Alaska: Trolley Ride, Magic Show, Potter's Marsh... and a broken arm

Wednesday we decided to do a few things around town.  Our first stop was the free trolley ride up to the Ulu factory.

Once we got to the factory, the boys all wanted their picture with the real Iditarod sled.  (For some reason James didn't want to be in any pictures that day.  I'm pretty sure this is the only one where his face is showing and he's actually smiling.)

 After looking around the factory/store we walked over to Ship Creek to watch people salmon fishing.

We then hopped back on the trolley to head back to the car.

(Doesn't Alex have such a nice smile?)

As we walked back to the car we  walked past a concert in the park--I love things like that!

Before heading to our next activity we ate a picnic lunch (at the same park where we watched the parade our first day.)

 The library was our next stop--to see a magic show!  The boys loved it.  The magician was pretty entertaining for the adults as well.

 Tuesday we decided to head over to Potter's Marsh.  (In retrospect I wish we had chosen to do something like the sand dunes or the beach because after this day we had a bit of a damper on our plans.)

We first went to Rachelle's to pick up her and Peter.  Alex was really sad because he wanted to go in the house.

 It was a cool, overcast day and we had a pleasant stroll along the boardwalk. 

 It is so fascinating to watch the salmon swim against the current.

The boys made me super nervous leaning over the rails.  The current was pretty strong and those big pipes lead under the road and to the ocean.  I kept telling them that they better get down... because I wouldn't be able to save them!

 We enjoyed looking for animals (although we didn't see any).

And we even saw a train speed by.

 And the end of the boardwalk we stopped to sit and enjoy the view.  The boys made friends with some other kids down there and played for a while.  Eventually we headed back to the cars... but not before spying some forget-me-nots.

 On the way home we stopped by the Anchorage Temple to walk around the small grounds and take a few pictures.  (We even saw a baby and mom moose on the side of the freeway!)

We spend the rest of the day around the house.  William and James were playing outside on the hammock and my mom was cutting Alex's hair upstairs.  Suddenly we head a scream and heard James running in the house yelling for me and saying that "William's arm is bent!"  By the time I got there his arm looked normal.  He was in a lot of pain so we decided it was best to take him to the nearby urgent care--which sent us to a second urgent care--which, after taking x-rays, sent us to the orthopedic center.  William was a trooper through the whole thing. 

At one point he told me, "I can feel it healing itself already!"  He really tried to be positive about the whole thing.  Some of the things he thought of were: it was his left arm (and he's right handed), it was easier to fold his arms (because one is already bent), he got a free t-shirt from the orthopedic center, and he could still play video games.

I'm pretty sure the first doctor who saw him was sure it wasn't too bad of a break because William was being so brave.  After looking at the x-ray his attitude was a little different!  Even the receptionist at the orthopedic center commented that she had seen his x-rays and that William was one tough kid! We were able to use some traction to get it aligned  and put in a plaster splint until we got back home to Las Vegas.  When they were doing the traction William barely winced--the doctors were so impressed and told him that most adults had a harder time than he was having.

Up next: our last weekend in Anchorage