The Interior

Here we are in front of the pipeline. The 800 mile Trans Alaska Pipeline System carries oil from Prudhoe Bay (northern AK) to Valdez (southern AK) and is easily viewed in Fairbanks.

Before moving to Anchorage, we lived in North Pole for almost 4 years. Our apartment was just down the street from the Santa Claus House. Santa is normally in the shop every day to take pictures with the kids....just our luck, he was on vacation the weekend we visited. The sign said he was getting ready for Christmas. :) So, we sat in his chair and took another family picture.

Santa's reindeer live outside and were very friendly. You may be able to tell that Jillian is signing "please" in this picture. She LOVED them and really wanted to touch and pet them. Daddy, can we please have a reindeer? Athena would love the company! :)

The Great One

On Saturday the 16th, we drove in to the park. We left around 9 am (or so) and drove into mile 66 (what used to be the Eielson visitor center). We took this picture after a long day in the car - nobody looks especially pleased. Maybe next time we'll take the family photo in the morning when we're awake and happy and ready to get the day started. :)


This bear was AWESOME!!!! Jeremy and I climbed up on the roof of the car and set the tripod up there. She was massive and beautiful and we were glad to be off the ground. She was foraging very close to the road and she drew in quite a large crowd of spectators. Everyone was standing around outside thier vehicle while this bear roamed well within the 50 yard park implemented limit. When she decided to cross the road, she walked in between the cars to do so and came within 3-5 feet of many of the people. I'm sure the park animals are very used to humans.....but still! All I could do was repeat, oh my god! Oh my god! I missed many good shots because I leaned in through the window to alert Jeremy.

I think this was the baby....on the way out we saw a baby and mama moose eating alongside the road. When they crossed the road Jeremy got some really great shots. :)

OK, most of the park road is great - BUT, there is a HORRIBLE section where the very narrow road is set between a mountain and a sheer drop-off, with several sharp curves thrown in for fun. I refused to let Jeremy stop for pictures until we reached a relatively safe section. This is nothing.

Dall Sheep. We scored when it came to animals this trip....in addition to the moose, bear, and dall sheep, we saw wolves and a red fox - oh and ptarmigan and squirrels woo hoo.

What a long day! Time for a nap! Jillian was a trooper through the whole day. We took plenty of breaks and had lots of snacks to munch on. She took 2 naps in the car. She was to ready to get out and run around that night!

Denali Princess Lodge

In the lobby of the Denali lodge is this statue of Balto. Jillian loved him, she hugged and petted him. I thought he was just a statue of any old mushing dog until Jeremy said I should write the story of Balto. I said, why? Who is Balto? I had to look the story up on the internet to remind myself of the great mushing dog who led his team the last 53 miles to Nome in January 1925 carrying the serum to end the diphtheria epidemic. They called it the "Great Race of Mercy". And, after looking close, I can see the name "Balto" engraved at the bottom of the statue.



The lodge is set up like a little village with paths connecting the room buildings with souvenir shops, mini theater, and cafe's. A wood-carved bear stood in front of each shop holding a salmon sign - one side said open and the opposite said closed. We thought this was pretty cute. And Jillian signed "fish" as soon as she saw the salmon. That was even cuter. :)

Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge

Thursday night we stayed in Cooper Landing and hiked down to the Kenai river. We found this sign on the river, advertising the Lodge for everyone driving along the highway on the opposite bank. My sister Allison worked at the lodge all summer at the tour desk and I think she had a blast.

This is the view off the deck that ran along the back side of the lodge. Can you imagine seeing this everyday? Its so beautiful and the river water is this gorgeous green color. The lodge is practically in the middle of nowhere - an hour's drive from the closest hospital/doctor. We're so glad we had the opportunity to stay and experience a little bit of the Kenai. Thanks Allison! :)

Making the Weight

This past weekend we planned a major road trip: 5 days, over 1000 miles and 24 total hours of driving. We must be nuts. It all started when we received news last month that we won the Denali road trip lottery. Every year the Denali National Park holds a lottery, for a fee anyone can enter, they pick 400 people to drive their own private vehicle into the park. 100 people per day, over 4 days. You can go as far back into the park as you like, even farther than the park sponsored tours, stop whenever you want and for as long as you want. Its pretty cool....this was our 4th visit to the park (2 bus tours and our 2nd time driving in). So, about a month ago we learned that we won our first choice, Saturday - Yeah!

In planning the trip, we decided that since we were so close to Fairbanks we might as well make the journey farther north. Many of our Fairbanks friends had never met Jillian and this just wouldn't do. Our 2 day trip became 4 days.

One of my sisters (Allison) is working at a lodge on the Kenai. This was their last weekend for the season and she called to say that she got us a cabin for Thursday night. Awesome. Whats one more day and a couple hours in the opposite direction?

We figured that with all the upcoming driving we should take Jillian in to the pediatrician's office on our way out of town. Our little girl is a tiny thing, she doesn't even weigh enough to make it on the chart for national averages. This means that at 18 months she was still rear-facing in the car seat. We fed her a HUGE breakfast before her weight check and prayed for 20 pounds. The resulting weight was just under, but he said that it was close enouth for us to flip the seat around. Sweet! Jillian really needed that, facing forward helped dramatically improve her attitude in the car. The weekend was still going to be long, but now it was going to be bearable.

We took about 280 pictures....the next few blogs will chronicle our trip.

Big Hug

For some crazy reason, maybe its all those cookies, the past few days Athena has been more friendly with Jillian. And Jillian loves it. Athena sits still for pets and hugs, this totally makes Jillian's day.



This grin says, "I just got the best hug!" :)

Our Little Scrapper

I feel guilty. The last few journal posts have focused on Jillian's less than desirable behaviors, even if completely normal. I feel bad about this because many of Jillian's readers do not have the opportunity to see how lovely she is every other moment of the day. She is a happy girl who fills our home with love and laughter.

Much to Athena's delight, Jillian still loves the cookie game. She grabs a bone from the pantry and runs around the house while Athena chases her. Often, Jillian traps Athena in the bedroom with her. We can just hear Jillian sing, "I've got the power!" Forced play is still play. :)

She has started to say "Hi" to her reflection. She will see herself in the mirror, glass and even the shiny metal drain in the bath tub and say "Hi". Like a little friend who follows her wherever she goes.

I try to keep Jillian out of our bedroom...it's just heaven for nosy babies who like to empty drawers, baskets and the like. Jillian has an internal radar and comes a runnin' each time the door is opened. Another new thing, she has been trying on my shoes! Its awfully cute to spy on her while she is in the closet, pulling all the shoes off the rack and trying them on before throwing each one to the corner. She does not appreciate an audience and will not perform if she thinks she is being watched.

The latest phrase in Jillian's vocabulary is "go go go". She says "go go go" riding the tricycle around the living room or while pushed in the laundry basket down the hall. She says it softly and hesitantly as if she's unsure of her speaking abilities.




The dining room table has morphed into scrapbook world. Sorry Jeremy. Jillian loves to climb onto the table every chance she gets. Here, she is helping me get organized. Thanks babe. Someday she will be roped into helping me with her book. I can't wait to see the pages she'll make! :)