August 30 - 31, 2017 - The State Fair (3 years 1 month)

Ama and Maya came up to Alaska from Oakland, CA and we had a great time at the State Fair in Palmer!  

Kadin and I spent the night camping in Palmer and then rode our bike to the Fair the next day.  Yummy pizza for dinner!  And then off to explore the woods and the lake! 

Kadin and Maya, about 10 minutes after they'd met. 

We had a choice between posing with an alligator, a turtle, a snake, and a macaw and Kadin was adamant about the bird.  He was a little nervous about it being on his head but it was an excited kind of nervousness, especially when it suddenly flew to the ground in an explosion of red feathers.

Next, we saw the pony circle and Kadin took off without me to check it out.  He sat all by himself on a pony named Ringo and was enthralled.   

And then the "petting zoo", where Kadin got to play with some "kids" who were just as rambunctious as he is! 

After all the animals, it was time to check out the rides… Kadin had never been on them, but the first one he saw was the giant Ferris Wheel and he was super excited for it.  Absolutely no fear; in fact, I had to keep a hand on him so he wouldn't go too close to the edge. (The gate was locked, but I wasn't taking any chances!) 

We were deciding on our next ride, when he saw the green train… AKA the Wacky Worm Roller Coaster (for younger kids).  It was awesome!!! Just fast enough and curvy enough to put a huge smile on his face.  And when it stopped, he cried, "Mas, mas, mas!"  But we had to go meet up with Ama and Maya and so, no more Wacky Worm.

After the yummy pizza, we played on the dock near the lake and Kadin's imagination went wild… First, the dock was a big boat, a discarded bait lid was the power-on button, and we steered through the waters avoiding monsters, sharks, and crocodiles (and sometimes saved them and their babies too).  Then we were in the woods and the alder leaves were icecreams and he served up all his favorite flavors: frozen banana, berry, strawberry.  And finally, he would ask me to cry and then bring me things to cheer me up… 💚

There was a crazy show with a guy, 2 border collies , and 2 monkeys.  The monkeys rode the dogs like horses, with saddles and everything, and the "cowboy monkeys" had to round up a few sheep.  Afterwards, the guy talked about how he rescued the monkeys (I can't remember from where) and then walked around the audience letting everyone meet one of the monkeys.  Kadin was so excited and kept running around the fence to get closer.

Here, Kadin is checking out everyone else on the ponies and horses and is telling me how he doesn't need me to have a hand on his back like the baby in front of him.  He's such a big boy now!

August 16 - 30, 2017 - 3 years 1 month

Kadin loves climbing up on the old fire truck at the station and can even climb down without my help.  My little monkey!

Kadin wasn't there for loading up the logs onto a trailer, but it is still one of his favorite videos to watch.  The bigger the machinery the better in his world!

Kadin will now put on the googles but still won't go under the water with them on.

After swimming, Kadin and I went out to lunch with Alden and his family.  Here, Kadin and Alden are both using the butter knife to try to cut up the ice cubes.  They are definitely two kindred spirits.

Alden's mom, Nikki, and his sister, Althea, read books together while the other two were playing with knives.

It wouldn't be summer in Alaska without at least one puddle photo.  Here, Kadin's shoe came off in the sticky mud and he just kept on running with out it.  I also tried to keep his cute red Converses out of the mud, but I knew that it was not going to last.

The rains began in August, and along with them, many beautiful rainbows.  Kadin would only pose for the photo if his curly fries could be part of it.

One rainy day, we drove down to the Alaska Transportation Museum and fortunately, it stopped raining intermittently and we enjoyed the outside exhibits.  Kadin sure looks little next to these giant planes!

He was quite disappointed to find out that we were not allowed to climb inside the planes!  

There was a train set up that he could climb into and he would race through each car as fast as he could, jumping on the seats, grabbing any levers he found, and avoiding the scary barmaid manequin in the dining car.

A gift arrived in the mail for Kadin and after opening it, he studied it closely to figure out what it was….

Tinkerbell stickers!!!! Yay!!!!  Thanks Abuela Baiba!! 

August 1 - 15, 2017 - 3 years 1 month

Kadin watches the other kids balance the plate on the stick after the Juggling Show.

And then he tries it himself!!!!   

Kadin, hanging out with his friend Alden, at the Juggle Whatever Show.

It's so fun to run into Kadin's friends around town… here Kadin is playing with Soleil at a sunny Live at Five show.

Kadin didn't want to get into the car when Live at Five ended, so he ran around the car several times, jumping into all of the mud puddles until his face was sufficiently splattered.

Fun on another sunny day at X Lake!  He would run and jump into the raft over and over again… see the video below.

Eventually, even Kadin tires out and he decided to chill in the raft for an adorable summer portrait.

Moose!  We pulled over so Kadin could get out of his carseat and actually see them.  Afterwards, everytime I put my brakes on or slowed down, he would ask, "Alce?" (Moose in Spanish)

I went into Conscious Coffee to order and thought Kadin was outside playing with the Tonka trucks.  Instead, I found him sitting on the couch, reading!  

We went out to the Talkeetna River on the other side of the trestle bridge and Kadin found a giant glacial melt pool to play in.  The water was icy but it didn't faze Dito… he played in it for an hour!

The best toy ever… a double roll of birch bark he found in the water… which became a boat zooming all around.  See video below.

A throwback to my days of artsy photos… Both Kadito and I love spirals, especially in nature. 

He saw so many boats cruise by when he was playing in the river the other day, that I booked us a tour up the Chulitna with Mahays.  Yay!!!

The boat tour included a stop at a recreated Athabaskan village where Dito could run around and play with moose antlers and fur.  (And scare the tourists when he'd eat the high bush cranberries without asking me first.)

What a busy couple of weeks!  It was Salmon Day today, and the Ranger Station and Susitna River Salmon Center put on events for kids of all ages.  

Kadin swimming and counting boats

Kadin jumping into the raft!

Kadin playing with his birchbark boat.