Alaska days 1 & 2

 Back In July Dave and I FINALLY made it to Alaska!! We have been dying to go for ages but just haven't wanted to spend the money or take the time. Living so far away from family, the only vacations we take are to see them and I don't want to miss seeing them for a year for my selfish reasons. But we decided we needed to do it when the boys are old enough to be fine with a sitter for an extended period of time. We planned for a few months and decided on the perfect trip; everything we have ever wanted to do because when are we ever going to go back. We convinced my parents to take the boys for 10 days, and we headed out. The boys and I headed to Moses Lake in June so I could hang out for a week before I flew up to meet Dave.

Dave and I met in Seattle where we both had layovers. This is where we found Qdoba...amazing.

There was one in Anchorage and we ate there probably 4 times as we passed through, it was so good. 

 The Alaska coastline. We were so excited!!



The next morning we headed down to the train depot, where we caught a train to Denali National Park. We

booked the Gold Star Service which has an open upper observation deck and a private dining car. It was fancy, but I'm glad we did it.

 Sydney in front of the Train Depot.

   Dave and a Totem Pole.

  Our tickets. Funny how I paid for them together and everything but they still miss spelled one of our last names. I guess it could have been worse.

   Us before our adventure. I have never ridden a train before so I was super excited; Dave who has ridden LOADS in Japan, didn't share my enthusiasm but still let my have my fun.

 One of the little rivers we crossed.

  

   Dave

                                                                                 Syd

   Us together. We stood in between two of the cars that had a door that the top half opened. That way we could see everything and it was less crowded.

   We passed through Wasilla and the lake was full of these Water Planes; I can't think of the name right now but they were cool.

    The train stopped in this little town to pick up supplies and a few people. Dave hoped off so he could snap a picture of me on the train.

   Me along a river. The tour guide said the water is this gray color because of the silt in the water from the glacier runoff.

   A clear stream. There were a few people we saw fishing in there. Dave would have jumped off to join them if I would have let him.

   More open space. Seriously it was so pretty.

   This is Hurricane Gulch. The tallest train bridge in Alaska.

    It was like 900 feet tall. It was high.

   The train stopped right after we crossed the bridge. I'm not sure that the whole train was off the bridge, we thought maybe that they were stopping for pictures but the guide said that the train had lost power. That's nice, broke down in the Alaskan wilderness. Luckily we were only there for maybe 15 minutes.

   The inside of the train.

   The Denali Train Depot. The train ride took 8 hours, long but so beautiful and I loved every minute of it. There was a dining car on the bottom floor of our car. For lunch we got sandwiches from the Deli car but we decided to check out the dining car for dessert. We had this Brownie ala Mode thing. It was AMAZING!! I'm so glad I told Dave he needed to get his own or else he wouldn't have gotten any.  Once we got to Denali we caught the shuttle to the Denali Cabins, which were on the outskirts of 'town'. The Driver's name was Mark, he was so funny. He gave us all this paper of his recommendations to eat and do while there. Some of his thoughts were so funny and mostly about the places with the best drinks.

   We checked into our cabin and headed over to check it out.  It was fun. I didn't expect to stay in a Marriott so I was okay with it. and it was really clean.

   We headed to Mark's number one pick for food in Denali, because it had 52 beers on tap. It was a pizza, pasta place. It was great! Dave ate a whole pizza himself, I have fettuccine alfredo. It really was good food. We sat next to the bar, so we got to check out all the beers on tap, some were really weird, some DIRTY, but it was seriously from one wall to the other of taps.

  We got back from dinner and wondered around the cabins to see everything they had there. They provide housing for their staff, because they are only open for 4 months. It was a big property, they have a living / computer space for everyone, a dining room with all the hot chocolate, apple cider, and coffee you need.  We were starting to get tired but it wasn't really even dusk yet so we thought we were just weak sauce, but that when we realized it was 10 PM. It just didn't get dark.  This is days 1 and 2, more to come!!

Moses Lake Pt. 2

Sam, Logan, and Jade. We told them they had to keep the Lego's away from the little kids so they spent hours in the bedroom building Lego's.
Logan wearing Papa Jerr's work stuff.

Logan being our flagger.

Lacy and Logan

Sam is in love with Emma, IN LOVE. He is always by her and talking to her and loving her.

I think she loves him too.

Pete took us out on the boat and after our ride around the lake we convinced him Sylvia could drive and he could wake board. So he gave her a quick lesson and hoped in the water with the board. When he was all ready to go the boat wouldn't start. Nothing we (Peter) could do would make is go, so he got out the ONE oar we had and started rowing. We really didn't get far. We all took a turn until some one came and towed us in.

Being towed.

Emma and Jade. We got huge fruit snacks for the the big kids, but of course that's all the little ones wanted. So we made them share. Emma had her share but still wanted more so she climbed on Jade's lap and begged for more. Jade was so sweet and kept feeding her.

4th of July

Thom and Alisha and their girls came up for the 4th to hang out with us. We played, ate lots and hung out. I love my brothers and their wives, we have so much fun. We spend most the holiday at a house that Casey and Sylvia were house sitting. It is on the lake so we kept the boat and Jet Ski out there. We got up in the morning and headed over there for the day. We went through our share of sunscreen this week. The kids had a blast riding in the boat and playing with each other. I know we live SO FAR away from everyone but the kids get along so well and love to spend time with each other, it makes me happy to see them every year. Thom with Logan getting ready to go tubing. Papa Jerr is trying to get all the kids on that wanted to go.
Thom, Sam and Eydn. They are ready to get wet!

The Fall. Thom had to rock the hot dog to make it fall over.

See they liked it. If you notice Thom is holding on to Sam, I was having panic attacks about them being in the water and sinking; so he held them up for me. I know they had life jackets but I appreciate him humoring me anyway.

When the kids were all wet. Dad took Thom around so he could show off for the kids, they sure loved it. This picture is blurry but the boys insist on looking at it often.

Casey and Mom on the Jet Ski, Thom on the hot dog. We are all about safety, Casey was trying to make waves to knock Thom off.

Heading back in. The 'no wake zone' is 5 mph so he was resting, the kids didn't stop laughing at him. Uncle Tom is the greatest!

They were wore out! Sam NEVER takes naps, but they were out within minutes of getting in.

The next day. Sam, Avry, and Jade.

Sam, Avry, and Jade.

Logan getting a running start.

Safety first. Logan wanted to be extra careful.

Dee, Sam, and Jade in the Canoe waiting for the boat to get back.

That night was the Fireworks, so we doused everyone good with bug spray and headed out to a spot on the railroad tracks to watch them. We hiked out to a spot that was in the middle of the lake to watch; it was perfect, we were all alone and could see great.

Me and Logan

Casey and Sylvia

Sam, Avry, Jade and Eydn

Tom singing and dancing for us while we waited for the fireworks to start.

Casey, Eydn, and Jade. I am in love with those Marlatt blue eyes.

Tom and Edyn

Logan has never seen a real fireworks show. I know we suck as parents but they just don't do the here.

After the show we let the kids do sparklers.

Dee helping light them.

We had such a good time with Tom and Alisha. I wish we lived closer to them so we could hangout more. One thing I didn't get a picture of is us playing games. We play all kinds of games but I think our favorite is Things. So funny and way inappropriate. We always stay up late to play, but since Dave hasn't been home in a few years, the boys were missing his dirty answers so we Skyped him to play. It was so fun and he got to enjoy the Marlatts for a little while.

Moses Lake Part 1

Back In JUNE when we got to ML, the only thing the boys wanted to do was go boating. So before we left Spokane from getting us from the Airport, Dad took us and got the boys life jackets so all the kids could have their own. Since Casey and Sylvia were house sitting on the lake it was wonderful; we had the boat parked there and everyone could sit on the deck and hang out until it was their turn. Sam and Logan loved it! They never wanted their turn to be over. My brothers were great! I was concerned about letting them be in the water but the boys and Dad took care of them and the boys loved it. Logan sat behind the windows because the wind hurt his ears.


Sam and Jade

My Dad and his new Jet Ski

Lacy and Sam. Sam really wanted to get on the tube and I wasn't going to get on it so Lacy stepped up! Thanks Lacy, Sam had a blast!

Casey set up a Slip and Slide in the backyard for the kids to keep them busy.

This is the greatest picture. Casey, Sylvia and Lacy are watching Barney. What you can't see is that all the kids are sitting at the counter eating their lunch and Barney is on to keep them still so they will finish it. Haha! I told them I was keeping this picture forever as blackmail.