Star Wars Family

When Dad is in charge... 

Hike It Baby

Ever since having kids I've struggled with not having time for my own hobbies anymore. I don't like getting interrupted when I start a project, so I just don't start them.  But I feel like I've just found something that I am motivated to do and can complete WITH my kids. 

I came across a group on Facebook called Hike It Baby.  It's a group dedicated to getting families outside and moving. They have "chapters" in various cities all across the country. People can lead hikes/bike rides/outdoor outings/etc., post where and when they will occur, and any info that would be helpful to parents (how many miles, stroller friendly or not, if there are bathrooms/changing tables, difficulty level).  The Anchorage chapter is amazing and there are about 10 different events to choose from almost every day. 

I was a little intimidated at first because I didn't know how the kids would do and I would be meeting up with complete strangers. But it was great, the kids survived (even though they complained a lot), and I felt like I accomplished something hard. It's a motivating feeling.  We've been 3 times so far and have made new friends along the way.  I think we will be incorporating at least one hike per week into our schedule.

One of the "hikes" we went on was actually a 4 mile bike ride along a coastal trail in Anchorage (Tony Knowles).  The kids rode bikes and the moms pushed strollers or wore their babies. We stopped at 3 playgrounds along the path.  

Isaac got into a brawl with one of the kids and punched him in the eye. Of course it had to be the kid who was supposed to be "leading" the bike ride. And had hearing aids.  Isaac was on time-out in this picture.  Luckily the mom was cool with it. 

We even made it to Costco afterwards.  And I did absolutely nothing productive for the 3 days afterward because I was so exhausted.  Sage's first time in the cart!

Outdoor fun success!

This was a 3 mile hike up a mountain (South Fork Trail) - not super steep but there were switch backs that the kids whined about.  At one point I was pushing Isaac in the stroller while carry Sage on me.  There is something empowering about making it to the top. Even if I do have to bribe them with candy :)

This was a themed hike - Pirates and Princesses;  the boy princess happens to be the kid Isaac punched in the face, but apparently they were friends on this hike. 

Funny story -  Isaac gets super whiny when he has to do anything hard.  So I attached his blankie to a lanyard so he could walk while sucking his thumb and not drop it in the dirt 100 times.  But then I had to keep taking it away because he'd walk so so so slow. The things we do for/to our kids...

We ran into a moose on the trail - pictured in the center

Hike It Baby is also a great resource to just get ideas for places to explore with your own family.  Here's some pictures from adventures with just our family. It's really just an attempt to show you that my children dress themselves and never take off their dorky sun hats. ;)

Matanuska River Bed

High class river bed with abandoned cars.

Scout Ridge Trail - Palmer Hay Flats

Seriously....she'll smile anytime. Love that little girlie. Even if she won't sleep worth beans. 

Check out if your part of the country has Hike It Baby! 

Denali Camping Trip and The North Pole

We have been wanting to visit Denali since we moved here but camping with 2 kids seemed daunting.  So instead we waited until we could camp with 2 kids plus a baby. A much better plan :) 

Denali (or Mt. McKinley) is the tallest mountain in North America. Unfortunately, in order to see it up close and personal you have to ride a bus (like an old school bus) into the national park.  It takes HOURS to get there. However, on the drive to Denali National Park, there is a view point where you can sometimes see the mountain. Apparently it's a rare day if you can actually see it because the clouds are often covering it.  We were able to see if for the most part.  It's the mountain (with snow) in the middle of the picture below - where the pine tree is covering half of it ;)

I was a TAD disappointed that it didn't look very "big" after all the hype, but we were so far away from it. One day when our kids are bigger we can take the dusty, bumpy ride into the park to see it for real. 

That being said, it was beautiful up there. We had a (mostly) successful camping trip, especially considering it was our first time camping ever. 

You can't tell from this picture, but I packed a LOT of stuff. Chris was laughing that I was packing our whole house.  But we used most of it! Camping in Alaska means you pack for multiple seasons at once...which equates to a lot of stuff!

We stayed at a really nice campground (Riley Creek) that was at the entrance to the park. The campsites were all ready to go....and they had NICE bathrooms. With flushable toilets. Some might argue that it's not REAL camping if you don't have to dig a hole, but I slept with all of my kids next to me in a tent, so I'm calling it camping!

Napping and getting the kids to go to sleep was probably the hardest part of camping. The sun doesn't go down here in the summer, so it was extra hard. But they did okay overall. Sage actually slept better in her car seat with the added noise in the tent than she does at home! 

I highly recommend bringing bikes for kids when you go camping. They loved riding around the campgrounds and filled the downtime. 

There was a statewide fire ban while we were there. We brought a camp stove but it's not nearly as fun as a fire. However, I was actually a little relieved.  No nasty smelling clothes, no kids falling in fires, no making sure the fire is extinguished properly, no bears smelling food on your clothes.  That being said, we ate out once a day at some of the local eateries. They have awesome Alaskan decor and nasty salads. ;) 

The bathrooms deserved a photo because I was so happy about them :)

We had planned to stay 3 nights at our campsite, but during the 2nd night it rained, and rained, and rained some more.  It continued raining the entire next day. The forecast called for continuous rain for 3 more days.  We didn't really know what to do in the rain all day, so after much deliberation we packed up our soaking wet stuff and headed further north to check out Fairbanks. They were having tons of fires. The picture below is SMOKE, not fog.  Super gross and it didn't really make for a picturesque drive. 

We got a last minute hotel and of course, swimming at the hotel pool was the "best part of the trip" according to the boys. 

There is a town called North Pole near Fairbanks.  They are known for having Santa's house there.  I've been wanting to check it out but didn't want to drive 6 hours from our house to do so.  And thank goodness we didn't. Haha.  It was cute, but definitely not what I was anticipating. A little bit run-down and commercialized, but again....the boys loved it. And how many kids can say they've been to the North Pole??  

Rudolph was on vacation, but they had some other reindeer.