dinner at Cape Fox!

Last night I "took advantage" of my parents by asking if they would be willing to watch the children while Allen and I enjoyed an adult dinner. Pretty shameless but I figured the worst they could do was say no, but they said yes. Super parents! So we took off for the Heen Kahidi restaurant at Cape Fox. We think they are the best restaurant in Ketchikan!

Because we were alone, we decided to take our time and spent about two hours there. We ordered a cheese plate appetizer - it was really appealing, 3 different kinds of cheese, walnuts and sliced green apples on the side. Then we shared a fisherman's platter and seafood fettucini and a slice of 4 berry pie afterwards... along with some fruity mixed drink that we did not get carded for. Guess we're getting old. LOL

After that we took a little drive up to find the Deer Mountain trailhead. I think we are going to attempt to hike part of it today; the boys are at Day Camp and so we have the 2 younger ones (who, appropriately dressed, can be comfortably front-or-back-packed on the trail) and Perpetua. She'll limit how far we can go, but that's ok. She's amenable to hiking in the rain, and so are we.

I'll say it again: I love this town. A lot. Even in the rain.

Day camp this week looked promising... "Treasure Island" themed with pirate activities. For now I'm doing laundry and the girls are eating a late breakfast while Andrew plays on the floor and Allen sleeps in... Andrew was somewhat of a bear this past night. I think he may be teething, so I got some Motrin (our infant tylenol is all but gone) and baby Anbesol. I hate the stuff, but if it helps him and helps us get some sleep, all the better.

kayaking today

No pictures, because I didn't take our nice digital camera out on the water. Turned out to be a good choice as there was a decent amount of rain for at least 30 minutes of our 7 hour trip. I will somehow figure out a way to post the pictures here when I get them developed.

We went on a guided trip with Southeast Sea Kayaks and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend booking through them if you are in the market - we went on a shorter trip with them last year.

The highlight of today's run was going into Icebox Cove at low tide - it was like kayaking in a tidal pool - very shallow and you could see tiny shore crabs moving along, little fish, all sorts of bottom growing things... a really enjoyable run and I will be sore tomorrow! I took my first nap since I've been gone this afternoon as I was just physically done.

I got to run around Ketchikan with my mom yesterday sans the full crew, which was fun. We went out to Cape Fox for lunch and then all manner of shopping. We checked out a new store, Bella, and enjoyed that. I bought several treats for the kids and a few things to keep in reserve for the airline trip back north next Friday (sigh).

This minute I'm not feeling ready to go back anywhere... I'm sure we'll have fun in Wasilla next week, and goodness knows there is shopping that will happen (has to happen - Costco, Wal Mart, etc. all in good seriousness). I wish I could freeze time and not have to head back just yet. I'm not ready for winter; not ready for summer to end and fishing to be done; no more boating; I don't want to give the kids back to the school for the majority of the day.

I don't wanna!

Maybe I should stomp my foot for emphasis and all the good that'll do.

stuff that makes a heart melt...

Aaron is sick and crashed on the couch... he felt "hot" earlier by his description, then said he had to puke. I offered to have everyone come downstairs and he could lay in bed with the windows open to cool down, as he was so clearly uncomfortable, but he declined so I set him up on the couch here on the main floor with a blanket (after he got cold).

I did a little housework downstairs and continued checking on him. We just served morning snack to everyone who is awake (everyone but Aaron & Andrew)... and Rosalie was wandering around with her baby doll.

She went over to her sleeping brother and asked "want baby, Aaron?"... because babies always make her feel better.

Squish, Rosie! You're a good girl.

a bullet-point update

Time is short, and happenings are many...

• Aaron actually swam in the pool today. The kids have been in swimming lessons for almost 2 weeks now (last day is Friday) but Aaron's doing so well! They all are, but he has been aggressive about it from the get-go and it's really paying off.
• We are about to start our last week in Ketchikan... we leave for southcentral AK a week from Friday.
• We have had a rental van for the past 2 days, and have it til tomorrow - a gift from my parents. Really cool to tool around KTown in a car that transports us all! A sobering reminder of just how few vehicles are capable of doing so.
• Allen went to Crooked Creek today and visited the Donlin Creek Mine site along with several other people. Haven't heard how that went but he was excited about the trip.
• I took my dad and the children to Ketchikan's City Park yesterday evening. My plan is every day it does not rain (even if it is threatening to rain) we go out and enjoy something outdoors. We had a nice time, even though Rosalie fell asleep on the way there and not all the kids were in great moods.
• I am looking forward to our kayaking trip this weekend. We will go "even if" it's raining... I purchased a disposable camera (gasp) because I wasn't willing to take my nice one on the trip. Previous experience (my dad's old digital camera died when a wave swamped our kayak in Haines when we were approaching shore)

I will try to get around to posting some more pictures here sometime... it's hard to tack down the time to make this post much less resize pictures and all that. Andrew hasn't been sleeping so fantastically so I'm pretty fried by the time I crawl into bed at night (and wake up, and wake up again, and again). I hope Allen has enjoyed his "break" of uninterrupted sleep for the past almost 3 weeks!

if you want an idea of what I've been up to...

4 year old girl: Are you resting, mom?
me: nod, smile
4 year old girl: can we play on you?

Good babies I have!

progress: swimming lessons today

I'm really impressed with the KGB staff and how the kids are coming along with their lessons!
Here's Aaron floating. He's still the most aggressive in acquiring and practicing skills and trying new things.

Aaron on his back

waiting to jump in

I'll say it again: wish we had this where we lived!

what my mom manages to do...

it's almost sickening, isn't it? In a good way... but my kids would never sack out like this for me! This is what happened during the hour I was gone for swimming lessons earlier this week.