4th of July

 We spent our 4th of July hanging out in the driveway enjoying a fire. The day was nice and mild-like 60's. Nothing like what MN had to deal with. I have to remember to enjoy the mild summer here beause next year we will be back in the heat.

Abel with his first marshmellow

Blowing bubbles

Abel and dad

Mom and Axel cooking some dogs on the fire

Just like at the fair

Messy but Oh so good!

Abel trying to give Jazz a kiss :)

                                         Happy 4th to every one! Life, Liberty and Happiness.

Abel's first haircut

Abel gets his first haircut!

Abel got his first haircut this past weekend. His hair was getting a little long around his ears and he needed to get things shaped up. He sat through some of it but ended up in my arms by the end. He wasn't to sure about the lady cutting his hair. He looks older now :( He's starting to not look like a baby any more. We had family pictures done last weekend also. (to be posted at a later time) I am very excited to see how they turned out. A week straight of sunny weather and course it rained the day we took pictures, but I had all the boys hair cuts done and clean clothes so we did it as soon as the day cleared for an hour.

Abel 13 month stats-
He went to the doctor for his 1 year check up. He had to get 3 shots and a finger stick to check a CBC (complete blood count) I guess some babies can get anemia at this age so they like to check it. All was good with his counts.
Weight- 19 pounds 11 ounces
Hieght- 30 inches
OFC- 47.5 inches
He continues to be around the 50% mark on his height and I think is weight is around the 10%. He has been eating well and drinks whole milk now. He has 4 teeth on the top and almost 3 on the bottom. He has been really drooly so we will see if tha means more are to come. He got his teeth brushed for the first time also. He didn't know what to think of that!

More family time 2012

 Axel had so much fun playing in the ocean. It's hard to get to the water in Anchorage-to many mud flats. That's why Homer is so amazing. We stayed at a town house right on the spit.(the spit is a giant sand bar the stretches out of the main land.)I added a picture of the spit so you can get the idea. The town house had 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It had so much room for all of us to stretch out. It was my most favorite place I've been to in Alaska. Once again I LOVE HOMER AK! The weather was amazing and we couldn't ask for better company! It's fun to able to share some of the amazing things in Alaska with our family before we move back to MN.

Grandma and my boys

Game time

                                                       Abel was getting really good at twister! :)

The place we stayed at-The Lands End Resort Town houses

Axel with a sea star

My family

Abel on the beach

Abel had so much fun playing on the rocky beaches. He is such a happy baby. He did great on the 4.5 hour drive and during all of our adventures. Axel was collecting shells all weekend. I think he brought home like 5 pounds of shells. I don't know what I'm going to do with them. He loves to collect things. And rocks-he picked out a green one for Mom and a grey one for Dad.

Raindeer farm-feeding Denali the moose

Ann has been to Alaksa 4 times and still hadn't seem a moose. We brought them to the raindeer farm so she could finally see one! It's crazy because it's really hit or miss when you see one but serioulsy 4 times in Alaska and you haven't seen a moose?! I some times will see one every day on the way to work! I did hear that finally see saw on- on the way to the airport! I'm so glad that you finally got o see a moose in the wild Ann!

Working on brownie points for christmas!

Axel thought it was a good idea to give the raindeer some extra grass so that they could be ready for Christmas this year!

The gang hanging on the spit-Homer AK

Playing on the Kenai River

This is a picture f the spit in Homer AK

The whole gang- minus Willie

Axel had a great time entertaining the gang. He already misses you Grandma! He is counting down the days until he gets to visit you again. 2 months isn't so bad! For every one that hasn't heard yet- we are returning to MN. I think we will be moving at the end of August. I have a new job lined up and we are just finishing off out last sumer out here. I will be returning to the Mayo Clinic as a PICU nurse. (pediatric intensive care unit) I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. Axel has been having me take pictures of every things he will miss-like the mountains..oh yeah and the chair. I had to go through evey thing in the house that we were going to take with. He's so funny-don't worry buddy the fridge can't come with but we will have another! 

Halibut fishing

One of the deck hands cutting up our fishing on the boat

 Of course my pictures are out of order a little but oh while. We [my family, Grandma Rapp, Beth, Ethan and Willie] just got back from Homer AK. It was the MOST amazing time! The weather was perfect-which is rare there- and we had so many adventures. Here is the start of them. Halibut fishing! So much work but man was it fun!! Oh yeah, my computer crashed the day we got back! Grr...but my memory [aka all my pictures] was saved and I got a new fancy computer so I guess it worked out.

Our boat

On the trip out to the chicken hole

Beth working it

Her catch!

Brian waiting to get his fish on

Brian fishing

The catch of the day

The view

All of us caught our limt-2 Halibut a peice-during our half day of fishing. We sailed out about an hour and then went fishing. We also caught a couple of yellow fin skull fish-which are posionous and had to send them back. I wish I had a picture of each of us with our fish but it was hard work and there wasn't much time for pictures. We also were moving around on the boat a lot and weren't always next to each other. The waves got a little crazy and it was hard to stand let alone move. It was very interesting at times. My arms are bruised and I was so tired but once again man it was fun! More to come of our Homer trip.

Family summer visit 2012

Beth and Willie at Thunder bird falls

The boys walking along the edge

The break dancing polar-downtown Anchorage

Lake Ekulnta

Gotta do a few tourist photos!

Ulu factory and dog sleds

The Rapp and Hamann have arrived to Alaska. It's so nice to have family visiting. We have explored a little and went downtown and had some amazing Halibut! Yummy. :) Tomorrow we head to Homer AK. Spending time on the spit and we get to go fishing!

Panning for Gold

We were driving around in Girdwood this weekend and went down a gravel road. We ran in to the Crow Creek Mine. A place where you can go gold mining! I've always wanted to try it. :) They hand you a pan, a bucket and a shovel. (if you want you can buy some dirt that is a "sure" things also)So we went trucking down the trail to the river. Or course this happens when are totally not prepared. No mud boots or baby carrier. I don't know why I don't always have extra things in the car. Just because we went to get brunch at my most favorite place- Jack Spart- it does not mean that you might not just end up panning for gold! Axel fell in the mud on the way there but he was totally in to it once he got to dig for some treasures! 

Dad panning for Gold

Abel  playing with the equipment

There is always a photo op!

On the way way in I didn't take any pictures. But we found a better, less muddy way back to the camp. We left with a few flecks of gold and a fun day playing outside. Some times the best days are completely unplanned.

Axel panning for gold

Abel loved the freedom of crawling on the rocks

                              It was a good day. Starting with great food and ended with fun adventures.