Alaska: Our Final Weekend

Friday my dad and Jacob came back from their dip-netting trip.  They caught 25 salmon!  The boys thought it was fascinating to watch Grandpa filet the fish.  We spent a good part of the rest of the afternoon cleaning up fish guts and other fishing-trip related things.  

 After helping with the fish, the 3 younger boys hopped in the hot tub again.

 That night we feasted on fresh salmon and watched The Lego Movie.  Scott was gone on a dip-netting trip that weekend so Rachelle and Peter decided to spend the night.  We worked a little bit on our quiet books, ate ice cream and popcorn and watched a movie.  Then we stayed up way too late talking (2:00?!).  I love staying up and talking with my sisters.  It's one of my favorite things.

 Saturday was the day that Grandpa was going to take William and James out fishing.  Unfortunately it was raining so we kept busy by pulling out some of Jacob's old chemistry kits and doing some experiments.  We all had fun--even William who was still coming to grips with his broken arm.

 At lunch, James decided to be a big helper and feed Peter.

 The boys each took turns drawing in Grandma's special book.

 And Rachelle even taught James how to make a new pattern on the rainbow loom.

 By afternoon it was nice and sunny again.  Rachelle, Peter, Alex, Henry and I decided to walk up to Kincaid Elementary to play on the playground.  Jacob said he was going to ride his bike and that he'd meet us up there.  It took us a while to walk with two little boys but we eventually made it... but Jacob was no where to be found!  We waited and waited and thought maybe he was still home playing his computer game.  We even called the house but no one answered.  Finally he came riding up on his bike.  He said that when he left the car was gone so he thought we drove.  When he got to the school and we weren't there he guessed that we had gone to Kincaid Park (at least 2 miles up hill) and had ridden his bike all the way there!  When he didn't find us at the park he came back to the school.  Poor Jacob!!

 Henry showed off his fast running skills.

 And we made some wishes.

 We even played a little bit of frisbee.

On the walk back Jacob showed us where he was going to be building the grow boxes and benches for his upcoming Eagle Scout project.  And we were able to find some itty bitty delicious raspberries.

 While we were at the park Grandpa took the two big boys fishing.  They saw two moose and some fish.  James even learned to cast and William had so much fun he said he forgot that his arm was broken.  So even though they didn't catch anything I'd call it a success.

Sunday was a rough day... but some cool things did happen.  Grandpa gave special tie pins/bars to any boy that wanted one (James was in a bad mood and decided he didn't want one but Alex wears his every week to church!)  Also, Uncle Jacob was able to pass the sacrament to us and the boys thought that was super cool.  I'm so glad that they have an uncle that sets such a great example!

Before church we tried to get a picture with Grandma but the boys didn't really seem to cooperate.

Later that day James was able to be my special helper to take some pictures of Rachelle's family.  He even took a great one of Peter all on his own!

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