The only new picture I have

I attended one of Mike's work get together's and one of his coworkers said towards the end. "When I first saw you I thought your were someone's daughter and then I realized you were Mike's wife. I thought you were 18" Hard to imagine when in actuality I am 33 and this picture was indeed taken at the same event. Hmmm wonder why I don't look my age? :) My camera wasn't present at this time either but one of Mike's other coworkers took this shot.

Time flies

Can I just say that we love it here. We have been so busy but it's so fun to be here.

My family has recently gone camping to Valdez, AK. I only faintly remembered this name from the huge oil spill that happened there in the 80's I believe. They had a military appreciation day and it was wonderful. Such stunning beauty, green mountains, snow on top, crashing waterfalls. We stopped and climbed to the bottom of a glacier (so much fun). Went on a free sea life Cruise and saw humpback whales, sea otters, puffins, and a whole lot of sea lions. We went to their museum for free.

The free picnic had a huge spread of food for those attending the celebration (Mike was playing). When I think of BBQ I think hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and some sort of cookie, and there's nothing wrong with that but this was WOW! great. They fried fresh Halibut right there in front of us, rice (I don't' know where they got it since our store's been out), coleslaw, egg rolls, Greek salad, macaroni salad, hot dogs for those still wanting one, baked beans, and more I just can't remember. Then to top it off there was an ice cream bar, not the machine kind but when they scoop it and you have lots of toppings to pick from. All that said and I have no pictures to show. We can't find our camera. It's a sad thing and I've no idea where it is. I've never been good at taking pictures but now I'll really be bad at it. I was so sad to miss all those events in the form of a picture. Hopefully my memory will serve me well.

I love going on these trips, not the long drive because that usually just irritates me but this trip wasn't so bad in that area either. When the kids got cranky and bored instead of getting cranky back at them we decided to play the "Guess what Animal I'm thinking of Game by asking yes or no questions" My kids loved it! Mike and I loved it especially when we found out that David was thinking of an Musk Ox and he said "They have 2 legs in front and 2 legs in back and 2 legs somewhere else" So much fun.

We also came a little unprepared though with the load of crap we took you wouldn't think so. Our tent hasn't been used in a wet area for quite some time and I knew there were holes in it but thought nothing of it. Apparently Valdez is a pretty wet spot. We woke in the night when Jack had to pee and said "Stop, don't get off your bed" There was seriously a lake in our tent. We maneuvered very carefully to get his boots to him so he could pee out the door of the tent. Granted it was still day light since the sun doesn't sleep in the middle of the night here but we figured it'd be okay. Plus the rain washed it away right? Okay maybe that's just gross to you but I was cold and tired and not about to run to a toilet in the rain when I've got boys who are handy at taking care of these things. :)

In the morning it was rather fun to float on our little rafts ( air mattresses). It was quite the adventure and I really did enjoy it. Mike's bandsmen felt sorry for us and rearranged so we could have a hotel room. I was ready to tough it out again since the kids sleeping bags weren't wet but ours was soaked so we gladly took a hot shower and slept in the free bed. :) Memories made.

I highly recommend visiting Valdez, AK if you get the chance. It was wonderful, rain and all. Pack an umbrella or wear a rain coat and enjoy.