Celia: Kenai Fjords Drawing

Want to know how Celia earned her Junior Ranger's badge?  She completed enough pages in her Kenai Fjords work book.  (Disclaimer: Sabrina scribbled on the same number of pages and still earned her badge... so it's not all that hard, but we'll give credit where credit is due.)  So here are Celia's drawings of what we saw on the boat.  
This one has the spouting whale up top with Mountain goats down below.  The one on the left is the Mountain Goat Mommy with the Mountain Goat Kid.

This one has a sea lion on the right.  Then it has a car driving by a Christmas tree...?

Here's the Spouting Whale again.  He did spout a lot of times.

And this one isn't from the Kenai Fjords.  She did it in Preschool.  But I really liked that sun, and that amazing butterfly.  And those are worms down by the seeds.

Alaska Guidebook: Seward (Kenai Fjords)

On the way out to Seward, stop at Kenai Lake.  This is one of my favorite places.  The glacial blue water is amazing.  

Seward is another little coastal town.  Home to Kenai Fjords National Park.  This is the main attraction for Seward and worth the trip!  There are several boat options for the Kenai Fjords.  We chose the 8.5-hour trip, but because of weather (10-16 foot swells on the water), ours was cut down to a 4.5-hour trip within Resurrection Bay, which is protected from the wind and waves, meaning we didn't get to see the big blue glaciers falling into the water.  Disappointing, but at the end of it, we decided that 4.5 hours was better for the girls and the boat ride was still amazing.  We saw some beautiful scenery despite the clouds and rain, plus humpback whales, sea lions, sea otters, porpoises, a million birds, bald eagles, and mountain goats (as well as hoary marmot that was too small and too far off to photograph).

The otters were being playful, though they look rather vicious in this picture. The ones we saw later were more restful.

We learned that bald eagles don't develop their familiar coloring until full-grown, and when young they look like this:

We saw several mountain goat babies, and plenty more solitary mountain goats.

We got to stop at Fox Island for a prime rib and salmon buffet and to look around.  Celia (and Sabrina) drew enough pictures in their workbooks that they got to take the Junior Ranger pledge and become official Kenai Fjords National Park Junior Rangers.  (Yes, I had to hold up Celia's arm and say the pledge for her.)

As we got out the opening of the bay, we started hitting the big waves that prevented us from seeing the glaciers in the adjacent fjords. For a while the captain asked everyone to stay inside as the waves were washing up over the bow, which Celia enjoyed watching as she colored.

Near the opening of the bay the one glacier we were able to see is called Bear Glacier, which is the largest in the park, but because of the wind direction we couldn't get all that close to it.

On the way back a group of probably a dozen porpoises started racing the boat, popping out right in front of the boat. As we were standing on the bow, they were directly under us.

The only part of Kenai Fjords National Park to which you can drive and hike into is Exit Glacier.  The trail up to the glacier was still covered in snow, but it was fun hiking up to see a glacier so close up.

Alaska Guidebook: Homer

About 4.5 hours South of Anchorage is the artsy fishing town of Homer.  Named after a con man that sold stocks to his nonexistent goldmines, Homer is a town full of everyone.  The landscape is beautiful.  The fishing unbeatable.  And the Homer Spit (the body of land that sticks out into the water... not the kind of spit that involves your mouth, as my kids liked to point out by spitting) is one happening place.

The sights: Do drive all the way up the hillside to get a great view of the spit.  It's worth it.  It's not hard to find picturesque spots in this cute little town with the majestic mountains in the background.  Look around.  Snap some pics.  

Where to Stay:  There are a variety of options in Homer.  Hotels.  Cabins.  B&Bs.  We chose a delightful combination of a cabin and B&B.  We stayed in the upstairs of a cabin house in a lady's front yard.  The view was spectacular and she baked us some bundt cake.  It even had a tiny couch the size of my girls.  So it was a pretty big hit.

What to do: Drive onto the Spit and take a look around.  Leave a shell or nice rock at the Seafarer's Memorial.  Shop the arsty shops.  Take a picture next to the tiny, but super popular Salty Dawg Saloon.  Go fishing (Homer does claim to be the Halibut Capital of the World.  The winner of the 2011 Homer Halibut derby was a 350.8 pound Halibut).  

The Alaska Islands and Oceans Visitor Center is free and enjoyable.  Lots of great information.  Some little films.  Some stuff for the kids.  And they also let you borrow a stroller for free to walk down their boardwalk to the beach.  Super nice perk.

Where to Eat:  Everywhere we ate in Homer was fabulous.  We had very fresh-tasting fish and chips on the Spit at the Fresh Catch.   Their clam chowder was also very different, delicious and light.  The Sourdough Express has an all-organic menu (as far as we could tell) with yummy homemade salad dressings and sauces and adult-quality children's menu flavors.  We only took pictures of the Cosmic Kitchen which was also a great place.  Very fresh.  Very "karmic."  And they took great care of the kids with lots of activity pages and crayons for them to take home (washable crayola!).  Overall, Homer is full of some good eats.

Oh, and on the way out of town, if you happen to have a family member named Sabrina, be sure to snap a picture on Sabrina Road.

Celia: More Dreams

Our conversation at breakfast this morning:

Me: Did you have any dreams last night?
C: Yes.
Me: Do you remember any of them?
C:  I remember the one where she had seeds in her and she was starting to turn into a flower.  And we started to put her in our garden.
Me: Then what happened?
C: She was still a flower.  But then the dream stopped.  But actually, that's a dream from when I was three.  I remember when I was riding on Thomas the train and I fell off because it didn't have any seats.
Me: Were you okay?
C: Oh yeah, yeah.  I landed on my feet.  And I landed on the tracks.
Me:  Was it scary?
C:  No.  It wasn't a scary one.  I was looking and looking for you.
Me:  And I wasn't there?
C:  You were.  I think you were in the bathroom.

(Five minute pause - thinking and slowly eating oatmeal)

C:  But I was okay without you.
Me: When you fell off the train?
C:  Yeah.  I didn't cry or anything.

Tom remembers: "I remember a year or two ago, when she was still quite young, I think she tried explaining a dream to me.  As she was explaining it, she was realizing it didn't make any sense and that it didn't really happen.  She was saying things like "and Sophie and Sophia came over, but they didn't really come over..."  I don't remember what all she said, but she was trying to make sense of it as she was telling me, and she ended up just saying something like "no, no nothing, just nothing."

Celia: Dream

(A Supermodel shot from Florida)

I've always sort of wondered what Celia's dreams are like since she's never really talked about them.  This morning she kept saying: "In the show that was in my eyes."  So we talked about dreams.  And she said: "Yeah.  That show that was in my eyes."  And here's how it went:

"We were at a party.  It was at a different church in a different gym with a soft floor.  We didn't eat there.  And Michael and Jerry and Jerry Berry were there (To my knowledge, she does not know a Michael or a Jerry).  And we cuddled together.  (I got a little nervous here and asked who cuddled together: "Celia and you, Mommy" - phew).  And after we cuddled together, the party was all done."

Sounds like a terrible party.

Sabrina: Words

Sabrina is still not talking much, but it's more everyday.  Her current favorites are:
"Poopy" - This means anything that is "yucky."  Like oatmeal on her bibby.  Or actually poopies in her diaper.  Or a pencil mark on the table.
"Hee-ya-go" - She uses this one constantly.  If she hands you something, she says "hee-ya-go."  If she wants Celia to give up what she's playing with and give it to Sabrina, Sabrina will point to it and say: "hee-ya-go."
"AYE!" - It has to be high-pitched and loud and then it means "Super Why!"
"Aye" - not high pitched or loud - means Airplane.
"Gok!" - This means "Look!"  Or Sour Cream.
"Bee-Bee" - Means Binky, Bibby, or Baby (figure it out in context).
"Pees!" - Means peas, please, or give me!
She has mastered Mommy, Daddy, Doggie, No, and can say a few names: Babo (Balo), Ai-son (Allyson), Sees (Celia)