The Great Adventure: August 2009

It's Picture Time

It's good to have old friends in new places. Our friend Heather moved to Alaska for college after high school and between then and now she has become an amazing photographer. Check out her photo blog here: http://www.heatherthammphotos.blogspot.com/

We spent Friday evening with her taking photos around Westchester Lagoon. It was absolutely gorgeous and the light was perfect. Here are my photos from the evening. They do not hold a candle to Heather's. I'll be sure to post a few when we get them from her. She will also be taking photos of the little guy once he arrives.

Food

Yesterday afternoon we made our way north to Wasilla (where Sarah Palin lives) to have dinner with one of Justin's co-workers. We had a feast. King Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, BBQ'd Halibut and Baked Halibut, moose sausage (not my fav) and much more. Even better is the fact the sun was out. It felt amazing and I even started to get a bit pink. Must take in as much Vitamin D as possible.

This morning Justin made me German pancakes. Tonight we walked across the street to Justin's boss' home for homemade fish and chips, corn fritters, coleslaw, baked beans and 3 different desserts. So so yummy. So so full.

A great weekend with new friends. Plus I didn't have to cook!

Justin Rides his Bike

>> – Outdoors

The biking community in Anchorage isn't huge, but there are over 200+ miles of paved trails and tons of mountain biking trails for Justin to explore. Last weekend he rode in 3 out of 5 segments in the Tour of Anchorage. Here he is after finishing the Glenn Alps segment - he placed 3rd in his category.

Yesterday Justin decided to punish himself by riding in the Triple Hill Climb. 15 miles and 3100 vertical feet. He had some mechanical issues but finished 2nd in his category. I am very proud of him! Here he is on Saturday with Anchorage in the far background. It was a beautiful day for a torturous bike ride.

Justin's made some new friends out biking. We had breakfast at Snow City Cafe (amazing food) with new friends from England after the race yesterday. Earlier in the week we went blueberry picking with another couple that Justin met while riding in the Tour of Anchorage. The blueberries are small and tart but the amount of fun and gorgeous views made it worth the 1 1/2 cups we accumulated.

A blueberry picking blueberries

Look harder, they're there

Trying to eat Chinese take-out on the mountain with frozen fingers

Baby Basics

>> Monday, August 10, 2009 – Baby

Today we changed diapers on dolls. Justin did fabulously. We attended the Baby Basics class at the base hospital to learn all about how to take care of the little one once we get him home. If our little one behaves like the doll, we will have no sleepless nights or unexplained crying to sort through. We are also attending a L&D class at the regional hospital in Anchorage. Two more nights and who knows how many more videos of live births. Shocking!

Justin changing a diaper.

The baby is all swaddled and the 5 S's are being administered. Lets hope the 5 S's will work for us!

33 Weeks and Counting

>> – Baby

Week 33 on my way to week 34. All things are moving along well. I am always hungry. After a delicious meal and feeling stuffed for 20 minutes I will suddenly feel famished. Perhaps it has something to do with the alien growing inside me ;). I am going to H2O aerobics 3 times a week and love the feeling of being in water. Getting out of the pool is always difficult....oh so heavy.

Justin and I hopped on bikes to ride to Ship Creek that runs through post Saturday evening. My belly got in the way of pedaling, but we made it there slowly. While checking out the sites we saw a moose just eating away at the wildflowers.

Justin has been busy at work. He has a 6 mile commute to the office and tries to ride his bike to and from work as much as possible.

He's quite adventurous and entered a mountain bike race last Thursday night. Of course he has decided that his 9 year-old bike is too old and has been busy researching the best new mountain bike to get. This weekend is the Tour of Anchorage and he might join in on some of the road rides. Better him than me!