We headed down to celebrate Independence Day on the Kenai Peninsula with the Hydens this weekend. Aunt Heather actually showed up late on the 3rd, but she had scheduled plans already up here, so she won't be featured in this blog. Don't worry, it's not that we don't love her - she'll show up later this week!
I booked a cabin that was "right" on the Kenai River and was a little concerned about the lack of interior photos on the website. In the end, it turned out to be a nice little cabin - though their "right" on the water was a bit of a stretch. They were a good little hike up from the river. Thomas, Brittney and I walked down to check it out as soon as we all got there.
And there were no rails - a nightmare for getting a toddler down safely! Luckily, Aunt B helped him get down so I could take photos. Priorities... ;)
And there's the Kenai! The mosquitoes were out of control, so we didn't stay down there long. We decided that it wasn't the best fishing spot for the guys the next day, so they ended up going elsewhere in Soldotna on Saturday. Brittney and I tried our luck at snagging salmon in our little cove, but had no luck. Well, I did catch a ton of rocks, so maybe it's a good thing I am a geologist and not a fisherman... ;)
Brittney and I managed to control ourselves on the menu planning, but our plans still relied on basics being available - like an oven... Well guess what - this place had no oven! I finally realized the microwave was a convection microwave and was a little relieved. Except 10 minutes into cooking cobbler, the microwave died. I tried to finish the cobbler on the stove like a true pioneer woman and it turned out pretty good, albeit a little burned on the bottom.
The microwave managed to revive itself shortly after I finished the cobbler, so I decided to give the biscuits a go in it the next morning. It died again! I hate this microwave!!! I had a convection microwave in Houston and I loved it - this thing was a piece of junk. So I finished the biscuits on the stove like the cobbler. And I burned the first batch. After scraping the burned parts off, they were still pretty delicious. Brittney saved the breakfast from disaster with pretty awesome gravy to top the biscuits.
"Outside?" Thomas thought being able to see and hear the outdoors was a little bit of torture when he was stuck inside. He was a super good sport about it though and he was pretty good about staying off of the stairs in the cabin that had no guard rail on them. He would climb on the first step just to show he could, but he never attempted a full climb on his own.
Such a good sport that when we found this awesome playground in Kenai (the town), we had to let him get out and play. Although I'm not sure who had more fun - him or Brittney. They were both giggling all over the place. Some of the slides were pretty useless as slides - he ended up pulling himself down, but this spiral one was pretty exciting for him. :)
And we finally made it to the Kenai Beach! Supposedly one of the only sand beaches in Alaska. It was actually a really nice beach, though a tad bit chilly. The forecast was for super hot days (for Alaska), so guess who forgot to pack coats for everyone? Oh well, Thomas still had fun even though he didn't get to play in the water. He was thrilled about getting to find rock and throw them in the water - in his words this was "Rock Beach!"
Slightly hard to see, but Mount Redoubt (the volcano) is in the background!
Aunt B helping Thomas find suitable rocks to throw in the water. We found him a nice sea shell and he of course threw it in the water. Oh well, maybe in a few years he'll appreciate things for more than their aerodynamic abilities...
All-in-all another successful weekend trip down to the Kenai. No fish were caught. Plenty of mosquitoes got a nibble. And we weren't at our finest in the kitchen. But with good friends and a beautiful Alaskan summer, who could ask for more? :)