Glacier Fun

We also took the family up to the Matanuska Glacier.  This is a huge glacier that you are able to hike out to and walk all over.  It is amazing.  It was a beautiful day and we all had a blast.

River Rafting

We took the family rafting on the Matanuska River.  One night, we rounded up a ton of rain gear, boots, life jackets, etc.  and loaded into the cars and took off.  We drove about 1 hour and put into the river about 7:00 pm.  It was so much fun.  The current was fast and the rapids were big.  I think some of us were extremely nervous, but we made it!  We all got a little wet, but it was worth it....right, Mat?

Talkeetna, Alaksa

One day we drove up to Talkeetna.  It was really cloudy when we left and I just knew that the mountain (Mt. Mckinley) wouldn't be out, but it was the only day we had.  As we made the turn and headed into town, I looked out my window and just screamed....Katie thought it was a bear, but it was the Mountain.  So beautiful!

Of course we had to make a stop at The Roadhouse!  The best place ever for Sour Dough Pancakes!

Homer, Alaska

We took my parents and Katie and her family down to Homer for a couple of days.  We spent some time at the beach...it was really cold and windy.  The boys had a great time and watching them you would have thought they were in California!  It was a beautiful sunny day!

Our beach toes!

And what would a vacation be without yummy food?  We ate a lot of Alaskan seafood!  Sushi, Shrimp, Halibut, and Nathan even tried his first "FRESH" oyster....yummy!

Mt. Baldy

There is a mountain not far from our house that is called Baldy.  It starts off with thick trees and vegetation and then as you get to the top it turns into tundra and open land....hence baldy!  We took the kids on this hike multiple times.  It isn't very long, but really steep.  It is beautiful all the way up and the view on top...although one night we got caught in the clouds and could't see much.  One night, Jared decided to take us down a different way then we ever had before.  It was a disaster!  VERY steep and lots of loose rocks and dirt.  My dad and mom both biffed it.  My dad did multiple summersaults down the mountain with hid nice camera in hand.  My mom tried to hurry to help him and fell herself.  It was a nightmare.  We all came away ok,  but we will NEVER take that way again!

We also found wild blueberries growing on the way up.  We all spent some time picking them and of course eating them!

Cousins come to Alaska!

My sister Katie and her boys, Ben and Sam came to visit!

We were so excited!  The boys had the time of their life!  They spent hours building a zipline in the back yard and hours jumping on the tramp.  we did lots of hiking, shopping, and exploring.  We were exhausted!

One day it was so warm (really in the 80's) so we took them to Mirror Lake.  They had a great time rafting and having water gun fights.  Nathan Ben swam across the whole lake (remember, Alaska water isn't warm) to the Scout Camp.  Katie took the boat over to rescue Ben, but Nate swam back.

We also took them over to Lake Hood.  This is the largest water airport in the USA.  We watched some planes land and take off, and wished we could fly on one!

The Otis's come to visit!!!!!

Our best friends from Louisiana came to experience their trip of a lifetime in Alaska!  It was so great to reconnect and get the two Nathan's together again!  They couldn't of had better weather for their vacation...sun, sun and more sun!

We were able to spend a few days with them showing them some great hikes close to our house!  We hiked Baldy one day and they got their first view of Mt. McKinley.

We also hiked to Thunderbird Falls one evening.

We had a couple other adventures planned...river rafting and glacier hiking, but some of them got sick....guess that just means they have to come back again!