Heat Wave

It has been hot here. Low 80's for over a week. We could not find a fan to buy at the store and people are complaining, but Max seems just fine. 

We've been going to the lakes near our house after work most nights. Alissa brought some watermelon, Max was impressed.

Charlie and Max, keeping busy at the "beach".

Selfies are okay when there's a baby involved.

Max takes in DeLong Lake.

A lot of naked baby time when it's warm out. But always keep your boots on.

We got up to the mountains last weekend, Max and Dave loved it.

Snacks at the top.

Throwing rocks. These two are trouble.

Happy kiddo.

Ready to explore.

Grandma Jaci Leaves EVLD

Max and Dave are both napping, so it seemed like a good time to share some photos. Max and I took a whirlwind trip to CO last month to attend Grandma Jaci's quasi-retirement party. She left the Eagle Valley Library District after nearly 10 years. She's doing some contract work this summer and scheming up new adventures.

Max met his first burros at the party, he was impressed. 

He also got some Uncle Rob time. He always has something to tell Rob. 

Grandma got some laps in, Max is a bit of a demanding passenger.

Max actually enjoyed the Hot Springs quite a bit, despite this picture. 

He immediately identified the best spot to take his meals, Great Grandpa Erickson's chair.

Connor was very glad to see us go.

Helping Grandma Jaci garden.

Playing with water, big deal this summer.

Not impressed with airplane food.

Checking out the view.

Passing time on the plane reading some magazines.

Making his connection in Seattle.

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!