Whenever I sit down and write my monthly update, I scroll through my pictures from the month to help me remember what we’ve done. And somehow during the first half of May I only took like two pictures which is so very un-Millenial of me. As a result, I can barely remember what we did. Luckily the last two weeks are well documented and included many memorable experiences. So here’s a little update of what we’ve been up to and a few things that have been on my mind:
- Ben had is last day of school/work over a week ago which elicited a bit of a victory dance from of us all. Having always been in the student/teacher field, Ben always gets at least a portion of summers off and we totally love having him home. I will admit that it totally knocks us out of our routine, for better or worse, but usually there’s an upside for every downside and we definitely adjust and just try to enjoy.
- The weather is (kind of) warming up here! We’ve yet to see north of 65 degrees (and most days are in the 50s) but we are getting outside more and we love it! Our days are getting longer too-like very long. The sun doesn’t go down until after 11:15 pm and it’s up by 4:30. Which means that if one of the girls wakes up after 3 am, it’s already dawn. It’s trippy. It also makes going to bed very difficult.
- We’ve been trying to soak up as much of Alaska before we move. We went on a trip to Seward (gorgeous! It’s teeny but I’d say it’s probably one of my favorite towns I’ve visited in Alaska) so Ben could fish and we happened to be there during their Mermaid Festival which was fun to walk around and see all the mermaid outfits (people really went all out).
- We also took a little trip to Girdwood (which is very near Anchorage) to go on a hike. The scenery was just beautiful (the top picture-it was like a fairy forest!). And then we traveled to a port town called Whittier on the Prince William Sound. The town is on the other side of a mountain but a tunnel has been made through the mountain so you can access the town. It was an interesting experience (although the town definitely gave me a bit of a creepy vibe! ha! I’m a wimp!).
- A little updated on the babies: Wendy has been a bit more sassy than usual due to refusing to nap. Being two is hard stuff! She’s been getting so excited about our move-she just wants to see her cousins! A couple of weeks ago I told her we were going to pack up all of our stuff and move to Arizona. We talked about it a bit and then shifted gears to get lunch going. But Wendy stopped me and said, “Should we go pack our stuff?”
- And Greta is seriously always just what the doctor ordered. She is so sweet and snuggly and loving. Whenever she decides to give me a snuggle it is just what I need. Also for each baby now it seems like there is a point after they turn one where things just click and they start understanding things at a totally new level. Greta is there. She understands what we are saying and can follow directions. She knows when she’s doing something a little naughty before we tell her to stop. It is just so fun to watch her respond and interact. She’s also been taking lots of steps! She loves getting help and will even reach for Wendy’s hand when she’s trying to get somewhere (it’s seriously so cute) but I’ve seen her a couple times sneak off to where she thinks no one is watching and she’ll stand and take a few practice steps on her own. She is adorable. It’s too bad that she’s very shy about letting the real Greta come out-she definitely keeps quiet when others are around.
- Is it possible to mention guns without getting political? Because that is exactly what I’m trying to do because we recently bought one of these and I’m so happy with it that I want to tell everyone who’s had the same worries as me about it. It’s a large lockable gun case that fits all of Ben’s guns (he has more than one and less than ten). Ben had an old crappy safe that had a broken lock and wasn’t tall enough to fit one of Ben’s longer rifles. Since having kids we’ve worked hard to ensure the guns are inaccessible to toddlers and babies but I’ve wished we had a safe that actually worked since day one. Unfortunately, safes are incredibly expensive. But recently we found one of these cases while we were researching a safe way to transport all of Ben’s guns for our upcoming move. It was only $160 at a local store and it is incredibly secure. It has six separate latches as well as 4 points for locks. It’s difficult to open, even for me. It is much smaller than a safe and it has wheels. I just felt like I should spread the word in case anyone else is in the boat of needing a safe but being hard pressed to find money for it.
- Switching gears completely: I have been cranking out stitches on my La Passacaglia and it is coming along! I took a quick break to sew a top (post coming soon) but then I got right back to it. I’m getting close enough to the end that I’m starting to think about EPP projects to work on next. I might do another Passa but I’ve also been tempted by the Ice Cream Soda Quilt (seems very appropriate for me!) and the Mistletoe Quilt.
- Just wanted to end with a little bit of housekeeping: My family is going to be in moving mode over the next couple of months. We’re leaving Alaska in less than two weeks and we’ll be spending time in Idaho and Utah while we look for a place to live in Arizona. We are so excited and so happy to be returning to a place we love so much and are hoping we can find a place to live that will be good for our family. As far as the blog goes (not that I’ve been super consistent this past year), I’m not sure I’ll be posting much over the next two or three months but I will try to pop in occasionally with updates on us and any new projects I’m working on! Happy summer, everyone!
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