Aug 09

Don’t “Juneau” What We Did This Summer?!

Better late than never is my theme lately on life blogs. Summer is often such a whirlwind that keeps us constantly on the move; I always have the best intentions of documenting the cute and exciting things that happen, the funny moments, the unexpected surprises, and the sweet (or hilarious!), everyday comments that ring into my ears. But before I know it, another day has passed, and I realize I forgot to jot down those memories to expand on later. Staying connected through these little updates over the years helps everyone feel more involved and more present, even when we’re miles apart. It’s one way to ensure that no matter how hectic life gets -and it can get pretty hectic with three- we’re all part of the adventure, the ups and downs, the big moments and the little ones, together.

We trekked down to Juneau for nearly two weeks at the start of July, with the plan to work in state office buildings there while the girls bummed around the city with Grandma Sue, wreaking the normal triplet havoc. We broke the record on number of suitcases, and resulted in what I felt like quite the spectacle lugging everything into the airport. The girls each had a tiny, pull behind carry on stuffed to the brim with their dolls and toys, and they even dragged their booster seats to the ticket counter, with minimal grumbling and groaning on the way. TSA and getting to the gate were much easier this time around -we haven’t flown with them in about 15 months- and they were oddly displeased at the lack of requirement for shoe removal as we passed through security. In fact, they strongly expressed their disdain to the agents, who were cracking up about it as they passed through. And I can also say, going through security with three six-year-olds is faster than going through it alone for a work trip: figure that one out!!

We occupied the back row of the 737 aircraft, which is actually amazing with multiple kids in tow and minimal turbulence. Reagan wanted Mom time on the way down and everyone swapped parents on the ride back. The best part about the flight down, besides how ridiculously smooth it was (for once), were her sentiments, which mostly consisted of repeating Mom, is this dangerous? It feels dangerous. Is flying dangerous? I think it’s dangerous. Once above the clouds and leveled out, she demanded to know why aren’t we moving anymore? How do we get there if we aren’t moving? It was unusually smooth, with only bright, blue sky and a layer of clouds below, giving the “air” (haha) of stillness.

After boarding Emerie asked twenty times when we would actually move and eventually figured it out as we pushed back. Harper stopped and explained to several smiling passengers that she was a triplet, and that her and Emerie are indeed twins, with another sister being her triplet. She continued to explain she had her own sac and so did her sisters and on and on… I still find it somewhat disconcerting that the layout of them before birth is explicitly shared to random strangers at the airport, at the store, everywhere.

Flights both directions were uneventful and everyone snacked and watched Bluey or Lion Guard on the iPad with minimal fighting; Craig worked on another yarn project and I listened to music and played random iPad games. One store had iPhone looking gum containers that were also devoured on the return flight; so funny. And I now believe we can tackle a longer flight and actually leave Alaska for a trip, and we will survive it! With a full backpack of snacks.

We stayed at Papa Cliff’s house for the whole trip, pulling sleepy blondes out of bed bright and early and loading the car in pajamas and messy hair, to drop them off at Grandma Sue’s to get ready and have fun for the day. Some nights everyone went to bed smoothly, other nights resulted in random and hyper chaos. For the most part, everyone slept well once asleep, and even through all the fireworks on the 4th of July, which were much louder and more constant than at home in Anchorage. At one point I could hear Harper comforting Emerie on the loud booms, explaining they were fireworks and she didn’t need to be scared. Very sweet.

Fourth of July weather was nice for the most part, at least in Juneau standards. It poured for a few minutes during the first downtown parade, nothing raincoats couldn’t handle. It didn’t diminish any candy collection or excitement; and Juneau may have a better parade than Anchorage! This being my first experience at it -we tried during our unplanned visit in 2019 and gave up due to the lack of parking and tiny toddlers in tow- and it was really fun. We grabbed hot coffees and smoothies at Heritage and walked over for the fun. The girls wore fancy flag dresses recycled from another triplet mom, fancy braids and hair ties (of course), and to top it off everyone’s faces were bejewled with sparkly “gems,” including Craig’s. Auntie Amanda was a little harder to convince, although I do believe one, lone gem made it on her cheek after we pinned her down.

The girls retrieved SO much candy. It must be a Juneau thing to distribute saltwater taffy and all the adults seemed quite excited by that too. The biggest monstrosity of the entire event was the man handing out plastic whistles to EVERYONE, and the crowd suddenly turned into a throng of tiny noisemakers. Parents winced while the kids, of course, thought the increase in volume was fantastic. I found myself caught in the middle of this chaotic symphony, ears ringing as I tried to embrace the sound increase. It was a sensory overload, but seeing the girls’ faces light up with joy was pretty priceless, and those damn whistles were hidden not long after we returned to the house.

We trekked over to the Douglas Island parade to ensure we had enough candy…and apparently more whistles, and enjoyed lunch at Island Pub. After the second parade the girls were climbing all over Auntie Alicia and Amanda, wanting to be carried, which was great for Craig and I not giving into it (hehe). We explored the beach a bit and played at the playground, snacked on lemonade and cotton candy, and it was an all around good day.

Another reason for the timing of the trip was for Craig’s 20 year high school reunion; somehow he (we) is that old overnight. The girls played a solid two and a half hours at the playground by the barbecue, with only a bit of rain and a lot of sand to ensure everyone was very dirty by the end. They didn’t even sit down to eat their burgers, and were very tired on the way home.

Another day one of my fabulous coworkers took us out for the girls’ first boating experience. Balancing their enthusiasm with safety was crucial, as we caught waves in hopes of seeing some wildlife. Riding a boat with three kids in Alaska is a minor feat in itself, and the very reason we hadn’t attempted this adventure when they were smaller. Other than the constant adult holding each kid’s life vests as we moved, it was a pretty easy experience and no one landed in the water or needed rescuing, even our wonderful tour guide from triplet time.

The breathtaking view of rugged mountains, expansive waters, and spots of sunshine provided a stunning backdrop; it is hard to describe. Even after growing up in this inspiring state, I am still in awe at such beautiful moments and hope the kids grow to appreciate how lucky we are to be here and raise our kids here. The kids, bundled up in warm layers, were filled with excitement and curiosity, pointing out every splash, boat, and potential animal sighting. We didn’t fish and catered to the demands to see specific wildlife, including a bunch of sea lions and whales. Harper expressed her opinion that we didn’t find any wild seals -which we spotted a different day from a dock by downtown- but also enjoyed listening to the sea lions expressive conversation from a distance. Luckily the girls have their father’s DNA when it comes to motion sickness, and the movement had no resulting effects on them. It was a memorable afternoon.

In addition to the boat excursion, one morning Sue took us to a beach at a low, negative tide, to see what we could find. As you can see from the photos, no hair was done or breakfast eaten, faces were dirty, but at least we changed out of pajamas and into coats and boots! It was well worth the reduced sleep, and I enjoyed it too as an “Anchorage city girl” myself. We left with three buckets of shells and other treasures…and happy girls.

Another first that my mom heart strings weren’t completely ready for, their first sleepover without mom or dad. While my emotions were a mix of pride and a pang of sadness on the realism they continue to grow up, it went smoother than I thought it would. In fact, it was no big deal to all three, sleeping over at Grandma Sue and Papa Lon’s house, and all demanding to sleep in Auntie Manda’s bed. I question if adults had a comfortable night of sleep, but everyone seemed in good spirits the following morning, and like it was no big deal. Sob!

One day after work we explored downtown and looked around for seal earrings, one piece of jewelry Harper desperately wants me to find, and I’m not sure actually exists. In the past I’ve found a diamond panda necklace and turtle earrings, but nothing seal related (which is not surprising). Auntie Amanda treated the girls to ice cream and I even cheated on my no sugar and ate a few chocolate covered, Alaskan blueberries (SO good). Emerie found a stuffed turtle with a baby on its shell, Harper found a stuffed seal she HAD to have for the collection, and Reagan spotted a panda face plate that she wanted more than a stuffy. I am happy to report the plate even made it back home without getting broken!

We finished our two weeks of adventures with two normal tourist activities when you visit, checking out the massive whale fountain and walking out to the falls. We lucked out on clear blue skies for our downtown excursion, and the girls begged me to find enough coinage for a wish at the fountain. It was a VERY big deal. In fact, Harper wished for a fabulous pink dress OR a pet seal to live in the bathtub, Reagan wished for all the Princess Sofia dresses in the land, and Emerie insisted she couldn’t divulge her wish with me or it wouldn’t come true, so who knows what whim she willed as her quarter went into the water.

We later walked to the waterfall out by the glacier, with a huge throng of tourist buses, moving very slowly. It was the perfect mix of clouds and warmth, so the walk wasn’t overly hot or bright, and the girls didn’t complain about temperature. They did complain about distance on the return trip, on a flat, gravel pathway, but managed to survive such hardship by collecting rocks, climbing and jumping off rocks, random screaming, and befriending a baby squirrel that followed us a ways. Harper at one pointed even noted I’m tired and my feet hurt, I need water and I just want to sit and watch TV… for a walk of less than a mile each direction!! The falls were beautiful and surprisingly loud, and everyone climbed up for a closer look. Grandma also muscled them up on one of the huge rocks, so they could stand in awe at the top and see everyone down below, much to their joy.

Also on the way back, Grandma Sue went into a legendary only-Sue-can-come-up-with-this-BS explanation on how the large rocks fell down the mountain from Elsa’s high castle, because it’s summer and the warm weather is making everything melt… something like, since it’s summer now and Elsa’s magic isn’t keeping things cold anymore, everything is starting to melt—including the mountains! That’s why these rocks have come crashing down and don’t look frozen anymore. Adults passing by were cracking up and pausing to inconspicuously listen to the animated narration while the girls (especially Emerie) argued about the validity of the information. The tale continued to expand as Sue defended her version of events with a mischievous smile. I mean if you really think about it…why not?? Juneau has a great winter climate with loads of snow (lately), it’s secluded and peaceful from the rest of the world, very beautiful, the northern lights boast their own type of magic that she could probably tap into, there’s lots of wildlife and options to connect with nature, and on and on! Yeah yeah, I’ll stop now. Suffice to say after a couple of weeks, Emerie is fully convinced that Queen Elsa of Arandale lives in Juneau during the winter, and is displeased that we missed her presence because our visit was the wrong season. Grandma has some work to do to keep her story true for next time we head down during the winter season! I have a feeling we will be trekking out to the falls in our snow gear.

All in all, it was a good trip- I questioned if two weeks away from home would be too long, but now that the girls are older and activities are easier to do, it was just right. They befriended a number of other kids on several play dates, kids we will have to see again on our future visits. They enjoyed many outdoor adventures and beach visits, parades and tasty foods, and spending time with family, i.e. torturing Auntie Amanda and Papa Lon, climbing all over Alicia and getting snuggles, and you can’t forget all the nail polish salon afternoons that occurred too. Good memories!

Until the next time ❤

Mar 18

Spring Break Sprint

As amateurs to the concept of spring break, we jumped in full force this year to keep our first one with kids interesting. Thinking back to this time last year, I remember telling myself to enjoy my last spring break with childcare for the foreseeable future, and it’s crazy to think that was already a year ago. Grandma Sue was happy to come up early to help me with birthday preparations and child watch while Craig and I got a few (or more!) hours of work in over the two week span, and of course that comes with all the Grandma Sue benefits of toy sorting, house re-organization, and fun birthday antics!

The weeks before spring break continued the theme of weekend birthday parties, and trying to get the kids outside a little more than when it was extremely cold temperatures. Craig broke out the kid and adult four wheeler for an afternoon and their BFF from school and her brother experienced the fun too. Maybe it’s just my kids, but other kids sure seem to be able to steer better than my three. This was the first afternoon that Emerie saw the need for speed and instead of her usual slow down scolding, she was smiling ear to ear on the back of the wheeler with Noah driving, something not often seen from her.

Reagan pulled a first in the household and gave herself unplanned bangs. Craig and I didn’t even notice; in fact, Sue noticed on Facetime before we even realized it happened. Reagan eventually caved and claimed they were annoying her, so she chopped them. A few days later I found the small pile of her beautiful hair under the bunk bed. During that same cleaning excursion I also found a good amount of doll hair trimmings, something we hadn’t noticed either until now…and doesn’t grow back!

Speaking of hair cutting, one to-do for spring break week was a triple hair trimming to cut off those ends. Because I absolutely refuse to go to the places that charge crazy amounts for a kid haircut, we wandered over to Craig’s barber again and asked for a trim. Middle of the day in the middle of the work week is apparently a good time, and all three went at the same time; that and no one wanted to go first! They all sat very still, with Harper and Emerie making their normal goofy faces at us, and Reagan’s bangs were trimmed to be a bit more acceptable. A set of identical twins actually cut two of them, which was very random and spurred some conversation. I also realized their super blonde, baby hair is already down to the bottom trimmed area, and the majority of their hair is now a darker blonde, which makes me a little sad but I’ll survive 🙂

Somehow we are already entering into the next clothing size, even though we transitioned into size six in early winter. Considering all three were wearing size 4/5 shorts all last summer is a bit crazy considering the 6/7 pairs I tried on them this week are super tight. They are growing so fast!! As I began to sort through clothing to sell and donate, which is quite the process in this household (what can I say, I only have kids once so I will enjoy fun clothes!), I could hear all three playing doctor in their room. As I paused to listen to the conversation, I realized it was even more specific; they were playing triplet pregnancy. Emerie was the doctor and Harper apparently having the babies. Doctor Emerie burst in the bedroom door to consult Nurse Reagan and her patient, as Harper announced oh the babies are coming! Oh wait, actually only one! Is it just my kids, or do other kids pretend they have more than one cooking in there? Pretty funny.

The tiny humans are greatly improving their cooking skills. One day while Mom and Dad went to the office, everyone practiced their baking skills and produced chocolate and powdered sugar covered donuts. How many of these were eaten that afternoon? That’s a great question that I probably don’t want to know the answer to; much flour was likely consumed as well. I’m happy to see my three little bakers love to cook and try goodies, since this is definitely in their DNA on both sides! From the moment Sue gets off the airplane, everyone starts requesting homemade donuts, that will certainly be a good childhood memory for them as they age into adulthood.

If I had to pick a few favorite moments from this week, watching the girls clean under the grandma regime is definitely near the top of the list. Grandma Sue organized all the toys in the house, helping me decide what to donate to prepare for incoming birthday presents, and now that the girls are elementary age, this means they participate. If we are being honest, I believe Reagan enjoys the organization and de-cluttering; Harper and Emerie are often more excited at finding lost toys and vanishing to play with them. The kids cleaned the playroom and helped put everything go in its correct home, organized their bedroom doll kingdom and stuffed animal repository, climbed under the bed to vacuum and got down on all fours to scrub the floor. At one point I heard Harper exclaim I am NOT going under that disgusting bed, with her normal level of indignation, and Emerie and Reagan did the dirty work (literally!). If this wasn’t enough, an (intentional) chocolate milk explosion from a couple days prior meant all four were exiled to scrub the doll spa set in the bathtub. The sour smelling, chocolate milk residue was pretty gross, and I found it by putting my hand in the mushiness of their floor rug, which hasn’t recovered yet. The girls definitely find creative stories to play, but were warned that any more chocolate milk events will equal those toys going into the trashcan. And for the record, no triplets were harmed in the making of a clean house (that might be disputable from Harper)!

Scrub a dub-dub, three triplets in the tub!

It’s not just that all three participate and help clean up our household and will begrudgingly give up toys to donate; it’s more listening to them from another room as the activity occurs. The banter between the four is completely hilarious, even better when you add Craig into the mix. The girls’ reaction to the discovery of something gross, or being reminded cleaning isn’t supposed to be fun, or when one pops out to ask for scrubbing rags with an eye roll; it’s all pretty funny. Watching everyone on hands and knees, scrubbing their dirty floor….that’s pretty priceless.

Spring break wasn’t only cooking and chores- some fun was also shoved into the latter half of the week. Craig booked a pre-birthday trip down to Seward and luckily the weather cooperated and the road through the pass was pretty clear for winter time. My little ladies made the drive down and back with no screen time, fully entertained with coloring, snacking, listening to music and playing with a few toys. It helped that Emerie napped most of the way back and Reagan part of it. Harper was happy to keep those eyelids open and catch Craig snacking on any candy, so she could participate 🙂

The quietness of a town like Seward in the winter is a welcomed break from Anchorage. The weather was perfect, still winds and about 35 degrees, just warm enough to leave the snow gear in the house and explore the beach in coats and boots. We arrived when the tide was coming in, but early enough to spend an hour beach coming and looking for shells. The girls liked seeing all the (dead) jellyfish on the beach; Reagan was picking them up and throwing them back into the water after the first few spottings. Harper and Emerie were NOT enthused.

A couple harbor seals played out in the water as we walked down the opposite direction as the tide recessed. With Harper’s love of seals, and the fact that wildlife always pops out and says hello during our Seward visits, makes it one of the girls’ favorite spots. The open restaurant wasn’t our normal summer stop at the harbor, where we could keep an eye out for the wild animals, but clearly the girls were hungry, because all three scarfed down a whole cheeseburger and french fries. It was a relaxing afternoon and evening and other than the never-going-to-sleep shenanigans, everything went down without a hitch.

And with that, spring break is over and the birthday preparations are a go for next week!

❤

Aug 09

Pre-Kindergarten Fun

And just like that, the final two weeks of summer vacation; meaning the time before our first school year kicks off, means some family adventures and activities to round out the season. I started day one of fourteen with kids home off with a bit of a bang- while Craig went into the office at the crack of dawn, I worked a couple hours before everyone woke up, made requested zucchini muffins during breakfast, completed a couple loads of laundry, packed up lunches and the car, loaded everyone up and drove down to explore the wildlife conservation center about an hour away, AND made homemade, puffy chalk paint, that the girls proceeded to make a HUGE mess with on the driveway (and themselves).

This was our first conservation center visit in quite a while and it was probably the nicest, least windy weather we’ve ever had there. The girls played with stuffed animals and counted waterfalls on the drive down, and saw the train twice! The shrieking for a train sighting woke up Emerie, who had drifted off to sleep. She excitedly watched it out the window and went right back to sleep. Everyone was more excited to pick dandelions and other flowers than get up close and personal with the rescued animals. Emerie walked around the center announcing I’m a triplet! to anyone nearby, whether or not they wanted to know or were remotely paying attention to us. Silly girl. We ate packed lunches at the picnic table by the playground; at one point a hornet- or some kind of massive bee related bug- drove all three away screaming. Now every time anything even close to the same species flies by; everyone scatters. Even dragonflies and mosquitos. Needless to say, there is more reactive screaming now than previously.

By the end of the day I was TIRED from overdoing it a bit, and the girls were asking to go to bed by the end of the night. Reagan and Craig picked up Grandma Sue at the airport and everyone snuggled into their beds afterwards and drifted right off to sleep.

The following day Sue and I packed up the car and headed down to the Kenai Peninsula for a few days of adventure. We are getting quite good at long drives with the kids and made it down in one straight shot, only stopping once for a random traffic backup. No naps, no screens, a lot of snacking and music, and of course, coloring. Tiny notebooks and multi-color pens are great for drives. The tunes for this whole week were the new Little Mermaid soundtrack- the girls ask for the songs Prince Eric and Ursula sing, not Ariel- and a lot of My Little Pony, the movie and the show. I recently introduced them to some “old” techno with Cascada, and they now ask for her by name, and a couple songs from Imagine Dragons. It’s cute that they fight over the band name; Emerie is convinced it is Magic Dragons and Reagan argues it’s Imagine. Harper just asks me to play the magic in my bones song!

The girls were SO excited to see Becky and spend a few nights at her house on the lake. After asking for a solid year, you know since our last stay, they were more than excited to play in the yard and run up and down the stairs. Becky made her fancy pasta salad and brisket and all was well in the world! I may have eaten that salad for breakfast the next day…it was THAT good.

With no agenda for the trip other than to do whatever we felt like whenever we felt like it, we spent day two traveling down to Ninilchik for a quick visit with Cousin Brian and an afternoon in Homer. The farther south we went, the nicer the weather, so by the time we arrived on the spit, it was glorious. After a fantastic late lunch of burgers and fries (and soda sips courtesy of fun grandma!), we explored the docks and looked at boats, walked on the boardwalk and took pictures in about every cardboard cutout, checked out the catches of the day, tested out some sorbet, loaded coat pockets with shells, and reluctantly checked out the swing under the boardwalk, with a high tide underneath. All the random strangers entertained the girls questions and comments, especially those cutting or hauling fish caught that day, and we stopped to ogle at the 109 pound halibut hanging at one of the charters. The girls watched the experts fillet fish and toss the bones, with both interested and horrified expressions. Emerie announced a number of times to a crowd of fish professionals, that she hates fish and it’s DISGUSTING. Harper and Reagan watched with interested but also wouldn’t go anywhere near any of it. Maybe someday we will get them to like salmon…but for now they will eat halibut, especially when told it is chicken!

We left the beach with less shells than our last visit, mostly with instructions that only whole and unbroken shells couldn’t come with us. You can tell the beach is one of their happy places the moment they see one. Emerie is instantly throwing rocks in the water with loud giggles of pleasure, hefting big ones with joy and watching the splash; Reagan immediately hunts for a good stick and scrutinizes the sand for treasures; and Harper hollers after finding each big shell and random bird feathers, which made it all the way back to Anchorage with us. Oh yes.

We tried Face-timing Craig on the return drive and they were so wild, it was just screaming and three kids yelling into the phone all at once. We stopped one time at the only solid fireweed patch we spotted the entire drive, and the girls entertained their mother’s request and smiled and wandered through it for a few photos.

The following day we wandered around the area and searched for treasures at random garage sales. Nothing crazy, but some great scores and a good way to explore Kenai and Soldotna. Grandma spotted an amazing old dollhouse with tiny furniture that was worth more than the fifteen bucks we spent on the house. Packing that into the back of my SUV, with all our trip gear and bikes, was quite the adventure in itself.

After a delicious lunch at a recently discovered restaurant in Soldotna with Craig’s cousin Jamie and Steve, with noodles and oodles of egg rolls, fried rice and broccoli for the girls, we meandered over to the park across the street and did the traditional stroll down the riverbank boardwalk. The riverfront beach area that we played on in June was completely submerged underwater, so instead the girls checked out each fishing group at the bottom of the access staircases. One group caught and released several red salmon and everyone sat quietly at the top of the stairs and surveilled. Another kind lady brought her catch over for the girls to see up close.

Jaren and Savaya stopped by after a bit and broke out their fishing poles, so we put life jackets on the girls and let them carefully walk along the riverbank while the experts reeled some fish. Harper had the one snafu of the afternoon, who lost her footing going down the grated, metal stairway and would have tumbled fifteen feet down and into the flowing river, except that I happened to be standing several steps below her. Some tears, a bloody knee and bruised leg and foot later, and they were back to exploring.

The rest of the day was spent playing on the dock and in the yard, soaking in the sun. With only a light breeze and intermittent clouds, the lake was smooth as glass. Over the three day visit they must have biked the driveway loop a hundred times, enjoying the hill and practicing how to balance on the way down while in traffic. It stayed warm enough for swimsuits and Jamie’s kiddos Amber, Hayden and Maddy swam in the water and played on the floats with the girls. Hayden attempted to catch a fish and bucketed minnows for them to play with. You could hear goofy giggles from afar on the float as the girls sat with Amber and devoured a snack, and also somewhat tortured her! The girls wouldn’t commit to swimming, even given the warm weather and great water temperature- well Reagan tried for thirty seconds and was not a fan- but they did enjoy splashing their feet, scooping buckets, and playing with the dock ropes. Watching Hayden jump off and into the water was also quite the hit; about as much them torturing him on the float out in the water or later on the grass. Lots of snacks, chit chat with family, and silly kiddos made for a nice and relaxing afternoon. It’s wonderful now that we are at an age they can play and mostly entertain themselves and the adults can actually converse with each other! For the most part they fully entertained themselves and played with family. Other than the minor whining and meltdowns throughout the day, everyone was mostly on good behavior and having fun and everyone patiently waited to go down to the dock until adults were ready to go. Kids don’t float!

In case you were wondering, Harper also learned how to whistle this week. She now walks around whistling about as much as Reagan breaks into random song, and it’s pretty cute. She is very proud and also announces to strangers at the store that she can whistle! Reagan and Emerie are less thrilled that they haven’t quite figured it out yet; Reagan’s missing front tooth certainly isn’t helping her learn it. Reagan managed to find all kinds of cool treasures this trip, that would all end up in my pockets somehow. She picked unripe cranberries and put them in her purse, green pine cones, and tons of clover and other flowers so she could use them later.

I also discovered that Emerie still chatters in her sleep; at one point I woke up enough to hear her snap I told you the color was purple! and then settle back down with a grunt. She said another phrase at some point that night, but I wasn’t awake enough to remember it the next morning. Emerie was also a good sport about patching a couple hours each day of the trip, since she does that for the mornings at school. Throughout she was still biking and running around doing her thing, her only request to sit behind me or in the middle in the car, so she can see out the window with her left eye.

More fun activities continue during our staycation before kindergarten starts next week, including a visit to the you-pick farm in the valley and meeting up with more cousins, this time Tyler and Chatum, for a quick lunch and minor torturing. We also snapped a couple photos sitting in Uncle Chris’ vintage teal truck (Reagan has told me it’s hers but I don’t think the boys will agree with that!) and everyone is looking so grown up. Grandma taught them how to climb up the side of a less vintage truck in the driveway (since you know…Tyler has multiple options!), and now all three proudly pull up on the tire and hike a leg over the side of the truck bed and taunt us to come get them.

One more week until kindergarten!

❤

Jun 24

The Road Best Traveled

For a second weekend in row we headed down to the Kenai Peninsula for a much needed life break, from work and the busy, everyday life we lead in Anchorage. It’s been a solid year since I took a week off from my day job; unsuspecting the tough events at work last year were right around the corner of that trip.

With no gil net fishing allowed this year by Fish and Game, we decided getting out of town remained worth it for some much needed family fun. I still revel at the ease of traveling now compared to last year, and with Grandma Sue in tow, it’s about as close to a vacation as you can get (with kids!). The first two nights spent at the same place as last week meant the girls were already comfortable and familiar and very excited to show Craig around. Everyone slept both nights in their temporary bedroom, which is a feat in itself, and did a great job staying at our other house.

With no daily plan or planned places to be, we adventured and explored as we felt like it. We dilly dallied in the mornings and the kids played, much less structured mornings than when we are at home and getting things done. We popped into the Kenai jump park to burn some energy and strolled the farmers market in Soldotna, playing at the playground behind it and trying out a couple tasty treats. The girls fearlessly slid down the extremely old, metal slide- probably installed when Craig and I were kids and now seen as more dangerous- and checked out the old-school monkey bars. At the market one vendor displayed a beautiful wooden bench with a fishing pole sealed into it; the girls all checked that out with interest at how it would come out for use. So funny!

We walked along the boardwalk of the Kenai River, the opposite direction we explored last year after the car broke down. The chanting of kids don’t float! followed our brigade, since life jackets weren’t on and the adults were carefully paying attention. Dandelions, well really any type of flower, were collected into kid bouquets and carried in hands and pockets for the entire excursion. Little did we know this direction took us right to an warm, open (Alaskan standards) beach area with lots of climbing rocks along the riverbank. The girls tossed rocks and sticks into the water with enthusiasm and explored. With the sun finally showing its face, it became surprisingly warm out and almost like summer was upon us! The girls asked to climb out to the farthest rock and in true grandma style, Sue removed her socks and shoes and walked out barefoot to assist them to it.

At one point a random lady and her toddler approached us, asking if we had seen misplaced keys. Craig and I helped her look around and eventually I luckily saw their reflection underwater, just enough to notice them. So random and glad we could help out a fellow mom that wasn’t having as good of a day as us!

At this point the girls’ “pollen coughs,” as I now call them, were in full swing from the warmer temperatures and our time outside, so after an amazing Thai noodle lunch and a lot of ice water to cool down, we drove around a bit so everyone could settle. This followed our plan to be unplanned, and we drove in a few circles trying to find a random flower shop that potentially sold poppies for Sue.

The one planned event toward the beginning of the trip was to barbecue at cousin Jamie’s house and hangout with almost all the cousins on that side of the family. Even with the mosquito club meeting that swarmed around the yard, the evening was wonderful. Savaya, Jaren and Chatum stopped in for a while and it was nice to see everyone. The girls were all on decent behavior, especially after a busy day of adventuring around a new place, at least until Hayden came home from work. Then like they do with Uncle Will…let the torturous games begin! Maddie shared a stuffed animal from her collection with each kiddo, Harper selecting a pink bunny, Emerie a Stitch, and Reagan a cheetah (or tiger?). Since returning home, all three get snuggles each night at bedtime. The pony coloring books from cousins were also a hit and colored while at the barbecue and for the rest of our trip.

After some delicious grilling by Steve, out came the marshmallows. The girls have tried this activity only a couple of times, so it was interesting to see their response to it for the first time this summer. In the past we just made a point to avoid fire situations, since three tiny running toddlers are hard to keep track of to avoid injury! Ultimately they all just wanted to eat the chocolate bars, which they did, and Emerie gave us a hilarious display of slow cooking hers, flipping it over and rubbing it into the fire pit grossness, and making everybody laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Jaren tried to show her a better method and she was not about to listen. By the end of the day they were all exhausted and immediately crashed after we made it home for the night.

The second half of the trip was spent in one of our favorite spots, Homer. We only spent about six hours in the town last year and I have been looking forward to a longer visit to spend more time exploring and hanging out at the beach. The weather took a turn toward beautiful for two of the three days, so even with the blustering wind, the beach adventures each day were fun. After the drive down that morning we headed straight to Bishop’s Beach. The wind made the girls instantly cold in their light sundresses, coats and shorts, asking right away to go back to the car. But by the time we walked to the water’s edge and looked for shells, they were more excited to find things than complain about the temperature. Well, I should say Harper and Reagan; it took Emerie a bit more convincing but she got there! By the end of that first afternoon, Harper and Reagan were down to bare feet and no coats and creating forts and “kitchens” out of the driftwood; Emerie kept hilariously laying on the ground underneath her coat, trying to take a nap, and wouldn’t take her socks off but abandoned her boots.

The second day the beach was just as gorgeous but the wind was blowing harder. The tide was pretty far out and we were able to walk a good distance and see some larger shells that weren’t visible the first day. Grandma Sue explained other small sea creatures and goodies as she found them, even finding two (dead) crabs at one point, that the girls glanced at and then refused to carry around with them. Buckets filled up pretty quickly with treasures and we rinsed them off in a shallow pool closer to the shoreline, that Harper ended up falling backwards into. This was after her walloping trek across the water a few moments earlier, which filled her boots with water and soaked her lower half, not that it bothered her (that time!)! While I wish we could have spent more time out there, the wind was so strong it was making my ears ache, and eventually we headed off to explore other spots in town.

This rental was a beautiful three bedroom house, so the girls took turns sharing beds. The first night Emerie won the lottery to sleep next to Grandma Sue and the second night it was Harper’s turn. I may have snapped a couple of nighttime photos of them unknowingly snuggling with one another as they lightly snored. When asleep and wearing the same pajamas, they look SO alike! All three did quite well entertaining themselves while we briefly got to relax, or cook, or enjoy the beautiful view of the water and the spit. Everyone spent a good amount of time playing on the front porch and creating forts with the furniture cover and, you know, fighting over it.

While of course we visited some of the touristy spots, which are boring to elaborate on here, one cute adventure was spent out on the Homer Spit, walking around the pier and looking at the boats. Personally I enjoy reading all the creative boat names, but since the girls can’t read yet, they enjoyed looking at the colors, fish in the water, and activity happening before them. When asked one thing they remember from the trip, it is pretty likely to be seeing the rainbow boat out in the water. It caused quite the stir of excitement and we HAD to walk over and see it up close and personal. Grandma convinced them the “dock police” would come and haul them away if they weren’t on good behavior, which included no running and goofing off because kids don’t float! A few passerby’s joined in on that humor and acted like they might be those enforcers. It was great. We also witnessed a random boat tour loading up and asked Captain Bob twenty questions about his boat. Bob was good sport and joined in on the fun.

As we rounded the turn back to the car we spotted several fishermen filleting catches from the day, one a good sized halibut and the other was cleaning salmon heads for a restaurant here in Anchorage that makes soup. The intrigue intensified and all three asked a lot of questions, wanting to get back in there and check it all out. The salmon fisherman was also a good sport, in general everyone we spoke to was so friendly, and brought one head around to show the girls. All three touched the eyeballs, because why not, and Reagan might have licked her fingers after and then wiped them on her dress. Gross! This picture accurately depicts the reactions; I trend toward the same feeling as Reagan when it comes to fish eyeballs. You could definitely tell they were bummed we didn’t get to do gil netting and we received a few questions why we didn’t go.

I am sure I’m forgetting some other cute and memorable things, but I didn’t write them down in the moment and don’t remember now. It was a nice trip, with tired kids each night, lots of treats and candy from different stores and restaurants, lots of coloring and driving and cute kiddo moments. The coveted candy rings from Grandma inspired Reagan to explain to her all knowingly, well you said we could have the candy rings tomorrow and today is tomorrow so we can have them! Such wisdom for first thing in the morning. The drive home was solid fog for the first hour and everyone snuggled in their blankets, ate their full lunches and snacks and finally watched a movie until we made it home.

❤

Aug 23

Surprise Adventures

The end of summer daycare closure inspired me to take the kids on an out of town adventure and give Craig one night and two days of working and relaxing in complete peace and quiet. Of course, I am not ready for a solo overnight trip with the kids yet, so Grandma Sue came up from Juneau to keep me company (and keep us all sane).

We got ready for the day, picked grandma up at the loading ramp at the airport, trekked over to harass State Trooper HQs and say goodbye to Daddy, and eventually loaded up into Craig’s Expedition, toting a lot of snacks, lunches packed by the girls, and backup clothes, stuffed animals and blankets.

Unlike our prior visit to the Kenai Peninsula, the girls actually napped on the drive down. Reagan drifted off to sleep by the time we hit the highway and Emerie not long after, while Harper spent more than 30 minutes chewing every little piece of food before succumbing to the sleepiness around the Portage Glacier pull-off.

We only needed one pit stop for the drive down, where we walked the boardwalk along the Kenai River, searched for big, wild mushrooms and other plants and berries, and checked out the shoreline. A nice lady took a photo of us just as the rain picked up again and we dashed back to the car.

The first night was actually quite mellow, with the girls content to play with toys at the house and color while the adults relaxed from the busy day. I wasn’t sure how the night would go, since it’s been about a year since I’ve had a solo night with the kids, when Craig traveled to Juneau last summer for a work trip. Since we’ve traveled to Becky’s before and it’s a familiar location, sleeping overnight seem to be much easier of an accomplishment than it is when we are at home. Becky read a fun bedtime story that distracted them enough from the thought Dad wasn’t there, and all three stretched out across the twin mattress with the second mattress pull out next to it, providing just enough space for everyone to shift around without awaking anyone. Other than a few moments of fussiness when each took a turn and then fell back asleep, the night went off without a hitch!

By the next morning I could already tell that the trip would be easier than our visit in June, unknowing that the girls would definitely prove their increased maturity by the end of the morning. After breakfast with Miss Becky and getting ready for the day, we loaded up into the car, anticipating a day trip to Homer. Of course by now I should be skilled at rolling with the unplanned surprises, and this day proved to be no different. As we pulled up to the first light after leaving Becky’s house, right as you enter Soldotna, and lightly hitting the break in anticipation of the red light before us, the back end of the whole vehicle slid out from behind us, almost like we hit a big patch of black ice and lost control. I fully admit I know nothing about the workings of or repairs needed for cars, and Craig is always great about keeping our maintained as needed for each season, and in that moment I immediately knew something was wrong.

With kids in the car I am far more paranoid of things happening, whether that’s checking if the other direction actually stopped at their red light before I go or to play it safe during a snow event, so on went the blinker and I eased into the left hand turn lane to pull into the O’Reilly’s service shop along the side of the road. Hitting the breaks a second time to wait to turn, the issue repeated itself. I couldn’t have more perfectly timed a major car malfunction than at a traffic light with an O’Reilly’s on one side and a Midas Auto Shop on the other; thank heavens it wasn’t in the middle of nowhere, Alaska, like we were for most of the prior day’s drive down.

Grandma Sue, in her infinite wisdom, came out of the shop with an older gentleman, who kindly agreed to drive the car across the street to the Midas to see if he could pinpoint the issue, since our unskilled look at the back tires was fruitless. We unloaded the girls and they trekked across the parking lot to Fred Meyer, where the mid-morning excitement apparently inspired starvation and the need for a fancy Starbucks fruit drink while he drove across the street, noting something was definitely off and making it unsafe to drive.

Long story short, the whole thing still makes me chuckle. The kind folk at Midas determined the bolt holding the rear suspension together not only came loose, but fell out altogether; hence the feeling of the back sliding out of control. When I chatted with them on the phone later that day after that revelation, they noted the Expedition was unfit to drive until the part was found and installed, and that they didn’t recommend me taking it in that condition, NOT that I wanted to. The entire morning ended up working out relatively seamlessly, thanks to Becky, who bailed us out, helped me uninstall and reinstall three car seats into her SUV, and then hitched a ride back to her house so we could take the girls to the park.

Needless to say, we did not make it to Homer that day, but we did have fun exploring a fabulous park along the river and walking all the boardwalks. The park was huge and Alaska themed, with whale tales and construction equipment and beautiful artwork along the climbers. All three were off exploring and shouting to one another at new spots were discovered and in true park visit style, everyone had a long turn on the swings and a bathroom visit. After a bit we walked down toward the boardwalk, pausing at each access point to the river to look at anything of interest, such as real life fisherman, seagulls (Emerie still calls them eagles!), rocks in the water and my personal favorite, the fact that a red apple was floating along the shoreline at random, which was far more interesting to the girls than anything else.

About a dozen or so fisherman were out as we walked along and the girls enjoyed pausing to see what each person was doing, standing out in the water. One nice group said they had caught a good number the day before, during the rainstorm we drove down in, and the current day was a bit slower but still a success. A nice gentleman brought their catch up so the girls could firsthand see it and poke the eye balls (sigh) to see if they were squishy. Next summer’s set netting adventure is almost a year away and I already can’t wait to go with them!

As we turned around to retrace our steps and grab some lunch, that same nice guy hollered up from the shoreline that one of his buddies caught one on his line. The girls leaned over the railing and watched him real it in, pull the hook out of the mouth, whack the sucker and hang it up with the rest of his catches. Emerie hollered a couple times she could see blood and all three watched the whole process with good interest. This was almost as exciting as seeing that damn red apple bobbing against the shoreline.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out at Becky’s, playing inside and out and filling a lot of tiny buckets with lake water out on the dock. Craig and William drove my car down after work that evening, with the plans to at least be able to get the girls back to Anchorage while the Expedition was fixed.

Lucky enough, Craig’s awesome cousin Jamie was able to swap vehicles with us so we could cram into her Suburban and do the day trip to Homer, much to my excitement. It took us a bit to get down there, between bathroom breaks, rainstorms, and installation of car seats, but we finally made it and it was so worth it. The girls immediately took to the beach adventure and the rain held out for the visit. Grandma picked up anything of interest and explained things to the girls while they collected pretty rocks and shells and splashed around.

We visit two beaches that day, first Bishop’s Beach as the tide rolled in and then walking along the spit through a few shops and watching all three collect dozens of shells and treasures. Emerie enjoyed finding feathers mixed into her shell collection, especially the big ones. Fearless Harper picked up the seaweed and other sufficiently wet things to show us. Reagan managed to immediately overflow her boots following William to the sand dunes before they re-submerged, which she eventually overcame to enjoy the sights.

At some point too many collectibles meant the hoodies came off and became bags tied around waists. Shell collection was certainly the highlight of the day. At one point our minions adamantly demanded Grandma walk out into the waves to select a specific shell, a couple of feet out. Under no circumstance were they going to take no for an answer. Little did they know that Grandma smartened up to this concept and packed her pockets with some shells that “she picked up” out there and handed off to unsuspecting and excited littles.

We definitely could have spent a weekend exploring the town, which I haven’t visited in so long and was much overdue to go to, but as the rain started back up we decided to head back to Sterling for Becky’s amazing brisket dinner, which we were super late for from the day’s adventure (and tasted as amazing as ever!). The Kenai Peninsula Fair was still going strong as we pulled up to Nikiski, so we took the opportunity and stopped for face painting (Mom, Dad and Grandma included), an ice cream treat and of course, a horse ride for each. Everyone wanted full unicorn faces, with each kiddo in her own color and with glitter. Craig received a brown bear on his cheek while I did a triple flower and Grandma Sue a fancy fireweed.

All three were happy to do a horse ride and climb into the saddles without too much assistance. The petting zoo part was also still open, with some young animals to love that were out of the rain. The girls all asked the nice lady with the two-day-old baby chickens a bunch of questions (as if we didn’t have baby chicks two months ago!) and learned that they hatch from eggs she had in a nearby carrier. That concept was quite interesting for all three and they asked a lot of questions. The other big hit was the three-legged goat, which Reagan excitedly told a couple of people about and continued to discuss on the way home. Very impactful stuff.

We managed to cram a family breakfast in before heading back home for the weekend, with Jaren and Savaya and Tyler joining us. I am loving having family only a few hours away and we were very blessed that the car situation was so manageable with a little help!

It was a great weekend overall. Excluding the car issue, the trip didn’t feel very stressful and all three were very well behaved and enthusiastic for every adventure we attempted. Each trip gets a bit easier and I find it so refreshing to get the new life perspective one only gets when leaving your house for a few days. It took about a week to get the part and fix Craig’s car; luckily the issue was relatively simplistic and therefore, not overly expensive, and the girls took it all in stride.

Now I’m ready for fall and another out of town adventure in the cold, fresh air. Bring on September!

❤

The Douglets

Triplets in Alaska

beach