Cabin

Kyla tried on Daddy's rain boots

And then tried on Mommy's rainboots

Heading to the cabin by 6 wheeler

Kyla helping mow the lawn at the cabin

Daddy rowing the boat

Mommy and Kyla out in the boat

In the boat in her Dora Life Jacket, she called it her "Dora Backpack"

Kyla and Daddy out in the boat

Mommy and Kyla in the boat

Out Fishing

Playing Ring around the Rosies

Kyla had so much fun playing in the sand and rocks

Kyla's first time playing horse shoes

Kyla playing Bocce Ball

Mommy and Kyla on the 6 wheeler

Stand back Papa's staring the fire

Roasting Marshmallows

So yummy

Kyla's first Smore

Having Smore's with Grandma

Asleep in Grandma's arms at the campfire






We just spent a wonderful 4 day weekend at the cabin. We all had a great time and had great weather up until the day we left. Kyla had so much fun at the cabin since there was so much to do to keep her busy. Each day we went out in the baot, went fishing, played bocce ball and horse shoes, played around in the sand and rocks and rode around on the 6 wheelers. Kyla loved playing ring around the Rosies with Jon and would play it over and over again until they were both so dizzy they couldn't even walk. Each night we had great fires in the firepit and would just sit around the fire and relax. Kyla wanted to wear her sunglasses everytime that we had a campfire. Kyla also had her first smores and loved them. It was so funny to see her get a quick sugar rush and run around like crazy and then she would crash and be asleep in a minute. We found great ways to get Kyla to sleep, either take her on a baot ride or sit around the campfire, unfortunately we don't have either as an option at home! We did not see much wildlife at the cabin, but came home to a Cow Moose and her two babies and three owls in our yard.

The cabin was so nice and realxing being on the lake and having so much space to run around and play. We had such a great time at the cabin and can't wait to go back next month when my sister and her kids are in town!

Happy Fathers Day!

Kyla helping me make cupcakes for Papa for Fathers Day!

Mommy's little helper!


Kyla and Daddy!

Out for a hike!

Fun at Exit Glacier


SO much fun!

Hiking

Kyla with her super sugary cotton candy ice cream

Daddy and Kyla enjoying their Ice Cream!

Enjoying the beautiful views in Seward

Mommy and Kyla looking at Jelly fish

Daddy and Kyla on the Marina

Kyla's first time in a life jacket!


Happy Father's Day!!!

Kyla is a very lucky girl to have such a wonderful Dad! Kyla and her Daddy have so much love for eachother! Jon loves to have fun and play with Kyla as well as give her all the nighttime cuddles she wants!

To celebrate Fathers Day we had a fun filled day planned for Jon! We started the day early and headed for an hour and a half drive to Seward, an old coastal town south of Anchorage. We went on a great 2 mile hike to Exit Glacier and Kyla actually hiked the entire mile up the mountain to the Glacier, Jon was very proud. We hiked slow stopping at every stream for Kyla to throw rocks into and in between each stream Kyla would collect rocks to throw into the next one. Once we got to the top Kyla was tired of hiking and got carried down hill by Daddy! We had beautiful weather, perfect for a great day outside.

After our hike we headed into Seward for a great seafood lunch on the Marina and then walked around on the Marina looking at all the boats and Jelly fish. We ended our afternoon in Seward going to the best ice cream parlor and getting Kyla all sugared up with cotton candy ice cream!

It was a wonderful Fathers Day and we had such a great day on our little adventure! The last time that I went to Seward was the day after our wedding when we went on a cruise out of there, which happened to be almost exactly five years ago.

Summer Solstice

Kyla got to hold a bunny and a baby duck in the petting zoo!

Kyla liked feeding the goats and sheep

Petting the cute baby goat

Of Course we had to stop and blow bubbles!

Kyla was very interested in watching the fire dancers


Today Kyla and I went downtown to celebrate Summer Solstice. In Alaska Summer Solstice is a huge holiday because of how long our summer days are and also becasuse it is the official start of summer. The summer festival is celebrated with the Midnight Sun Mayors Marathon, Several smaller races, tons of bands and dance performances, all types of games and tournaments and street fairs. Kyla and I spent a good part of the day in the childrens area which had a huge sandbox, petting zoo and a lot of different games and activities for children. Kyla really liked playing with bubbles and sidewalk chalk. We also spent a lot of time listening to live music and dancing in town square. Kyla had her first Reindeer Sausage for lunch and loved it! Unfortunately the weather was not great for celebrating summer, but we still had a good time.

Kyla 23 months

Today our little princess is only one month away from being a big 2 year old!!! We are super excited to celebrate her birthday with all of her cousins this year. She will have a birthday party in Sunriver, Oregon with all of her cousins from Jon's side of the family and then a week later in Alaska with her cousins on my side of the family.

Kyla suddenly seems like she is growing up so quick. Last month she gave up bottles, we put away the highchair and switched from a crib to a toddler bed. Now she is talking sooooo much more, putting several words together and saying more compliated words. The other day she said "different park" when we told her we were going to a new park. She is now putting up to four words together to create a "sentence". She is also getting more and more opinionated and strong willed every day. I wonder all the time where she learns some of the things that she says and does. The other day I was scrapbooking and I told her not to touch the paper I was working on, she looks at me with a sneaky little smile, puts one finger out touching my paper and says "touch". She also was sitting at the dining room table and put her foot on the table, Jon kept asking her to take it down and she said "NO!", now she thinks it is a game and puts her foot on the table every meal! It is so hard not to laugh, which of course encourages this type of behavior. She is definitly at the stage where she is really testing her limits to see what she can get away with.

This month has also been the most exhausting month we have had with Kyla. She has so much energy and is getting close to no longer needing a nap, but while making that transition we are all on an awful sleep schedule. She absolutely refuses to take a nap or even rest during the day, but by 4 or 5 p.m. she is exhausted and crashes. Then after a short nap she is full of energy and does not go to bed until 11:30-Midnight! As soon as she can get by without that little late afternoon nap I am hoping that she will get back to going to bed early. I am sure that her sudden change in sleep has to do with no longer being confined to a crib as well as having the sun up until midnight, but it is sooooo hard to get her to sleep.

Kyla is enjoying summer so much and has been having a blast spending so much time outside playing. She loves swinging, slides, anything invloving water, sand boxes, blowing bubbles, playing in her car and so much more. She also has been really loving books and singing lately. She finally is sitting still and letting you read books to her, we can read probably 50 books at a time. She is starting to know that names of her books and asks for certain ones. Her favortie books lately are "Roar of a Snore" and "Pinkilicious", they are both very cute! Her favorite songs are now "If your happy and you know it", "Rain, Rain, Go Away" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring". We have probably only had five rainy days this summer, but she wants to sing these songs all day everyday! Kyla has also now started to like cartoons and will actually sit still for maybe 10 minutes and watch a cartoon early in the morning and before bed at night, she really likes Elmo and Dora and gets very excited when we turn them on.

Kyla also loves dressing herself now! She gets into the closet and seriously trys on every single pair of pants that she has, many of her coats, all of her shoes.... and makes a huge mess!!! She is very very picky about what she wears and will not let you pick out her clothes, once she has decided what she wants to wear there is no talking her out of it! This is why Kyla is in rain boots most of the time now! She is also this picky with pajamas at night, no matter what pair we pick out for her she has to go find a different pair to wear.

It is so fun watching her grow and see all the funny things that she does. She is such a love bug and even when she is testing her limits and stressing us out we love her sooooooo much!

I am about to have 5 weeks off and we are going to go on some trips and really enjoy summer! We are going to my parents cabin where we will play outside in their yard, go 6 wheeling, boating and fishing. The following week we will go to Hawaii for almost 2 weeks to visit my sister and her family and then we will go to Oregon for our family reunion followed by another week at the cabin with my parents and my sister and her family while they are up here visiting. We are really looking forward to all of these trips and can't wait to spend so much time with family and enjoy some hot weather!

Imaginarium

Playing with fish on the water bed at the imaginarium

Blowing a big bubble with Daddy!

Making a bubble bigger than Kyla!

Fun in the treehouse

Building Lego's on the light table

Playing with the trains!

Playing in the reading corner!

Playing in the bear cave and slide was lots of fun!

Learning about Gravity!

A lesson in Air Pressure!

Kyla and Daddy learning about how a swing works.


This Weekend Jon, Kyla and I went to the Imaginarium, which is the Children's Museum in the new Museum. I use to go to the Imaginarium as a child and always loved it, so it was exciting to take Kyla to the new one that just opened last month. We had a great time and will be going back many more times! Kyla could have easily spent the entire day there.

We were very impressed with how much neat stuff they had and how interested Kyla was in EVERYTHING! Kyla was very excited about the bubble area of course. You can make bubbles that go around you and over your head as well as several other fun bubble activities. They also had a fun indoor playground that looked like a treehouse, a polar bear cave and slide, a cool floor that made designs as you walked on it, many activities that involved balls, an aquarium where she was able to touch star fish and sea urchins and many other fun and exciting exhibits. We had a wonderful day at the Museum and are already looking forward to our next visit.