and we have a preschooler!

So today was Avery's first day at preschool.  She did pretty good considering I had to stay.  I think she is often better behaved when I am not around.  It was just half her class today, the other half went on Tuesday. Next week all 20 kids will be there and from what I heard of the Tuesday class it is going to be rowdy.  There are LOTS of boys! I have to go with Avery until she turns 3 so she is stuck with my through the next 2 weeks, then she can start going on her own.  I hope it will be a smooth transition for both of us.

Avery eating her yummy breakfast!  Cinnamon rolls are her favorite :)

Avery all ready to go!  The first of many 1st day of school photos on our porch!

Avery with Miss Angie at the science center, they were playing with magnets and sand.

Miss Sheila explaining the rules of Duck Duck Goose.  They kind of got it ;)

It was a fun day.  I definitely think Avery will thrive in the environment once she gets her head wrapped around their schedule and way of doing things.

Big Week in the Making

Avery playing dress-up with a new classmate at the open house :)

Avery will be starting preschool!  I can't believe it, but in my heart I know she is ready. Luckily I have chosen a cooperative so I get to be a big part of the process.  I was also talked into a board position so I will get to be really involved. It's going to be fun.  She will start this Thursday and then will go T/TH's for 3 hours.  The preschool has a play-based learning philosophy and we love the teachers, the set up and the school.  We think she is going to have a blast and I can be present as much as she and I need me to be. 

Other than that.  We have just been crazy busy.  I am on a major purge binge.  We have little storage in our new place so things we don't use or need have to go! Sam has been working a lot.  He has been back and forth between Juneau and Haines and Skagway, so he is busy busy busy.  His cousin Courtney was here doing an externship for a couple weeks with Smith Equine and the small animal practice Sam works for.  Avery adored her and definitely wore her out :)

I am still in denial I am going to have a 3 year old here in a couple weeks.  How has it been that long?

August!

It has been a pretty busy couple of weeks for us.  We closed on our house! We are mostly unpacked and need a couple more pieces of furniture, but we are finally feeling settled and comfortable!

We have had quite a bit of company!  First, my FIL, Tony, and his girlfriend, Kit, came for a quick visit. We had to scramble, but we were unpacked for the most part before they arrived.  Avery adored Kit right from the get go just like the last time we saw her and she was a little shy right off with Grandpa, but it didn't take long for her to warm up.

Grandpa Smith reading to Avery!

She had fun playing kitty and wolfy with Kit.  It did take a few days for Avery to come out of her role as a wolf after they left...  It was a great visit and we hope to see them again soon!  

Sam and Tony at Nugget Falls

 

Avery and Kit watching a duck (it went under for a minute).

Next, Avery got to meet her Great Grandma Lil!  Lucky us!  It was a short 3 day trip, but Avery and GG Lil hit it off right away.  It was a wonderful visit and I am so glad that we got to spend some time with her.

"Super me to the rescue!"

"

playing out at the Shrine of Saint Therese

The weather was not great for her visit. We did make it out to the shrine one afternoon :)  It was so cute how they connected! 

Now, Sam's cousin, Courtney, is in town. She is a vet student in Texas that is up here doing an externship with Sam and the practice Sam works for.  They are currently up in Haines, AK doing some horse work.  She is here until the 25th!

Then we have a bit of a break.  Avery will start preschool and then Sam's mother and Rick will be here near Avery's birthday.  I can't believe she will be 3 in just over a month!  It is going WAY too quickly!

a sunny morning on our back deck.

best recipe EVER!

Okay so I don't really consider myself a good cook.  I can follow a recipe really well and I usually succeed with baking.  I have attempted not using a recipe a few times and it has ended in basically feeding the trash.  I made a carrot layer cake for a dinner party the other night and it was flippin' fantastic.  Like better than any carrot cake I have ever had, including Rock Bottom Brewery's carrot cake and Whole Foods' carrot cake.  I have to share this awesome recipe!

Carrot Cake

The cake:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz can crushed pineapple (drained)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
• 3 cups grated carrots

The frosting:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (make sure it is soft enough)
• 8 oz  cream cheese, softened (make sure it is soft enough)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

 Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
2.) In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars, vanilla and pineapple. Mix in flour, baking soda. baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pans.
3.) Bake in the preheated oven about 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let pans cool for 10-15 minutes on a baking rack, the turn and remove cakes from pan and cool on wire racks until completely cool.  Cool them completely!  Don't even make the frosting until they are cooled!

4.) Frosting: combine butter, cheese and vanilla until smooth.  Slowly beat in sugar.  Beat until smooth.  Frost your cake and top with pecans :)

Enjoy and be ready to want to make another!

settling in

It is long story that has way to much to it to explain, but we were able to move into the house before we actually close.  We should be closing in the next week or so!  They still have a few small things and a few larger things to finish before we can do that, but things are getting done.  The last 2 interior doors were put in and remaining trim was finished late this afternoon.  We are still waiting on our actual kitchen counter tops to be installed along with a handful of other things to be done. It is frustrating (as we are now officially 1 week late), but happy to be about 95% unpacked at this point.  Avery is loving her bedroom and going to sleep and sleeping in there all night!  We are on night 3 of this routine and I am in shock at how well she transitioned.  So awesome to have some chill time with Sam for the first time in a long time.

I'll get some pictures up eventually.  Things still aren't done all the way.  But, after pestering GCI 3 days in a row, they finally got it together and got us set up and we got a free month out of the deal since they were being ridiculous and a huge hassle to deal with.

Kowee Creek Trail

  

 Yesterday we decided to head all the way out the road to hike a new trail.  Kowee Creek (pronounced: Cow-ee)  It was around mile 38 of Glacier Hwy and the trail was only about a mile until it ends at a T going one way to dead end at the creek and the other to a massive field of wild flowers that is part of Echo Ranch.  There was a road we walked along boarding the massive wildflower field and we walked that for another mile or so.  Avery can only really tolerate 1 1/2 to 2 hours of hiking so we opted to turn back after 2 miles.

Avery hiking.

 The trail followed a beautiful creek with gorgeous light blue clear water.  There were quite a few people fishing.  We were ready for bears, we saw nothing but a LOT of poop and one foot print. It is July and that means berries are ripening. We got to snack on fresh blueberries along the way.  Avery thought this was VERY cool.  

blueberry bush!

 Wild Iris

Sitka Burnet

We are have been searching for chocolate lilies and unfortunately we still have not found any.  I think we may have missed them this year.  We did find some beautiful flowers.  So many wild iris, fireweed, Alaska cotton, Lupine and so many more.

Wilson in a field of Wild Iris

 We all had a great time.  The drive was a little long because of construction, but it was sunny and beautiful!  The dogs are taking the day off.  They had a busy week and I think poor Wilson is sore.  Getting old sucks sometimes :(

Fishing in the Rain

Nerves!

Things are wrapping up with the house, but I am so flipping nervous it is driving me insane.  I am stressed that the finishes we've picked will look terrible, anxious about moving again and when we will close and most of all I am really nervous closing.  The what ifs have me stressed to the max and the fear our loan for some reason wont go through is gut wrenching.  I need these next few weeks to fly by!

On a good note, things are finally moving again.  Those dang drywall guys sure do take their sweet @$$ time.  But, it was painted yesterday and when I did a drive by earlier today the cabinets had been delivered and are sitting in the garage.  Our appliances also arrived and are sitting @ Sears waiting for the builder to pick them up!

Avery is finally back into her own routine after our visit to Wasilla.  She is going through a couple of obnoxious phases that both Sam and I hope will pass quickly! Repeating, not in the "that is a new word and still learning way".  She has been speaking in full sentences since the beginning of this year.  Now she is just repeating me and I am not really sure why.  When I ask her to stop repeating me she gets upset and yells either; "Stop repeating ME!" or "I am not repeating you!".  She also has become SUPER physical. She is constantly jumping on us and rough housing.  It is fine when we are playing with her, but it is constant.  So I am trying real hard to keep her engaged, but it is a full time job to keep this girl occupied!  Needless to say, preschool this September cannot come soon enough!

KNOCK ON WOOD, but I think potty training has finally clicked!  Our fingers are crossed, but she is finally letting me know BEFORE she needs to pee that she needs to go.  "My butt" is code for I need to pee and "My tummy" is when she needs to poop.  Not sure where she got this, but she obviously is under the impression she pees from her butt, but whatever she is making it into the toilet.  I wont bother confusing her with an anatomy lesson at the moment ;) 

Just Some Pictures

Playing outside!

Making Grandpa do the hard part ;)

Evan teeing up!

Lillian "cheering" on her big bro!

Lillian looking adorable and Avery being Avery.

Avery getting into Lillian's bubble.

Clapping for the golfers.

Avery wanted to try out some golf.  She DOES NOT have the patience required for this sport!

Kooka teaching Avery naughty habits!

Running in to the sprinkler!

Belly bumping.

Cuties

Avery making a BIG bubble!

Kooka & Avery @ the reindeer farm.

low tiding @ Auke Rec

This morning I wasn't up for going big, but didn't want to waste the lowest tide of the month when it was at a convenient time for us.  So we walked across the street to Auke Rec.  Great decision!  Either I am getting better at spotting critters or everything was out and about!  We saw LOTS of crabs, these eel looking things, lots of sea stars, a couple sun stars, hermit crabs, clams, sea urchins, and even a few anemones!

A REALLY big sea star.

A big shy hermit crab and a brave itty bitty hermit crab that Avery spotted!

 A clam.

Sea Urchins.

Baby Sea Star.

A smaller green anemone.

The blob. Anemone.

After we poked it.

A video of another anemone as we irritated it.

I am not sure what this is.  Maybe an eel?

Crabs.

 A video of a crab.

 A sun star.

We are trying to teach Avery about the difference between low and high tides.  This is mainly so when we go to the beach and it is high to mid tide she isn't upset that the sea stars are not visible.  She is having a lot of fun finding things and learning.  We are so lucky to be living in such a neat place and we are truly falling in love.  We miss CO a lot, but we couldn't have landed in a better spot.