Because we haven't had *quite* enough of the local berry goodness, I thought we could go on a hunt for Alaskan blueberries! I had originally intended to take the family to the Blueberry Festival at Alyeska this weekend. But we ended up booking a train ride for Saturday and I was worried that the blueberries would be picked over by Sunday. So we decided to beat the rush and go on Friday, since it was my day off. Look at me being all smart and planning ahead!
Except we couldn't find them! I took us down the wrong trail first, then down the right trail, but I couldn't find any berries! I thought maybe going up the hill a little bit further would lead to them, but I was quickly wearing my parents out. I saw a mom and daughter coming down the hill and asked what they had found. Not much - and they said they had to go off trail into the trees to find about 30 blueberries. I was pretty bummed, but mom and dad had a back-up plan already lined up!
Dad wanted to go up the tram and Thomas was definitely on board with that idea. I was getting pretty worn out from carrying Henry all over the place, so I didn't mind taking a moment to sit down while Mom got the tickets. I tried to get them to smile for a photo with me real quick. Thomas just continued to chatter/yell about the impending tram ride and Henry started laughing and pulling my hair. That smile on my face? That's a mom that has to smile to avoid the insanity... ;)
Also note the coordinating blue shirts - it seemed fitting!
Mr. Excited About the Tram Ride got a little nervous once we got going. Shocking...!
View from the top of the next tram coming up. Thomas was ready to go back down once we got to the top (just like the Space Needle!), but we managed to convince him to hang out at the top and explore for awhile. He was super concerned when the trams would go up or down - he was convinced we were going to miss our ride back down.
Henry was more than happy to explore! Honestly, he was just happy to be free of the backpack. He doesn't seem to mind riding around in it at all, but he also likes to stretch his legs after awhile.
Nonni and the boys! They weren't smiling for me so I started antics trying to make them smile. The only thing that seemed to work was trying to balance the empty berry bucket on my head. Henry just thought it was so hilarious that he ended up having to cover his eyes to deal with the hilariousness! Nonni is also laughing at me - I am not sure if it was because I am *so* funny or because Henry's laughs were so awesome. I'm going to guess the latter.
This is about as much snow as the mountain had for most of the winter, right Matt...? Ha!
In summer the mountain is a popular destination for mountain biking. I didn't realize that they had specially built chairs for bikes on the lifts. It was pretty fun to see a bike go by on the lift. :)
Since we were wandering around in the woods a little bit at Alyeska, I brought along the bear spray. While I was on high alert for large predators, this little guy was the only wildlife we saw. He was pretty cute and much less scary - I'd call it a win!
Dad checked out the roundhouse and said there was some cool information and gifts in there. We all ventured in there to check it out. Henry, unfortunately, seemed more intent on trying to destroy things instead of letting me peruse. So I banished him (and me, of course) to running around the outside to burn off steam. He ran from window to window looking for my mom and yelling "Onni?? Onni!" at the windows. It was pretty stinking adorable!
The obligatory stop at the Bake Shop! The boys tore up their grilled cheese sandwiches! Although to be honest, I can't say that I didn't scarf down my sandwich much slower. In my defense, carrying Henry around must burn hundreds of calories... Right??
The even more obligatory stop at the playground. It was dad's first visit to our favorite playground and unsurprisingly, he gravitated to the construction trucks. It must be genetic. Or maybe all men like construction trucks? Who knows!
Luckily for Thomas, the sand was dry enough today that it actually scooped and dumped pretty easily. And once again is a good reminder that we need to get cracking on that sandbox...!
I finally convinced the boys we had to go home and get a nap in so we could have more fun this evening. Since Sam is with Matt on the motorcycle ride, I invited over Caitlin and Abby to have some fun and then eat dinner with us. :)
Of course, we had to drag out the dinosaur pool! Henry was super curious about the squirting dinosaur today - which unfortunately led to almost all of us getting drenched! Henry was very intrigued by the sprayer, but Abby and Thomas were not impressed...
Henry also managed to soak himself several times, but that didn't deter him! I finally had to turn the faucet off to save everyone else. He looked a little sad to not have his play toy anymore... :(
As a side note, I feel that some blog posts feature more photos of one of the boys versus the other. I promise I am not playing favorites, but sometimes the kids just get tired of me taking photos. It's not that I blame them - I am in their face quite a bit with the camera. For instance, I as trying to get a cute photo of Thomas in the pool and I got this. It's hard to tell from the photo, but he is yelling "Stop doing that!!!" as I am taking photos of him.
Sigh...
I feel he will appreciate all of these photos in a few years, even if he doesn't right now.
Dinner time! I thought having a shrimp boil would be super duper fun! I have only ever done a small one before, so I was a little worried about having enough food. Especially since I was sending food over to the Hydens and they have company in town. I *may* have gone a little overboard on my estimates. Oh well, now we can all stuff ourselves silly!
I thought it would be fun to add an Alaskan twist to the shrimp boil and decided to throw in snow crab legs! Unfortunately the crab legs were a little hard to get into and my crab crackers were MIA. I finally found them after the third search through the kitchen, but they only lasted for one squeeze before the metal snapped. These were serious crab legs...!
Turns out nutcrackers can sub for crab crackers in a pinch! :)
Last, but not least, the raspberry tart! We managed to get enough berries on our own, but Heather had brought some Salmonberries over that she got from a friend. How could I resist adding those too? The tart was even better than I remembered from the last time I made it. I'm thanking the yummy Alaskan berries!
The blueberries might have been a bust, but the raspberries more than saved the day! :)