Spring Break 2023

A million years ago, well actually three weeks ago, we packed our suitcases and headed to Los Angelos for a long spring break weekend. All four of us hadn't traveled together in a long while (pre-Covid?) but we found a great house/dog/cat/chicken sitter, rearranged work schedules and hopped on a plane. 

A few months prior, we decided that we should take a family vacation because our time all together is getting shorter (Will graduates in two years!) and we also needed some sun.  It's been a long winter.  We debated which coast, locations, etc., and then I found cheap airfair and hotel in LA so the decision was made.  Glenn was skeptical until I mentioned the La Brea tarpits - which were also what Reina was most excited about oddly.  Long story short, we had a lovely time.  It wasn't without hiccups, teen angst and crowded sleeping arrangements but we made it work.  

Look at these happy faces on the airport shuttle.  Smile for mom!  

Our first stop was the La Brea Tarpits.  It was even cooler than we thought it would be.  Highly recommend if you are in the LA area.  

We set aside the next day for exploring.  Lots of google maps and Glenn serving as the navigator (DIRECTIONS!), we found Dodger Staduim, the Coliseum, another museum and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

At a park overlooking Dodger Stadium.  Will gave Glenn a piggy back ride because he can. 

Glenn & Reina

2 out of 3 smiles.  

The ceiling outside of the LA Natural History Museum

The fastest walk through the Hollywood Walk of Fame known to man. I was the only one who was into it so it was a short trip.  

 

Our last full day was designated as Universal Studios Day.  We had a blast.  

Hogsmeade! 

Hogwarts!  We rode a ride inside the castle and it was pretty cool.  I mean, I had my eyes closed for most of it but everybody else seemed to love it.  

The car from Magnum PI!  This was the Studio tour and it was a lot more fun than I expected.  Plus it wasn't a roller coaster.  

Glenn loves the Simpsons! 

Next year's Christmas Card.  Sums up the day in a nutshell.  

On the last day, our flight didn't leave until the evening so we packed up the hotel and headed to the beach.  We picked Venice and it did not disappoint.  It wasn't quite sunbathing weather for the general public but Wyoming teens were quick to strip down and get some UV rays.  

Yes, Glenn is wearing long pants.  As was I.  We were comfy.  But look at that ocean.  

So that was our trip.  It was nice to come home and have the rest of the week to hang out, get driver's licenses, make cake pops and watch movies.  Then it was back to the grind.  Can't wait for the next one.  

Christmas Eve Eve

 I took December 23 off and we spent the day working on last minute Christmas errands.  The niblings hung out with us for a little while so that Aunt Vicky could volunteer at the mall for present wrapping.  We had lunch and then came back to roll out some sugar cookies.  

Reina is happier than she looks.  

Cousins helped me roll out the dough and bake and then Glenn and Reina decorated later that night.  Some serious artistry happening here. 

We wait until the last minute to put any presents under the tree because several of the four-legged members don't abide by the societal rules of "don't open presents before Christmas morning and definitely don't own presents that don't have your name on them."  When we opened up the box from my Aunt Mary (she always sends cat presents) and put the packages under the tree, it instantly became the hot spot for cat hangouts. 

The face of innocence

Will brought home a gingerbread kit last week so he and tried to put it together.  No pictures because it wasn't exactly structurally sound.  But we had fun.  It reminded me of the days of Lego building and teamwork and all of that good stuff.  It was a sweet way to start off the holiday weekend. 

Dance fever

Last month, Reina had her dance recital.  She danced in pointe, ballet, hip hop and hoop.  Both pointe and hoop were new classes for her this year.  I didn't get a picture of her hip hop performance and I could kick myself because it was super fun.  

Reina had her own fan club at the recital. 

Look at my girl on pointe!  This is so much harder than it looks.  She's been working on this since September and has made awesome progress.  

Ballet time.  This was her favorite costume.  

Hoop!  I was blown away by this dance.  Reina made it all look so effortless. 

 Reina isn't sure what dance classes she'll sign up for in the fall.  She talks about wanting more time to do clubs and activities at school, but she also loves dance.  We'll see what she decides.  Reina we just love watching you have fun.  

Spring Break

We've been back from Spring Break for a few weeks but it feels a lot longer than that.  The kiddos and I zipped down to Cabo for a few days with my sister and family and my parents.  Glenn stayed home to hold down the fort and save up his vacation days with his new job.  We missed him and we'll make sure he goes with us next time!  We arrived in Mexico on a Monday and flew home Saturday but we packed in a lot during our time there.  

Reina left her mark on the wall of a restaurant where we celebrated (early) my parents' 50th wedding anniversary!  An amazing accomplishment!  And this is a weird way to acknowledge it but I'll make sure to dedicate a whole post around their actual anniversary.  

This cat showed up at our resort every night around dinnertime and sauntered through the outside dining area to see what was happening.  We may have shared a tiny bite of cheeseburger.  

Down at the marina, tourists pay these guys for the opportunity to feed a sea lion.  It's a pretty sweet deal for salesperson and sea lion if you ask me.  The pelicans don't seem to mind either.  I just observed even though I was tempted to fork over a few bucks.  That sea lion is definitely not starving.  

These four cousins.  Time feels like it's flying by when all of these kiddos just keep growing year after year.  They had a fun time swimming with each other 

Skiing

Sunday, the kids and I piled into the car and headed up to Snowy Range for a day of skiing.  The mountains have had some good snow recently and since we didn't get out at all last winter, we decided to take advantage of a long weekend and go skiing.  This picture paints a rosy picture of our day and that's how we'll go ahead and leave it.  But someday when the kids are middle-aged and possibly flipping through this blog like we do with our old fashioned photo books they might remember this as the day that mom completely lost her cool when Reina inexplicably couldn't get her ski boots on (boots that fit perfectly fine the day before), how at one point both mom and Reina were yelling and Will was trying to be the calm one and later suggested that he would now refer to Reina as "fat foot" which actually made her laugh, mom threatened to drive back home like fifty times, Reina finally got her boots on, everyone skied a bunch, mom and Lucy fell getting off the lift at least 50% of the time and the last time, the lift operator had to stop the entire lift to help mom get up and then Reina was worried mom had a concussion, Will had to ski by himself most of the time because he went down runs that were more advanced and he needs to go skiing with friends rather than moms and sisters, and a bunch of other little things.  But hopefully they will also remember a mom who wanted them to have fun doing some of the same activities that she liked to do and even a bad day on skis is never a completely bad day.  

Merry Christmas 2022

 It's Christmas Day 2022 and we had a lovely time.  I was just reading my post from last Christmas and it's nice to have most of us back together although Covid still casts a shadow over our plans.  But let's talk about Christmas. 

Reina's favorite Christmas present is without a doubt her VR thing.  VR headset?  I don't know how exactly to refer to it but she loves it, it was #1 on her list and we might have lost her to the void.  We've all tried it out and it's actually really cool.  She can't wait to save up some money to get more games because her only game right now involves her working different jobs in the VR world and that sounds too much like real life for me.  

Glenn's favorite present his bipod which is a fancy way to describe this two-legged thing that he attaches to his hunting rifle blah blah blah.  Lucy also got him an ancestry DNA kit so that we can see if we are related and some sardines from World Market.  

Lucy's favorite present is a lens cap for her camera that is super sturdy.  (For the record, this was one of those years where I didn't really need anything and I bought myself some stuff on sale before the holidays so I said let's just call it good.)  Glenn did an excellent job filling up my stocking with candy so that was awesome.  

Will's favorite present is his airpods - which are noise cancelling so I think that's his answer from his room with the door closed.  He also got a massage gun to help with his training and some Wyo clothes.  And a stocking filled with authentic ramen from World Market (guess where Lucy did some last minute shopping?)   

We spent Christmas morning with the Fry family and Grandma and Pop-pop and it was sweet.  It's still fun to see Christmas through the eyes of the younger family members and especially sweet to have us all back together.  We got a surprising white Christmas too - we woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground and had fluffy white snowflakes coming down during the morning.  After everyone left, we napped, walked dogs, ate a bunch of delicious leftovers, watched football and played with our new toys.  What a nice Christmas.  

Oops I missed Thanksgiving

I was so full of turkey and pie last night that I couldn't summon the strength to blog.  So much for my one post a day streak.  We had a really nice day.  Vicky hosted a bunch of us at her house.  I brought pies, green bean casserole, rolls (store-bought, naturally) and salad. I also tried out a new mushroom casserole that was yummy but probably too rich.  Other folks brought turkey, pork roast, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, more pie, and Matt made brisket and ribs.  It was all delicious.  My sister is a great hostess and I'm not just saying that because she'll probably read this later.  The little(r) kids had a great time playing and even got Will and Reina to play along.  Through the floor vent, I could hear Will yelling "don't shoot me, help me Reina!" 

The only picture I took - boy cousins watching football. 

   

Kids at Water World and pet pics

It's been a super weird week but I'm saving that story for another post.  In the meantime, a few weeks ago we took the little monsters, the big monsters, the grandparents, and some friends to Water World for our Official Last Fun Event of the summer.  Well not the Last Fun Event, but maybe the last fun event in Denver?  Anyway, we piled everyone into the car and headed south.  The little monster cousins hadn't been to WW before and none of us had been there since the summer of 2019 because of Covid so we had a great time!  

E talking to his juice box - or talking to me to say 'stop taking my picture'

Where did this grown up girl come from?  

E is not a huge fan of the water and the fact that he walked in up to his knees was very big news. 

Reina and the lazy river 

I didn't get any pictures of Will, or at least any pictures that I'm allowed to post but he was there too and he did a great job with his younger cousins.  He sat in the little wave pool with them and even convinced E to go on a giant inner tube on the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" complete with dinosaurs and lava.  E announced to everyone after the ride that Aunt Lucy had ruined his life by encouraging him to go.  Oh well, I had a nice run as Cool Aunt Lucy but all good things come to an end. 

We recently bought Will a new bed to match is taller physique and a new bed meant new bedding which resulted in a weeks-long search for the perfect comforter and sheet set.  One night while perusing TJ Maxx and sending 10 (TEN!!) pictures to Will of navy and white comforters in all shades and patterns, I stumbled across this welcome mat that had to come with me. I left without a comforter too but later that weekend, Glenn and Will went shopping and came back with the manliest of manly bedding in the form of black and dark gray and I'm just happy that he found one that he likes.  

Since I'm back at the office, the pets and I don't get to hang out like we used to.  We still find time to go to the F I E L D (can't say it out loud where they can hear you) on the weekends.  

A happy bunch post run at their favorite place.

I came upstairs on one particularly hot evening last week to find Coco sleeping in our sink.  While it was a nice cool place to nap, it was also convenient for reminding me that she'd like a refreshing drink 
directly from the tap.  

A rare sighting, a tuxedo cat and a tuxedo dog sharing the same bed.  Soxy still doesn't prefer the dogs be in her direct orbit but for some reason she tolerated it yesterday. 

 

The rest of June

I've been too tired at night to write but we are having a fun and busy June.  Lots of baseball, a dance recital, gardens in bloom and work have been filling up our time. We've had a roller coaster of weather too - super hot days at baseball and then at the end of the week we are wearing sweatshirts and closing the windows at night. So here's the rest of our month in pictures.  

Baseball!  Will's team has had games a few nights a week with a few weekend tournaments.  The season ends on July 18 so we have some hectic schedules coming up but boy do we love watching this kid play.

Dance recital time!  I have enough pictures for a whole post but here's a picture of our girl in her ballet costume.  She also danced modern and hip-hop this year and more pictures of that coming soon!

Cousin time ! We had a summer kick-off bbq at Fry Farm with the cousins and Hansen grandparents.  Baby cousin doesn't want to snuggle like he used to but he's still pretty darn cute.  

It wouldn't be a summer picture without hail in the backyard.  We had a heckuva storm a few Fridays ago.  The good news is that our hail tent did it's job even though it collapsed in the middle.  Surprisingly, the fabric held and even with the center collapsed, the plants underneath survived.  The flowers and veggies that weren't protected took a beating but, as always, it could have been worse.  We also need a new roof and paint on the house.  Yah for insurance?!

Pauley men!!  Will is about two inches taller than me and as you can see, is creeping up on Will.  They wear the same size shoe now and I wear Will's shoes when I go out into the backyard and don't want to get mine dirty.  Shhh, don't tell him.  

First jam of 2021!  The weather was delightfully cool enough this weekend that I fired up the stove and made some strawberry jam.  Supplies are much easier to find this summer compared to last year so I hope to have a bunch of batches in the cupboard soon.  

Hail from the earlier picture.  Some of those pieces were annoyingly gigantic. 

Will headed off to football camp with the high school team (gasp).  Will traveled to Nebraska with his teammates for a few days.  He had a great time and informed me that he's practically ready for college now because he's stayed in the dorms and gone to practice without us there.  He might be ready but I am most certainly not.  

Charlie and his very favorite bunny slipper chew toy.  It's hard to be a tough guy when you really love chewing on a squeaky fake slipper.  

Spring Break in One Day

 The kids have had been on Spring Break all week but we unfortunately we aren't sunning ourselves in exotic locations.  Will had baseball practice through Tuesday so we decided to stay home this year and combine a work week with some fun activities. I took today off and the kids and I zipped down to Denver.  It was one of those days when everyone was cheerful and we had fun!  Fun with a 14-yr old and a 12-yr old and a mom who's always tired!  Fun!  We hit a lot of stores.  Will needed more baseball equipment and his collection of sports sweatshirts is always looking for new additions.  Reina found some clothes she liked and got her very own volleyball too.  We went to the Natural History Museum and stayed there as long as tempers would allow.  There's a cool exhibit on Stonehenge and Reina and I could have stayed in there for hours. We'll have to go back on our own again.  On the way home, Will and I listened to the Rockies game on the radio while Reina played a videogame in the backseat.  It was baseball's Opening Day and the Rockies beat the Dodgers which is always an amazing way to start off the season.  We shopped on our way home for more baseball stuff, tried a new (to us) cookie store and come home completely stuffed.  While the rest of our Spring Break has been a blur of work and driving kids to practices and play dates, this day made it all worth it.  

The Last Day of 2020

I don't have it in me for a long, emotional post about this year.  It is what it is.  We are all still here, along with all of our grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.  We still like each other a lot - we've survived all of the togetherness, home-schooling, working-from-home, weird schedules, canceled vacations and loads of stress.  I know that the turning of the calendar won't result in drastic changes for 2021 but some days it feels like maybe just maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel. 

In 20 years, when I look back on this year, I hope I remember all of the sweetness, too.  The daily walks with dogs and Glenn and a kid or two.  Will and his games on Madden that became our sports when there were no other sports to watch.  Reina and I reading The Ickabog and Glenn and I watching videos of hunting on Instagram.  Yes, I really did that last part.  Zooming with friends and walking outside in the cold with Vicky and cousins.  Hikes - so many hikes when Alena and then Ben came out West.  Reina asking me during a work presentation if she could have hot dogs for breakfast - the consensus of the group was a resounding "YES."  Glenn ironing fabric for me while I made masks and the little assembly line we had with Vicky and friends to get the masks made and delivered to the Foundation.   Our twice a week takeout dinners to help local restaurants and fine, some chain ones too.  Sometimes you just really need soup and salad from Olive Garden.  Socially distanced baseball games and watching the men in the family pace when Will came up to bat. Group texts with friends that helped me see it was normal to want to cry over Jr High math.  Will's elaborate back stories for all of our pets that change daily (Charlie used to be a quarterback for the Denver Broncos, our cat worked at the ball drop in NYC, Tootsie was in Isis....) 

I have many other things to be thankful for but I'm done writing because I plan on ending this year with Netflix and the Ipad and some brownies that are just out of the oven.  Here's to a boring 2021.  

Day 182ish

Here's a big list of stuff that happened this week. 

1.  It snowed! And froze!  We ended up with just a few inches of snow but some cold temps at night so the gardening season is officially finished.  My flowers in pots and some odds and ends survived in the garage so we'll have a little bit of color to get us through the fall... or until is snows again. 

2.  We made it through another week of in-person school!  Reina and Will are both doing well.  They have a lot of homework at night and by the end of the week, they are both pretty tired.  Reina's dance classes start back up this week and Will's football season is still going strong. 

3.  Speaking of football, Will played some defense yesterday and recovered a fumble on the 1-yd line.  It was so exciting!  He did the right thing by falling on the ball instead of trying to scoop and score but oh man, it would've been fun to watch him get a defensive TD . 

4.  Glenn was gone most of the week on a work trip.  It was the longest we've all been apart since this whole thing began back in March.  I missed his company and the extra driver for school runs.  The kids miss his calming personality when mom is losing her you-know-what.  

5.  Glenn and I ran a race yesterday.  It was a fundraiser put on by Aunt Vicky to benefit projects at the hospital.  Glenn ran the half marathon and I did the 10k.  The race takes place on a buffalo ranch and it's gorgeous scenery with a lot of hills.  I was slow, Glenn was a little slower than he wanted to be but we both finished without barfing and made it back in time to catch most of Will's game.  A win-win for everyone.  

On to a new week!  

Day 165 and the one with all the ear wax

Tomorrow is the last day of summer vacation and I have a lot of thoughts about it.  But first, let's talk about the second to last day of summer vacation.  Tuesday night, Will and I were up watching the Rockies game and I started to have a bad headache.  It turned into one of the worst headaches I've ever had and I even woke up Glenn to get some help.  My forehead was aching and I felt so queasy and of course my brain went immediately to "I have a brain tumor and there's brain fluid leaking out of my nose."  I'm pretty rational at 11:00 p.m.  The next day I realized that I probably had a sinus infection. I tried a bunch of over the counter stuff yesterday but was still feeling droopy so I went to the doctor today.  It turns out, you have to have two weeks of a sinus infection before they will prescribe antibiotics so I have 10 more days to go. I did pick up some more OTC meds that are helping.  While I was at the doctor's office, the PA discovered that one of my ears was completely blocked with wax.  Does this blog get anymore glamorous?  So after two rounds of ear wax treatment and an unspeakable amount of wax pulled out of my ear, I'm happy to report that I can hear everyone grumbling and complaining about the lack of snacks in our house so much more clearly.  I still have a headache so the ear wax isn't completely to blame for my condition but at least my ear canal is clear.  And who knows, when I get on the scale tomorrow, maybe I'll have a lost a pound or two.  Of ear wax.  How's that for a visual?  

All grumbling about snacks aside, we have had a pretty sweet week together.  It's still hotter than necessary for the last week of August in Cheyenne but we had some rain today and the forecast shows things cooling off.  Will is tired from football practice and Reina has had some time with aunt and cousins this week and she and I tried to make a doll's outfit on the sewing machine yesterday.  Let's just say that we hope outfit #2 turns out better.  

Glenn and I walked Charlie tonight and talked about this summer wrapping up.  As hard as it's been with everything going on in the world and the worries about getting sick or someone we love getting sick and all of the TOGETHERNESS, this has really been one of my most significant summers of being a parent.  I feel like I've really gotten to know the kids on a different level.  Maybe that would have happened if it had been a normal summer.  13-yr olds and 11-yr olds are pretty cool - there's a lot of good stuff going on there.  We've developed little patterns - Will and I watch baseball, Reina and I take Charlie out for what she calls his midnight walks.  It's more like 8:15 p.m. but who's counting.  Will keeps me updated on his fantasy football team and Reina and I read the same books.  Glenn's here too - practicing tackling drills with Will in the backyard and letting Reina stay up until 10:00 p.m. watching a documentary on Nefertiti.  We've cooked more meals than I care to count and the dishwasher is always running.  

It's not all peaches and cream - there have been fights about electronics, differing opinions about the role of the police (really) and most nights end with me saying to one or both of the darling monsters, "I love you but I really really need to not talk to anyone right now." But we have made our way through it.  

The kids go back to their school buildings on Monday.  Most 'experts' (other parents, teachers and the nurses at the doctor's office today) agree that they probably won't be in school long.  I've read the school district's plan for keeping everyone COVID-free and I'd say there's a pretty good chance that they'll be online-schooling from home sometime this fall, but on Monday we will embrace a little bit of normalcy, even if it's just for a day.  

Day 85

Day 85 was another Monday, but at least this time there was no kid schoolwork involved.  I'm working on a project to collect resources for people who are very stressed and even suicidal so my work life has been a little heavy lately.  I did have kids coming in from time to time to ask about snacks, lunch options, how much more electronic time they had and hey-mom-check-out-this-dance-I-just-made so those were nice diversions. 

Will is digging school being out and he finds ways to stay occupied during the day (watching old sports highlights, reading about sports, looking up statistics about sports and practicing sports in the backyard.)  Reina is a little tougher. Once she ran out of electronic time today, she was as the kids say "all up in my business" or my little 'butt barnacle' as I fondly refer to her during quarantine.  I suggested art projects, reading, cleaning her room (oh mom, you are so funny) and she finally agreed to spending some time playing with my make-up and drawing.  I'll sacrifice a few eyeliner pencils if it means I get 30 minutes of total silence.  She spent her time drawing the character Cher from Clueless, a bonafide teen movie that she watched with her big cousin last week.  Since Clueless is in fact based on the Jane Austen book Emma and it's also one of my favorite 90's movies, this is a project that I can fully support.    

We had a good old fashioned busy (but lovely) weekend.  We got to watch Will play his first baseball games. He had some good hits and drove in a few runs.  When he was playing third, he had a liner glance off his glove and bonk his head but he bounced back up and stayed in the game.  I did not run on to the field after he hit the ground and I'm not sure he fully appreciates my restraint.  I did ask Glenn and the other people around us "did that hit his head" about 50 times but he's fine. The coaches and umps checked him out thoroughly and while he didn't appreciate me gazing at his pupils the rest of the day, he felt fine.  At the ballpark, ti was fun to watch some games with the grandparents in attendance and little cousins running around.  It felt like summer - especially when the weather went from chilly, to sunscreen, back to chilly and get out the umbrella.  Oh Wyoming.  (It's 37 degrees as I type this and so far we've had rain and hail tonight.  There's snow on the summit but let's hope it stays there.) 

Reina is back at dance class a few days a week, with social distancing and mask wearing.  She had a class on Saturday morning and then she played with the cousins during baseball. In the afternoon, she went to a little birthday for our neighbor's granddaughter.  She and Reina play about once a week and on Saturday, the other grandkids were there too so Reina had a gang of girls to run around the backyard with, it was good for her mental health and they all get along well.  

One of our on-going projects lately has been to paint the vanities in the kids' bathrooms.  We spent a big chunk of Sunday getting that done and hanging up new light fixtures.  I'm happy to report that Glenn and I did that (it was mostly Glenn) without arguing or electrocuting anything.  Victories! 

Besides tonight's hail, this has been a good start to another week.  

Day 1

All weekend, I've had the thought that I need to memorialize this time.  This Covid-19 time.  The change in attitudes and plans from last Sunday to tonight is a little scary but I also firmly believe that we (as a society) need to do everything we can to prevent the spread of this virus.  But this blog doesn't need a diatribe from me about how people aren't taking this seriously enough.  This blog needs the weird little details of how all of the Bronco Babies are dealing with this uncertain time in our history. So let's talk about that.

Reina has been talking about the coronavirus for a few weeks now.  Coming from a long-line of worriers and worst-case-scenario-people, Reina and I have talked a lot. As the situation has progressed, I've told her as much as I've known at the time without adding to her fears and we've talked about we can do specifically, mainly washing hands and keeping ourselves healthy. When Wyoming's first case was announced last week, we talked about that.

Mr. Junior High would talk a little bit about it but *stuff* got real for Will on Wednesday night when he and I were watching basketball on tv, flipping back and forth between college and NBA games.  We had the Nuggets game on and watched in real time as the NBA made the announcement to suspend the season and pulled players off of the court in Utah.  I had to suppress a giggle as I watched the realization dawn on Will and he turned to me and said "I might actually not have school!"  Welcome to the conversation son.

We kept ourselves pretty isolated this weekend because Glenn has been feeling under the weather and we had a icy snowstorm that blew through that canceled outdoor baseball practice.  Our church canceled services and other than a trip to the library and the grocery store, we laid low.  Today the sun came out so we all got outside for a little bit. This afternoon, I read an email from the junior high detailing how they were going to limit the number of students in the cafeteria, took a nap, and then woke up to the news that all schools in our district are canceled until at least April 7.  Both kids were shocked and obviously not completely disappointed, although they are both worried about what it means for the summer and missing their friends.  They are also super excited about my plans to keep them learning during this time.  Okay fine, Reina is pretty excited to be "home-schooled" but Will doesn't think there are any online resources that accurately reflect what he's learning right now.  Because you know, the internet is bereft of 7th-grade math, science, social studies, English and Spanish exercises.  Is my sarcasm coming through loud and clear?

Glenn and I have to go to work tomorrow morning.  We don't know what official plan will be for our agencies but for now, it's business as usual.  Stay tuned for Day 2.

Camera pictures from Alaska

I'm trying to write as many posts as I did in 2018 and I only have a few more days to hit my goal. I was looking through some of the posts that I started to write this year and never finished and discovered all of these Alaska pictures. I'd made a photo book for the Pauley grandparents to thank them for the trip and I guess I never got around to blogging about it.  So here are some of the highlights for blog posterity.

We left Seattle on a Sunday afternoon and cruised all day Monday.  The weather was usually in the low 60's or upper 50's and it felt great to us after a hot July in Cheyenne. While on the ship we spent a lot of time watching for whales and we got to see so many!  It was really cool.  

Glenn whale watching and Reina modeling.

It wasn't quite 60 degrees the morning that Will and I sat on the deck and read books and watched for whales.  Glad we had our cold weather gear! 

I took many photos with my Canon but these are the phone camera versions.  Our first stop was in Juneau where we had most of the day to explore Alaska's capitol.  We found a small city museum that had a little area for kids to explore and they loved it, even the tween.

Will pretending to process fish - he even put on the apron.  Well, he was using the fish as a weapon to cut other fish but he was having fun.  

Sun setting as we left Juneau

It looks like these are all of the camera pics that I saved.  We also visited Ketchikan, Sitka, Victoria BC and I feel like there's someplace else that I'm forgetting.  It was a terrific opportunity to see such a beautiful part of our planet and spend lots of quality time with family. 

While just about everybody else on the ship was viewing the Hubbard Glacier, these two monsters were swimming.  Yes the pool was heated but the air was not warm.  They didn't care.