The Last Frontier: ALASKA

Honestly, this was not my first choice for a vacation because #1. I don't like cold weather and #2. I am not a big fan of fishing. So I went there thinking this would be Phil and his dad's trip and we would just go along. But I ended up having a BLAST and the scenery is so beautiful there you never get bored looking at it!

We flew into Anchorage and went to the zoo there, then drove about 3 1/2 hours to Phil's grandma's house in Kenai. Phil's Aunt Tanya and his cousin Brandi flew up from San Diego and met us there. I had so much fun with them! Sophie and Brandi's little boy Hayden had fun together sometimes but also fought a lot since they have similar personalities.

Almost everyday we were there we saw a moose mommy with one or two babies either in the front yard or somewhere in the neighborhood. They are so HUGE! Also, caribou and bald eagles.

We were able to see 2 glaciers up close and personal, Phil caught a lot of halibut, we visited a beautiful town called Homer- halibut fishing capital of the world and home of Time Bandit (a ship from the show Deadliest Catch), went to the beach, spent the 4th of July in a beautiful town called Seward where we saw a parade and the Mount Marathon (a crazy race up and down this ridiculously steep mountain), we ate the most delicious fresh crab I've ever tasted, went clamming and then I made clam chowder with them that very day, toured all the visitor's centers and saw the world record king salmon, spent time relaxing by the Kenai River, roasted smores and hung out around the fire, and ended our trip with a boat ride over to a town called Seldovia. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but it was a packed full trip!

The weather was cool, it didn't get warmer than 62 degrees but with a jacket it wasn't bad at all. Glad to be home though and we're making up for lost heat at the pool and the lake.

Our girls did awesome, even though it only got dark 1 hour out of 24! And that hour was just dusk. I had a hard time sleeping, but it didn't really even phase the girls.

Kevin did well and had a good time until the very end of the trip. He ended up going to the ER the morning after we got back for fluids but is doing better now. I'm so glad we were able to have that time with him and that he and Phil could do some world class fishing together. And our freezer is now packed with fish, yum!

We took so many pics it is going to be hard to narrow it down...