It's hot (for up here)

The Alaskan summer is in effect and nobody is losing any sleep over it coming a bit early. I headed down to Juneau for a quick visit and things are moving right along. Here's a funny tidbit about the project. The old Alaska State Museum had a big fake tree in it where a big fake bald eagle nested and little fake critters climbed around on the bark. It was quite nice and a good lesson in nature. The local community liked it so much that they insisted that a similar one be included in the new building. The old tree couldn't be saved so a new one, notably larger and taller, was commissioned. However, due to sequencing (re: you can't put a big fake tree in a building when the roof is on), the tree had to be installed right in the middle of construction. The picture below is of the tree and the main entry/atrium space. Check out that fake tree!

Lot of typing up there, in construction related news, Max tore the head off of his Bob the Builder work bench. He felt bad about it so he tried to put Bob's head back on. 

Yep. We took advantage of the good weather and took a couple trips to Delong Lake.

He enjoyed himself and found a preferred bench from which to watch the goings-on.

Next up was the weekend and that's when things really took off.

We took a stroll down Powerline Pass.

After that Max climbed some rocks in the parking lot.

Then later in the afternoon we hiked up towards Little O'Malley peak with Jeff and Bridget.

Good times were had.

Then Max went to sleep for a long time because he was bushed and so were his parents. The only thing that would get everyone up and running on Sunday was coffee, reading the paper, and discussing the events of the day.

We prepared ourselves for the day and then we were off. 

I ran up to a lake in the mountains with some buddies...

Good stuff.

And the day wrapped up with Max watering everything. 

Great weekend, until next time, cheers!

Zippin' around

Where were we when we last checked in, summer on the way, Max doing all sorts of things, a spot of running. Let's see, what's happened since then...

Well perhaps the biggest news is that Max learned how to wash himself and his clothes all at once. Just a quick spin and he's good as new!

A little privacy please. 

Max also got pink eye, then was quickly cured but not before giving it to his Mom. Here Max relishes a set of pain free eyes while Mom deals with it. Nice Max, real nice. 

After the pink eye scare was over, we got out and played a bit of lacrosse. Max studied the game...

and then gave it a go. He's a natural, of course.

Here we have a typical morning. Mom isn't quite up to speed  yet but Max has already put back a couple cups of Joe. His enthusiasm is perhaps lost on Mom. 

Then it rained and Max was sad because he couldn't be outside. 

Oddly, when we did get outside, Max wasn't exactly enthused. Huh.

Over the Memorial Day weekend Jes got some gardening in which was great. 

Max helped by watering his foot and pants.

For the sake of honesty in reporting, I have to report that Max got sick on Memorial Day. It wasn't pleasant but it didn't last long. There was a good amount of sleeping, a lot of holding, and not much else. No need to worry though, he's back yelling at his nail clippers. All is well.

And here's another pic, perhaps my new favorite. Max and I walking the grounds.

Until next time, cheers!

Summer is making an appearance

Well the weather has taken a turn for the awesome all over Alaska and we are taking advantage. I was down in Juneau again for work and got away at lunch for a run with a friend who works for our contractor. We took a leisurely stroll up Mt. Roberts. Pictures below is the beginning of the trail.

Then there was a lot of climbing through trees until we got here.

The best part of the run was it ended at the tram. We had ordered lunch back in town and by the time we got to the top, it was ready for us. And the kicker, since we bought lunch, we got a free ride on the tram down.

Project is also moving right along.

But what am I talking about, how about some Max! Last weekend he insisted on going for a stroll so we obliged. On our walkabout we happened upon a garage sale that included this perfectly sized table. We bought it and now Max takes all his meals there.

Max has fully entered the stage of making a mess of everything. Below we see a rare triptych of Max eating with his entire face. Sure it looks like he bit the head off a live chicken but that's not at all the case. That's just a quesdilla and what was spaghetti. 

Our friend Steph and Dan are having another kid so we went to their baby shower. Max found some balloons and proceeded to drag them all over the house. Here Jes steps in between the balloons and Max if only for a minute.

And in perhaps the best picture ever, Jes helps Max water our basket plant flower thing. This is so happy.

But in case you think it's all sunshine and rainbows up here, there's a decent amount of not sunshine and rainbows. For example, here's Max at Target. He's tired, he's sick of shopping, and he need a bottle.

And here he is playing with a car in the sunshine, we're back!

I have been running a bit as well, Mike and I headed up to Rabbit Lake to check things out. Still snow up there but things are looking good.

Until next time, cheers!

Well that happened

It's been quite a couple days 'round these parts, where to start? Well let's see, Kevin and Michelle brought their little person Elsa over for some dinner. Max and Elsa decided to get away from the adults by hanging out under the coffee table. Good move kids. 

Then on Saturday Max went to Cuddy Park. He harassed some geese (standard move by this point), chased some big kids around, and tried to climb up the slide (also standard move). It was a success but only one picture was taken. 

Here Max keeps a watchful eye on the geese, making sure they stay on their side of the park. Vigilant.

Then one of our cars died. Yes, it was very unfortunate and the timing was particularly bad with work and travel coming up for the next week. So we thought about what to do Saturday night. By Sunday morning, we knew what to do but first, Max got into a fight with some yogurt. 

Then he hung out with Mom's on the back deck.

Then we traded this car...

For this car, err, truck. 

Yea. So now we have a giant truck and a dead car in the driveway (for a few days), we are really making some Alaskan moves. All we need now a hole in the wall in our house... oh wait, we've got that too, and some blue tarp and duct tape covering another hole (working on that). Good times.

Then we went to dinner at a friends and Max practiced running with Jenna. 

So that's that. We have a huge truck, a baby who fights with yogurt, and Mother's day 2015 is wrap. 

Whew. 

Until next time, cheers!

Outside!

We are catching a nice run of weather and we've been getting outside and enjoying it.

Here Max smiles because he's outside. 

Here Max gets a stern looking at from his mum. He was not about to be cooped up in a seat while the weather was nice.

Ahh, that's more like it. 

Here Max laughs because we are talking about outside.

Max and his mum do a bit of exploring... outside. 

Does it matter that Elias is nudging young Maxwell out of the way (or that Elias is a terrible playground structure driver)? No, because Max is outside.

Does it matter that Max's dad is a real taskmaster and he has to broom the garage? Well, it kind of matters, Max doesn't appear to be a big fan of chores even if there outside.

Here, Max is clearly inside but practicing for being outside.

What is the one thing that compares with being outside? Hugging/wrestling/pinning a cat to the floor.

Max also enjoys tearing things to shreds, inside or out.

One last shot of Max outside because outside is best. 

Until next time, cheers!