coast. Unfortunately there was no time to sleep in, and we were up again super early to check in for our flight to Alaska.

It's a long process to get all the way from Florida to Alaska, and on stand-by travel there's always the extra element of suspense when waiting at the last minute to see if there are enough seats open on a full flight. I'm so happy that our friends were game for the adventure! We're happy to have them here visiting us!

Robot!

Zach's latest obsession is robots. Dad was flipping through channels last weekend and Transformers was on. Zach got so excited and started repeatedly shouting "Robots!" Since then we thought we'd let him watch a few kid-friendly movies showcasing robots. We started with Wall-E which he and Ben loved. I hadn't seen it before either, and I thought it was a cute movie. We also rented Robots for him. Another big hit. Before Zach saw Robots Joy broke out a Rodney toy figure from the movie. It was a toy included in a jumbo Christmas stocking she won last December. She also found a cute wind-up dancing robot at the drug store that she bought for him. Well, we're on day 5 now and Zach won't part with either robot for very long. I'm not exaggerating. He literally has had one or both robots in hand for probably 95% of the day. He eats with them, and "feeds" the robots. He takes them along on our walks. He bathes with them. He goes to sleep with them.

We were playing outside a couple of days ago and Zach put down Rodney Robot on the back porch so that he could push around his little cart. We went down the street and all of a sudden he stopped and looked around with a puzzled look on his face and said "Robot" as though he was asking himself where it was. He immediately took off back to the house, around to the back and went right to the spot where he had left the robot.

Ben has managed to get hold of the robots a couple of times, and it has not been a pretty sight. Zach blows his top and you would think his world was coming to an end. It's a good thing that Ben isn't as passionate about robots as Zach is, or I'd have a big problem on my hands.

Zach must imagine that the robots are talking to him (definitely gets that from me) and talks back to them. I overhead him saying thank you to one of the robots the other day, as if it did something nice for him. Even the way he says robot is adorable. I love this little phase he's in!

Listen close at the end of the clip for a little something extra from Zach.