The Birthday Celebration

Jaeger's Birthday celebration started with blueberry pancakes.


I was quite impressed with myself for thinking to make a 2 out of the blueberries and then Dan came out with this creation for Dane! I've officially been reduced to washing dishes on pancake days! ;)


This was Jaeger's 2nd pancake in honor of his favorite song "Hey Bunny Bunny."




It was a beautiful morning (meaning it wasn't raining like it had been for 5 straight days!) so we headed to the glacier. We'd heard that the bears were out looking for salmon and we got to see this little guy searching for his breakfast.


After many phone and Skype calls talking to our wonderful family we opened all of Jaeger's cards and gifts. Dane really loved helping out with this task! And then we had one of Jaeger's new favorite meals - BBQ Applesauce Chicken (ridiculously easy and super yummy!) and of course, cupcakes for dessert. :)

Thanks Dane for helping out!

Can't you just hear Jaeger Ray saying thanks everyone for making my 2nd birthday so special. He loved all the phone calls, cards, gifts and love being sent his way!

Happy Birthday Jaeger Ray!

Today you turned 2. Where did the time go?

It seems like just yesterday you were bundled up in your favorite blue blankie just days after taking you home from the hospital....

Today you are my mischievous little monkey! Case in point - stealing a sip of Mommy's tea (look at that mischievous little grin!) ...

You seem to have me wrapped around your sweet little finger though! Your smile just melts my heart and seems to erase all the naughty that you've gotten yourself into...

Being 2 is so much fun!
Here are some things you adore:

D! (otherwise known as Firefighter Paul in our house) , asking Why? and then saying "OOOOOO", stacking things (see this post) and this new picture...

Bailey - you absolutely love Bailey (otherwise known as "B") !!! You lay on his rug with him, torture him by putting toys on his head and body (and sweet Bailey is so patient) and purposely throw food on the ground just to feed him (which makes Mommy quite mad!)

You also love dancing in circles with your biscuits leading the way, riding your car just enough past the driveway and into the street for me to say "Jaeger Ray, on the driveway!", the "Hey Bunny Bunny" song we have to listen to non-stop in the car, flushing the toilet over and over again (thank goodness we don't live in California anymore and have to watch how much water we waste!), the phone (you've already broken one and have been sentenced to just playing with the toy versions) , and Dance Party USA (as dubbed by Auntie Jenna). Your absolute favorite Dance Party song is Forget You by Gwyneth Paltrow from Glee. You and Dane come running from anywhere in the house when it comes on. It's so cute! Lastly and to your brother's chagrin - wee ohhh wee -ooohs!

And here's what we adore about you!

Those Hubert cheeks - oh so perfect for laying on a million and one kisses a day, our morning milk get-togethers - just me, you and some quiet time, even though your naughty ways give us a whole lot of grief we still love it, how much you love Bailey, the way you say more (uh - moooor), in fact, all of your sweet words for things (going for a swing is "uh - wee!") , how snuggly you are, your sweet feet and toes, how much you love Dane and your Daddy, rocking you to sleep, your fascination with anything in the sky whether it be an uh-bee (airplane) or an uh-birrr (bird) and your love of the outdoors (rain or shine - you love to be outside!)

We love you more than you'll even know sweet Chunk-A-Monkers!

Sandy Biscuits!

Another rainy day means...

we'll probably being doing a lot of this today...

Mushing Madness

Dan and I had the most amazing experience last night. We went atop the Mendenhall Glacier for a dog sledding tour via helicopter! What a thrill!! The helicopter ride was perfect. I loved the feeling of being gently lifted off the ground and up over the mountains. It was so fun to see our backyard from up in the sky. We were on Temsco Helicopters which is the company that flies over the mountain that towers above our house - Thunder Mountain. I can't tell you how many times a day we count the "haa-coks" flying over that mountain. :)

Here's the view from above Thunder Mountain. What a neat experience to see it from that vantage point. You can see Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.

Dog Camp
Our mushing team


Here I am "driving the team!"


I then got the chance to sit up front on the sled. Here's a short video of my view.

And one more video of the dog camp. The dogs were going crazy! There was a photographer running up the hill and they all wanted to chase him down. These dogs have an abundance of energy!!! When we stopped a few times along the trail they were chomping at the bit to get going again.

This was such an amazing trip. I'm already trying to figure out another way I can get another trip!

And the search is over!

Dane finally found a friend to play fire fighter with him!

This is Mindy's little girl, Delayna and she was such a sport playing fire fighter OVER AND OVER again with Firefighter Paul (Dane's newest firefighter name).

Isn't she the cutest little fire fighter?

And here's a video of the kids putting out the fire.

Another day in paradise

Yesterday was a bit more mellow, but just as wonderful. Daddy didn't have to start flying until 10 which was such a nice treat. We ate our breakfast outside, went for a "wee" (Jaeger's word for swing), and Daddy and Jaeger got their hair cut on the deck. It was my idea of a perfect morning!

After Daddy went to work, Natasha and I took the kids to a trail above Auke Bay School. We were surprised to find the blueberry bushes nearly ready for harvesting! The kids enjoyed picking a few and left with purple fingers. :) We'll be back in the next few weeks for some more serious picking. I think I may want to try this Blueberry Buckle Recipe this year. Maybe we'll harvest enough to even try some Blueberry Jam too.

Peek-a-boo!

As I sit and write this, the sun is already shining in our backyard and it's not even 7am. As soon as the boys wake up we'll get started on another sunny adventure.

The sky's the limit!

84 ° and taking full advantage of it!

The last few days have been GORGEOUS and we've been taking full advantage of the blue skies and 80° weather. Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day, but we loved every minute of it.

Of course being that it was Monday, we started our day at the fire station. And today we had company. My friend, Janet, and her grandson came along to see the firefighters in action.

We then headed to Harborview Park for some fun in the sun.

After a wonderful lunch at Paradise Cafe we headed up the Mount Roberts Tramway.


Taking in the view with friends, Hayden and Rylan.

Our gang.
Leave it to boys to find an awesome tree to climb in!


This one is for you Nannie! :)


Since the sun was still shining after nap time, we headed to Lena Beach for hot dogs & S'mores. Now, even though Angie told me the kids would want to swim, I didn't quite believe her. I was thinking are you crazy - yes, it's 80° out, but I doubt the kids would want to actually swim in the cold Alaskan water. Well, I was wrong! So off went the clothes and we hung out in our undies. Yep, I'm THAT mom!


We had a blast! Today the sun is shining again - I wonder what adventures await. :)

Happy 4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July. It was our first year taking in the Juneau parade and we weren't disappointed!

The parade started off with a bang for our two fire loving boys.



Here's Dane admiring all the fire trucks coming down the street. The fireman were handing out candy and t-shirts! Firefighter Cameron saw Dane and shouted to a fellow firefighter to make sure he got a t-shirt. I'm pretty sure Dane's milk jug air tank and helmet gave him away as the Monday Maintenance Check stalker. ;0
Both boys loved seeing the Coast Guard boat.


Jaeger got especially excited seeing this forklift in action.


And this was my favorite. Brought me back to my Grease Lightning days. ;)


After the parade, we played tourists and had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants - Pel' Meni. It's super sinful, but worth every last calorie. It only has one thing on the menu - a bowl of authentic homemade Russian dumplings, filled with either potato or sirloin. Dan has been trying to get me to try it for years and I finally caved about a year ago and I haven't looked back. Dan's about to dig in here in this picture.

We finished off our wonderful 4th by walking around looking at cruise ships, float planes and browsing in the shops.


We had a fabulous 4th! Hope you did too.

Here's what we were up to on 4th of July in 2010 and 2009! It's fun to see the changes in the boys. :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We've been cooped up for days! And we've had to get creative with some of our activities so we don't go stir crazy. :)

One of many forts!

Smoothies make...


wonderful beards!


Who knew the recycling bin could be so much fun?
Here's Dane renovating our kitchen wall.

And here the boys are making music.



And in some cases, you just have to get wet! (Notice that Dane's hands are in his pockets. They stayed there for the entire hour of his soccer class! But who can blame him? This kid was born to a California Mommy where even one gray cloud in the sky means a rainy day schedule. )


Yes, this is my kid too, but he doesn't mind the rain at all!!! You really can't tell from this picture, but he was having a blast at Dane's soccer camp.


Hope you're all managing to stay dry!