Reed Lakes, 7/8/24
Trying to make the most of summer and the midnight sun, Scott and I decided to hike Reed Lakes for a bedtime hike, haha. We started around 8:30 pm, and then finished right at midnight! (We went to the waterfall and back.) We got rained on coming down, and it was a bit more muddy than expected, but still so fun! Enjoy these pretty pics!
Williwaw Campground/BBVC, 6/30/24
After spending time at the AWCC, we made our way over to Williwaw Campground. It was kind of rainy, so we didn't set up our tent just yet, and we decided to walk to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, explore there, and then walk back. When we got back we made a campfire and had quickie pies, but it was still pretty rainy, so we decided to just drive home rather than camp in the rain, lol. Luckily it wasn't too far of a drive, haha. This was pretty much the only rainy weather we had, so I can't complain too much, and we still had a great day!
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| Walking on the Trail of Blue Ice, on our way to the BBVC. |
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, 6/30/24
On Sunday we drove down to Portage and went to the AWCC. It was a little rainy, but still fun to see all the animals. Enjoy these pics!
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| Elk |
Wildlife Cruise, 5/24/24
We went on the "orca quest" wildlife cruise out of Seward with Major Marine Tours. It was a shorter one (four hours) and it worked out great for us! It was a little chilly, but we brought hats and gloves and stayed warm, and luckily the water wasn't too rough and none of us got sick either! We ended up seeing quite a bit of wildlife (including lots of orcas!) and it was so fun! We also were in Kenai Fjords National Park for part of the cruise. So beautiful! Enjoy these pics!
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| Resident orcas. I rented a telephoto lens which was so fun to use! |
Alaska SeaLife Center, 5/24/24
After tidepooling for a bit we headed to the Alaska SeaLife Center. We saw lots of cool birds, and it was fun to see the all the seals and sea lions and other marine life. The girls also enjoyed the touch pools. Afterwards we walked around downtown Seward for a bit. It was a fun morning!
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| Horned Puffin |
Lowell Point Tidepooling, 5/24/24
The next morning was a low tide so we got up and headed down to the beach! We found some beautiful starfish and saw some sea birds too! It was a little drizzly and cold, but not too bad! Enjoy these pics! ⭐️🌧️
Red Pine Lake, 10/11/23
Chrissy invited me to go hiking with her to Red Pine Lake. It is one of her favorites, and this was my first time hiking it. It was so beautiful! It's kind of a longer one (nearly 8 miles and 2k feet elevation), and it was a little rainy/snowy, and we had some cloud coverage blocking part of the views, but it was still so pretty, and I'm glad we were able to hike it! Thanks Chrissy! 🍁❄️
Quinault Rain Forest, 6/20/23
The next day we spent in the Quinault area. We hiked trails and spent the night along the south shore of Lake Quinault, so we were actually in Olympic National Forest, not Olympic National Park this day. It was pretty rainy, but still so beautiful, and I loved staying right next to the lake. I would definitely recommend visiting this area. It was easy to get to and much less crowded than the Hoh Rain Forest area, with the scenery and trails being very similar. Here we hiked Gatton Creek Falls and the Rain Forest Nature Loop, and visited the world's largest Sitka Spruce and Merriman Falls. Before getting to the Quinault area we made a quick stop in Aberdeen and visited the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park. It was a fun day!
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| Hiking near Quinault. Loved this foxglove on the trail! |
Mount Rainier National Park, 6/18-19/23
Scott and I got to spend about a week together exploring Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park, and a few other spots along the way as well. I'm going to split it up over a few blog posts, but overall we had so much fun on this couples trip. It was so nice to spend time with just the two of us. 👩🏼❤️👨🏻 We got to do some bigger hikes that we wouldn't have been able to do with the kids, and it was a little easier to fit more stuff in. Huge thanks to both sets of grandparents who watched our girls. They had so much fun together!
First up is Mount Rainier National Park. This was a bit early in the year to visit, and if we go again I'd definitely want to go later in the summer. We still got to do a few hikes, and we had a fun time, but later in the year would have been a better time to visit. Portions of the park are still closed this time of year due to snow coverage, and I would love to see more of the park. We got rained on pretty much the whole time (it is a rain forest, so that was expected, haha), and unfortunately it was cloudy with poor visibility so we never actually saw the mountain, but that was ok. Mount Rainier NP is beautiful, and I loved all the green and waterfalls! 🌿💧
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| Silver Falls Trail, 6/18/23 |
Memorial Day, 5/30/22
On Memorial Day we drove out to Herriman and met Ryan and Jill and their girls. We had lunch together and then went to the cemetery. It was actually a little chilly for this late in the month, and we got rained on a bit, but it was still a fun time. ☔
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| Scott's grandparents are buried here. |
Great Grey Owl, 4/12/20 (Also 3/19, 3/31, and 4/11)
The next night (which also happened to be Easter) our friend let us know that there happened to be two great greys flying around their house. We all decided to drive out there, and we were all able to see both owls! One of them flew away not too long after we got there, so we didn't get any pictures of both of them together, but we were able to see both of them. It was so cool! Enjoy these amazing pics!
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| Scott was able to get the best pics on 4/11/20 😊🦉 |
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| It is perched on a part of their greenhouse here. |
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| So cool to see it in flight! |
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| This is from 4/12/20. It was a little rainy/snowy, and you can't tell from this pic, but as we were walking through the snow we'd sink down to at least knee deep every step, haha. |
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| 4/12/20, such a beautiful bird! |
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| We originally set out on 3/19/20, but turned around because it was snowing pretty hard. We did see this cute mama and baby moose though! |
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| We also saw this bald eagle on 3/19/20. |
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| On 3/31/20 just Scott was out and he saw these trumpeter swans! |
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| Scott also saw this gray jay (I think). Cute little bird 🐦 |
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| And he saw this moose on the way home |
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| We saw these two different bald eagles on our drive home 4/12/20 after seeing the owls 🦅 |
Jazz Game, 4/9/19
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| We had to check out this new Donovan Mitchell bridge at the Gateway! |
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| A little rain isn't stopping us! |
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| I love these saucer magnolias. See more from our trip to DC here |
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| Chase's birthday was the following week and he got a new jersey 😊 |
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| Inside the new arena. So cool! And we had great seats! |
Ruby's 1st Day of Kindergarten! 8/21/17
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| Mike and Kay have been with us this past week, and they'll stay until next week, which has been so nice as we adjust to life with a kindergartner, a toddler, and a newborn :) |
Alaska Zoo, 7/25/16
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| The polar bears were my favorite :) |
