Steamboat Ride

We got to go for a ride with the Juneau Steamboat Company. The ride took us down the channel to look at the remains of the Treadwell Mining area. It was really neat, and Elise did great for her first time on a boat!

This is the steamboat:

This is the driver and steam engine:

Grandma and Grandpa Underwood:

Elise, a cutie!:

She did so good, was standing up, looking around, and then got tuckered out and went to sleep on my lap for the last half of the trip:

It was really neat to 'play tourist', to see different parts of Juneau, learn more about the history of this interesting place, and even see a humpback whale on the way back! With everything being so expensive, this is actually one of the few things we can afford to do as tourists. We recommend this little ride to anyone who comes to Juneau!!

Fishing

Logan and his dad got to go fishing or snagging, for salmon Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The bugs were crazy!!!!

On Tuesday they caught two fish:

On Wednesday they got up at 4 am, fished until around 8:30am, and caught another fish:

The girls stayed home, watched Miss Potter and had ice cream. The guys had a great time, although when we saw this video, we didn't envy them the bugs! Doesn't it just make you itchy?

Nursery Visit

In our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are lots of organizations to help everyone have a place to learn. There are classes for the adults, and some for the teenagers. There is a Primary organization for the children, and on Sunday they have lessons, and sing songs, and do activities to help them learn about the gospel. The beginning group in Primary is called the Nursery and is for children 18months to 3 years old. The children get to play with toys and other kids, have a story/lesson, a snack, and some singing time. Elise will be old enough for the nursery in a couple weeks, so we got permission to take her in for a few minutes these next few weeks, just to get her acquainted with the leaders and kids. This Sunday, I took Elise in, and introduced her to the leaders, and stayed for a few minutes to meet the kids. I didn't know how she would do, as she is usually shy, and doesn't want to interact a whole lot. Surprisingly, she did great!!! She was willing to say hello to the teachers, and then I set her down, and she even played with the other kids. They pulled out a box of large lego looking blocks and were building a tower. Elise would grab a block, pull the pieces apart and put them back in the box like she was cleaning up or getting her own stash going. She sometimes would pick up a piece and hand it to one of the other kids so they could put it on the tower. Then she'd go back to putting then back in the box. She was pretty brave about getting the toys and then coming back over to me to put them in the box, and not just clinging to me for dear life the whole time. We were there for about 10 minutes, and then I took her back to the adult class where Logan was. She wasn't really excited to leave, and once we were back with the adults, where there wasn't very much room, and not a lot of toys to play with , it was hard to keep her entertained and not distracting for the adult lesson. I think it is a wonderful thing that there is an age appropriate place for her to learn and play with other children her age. There were several children who looked like they were almost 3, which she didn't interact with. The younger kids, however, she did great with, and I think it will be a wonderful experience for her, and more on her level for church time. So, we'll keep trying for a little bit each week, until she is old enough to try the whole 2 hours, and hopefully this will be a great experience for her, and give her some more social time!

Grandma and Grandpa Underwood Visit

Logan's parents came to Alaska from Oregon for a week long visit. They got in on the night of the 4th, and are staying til Thursday. Elise did very well meeting them. She is usually nervous about people being in her space, but she warmed up bit by bit. She has been okay playing with Grandma, but still keeps her small distance from Grandpa a bit. We're hoping by the end of the week she'll be giving hugs and kisses!

Independence Day

We have been so blessed with many freedoms and opportunities living in this great country. We got to celebrate a bit this year, but not in the usual ways. Growing up we would usually get to see fireworks or go to a parade, or be in a parade, and we watched musicals with patriotic songs like Yankee Doodle Dandy, which is the story of George M. Cohan, or Stars and Stripes Forever, which is the story of John Philip Sousa. We would listen to patriotic music, and have a glow stick for watching fireworks. They were fun family times to celebrate America. This year, things were a bit different. In Juneau, the fireworks display takes place downtown, at midnight on the 3rd of July. That's when its dark enough for fireworks. We went downtown and had dinner at a pizza place with the Daltons, but then headed back home way before the fireworks, so we could get some sleep for our little one. She wore her WHITE dress with BLUE and RED stars that day, and sometimes wore similar ribbons on her wrists:

The evening of the 4th, we got out a glow stick and tied ribbon to it, so she could have her own little light. At first she was a bit skeptical:

But she warmed up to it, and loved carrying it around with her, putting it on, and taking it off.
We also listened to some John Philip Sousa marches. My mom sent some great march music last year, and this year as we were cleaning, we turned on the marches, and found it made things go way fast when you have strong upbeat music. Elise dances to music, and when I turned on the marches she started swaying with the music. I started marching and showed her how to do it, and she just loved it. She moved her little feet so fast, not at all in time with the music, but to her own rhythm, and now with music she not only will sway and bounce, but she usually starts marching too! What a wonderful holiday to celebrate, and a great time to remember the blessings that come with living in the United States of America, and to remember those who made and make it all possible. Thank you!

The John Muir Cabin

I though after seeing the pictures of the John Muir Cabin hike, what a difference the seasons make up here. The hike this summer was in beautiful weather, with a lot of sunshine, and clear views. When I went November 11, 2004, there was so much snow, all we could see was the wooden plank path. We had to use flash lights to do that on the way up, as we left after school (and it got dark at 3:30pm). We didn't really get a view of anything except trees covered in snow, and it was hard to tell what the area was really like.
Here was our view in November:


Here was the view in June:

This was my friend Morgan and I on the cabin deck in November:

Here are Logan and the Daltons on the cabin deck in June:

Thank you Wendy for the pictures!

Sick, Sick, Sick

We are all sick. Logan came home from work with a sore throat, a runny nose, and being tired. A few days later, Elise started exhibiting the symptom of a stuffy nose. She had a really hard time sleeping while laying down in her crib, so I ended up propping the two of us up on the couch and holding her all night. She was really restless, so I didn't get much sleep, but Logan was a big helper, and took her for a couple hours in the morning before he had to be at work. We did that for a couple days, and Saturday tried to get super naps for everyone. Logan took Elise over to the Daltons a lot Saturday and Sunday, and I tried to clean house as much as possible. We got the fridge cleaned, and the kitchen, and bathrooms, and most of the major stuff like rearranging the rooms to fit an extra queen size bed (we're cleaning in anticipation of visits from Logan's parents and my mom). Then Sunday evening I woke up from a nap with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Still being a nursing mother limits what kinds of medications I can take, so for the first day, I was basically miserable until we figured out which meds I could have. Logan ended up taking most of the day off work, and I do not know what we would have done without him. He gave me a priesthood blessing, and took care of Elise so I could rest peacefully. Tuesday morning, we were all feeling better. Elise still has a runny/stuffy nose, but she isn't on any medicine at all, being only a 1 year old. She is a trooper though, and is ok about letting us wipe her nose, or use the nose vacuum! Although her little nose is getting so red and raw, and she looks so miserable when she has liquids leaking from her nose and eyes, and even mouth (she is drooling like crazy because she is so stuffy and isn't swallowing the same as normal). We have been trying to take it easy, and Logan has been able to work this week. Hopefully we can all recover soon, finish cleaning, and get ready for our first set of visitors. Logan's parents fly in on July 4.