The major things we did while in Anchorage we've covered in our other posts. There were some miscellaneous happenings that deserve note though. So here goes.
There was plenty of just plain hanging out with family that went on:
Blueberries were shared with Poppa
Blueberries were shared with Grammy
Riley did some technical reading with Uncle Brian
The boys liked to watch Bob the Builder and Veggie Tales together
There were many playgrounds to play at, but this one had something Daddy could ride with Riley
Riley especially loved the fact that all the playgrounds were filled with gravel...
There was plenty of eating out:
We celebrated Poppa's 70th birthday at the Arctic Roadrunner
We went with Grammy to Moose's Tooth for yummy pizza
Shelby and I went out for dinner (thanks to Grammy and Poppa for the gift card) at Simon & Seaforts which is much more upscale than their 'saloon' moniker would suggest. It was great. Afterward Shelby got this picture of the sunset at 10:15 pm. It would go on for over an hour...
Riley loved the house that Grammy and Poppa made for him. Here's another shot of him looking out the window:
A trip to Alaska is not complete without spotting a Moose. It's usually pretty easy because they tend to wander all over the city. Shelby saw this guy while running the Coastal Trail and we got a picture of him in the same area the next day:
One of the things I was most looking forward to was taking Riley down a two story slide that is in the church building that Shelby's parents go to. The church is called Changepoint and their building is mammoth. The kid's area is called "Adventure Land" (it's big enough for the name too) and the slide is just off of it. I took Riley down the slide last year and he was terrified. This year it was a different story. Can you say, "More, more"? Take a look:
Lastly, all week we planned to take Riley down to Point Woronzoff so that we could go down to the beach to throw rocks in the water (a favorite pastime) and watch planes take off from the airport whose runway ends just before the park. So Friday morning we hopped in the car and drove down there.
The beach is at the bottom of a steep hill. Beaches in Alaska aren't like I'm used to in New England. They are covered in small rocks and gravel and have very shallow silty water. The key thing here though is that the water is COLD.
Riley had fun throwing rocks in the water for a little while. A couple of pictures:
Nice action shot
That one got away from him
Next though, Riley caught us all by surprise...
Yes, He found out precisely how cold the water is. You can tell how much he enjoyed it as well... If you watch carefully you can see the precise moment that it came to mind to run into the water. It was not premeditated. Fortunately it didn't stop us from enjoying some planes:
The Aftermath...and a plane
For the record, Riley claimed he wasn't wet.
Finally it was time to head home. We had a 12:50 am redeye out of Anchorage. Shelby caught a quick nap, Riley slept for about three hours and I stayed up. We were all in great shape when we got on the plane. Fortunately Riley slept for a little while on the first leg into Portland. So did I. Shelby, who was holding him, didn't. Thankfully the portable DVD player and the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer kept her occupied while she held her sleeping boy. Here's a frazzled looking Riley in the Portland airport:
Breakfast is done, let's go home!
It was a great week. I'm enjoying the trips out there more each time. It's kind of fun to go to someplace that is so very different while still being so much the same as what we're used to at home. It'll be more fun as Riley gets older as well. It will also be easier...
Jonathan
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