I Heart Juneau

Sarah’s Thoughts: Last winter really had me down with all the cold dark snowy weather, but today, I was reminded that there are some reasons that I really love living in Juneau. I love that if I want to go to the beach, I can be there in 8 minutes, stay for an hour or so and then be home. I love the taste of fresh salmon on the grill. I love that I have at least 3 mutual friends with every stranger on the street. I love that the boat harbor is 5 minutes from our house.  I love the fact that all of the meat we eat is 100% organic. I love that our T.V. antenna doesn’t receive any channels. I love that if there were to be an attack on the U.S., we’d be completely untouched and could retreat to a wilderness cabin somewhere and live off the land. I love that when the clouds clear and the sun is out, I’ve never seen such a beautiful place.

High- Forecasted 68-85 degree weather this week!

Low- Having to work when its so beautiful outside!

Luke Update: Luke has been spending time with his parents who arrived from Georgia this week. He’s hoping to take his dad out on the boat but so far, the small craft advisories have put a hold on his plans. Instead they’ve been busy casting bullets and testing out their wares at the rifle range. Luke only has 2 trips scheduled while his parents are in town, which is a quite fortutious since he had 6 scheduled the previous week. I think the plan is to go bear hunting tomorrow which will be fun for all. As you know, Luke’s bear hunting was cut short this year due to car trouble and Steve, Luke’s dad, hasn’t been for years. Cathy, Luke’s mom will be in charge of Owen until I get home from work. If that’s not paradise on earth, folks, I’m not sure what is.

Owen Update: Owen also has been getting to spend time with his grandparents. They immediately charmed him with books, a toy bus and new shoes. He got to wear those new shoes at the playground at a nearby school. His favorite is the slide- in fact, I’m pretty sure he thinks the way you say “slide” is “WEEEEEE!” He’s turning into such a big boy! We were leaving church today and Owen really wanted to say “goodbye” to his friend, Luke. He tracked his friend out the door, hugged and kissed him and then waved “bye bye!”. What ever happened to my baby?  All that kissing is a sharp contrast to his two new favorite phrases this week.  He's been doing a lot of whining, while yelling “MINE!” and ”Want That!” Could it be that the terrible twos are starting a month early?   Help!

All Aboard!

Owen and stickey

Sea Runner Cathy

Grammy loving

Weeeee!

Owen showing some intensity in his carseat

reading stories with grampa

Spic and Span

Sarah’s Thoughts: I’ve been on a spring cleaning kick. Not sure if its because we’re expecting company or if its just that time of year, but I’ve had this burst of energy to organize and simplify. It is amazing how many little things pile up. Its not that it takes a terribly long time to re-distribute the piles, throw away the old jars of mustard, or windex the glass coffee table, its just all those little things add up.  Before I know it, nap time is over and I haven't even started on the job that I intended to complete.  However, when the sun shining in the windows and the living room is dusted, its suddenly its all worth it. Like running, I vow to continue the momentum, to keep up on the housework and not let it pile up. However, like running, that’s about as far as I get... I need a consultant to schedule my week and get me on track with exercise, cleaning, meal planning, reading my bible, etc.  Where are you, Erin?  

Low- Owen’s snotty nose. You’re not suppose to be sick when its sunny!

High- Juneau AK Freecycle.com Got rid of 2 couches, a stove and a refrigerator.

Luke Update: This week was the official start of Luke’s fishing season. Its been a bit of a rocky ride so far. He had to cancel the first trip of the season due to weather. And the second trip he had an amazing killer whale experience, but found no fish. If that’s not enough, we’ve been having break problems with Luke’s work vehicle. Towards the end of the week, Luke finally found some fish and found someone to fix the breaks. Today he headed out on the trip with calm water, freshly repaired breaks and promising numbers of fish. It was shaping up to be his best trip yet! He came home this evening to tell me the breaks still aren’t fixed. Darn! Anyone want to guess how we’ll be spending our Memorial Day?

Owen Update: Owen is turing into a big boy before my eyes.  His language explosion continues with nearly 5 new words every day.  He's also been much more self-entertained lately, which has been wonderful. I actually am able to get a few things done without plugging him into the TV. He's also been very interested in zippers, especially in the zippers on his pjs.  I have this irrational fear of zippers, nervous that I’m going to zip skin. I think it stems from my mom catching my brother in his jammies when he was a baby.  I cringe every time Owen grabs at the zipper and it doesn’t help that his jammies are fitting a little bit tight these days, but he has successfully zipped them all the way up on a few occasions. 

wet face after playing with the hose

playing "peek" in the stroller

self portrait

dandelions for mama

baby in the woods

Long summer days

Sarah’s Thoughts- Last Sunday, it was not only Mother’s Day but also happened to be Luke’s Birthday. Since birthday trumps Mother’s Day, I made birthday muffins for breakfast, and had friends over for birthday dinner... steaks on the grill, halibut, corn on the cob, homemade bread, carrot cake and strawberry rhubarb pie. Delicious! We bought a new little charcoal grill this year and have been crazy about cooking on it - pork chops, back strap, king salmon, brats, you name it! Owen has taken to yelling “MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!” to let us know he’s ready for his grilled entree. The weather has been so nice, its been really hard to get excited about doing anything inside, so good thing we can cook out. Poor little Owen’s eating and sleeping schedule have been completely thrown off by the nice weather. Not only is he going to bed about a hour later then he use to, but the sun shines so bright in the morning that he’s been waking up at like 5:30 in the morning, shuffling into our room with his cuddle sleeve with a, “hey guys, what’s going on?” look on his frumpy haired, red cheeked face.

Low: Owen’s fat lip from falling off his bike. Looked like a little beak, poor kid!

High: Our Saturday boating adventure which eventually landed us on a secluded, warm and sandy beach. We roasted hot dogs, played barefoot in the sand... It was lovely.

Luke Update- Luke has had a busy last couple of weeks. Between assuming the role of Mr. Mom and getting ready for a busy fishing season, he has had his hands full. He was suppose to go on his annual spring black bear hunt this week, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he only got to go hunting one day and spent the rest of the week working on the car breaks. After much frustration and bolting/unbolting the tires, it seems like the job is done? And just in time for the first trip of the season, which is tomorrow! Despite all the distractions and disappointments, Luke has been an incredible dad and husband. In addition to making dinner every night last week, Luke has won Owen over. Usually, Owen makes it pretty obvious that he’s a full-fledged mama’s boy. However, lately, he’s been loving on the Daddy, reaching for Luke in the morning to snuggle and high-fiving for every bus spotted on the road.

Owen Update- We have really been enjoying our boy lately. I don’t know if its the sun and all the outside time, or the fact that Owen is getting a little bit older and more independent, but he’s been really happy and lower maintenance lately. At every opportunity, he’s putting on his shoes and heading outside. In the last post, I told you about Owen’s bus fascination. This week, he was going into a grocery store with Luke and there was a school bus in the parking lot. While Luke and Owen were checking-out the bus, the driver opened the door to give Owen a little tour and even let him sit in the driver’s seat. It doesn’t get much better then that, people. In addition to getting very excited about busses, he’s been loving rocks, but he calls them “rocky”. We find rocky everywhere... on the shelves, all over his room, in my shoes, even in the garbage disposal.

tending to the fire

fun in the stroller

dolly getting a ride to the boat

playing with daddy

playing trucks

mr. fix it

dump truck in action

 I've been trying to capture this picture for months

before he fell off the bike...

We've got the fever...

Sarah’s Thoughts: I remember last fall writing about new snow and how it covers up the deadness of autumn, leaving a blanket of beautiful white... Well, I am here to tell you that all that ugliness is still there underneath the snow. You’d think that 6 months would be enough time for dead leaves to decompose, but apparently, that doesn’t happen in winter. I’m considering doing some spring raking... This week, I’ve also had the pleasure of picking up 6 months worth of dog poo as it is uncovered, layer by layer in the melting snow. Most springs, I conveniently ignore our back yard, but these days, Owen is a magnet to “side” (outside). In an effort to keep my boy poop-free, I’ve been working the yard, shovel in hand. This last week, we were blessed with incredible weather- mid to upper 60’s every day and no rain, so at least poop pick up was an outside job. Oh, the things I do for my child!

Low- Expecting to go fishing with my brother on Thursday after work, only to come home to a sick, sleeping Owen. Luke got to go instead.

High- Feasting on fresh king salmon on the BBQ, courtesy of Christian and Luke. Delicious! (Luke said things like “this is better then backstrap!” and “this is the best king salmon I’ve ever tasted!” so you KNOW it was good!)

Luke Update: As you know, Luke is currently a “stay-at-home” dad. Because Owen spent the last week feverishly sick, Luke has had to forgo the roofing project and find things to do around the house. While he was a little disappointed at first, turns out Luke had a lot to do to get his boat ready for this summer’s guiding season. He managed to situate springs underneath the seats to make for a little less jarring ride. He also installed a fan for the windshield and a new stern light, not to mention scrubbed the poop deck. Besides boat projects, Luke officially finished his net and it is gorgeous if I do say so myself (see the picture below). Despite a sick boy, Luke managed to get out fishing a little bit this week. He went out with Christian on Thursday night and caught a 37” king salmon. He went on a Steelhead adventure with his buddy Jason on Saturday (fought one for 15 minutes) and then we skipped church today and went trolling for kings. The Thursday night king salmon was the only official casualty but we haven’t given up yet!

Owen Update: This has been a “S” week for Owen... sick, sun, slides. Last Sunday’s perpetual napping, contrasted with tylonol-induced playful mischief was the precedent for the week. Every day, I’d think that Owen was getting better but once the tylonol wore off, his temperature would sky-rocket to 102 and he’d have the shakes. Poor baby! Today was the first medicine-free day and he actually ate food so HOPEFULLY he’s on the mend. As previously mentioned, the sun shone gloriously all week, so when Owen was feeling up to it, he was outside in a sun hat, (thanks to Grammy) climbing around on the boat or sweeping the driveway. I took Owen to the park twice this week and we quickly discovered his very favorite thing is the slide. He usually is very cautious, but after experiencing the weightless exhilaration of the slide, he became a different child. He is a little small for most of the jungle gym-ish toys, but he’d wriggle and dolphin kick his way up to the top and fearlessly launch himself down the slide. I was so proud and he was so excited!

Sliding Fool

37" Spring King Salmon

Loving it!

Finished product.  

The picture really doesn't do this creation justice.

Napping on the boat

Kristen, Owen and Chachi styling at the beach