Grandma and Grandpa's Trip pt 2

We had a wonderful visit with my Mom & Dad. The kids look forward to their trip every year. (Paul and I do too.)

Below is Sarah with her Grandpa.

Paul and the kids found several glaciers to hike up and around.

Joshua posing by a rock carved by a glacier.

Quentin

I wasn't along on this one , but I'm not sure Quentin should be standing there. Who knows when it is going to break apart.
Benjamin went on one of the more rigorous hikes and did great. He was so proud of himself. The older kids called him a mountain goat. When he got back he was bursting over to tell me all about it.
On the road out of Valdez we had a little excitement. I was giving Paul a break and driving when one of the tires blew its tread. Thankfully it was one of the duals so I didn't feel it. It sure was loud though!

Paul and my Dad got it switched out with the spare...

After Valdez we headed down to Seward. The high school there had an invitational cross country track meet that the girls wanted to participate in. They had been training throughout the summer and it was fun running with all those other girls in the excitement of a real race.

They are right in the middle in the gray t-shirts.

Grandma with Abigail and Deborah after the race.

Quentin is in the eight grade so he ran in the community run which was also 5k.

Quentin with Grandma after his race.

Grandma & Grandpa took Quentin, Anna, Joshua and Caleb on the Mitch Seavey dog sled tour. Mitch has won the iditarod and they got to ride behind some of his dogs and learn all about dog sled racing.

The next stop on our trip was Soldotna. Until one was built a few years ago in Anchorage, Soldotna used to be the only place in Alaska to go to a Dairy Queen. We still make it a point to stop there and have ice cream if we are driving by.

Below Benjamin is sharing with Sarah.
We spent the night at Clam Gulch and then spent the next day combing the beach for interesting creatures, roasting hot dogs and trying to get the perfect family picture.

And again after the rocks from the picture above got surrounded by water.

Benjamin accidentally sprayed Grandpa with sand, oops...

Grandma & Grandpa

Deborah, Sarah and Grandma found some nice fireweed.

We put "longest orange peel contest" on our list of things to do while traveling in a motor home.
We love stopping at parks with playgrounds while we travel. They make great picnic stops.

Below Paul and the kids are seeing who can stay on the swinging beam the longest.

Joshua

The kids said good-by to Grandma and Grandpa at Merrill Field (the smaller airport where we had our motor home parked) and then Paul and I drove them to the International Airport.

We can't wait to see you again next year!