Our Trip To Alaska

So we took a trip this week to Alaska to visit Leslie's family. It has been a fantastic trip. When I was very young my favorite time of the year was July for Pioneer days and the fourth of July. One summer my parents gave me $10 to spend however I wanted, which was quite a bit of money to me then. I had always wanted to go on a helicopter and there was one taking off at Draper park over and over again all afternoon. When it was getting dark I found out it was only $10 for a ride. I ran over to go on the helicopter and before I got there it took off again and they told me it was gone for the day. It is rather silly, but I have always thought about that day and have wanted to fly on a helicopter. I threw it on my bucket list and Leslie knowing of my desire set me up to fly out of Denali to land on a beautiful glacier. It is usually $450...quite more than my original $10...talk about inflation! Leslie's sister Jenny was able to get me on for half price so I went and it was absolutely amazing!! I loved the flight and the scenery was breathtaking!
Here is Claire doing what she does best...finding some random place to sit, looking cute and playing with something random that she usually puts into her mouth. She has a new love for dental floss. She loves to stick it in her mouth and run it in her teeth. Very nice!
We took a great trip on a riverboat tour in Fairbanks. Thanks again to Jenny for getting us $60 tickets a piece for free. Part of the tour included a demonstration of some sled dogs followed by them jumping in the water and getting wet. The kids loved it!
Any parent will tell that you traveling by plane is not easy with kids. Just ask my friend Kristin Sanchez. So after a three hour flight to Seattle we added a six hour layover. We rented a car and travelled to the Port Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. It was very fun and a great break for the kids. It was like another vacation. We saw a 3,500 pound Walrus, huge polar bears and in the picture below there are lots of Puffins.

Once we started driving back from the Zoo the kids took a one hour nap and then they still didn't want to get out of the car so we just put the car seats on the stroller and a cart until we got to security. It worked great and we got a good laugh out of it.