Meow!!.. Halloween 2009

First, a disclaimer: My good camera has been shipped to some location in this country, and is hopefully being fixed sooner than later. In the meantime, I’m using my old trusty Kodak, which apparently is no longer as trusty. So I’ve been quite frustrated. However, Halloween was still fun with a toddler, who loves saying “Meow”.

On Friday, we went down to State Street, which had a kids’ trick-or-treating in and out of stores. It was quite nice. Yesterday we went to the mall, which also had trick-or-treating. Fun, but crazy and over-crowded, and a bit scary for Kajsa, but mostly fun.

Kajsa loves the cat costume. She wore it around the house this afternoon and evening as well. It was an easy costume–she had the pants, I bought the shirt, and bought the ears and tail. Easy, fun, successful Halloween.

from Abby

Hi, Jen… and others who have wondered if I’m still here. (Jen posted a comment on Cathy’s last blog, asking about me….) Yep, I’m still here. Not nearly as photographed, or blogged-about, as I used to be. This kid has pretty much taken over… everything. Food, kitchen, fridge, bed, playtime, walks…. yep, she pretty much thinks she’s top dog. She walks around the house dragging her backpack and other bags, over-stuffed with who-knows-what?, and frequently forgets that I’m even there, dragging the bags right over my tail. If she’d put fewer items in the bags, maybe she could lift them… but hey, I’m just the dog.

Of course, I know that Cathy & Jim still adore me, which is what really counts, but jeez…. a few more appearances on the blog or camera wouldn’t hurt too much, would it?

The good things about having this kid around are: I’m pretty much guaranteed scraps from the table, I get lots of toddler hugs each day, when they leave the house, Kajsa gives me a treat, because Kajsa needs some running-around time in the early evenings, Cathy and Jim are playing a lot of hide-and-seek.. and I get to participate as well. There are a lot of paper scraps to shred, thanks to Kajsa making lots of drawings. And then giving some to me. Kajsa also occasionally opens my food bin and gives me a handful of my food–which works well, until the adults figure it out.

Today Cathy and Kajsa made Hot Chocolate, and had a “HC Party” with Kajsa’s tea set. I ended up licking up all their plates and cups, and even got a bit in my bowl.

I still get to hang out on the bed sometimes, even though it’s crowded. But when Kajsa’s in her crib at night, I get Cathy & Jim back to myself. It’s good to have that quality time, still. At the end of the day, I’m pretty exhausted, though. It is exhausting trying to keep track of a toddler. Good thing there are three of us trying to keep track.

So, thanks for thinking of me. I’ll remind Cathy to mention me more often.

-Abby

Minnesota State Fair

Last week we did our annual Minnesota State Fair day.. it’s so fun. Only this year, for some odd reason, I wasn’t as hungry, so didn’t eat a lot of the fun fair food. That said, I did have my share of the good stuff.. just not as much as usual!

My favorites? The Tom Thumb Mini Donuts, and the Dairy Barn Raspberry Sundae.  We did try the chocolate covered bacon… which was ok. Not great, but ok.

Kajsa loved the animals, the baby animals, the adult animals… trying to pet them, etc. Some of them liked her, too. It was cute. And, of course, Kajsa LOVED the John Deere tractors. Fun.

Exit Glacier & wildlife!!!

Leaving the campground, Jim and I saw a bald eagle land on the piling in the water. So we pulled over, and I got about 15 feet away from this gorgeous creature!!!

the bald eagle in Seward

the eagle, again...

and on the way to the Exit Glacier, two new Venezuelan friends ran up to Sandie, saying they had seen some moose on the path. 3 of them! So Sandie, the two new Venezuelan friends and I ran ahead on the path, moose-hunting. We didn’t find the three that our friends had seen, but saw this guy!!!!

a moose!!

The Exit Glacier was fantastic to see. Amazing. It actually looks bluer in the photos than it did in reality. Funny.

Kjell drinking glacier water

the glacier

the clan, minus Sandie, who took the picture

family picture at the "toe" of the glacier, Kajsa asleep in the backpack

Cathy fell down in the glacier

Kjell and Cathy trying to move the glacier

more cruise pictures

spray from a whale spout

the waves on the bottom: from the boat; the spray/waves on the top: a dall porpoise!

a sailboat, that made us think of Phil Keillor...

a sea otter. Our ship captain slowed the boat down, turned around, drove around the sea otter, who basically ignored us, except to glance at the tourists with cameras...

Wildlife Cruise

The Wildlife “cruise” was not a waste. Of time or money. Which is always good, as one never knows with this kind of thing–at least so I’ve heard. We didn’t see everything we had been told we might see, but saw more than expected, too. Thanks to the Lawrence clan, Jim and I got to go on the boat without Kajsa. I would love for Kajsa to have seen the wildlife.. but the parents with small children on the boat didn’t seem to be enjoying it nearly as much.

in front of a glacier... a bit hard to see in the picture, but it is there.

a sea lion colony

the funky bird frenzy.... the ship captain and park ranger and intern had never seen this before. Common Murre birds going crazy, making lots of noise. They think it could be because of a Coast Guard chopper on top, doing some research by the bird nests

a whale! a whale! a whale tail!!! We ended up seeing probably 10-13 whales... just the backs and tails and sprays... but sooooo cool!!!

Camping in Seward

on Thursday afternoon, we loaded up two carloads of camping gear, kids, Little E., and adults, some snacks, etc. and drove to Seward, down south. I will admit to some apprehension about camping. It had been ages, since I’d camped. But I’m all for adventure, and thougth this might be fun. As it turns out, it was. Not only fun, but beautiful!! We drove to Seward, along a coastal highway for a bit, then on a highway surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks. Really, it’s gorgeous. It helps, of course, that we saw another moose and 5 bald eagles on the way to Seward. But the photos of the distant moose and distant bald eagles are hardly worth posting. Still, we saw them.

What did not help the trip much was the camera lens catastrophe. Kajsa was on my shoulders, and I was about to hand off my camera to get her down, when she fell. Fortunately I held onto her leg, and she slid most of the way down my back, fell a short distance, then after crying a bit, did her normal routine of blaming whatever “made” her fall, or what “broke” her fall.. in this case, the ground. Pointing to it, crying, shaking her head and her finger at the ground. Unfortunately, in the process of Kajsa slipping down my back, and my fear of her falling harder, I dropped the camera. With the zoom lens on it. The zoom still works–but only at that outermost zoom length. Which is good, I guess. If you’re going to break your zoom lens, I suppose it’s best that it breaks at the greatest length possible. The bad part is, it’s stuck there.. and can’t move. So, it involves a lot of switching of lenses, when I’m wanting to capture a distant shot, then a closer shot.. oh well. As I have said numerous times, “I dropped my daughter, and I dropped my camera. I saved my daughter, not the camera.”

Here are some pictures…

dead trees, dead since the 1964 earthquake.. the trees are dead because the ground sank and saltwater entered these parts.

somebody Hooligan fishing in 20 Mile River, on the way to Seward

a stone's throw (a good throw) from our tents... in Seward, on Resurrection Bay

Kjell, Sunny and Broder, in Seward

the campsite, enjoying the campfire

2 Seagulls and a Sea Otter. The otter hung out in the water by our campsite for ages, it seemed.

besides the moose…

there’s not much else to say. No, just kidding. The moose pretty much trumps anything else. But given that, it’s incredibly fun to be with the

Broder, Kajsa and Sunny at Earthquake Park

Lawrence clan, to see Entropy, and to be in Anchorage.

We arrived Monday night. Tuesday morning, before Dave arrived home from Prudhoe Bay (work) and Sandie came home from work, the kids and Jim and I walked (with Entropy, of course)

Sunny, spinning and spinning and spinning

to a park nearby, where the kids enjoyed spinning on some funky playground equipment.

On our way to the airport to pick up

Jim, spinning and spinning and spinning...

Dave, we stopped at Earthquake Park, where all sorts of displays tell the story of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. Lots of mosquitoes. Lots of fun for Kajsa, holding hands with Sunny and Broder.

After picking Dave up at the airport, we all went to Moose’s Tooth for dinner. INcredible pizza. Moose’s Tooth is my third favorite pizza in the world. That’s right, the world. of course my other two are also in the US. (1: Giordanno’s, Chicago… 2: a place in New York City). But still.. out of all the pizza I have eaten, Moose’s Tooth pizza is my third favorite.

Little E, while Jim is driving

Can’t hurt that the restaurant has “Moose” in its name. But also, the pizza rocks.

The other night we were headed out to see some Falls, but it looked like rain that direction, so Sandie said we could go on our moose hunt instead. (See the “I saw a MOOSE” post.)

Kajsa, spinning...

We drove around. Or, I should say, Sandie drove around, while Jim, Sunny and I peeled our eyes open, searching the highways, byways and woods for moose.

Sandie and Entropy, at Chugach State Park

Kajsa was basically in her I’m-so-tired-I-can’t-fall-asleep funk.

Sunny and Kjell, at Moose's Tooth

But eventually settled down. We ended up at Chugach State Park, where we hiked part of FlatTop Mountain. Only part, because there were too many dogs off-leash, and Entropy was with us–ON leash, let me add.

Sandie's, Entropy's, Sunny's, and Cathy's feet in the snow... at Chugach

So it was a bit frustrating that other dogs kept running up to Little E. That, and the girls were freezing cold. Sunny only had a sleeveless shirt on. And Kajsa was in the backpack, but we didn’t realize how cold she was getting.

a cold Kajsa, and Jim

Of course, there was snow. But not a ton of snow. So we wrapped up Kajsa in Jim’s long-sleeved shirt. Anyhow, gorgeous walk. Besides the cold.

I’m liking Alaska.

i saw a MOOSE!!!!!!

two, actually! a mother and her calf. Sooooo cute. not such great pictures. but still, we saw two moose!!!!

First of all, Jim, Kajsa and I are in Alaska! Anchorage, to be exact, visiting the Lawrence’s. Second, I’ve been on this “moose hunt” for several years. It’s become a family joke, that Cathy is constantly on the lookout for moose. And, just to be clear, my definition of “moose-hunt” involves driving around rural areas (someone else usually driving), camera in hand, windows down, shoes on–usually… ready to jump out of the car and photograph. the moose.

moose poop

the elusive moose that seems to know when I’m in town, and hides.

So I told Sandie L., that if I did not see a moose here in Alaska, I would be bummed. Really bummed. Especially considering that they seem to have moose wandering all over the area.

after mama moose noticed me

And I figured the moose would hide, once they knew I was here. Last night, Sandie was a good friend, and drove us around, for a moose hunt. I said I was giving up on the moose. 24 hours in Alaska, and no moose-sighting yet. Sandie even called some friends in various areas of Anchorage, to put the alert out. Moose-sightings? call Sandie, so her crazy visitors can go see it….

so this morning,

the moose walking away... check out the cute calf

Sandie heard about a moose and her calf bedded in someone’s backyard. Sandie made the call. We received the call. We got in the car (Jim, Cathy, Sunny and Kajsa), drove up to the moose-sighting home… but missed her by a few minutes. We hung out, walked back into the woods a bit.. but no luck. Nice people, and I’m grateful they allowed these strangers to wander their backyard. But no luck. Lots of moose poop. As pictured. So we got back in the car, and drove around a bit more… and then, we saw them! the moose and her calf…

so cute!

I put my zoom lens on the camera, jumped out of the car–barefoot–quietly snuck down someone’s driveway, and took some photos. I was so incredibly happy. Elated. Thrilled. Ecstatic. I can’t believe we finally saw a moose. I have heard that in real life, the are actually ugly. I disagree. I think they are beautfiul.

it’s been awhile.

Dairy Queen joy with “Uncle Roy”…. “Girl Cousin” power with Hannah… Kajsa’s sunglasses that make her look and feel way cool…. hugging “Ahb-wah” …. and trying to fit into Daddy’s shoes.