Wildlife

Here are some pics of wildlife on post!

I didn't take these two pics above. A friend of mine did. This bear was over in the neighborhood we lived in when we first arrived to AK in 2011. This was right after the snow melted. It looks like this bear has been eating all winter if you ask me!

I did take the pics of these cubs.
A friend of mine sent me a text on their location and I loaded up the kids to go check them out.  Don't worry, we stayed in the car!

They were cuties!

Another bear that I saw out of the corner of my eye as we passed over a creek on post.
We turned around to get a better look.

Right after we saw the bear above, we turned the car around and saw this mama and baby moose.

Moose on the hill behind our house.

Same moose.

B-man recently took a trip up north and saw some caribou, bison, and a rare bull moose. I don't think he's seen a bear yet!

We are very careful. We have our bear spray and bike bells and we talk about wildlife safety a lot.

Oh, and Brian saw a porcupine a couple of weeks ago too.

Camping in Hope, AK

B-man has been working so hard since the beginning of the year. Well, he always works hard, but he's having to do some extra work these days. They Army is requiring him to complete a year's worth of schoolwork online in addition to performing his regular work duties. Traditionally, the Army sends you to KS for a year to do this course work. It is your only job while there. BUT, they are beyond backed up in getting people through, so they are forcing some year groups to do it online. So, to say that he's been busy is an understatement. He works late every night at his regular job and then comes home to help with the kiddos and then heads up to the office to study and his weekends are totally devoted to studying. He's trying to just get it done as quick as possible. It's a bummer because we are in ALASKA! And we've been having amazing weather and he can't get out and enjoy it. So, we decided to get out and take a break and enjoy this beautiful state. We went camping, in an RV!

We went to a little old gold mining town, Hope, AK. It's even smaller than Talkeetna. There are some RV parking spots and lots of room to tent camp. There's a little restaurant and bar on Main Street and the views are amazing. Resurrection Creek runs right along the camp and in August is a hot spot for fishing pink salmon.

Can I just say, it takes a LOT of work and preparation to go camping! Whew! But once you get there and get settled, it really is a lot of fun. The kids had a blast and were so excited to be in a "camper van" or "camper ban" as Lil Bit called it.

I think I'll let the pics tell the rest of the story.

We arrived LATE Friday night. We didn't leave Anchorage until after B-man got off of work on Friday night. But, we were up and cooking breakfast on our fire Saturday morning. Pancakes and bacon!

Wood gatherers all in a row.

Beautiful view of the creek.

B-man went right to work preparing the wood they gathered while Boo watched.

Lil Bit went right to work too with her...magic wand?
I was just giggling b/c she looked like a witch commanding a potion.
She was just swinging that stick around and singing and dare I say, chanting at the pot of water?! She had no idea I was watching her. :)

The cafe and bar.
Our RV site is down towards the inlet on the left.

Loved all of the log cabins in town.

Exploring on bikes.

My loves.

My handsome boy and sweet girl.

Did I mention the views?

Rock throwing.

"Mom, I skipped one!"

Dad gets in on the action!
Boo and Bit could've thrown rocks all day.
They were loving it.

The fish aren't running in Hope yet, but Boo didn't care.
He was content to fish and fish with no fish around.
He loved it and didn't want to stop.

Lil Bit had to fish too, of course...with her Tinker Bell fishing pole.
Do you see her big catch?

"Look, Mama! A fish!"

More exploring.

Roasting Marshmallows.
This was about 10 p.m. 

We are DIRTY in this pic!
But, happy and together!

Hot dogs!
I think Boo is holding his nose b/c of the smoke headed his way.

Bit pretending to drive.
I can't believe I didn't take any pics of the RV itself.

All day, I tell ya!

Listening to live music on the porch of the cafe.

A few more pics.
They were so good I couldn't leave them out...

We had to get up and get moving on Sunday to get back to town, get the RV cleaned out and turned in to Outdoor Rec here on post. Um, that was a lot of work too! Yucky work!

The little ones, and at least this big one, were worn out come Sunday night.

I'll definitely remember this little getaway and I hope that Boo is old enough to remember it as well.
And although B-man didn't get any/much school work done this weekend, I hope the getaway was good for his soul.

Happy Father's Day,  B-man!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! We've gone camping this weekend, but I wanted to share a few pics that I've taken of the Boo, Bit, and B-man over the last few weeks.

Their giraffe impersonation.

Enjoying homemade chocolate chip cookies!

B-man was taking a little snooze on the couch and Lil Bit was having a tea party with him whilst he slept. It was so cute. She just kept talking to him and pouring him tea and giving him little cookies to eat. So sweet. I asked her if I could have a bite and she said yes and put her toy cupcake up to my mouth. So, I pretended to take a bite and then she looked at me with a very serious look and said, "Spit. It. Out. That's for Dada!"
Well, excuse me!

Happy Father's Day B-man, PawPaw, Grandpa, and Uncle A! We love you!

Gold Nugget Triathlon 2013

Back in March, a couple of my Army wife friends here in AK talked me into signing up for a triathlon! The Gold Nugget Triathlon. It's a sprint triathlon (I think that's what they call it). The events and distances were a 500m swim, a 12 mile bike ride, and a 4.1 mile run. Each event seemed fairly doable on its own, but I wasn't sure what the cumulative effect would be and if I'd even be able to run by the time I got to that portion of the race. But, we signed up and the training began.

I've come to realize that I pretty much have to sign up for an event/race to get my butt in gear and get moving. It's amazing how I find time and schedule work outs when I have a deadline and a training schedule to follow. Without them, I'm terrible about working out. TERRIBLE.

So, I trained here and in SC, thanks to BeBe and her beach cruiser bike. Ha! If I can ride 10 miles on that thing, I could definitely do it on Brian's mountain bike with actual options when it comes to gears. I trained and I made a couple of goals.
Number 1: Finish the race! Do NOT QUIT!
Number 2: Run the whole run section. 

And that was it. Not too crazy. I just wanted to do the race and finish. So, the day of the race drew near and we were getting excited and nervous. And wouldn't you know it, on the day before the race, we had a late season snow storm. It snowed 5 inches the day before the race and the temps were supposed to stay low overnight, so we weren't sure if the trail would be frozen in spots or if the race coordinators would allow us to bike if there was some ice on the trial. But, we prepared as if the race would go on as planned. We dropped off our bikes the afternoon before the race. Thanks to B-man for letting me use his bike! By the time we dropped off our bikes, the ground was already drying up, so we were hopeful. And when we woke up on Race Day, everything was a go! The race was on! It was sunny and dry, but definitely COLD! Colder than normal for race day.

Before I go on, I have to stop and tell you about something Boo said to me during the training process. He knew I had been training and getting ready for "the race". So, one day he said, "Mama, I hope you win the race." And I smiled, and explained to him that I wasn't going to win the race, but that I was going to work very hard to get ready for the race and that I was going to do my best during the race. You see, it was important for me to relay to him that working hard towards something is a good thing to do and that hard work can be rewarding. He has a tendency to give up on things the moment it becomes difficult. And by give up, I mean melt down and sob and act like it's the end of the world. So, I was hoping to show him that we can do things, even when they're hard! And he just looked at me and said, "Mom, you don't know you're not going to win. You haven't even done the race yet." And what else could I say, but "You're right, son. I don't know. Maybe I will win." :) 

The race went really well for me. I took a long time at the transitions, but my actual event times were right on target with my expectations of how I would do, and a little better in some cases.

The best part was that B-man and the little ones met me at several spots along the race and at the finish. They were troopers too. My start time was supposed to be 10 a.m. but I didn't actually start until closer to noon. But they were already on the trails before 10 getting a good spot. It was awesome to see their smiling faces and here the shouts of, "Go, Mama, Go!" as I went by on the bike.

Here are some pics from the race!

Bike Drop Off. Day before the race.
 My designated spot for my bike at transition area 1.
Please note, I'm back in a winter coat and snow boots.

My friend S, who encouraged me to sign up and throughout the training process!
I had an earlier start time than she did, but she came early with me to walk me through everything since it was my first time and to cheer me on!

I was so nervous about the swim. I don't know why, I'm a fairly good swimmer.
I mean, I can't do the breast or butterfly, but I've been known to win my share of "races" at the Oaks Country Club Pool growing up, you know from one side of the pool to the other. And I've had a few people tell me at the pool here that I have really nice form, whatever that means. I think I was mostly nervous about sharing the lane with 2 other ladies. I didn't want to mess them up. But, once I started swimming, the nerves went away. I did swim faster than I had at any training session, by a minute. And I did feel it later in the race, but I was so happy with my time.
11min and 29 seconds.

Up next was the bike.
 You run out of the pool/gym in your bare feet and swim clothes and get to your bike and add clothes/layers for the rest of the race.
I spent a large amt of time doing that. 8 minutes!
Anyway, I finally started riding and just 2 miles into the ride, my cheering crew was waiting for me!
They were so cute and it really boosted my morale to see them.

The snow storm the day before made for a beautiful view while riding. Just days before this, there was no snow on those mountains.

About 3-4 miles left of the bike ride.
B-man was quick to get to this spot! I didn't expect to see them there.

Finish!

Thanks so much to B-man for encouraging me and letting me borrow his bike and watch, etc. And for getting everyone together to meet me along the course. It meant a lot!
Thanks to my Army wife pals too for all of their support! I'm sad to say that 90% of the people I know here in AK are moving this summer. Sniff.

MY RESULTS:
TOTAL TIME: 2 hours 9 minutes
SWIM: 11 minutes and 29 seconds
T1: (transition b/w swim and bike): 8 minutes and 30 seconds
BIKE: 1 hour and 54 seconds
T2: (transition b/w bike and run): 4 minutes and 14 seconds
RUN: 43 minutes and 56 seconds


I hope to do it again next year and definitely shave some time off of T1!