Ava has a thing for motorcycles. "Mom, I want to marry a cycle when I grow up." Ava hiking to the "C" with Uncle David. A group of Doman cousins in Crane after hiking to the "C". Harrison and newest cousin Zachary.

20 lbs. 5 oz.

Yeah. 4 1/2 months old. Need I say more?

Last of Alaska

Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC. Incredible.

We splurged on one excursion and took a float plane tour. It was absolutely breathtaking. Clay sat copilot.

In town at Ketchikan.

So that is our trip. Biggest thanks go to Mom and Dad who came to watch the kids. Poor Mom when to the emergency room the day we left with terrible pain and ended up having her appendix out. CRAZY. Crazy. Crazy. Wow. Thanks so much Mom and Dad.

Besides Mom's terrible mishap, our trip was so great. I just loved doing those things that we don't do as much together now- hiking, biking, ok- just being together without all our daily demands. That was just so great. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!

More Alaska

We came across these bears by accident on a road up above them on our bikes. I was so freaked out!

... then we realized they were in an old water tank enclosure.
... then we realized that the old water tank enclosure is actually called "Fortress of the Bears."

I wonder if those people watching from that viewing area know they could see the bears from the road for free...

If you look closely in the pic above, there is a bear in the water standing up and staring right at us. We had just eaten the subway sandwiches that we had packed with us. Amazingly enough, the wind was blowing at us and the bear still picked us up big time. As we went down the road a little ways it followed to the side of the tank, still sniffing us out and staring us down. That was very scary- even if they couldn't get out.

Three bald eagles on the side of the road. They were everywhere.

Yes, a mountain lake with a little fishing boat and dock for anyone to use. Yeah, Clay was really kicking himself for not bringing his fly rod. Maybe next time...

The glacier was absolutely spectacular. I didn't really understand what a glacier was before I went. I kept thinking, what's the big deal, a big pile of snow and ice. Well, it was awesome. When pieces of the glacier break off it is called calving. It sounds a bit like thunder. We loved it.

On our way back to the ship, we found this little bike teeter totter just off the road. I almost peed my pant when Clay turned off and went for it! Well, first I peed my pants, then I quickly got the camera out so you could pee your pants laughing at whatever was going to happen. I tried to put one other video on, but it wouldn't work. He rode the teeter totter, then ran into that giant boulder there on the left. Only his pride was injured, so it was a great laugh. That was almost as cool as the glacier.

WELCOME TO ALASKA!

Here we are at the top with a view of the other side.

The bears were on the mountain in the background of this pic. How he spotted them? Good question.

Clay is an eagle eye. He can spot anything anywhere it seems. We sat down and he was scanning the mountside opposite of where we were and found a black bear with two cubs. They were climbing up a patch of snow and sliding down. That was so cool to see!

Our first stop was Juneau. It was such a gorgeous day. I rolled up my jeans it was so hot. We had no plans when we got off the ship. We rode a tram half way up the mountain and decided to hike the rest of the way to the top. It was so great. It was a perfect day!

There were two formal dinner nights. Clay's brother has a tux, so we borrowed it.

Just leaving Seattle

When we started getting into the snow on our hike, we saw some huge cat tracks. Clay said they looked exactly like cougar tracks. Needless to say, I was completely freaked out after that. I was so scared because no one else was continuing upward like we were so we were alone without anyway to protect ourselves. We later found out that it was a lynx track. I'm glad that we didn't have to meet him. Bald eagles were everywhere. The golden eagle we saw was amazing. As we came up to the top of a little hill, we accidentally spooked it from its nest. It scared us to death because all of the sudden this huge bird took off right in front of us. I was so great!

Family of Seven?

What the heck just happened here???? When did I go and have five children? You know my blogging is bad when a baptism and birth don't even get a post. :)