Happenings... more of 'em

Let's see what the Jes-Dave-Max conglomerate has been up to lately.

Our little man has begun experimenting with grown up people food. Here you can see him enjoying some risotto, asparagus, and hamburger. Or as Max defines them, 'something orange to throw on the ground,' 'something green to throw on the ground,' and 'something brownish to throw on the ground.'

But seriously, he loves food. 

Max insists on coordinating his school clothes with interior finishes. Here you see him modeling his 'Where's Waldo' outfit against the stripes of the rug. He's quite dapper. 

In perhaps the biggest news of the past couple weeks, Max found that weird dude who keeps following him when the sun is out. He named the weird dude 'Ernest' and I'm pretty sure they are friends now after hashing things out. 

I have been running somewhat regularly lately and it's been enjoyable. A favorite run takes me along a ridgeline and then down to the ocean, well the Turnagain Arm technically but it's really the ocean. Quite a view. 

Here's an extra picture of Max just cause.

Until next time, cheers!

1 year old and other stuff!

This dude turned 1 on March 16. He rules. 

We had a party over the weekend for him but did not take nearly enough pictures. Here's Max playing with some of his buds. 

A week or so ago, the Iditarod held the ceremonial start in Anchorage. Jes and her mom went down a bit early, Max and I caught up later. Max loved the dogs, so much so that he didn't look at the camera. 

I have a project in Juneau so I go down and check on it every once in a while. This picture is from the second floor, it's going to have a great view.

Grandma Jaci came to visit during spring break. She was great company and Max got along with her swimmingly.

There is a festival surrounding the start of the Iditarod called Fur Rondy. Originally a large part of the festival was the trappers bringing their furs to town and selling them. This still happens but now there's a carnival. Here, Michelle, Elsa, Kevin, Max, and Jes take in the action. 

That's it for now, more picture and posts soon... maybe. 

Trip to Colorado - Part 2

Whew, took a bit of a break between parts 1 and 2. We're back though so here we go! Jes and I had been sensing that Max had something on his mind as we made our way west. The pictures taken seem to bear that out, what was on Max's mind?

Our first stop was the Eagle County Library where we stopped in to see Grandma Jaci. Our first clue about Max's preoccupation is seen here. Clearly there are facts in all those books that he needs to know. 

Max took a break from pondering to make some new friends with the librarians there. Here he is right in the middle of telling a joke. 

After a bit of settling in, some friends of the family came by. Stu had to check out the little dude but he was feeling shy. 

Kathy had a bit better luck with him but it isn't easy holding a baby who's constantly flexing his muscles. 

The next dawned with some classically great Colorado weather. We seized the opportunity and took a walk down the Roaring Fork. Jaci and Bob did a bit of strollering. 

Bob tried to impress Max but again, had a rough go of it. Tough crowd. 

Crossing the Colorado.

Max finally seemed to be easing into things but clearly had something on his mind. 

Finally, at the end of our stay with the Spuhlers, Max seemed to open up to Uncle Rob. We don't know what was said but Max was in high spirits for the next legs of our trip. 

Cheers!

Trip to Colorado - Part 1

Over Memorial Day weekend and the following week, Max, Jes, and myself made the trip down to Colorado. It's was the first time we traveled with our little dude so we weren't sure what to expect. It turns out that Max for the most part sees to really enjoy travel, see below for evidence...

... Max doesn't seem to mind the hustle and bustle of airplane seating. 

Pretty much anywhere is comfortable.

Yep, pretty much anywhere. 

Upon arrival to Denver, our first stop was my sister's. Her whole family (Aiden, Jack, and Seamus) was excited to see little dude.

The theme of the week is emerging even at this early stage and that theme is 'staring at baby-dude.' To be fair, it's a very enjoyable pastime. 

We then made the short drive to Colorado Springs to visit with the Popiel's. Again, the theme reasserts itself. 

First time meeting Grandma Popiel, or Gammers as little Max likes to call her. 

And here Grandpa Popiel, or Gaffer as little Max like to call him, gets some quality time with Max. 

Max, never one to slack off on physical fitness, took a trip to a family friend's house to practice exercising. His arm continues to foil his attempts at rolling over. 

Before we knew it, 2 days had passed and we were on to the next stop, the Spuhlers!

The road was our home now... more to come!

Cheers, 

2 months and out on the trail

Max is 2-month's old!

Yea, he's the best. 

He's even better up close!

The Rockies and specifically Tulo are having themselves a solid start to the year and Max isn't pleased with them, tough crowd eh? 

Jes has been getting out and about with Max. Here she is with Alissa... and her two kids... and a dog, they are troopers. 

We all got out to Artic Valley, it was tip-top. 

Quite a nice valley...

Here's a bit of sunshine...

Almost to the top...

Kevin, Elsa, and his dog Waylon came along, taking pictures and being in pictures. Thanks you all. 

We made it to the top.

Here we are, contemplating something off to the left. 

Cheers, 

Mom's Day

Mother's day arrived and we celebrated with Max. First, we got him a sunhat because we live in Alaska and it's sunny all the time. Seriously, it's been sunny enough to buy a sunhat, weird. 

Then we drove to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage. It's like a zoo except there are only animals that already live up here and the cages are a couple acres. Sometimes this means that no animals are seen but today we were lucky. Also, you can drive through the whole thing but most people, us included, just walk on the road. It's pretty great.  

A caribou was hanging out by the road.

So was a whole mess of wood bison which incidentally are going to be reintroduced into the wild up here. I can't wait to see more mega-fauna on our hikes/runs/in town!

The big draw is the brown bears. The ones at the AWCC are rescued bears, typically cubs that were abandoned by their moms or had some other ill befall them like a porcupine attack for example. Either way, they get a new lease on life in the park and get fed the rotting food from the local grocery stores. I'm not kidding. Costco and AWCC have a deal where they truck out all the old blueberries (and other fruits) and just dump them in a pile at the appointed feeding time. It's like crack for bears. This particular bear seemed to like people, we liked him.

A reward for walking through the park is a fantastic boardwalk at the end that cars can't get on, ha! Max is wearing his sunhat and we are squinting because sun.

Looking back up the Arm towards Girdwood.

After our walk, we drove up to Girdwood and stopped at a friend's place to take a breather and feed the little dude. Here he is post feed. 

Looking good buddy. 

Jes took the moment to relax a bit, fun.

After that, we took in an evening about town in Girdwood, a walk, some food, a couple drinks with friends, and then the drive back to Anchorage. It was a great first Mother's Day. 

Cheers!