January 19-21, 2018 - Mahahual, Mexico (3 years 6 months)

The next day, it was sunny again, and we went on another boat/snorkel trip, this time with a couple from Homer, Kristen and Fernando.  I didn't get a good photo of Kadin on the boat, but the snorkelling was awesome with lots of sea turtles and rays (I think manta rays and/or eagle rays?)

View of our cozy home, after I had a chance to clean it up a bit while Kadito was napping.

Kadito finds more friends.  The boy in the white lightening shirt was sweet and he and Kadito got along great.  The other two he'd met before and they still have a bit more to learn about sharing toys.  Dito was asking me why they wouldn't share their truck when he was sharing his car.  Eventually, we had to leave and I let the boys know it was because we don't play with kids who don't share.

Ay, que rico! 

Our last night in Mahahual and Kadito breaks open his backpack to show off all of his toys.  I found the key is to try and have more than one of everything to make sharing a bit easier.  However, Kadito made it a bit difficult because he kept losing all of his MatchBox cars in the sand!

May 4 - 8, 2017 - 2 years 10 months CORDOVA SHOREBIRD TRIP

Kadin and I spent a week in Cordova, at the Copper River Shorebird Festival where every spring hundreds of thousands of shorebirds pass through on their migration north.  

First 3 days, we camped and had bald eagles swooping through the camp area.

Glad we had Pee Wee Herman with us!

At the festival reception, there was a very large Western Sandpiper that both scared and fascinated Kadin.  He wanted me to follow it wherever it went, but I had to carry him and he'd hide if I got too close.

Finally, he got up the nerve to approach the Sandpiper but still wouldn't touch her feathers.

On a boat tour for the birders, we saw a black bear on the beach.

Kadin had to try out my binoculars to get a better look at that bear (or maybe at the clouds?!)

Our last two nights we spent at the Orca Lodge and Kadin decided that it was time to brush Jorge Curioso's teeth.

Teeth nice and clean, Jorge was now ready to put on his boots...

And go for a walk!  Hey… where are you two going?  Wait for me Kadin!  (He didn't wait, of course, and I finally caught up with him in the lobby!)

Rainy and windy day, but we braved the elements to look at all those little peeps on the mudflats - predominently the true Western Sandpiper which is quite a bit smaller in real life.

My intrepid little birder!

Dinner at the Taco Bus and rain or shine, Kadin was outside playing in their courtyard which was full of awesome toys and trucks and stuff.

Our last night in Cordova, and we went out for an evening stroll in the drizzling rain.  As they say, there's no such thing as bad weather if you have good gear (and a good attitude)!

Aye, aye, Capitán!

Exploring the barnacle covered rocks and seaweed on the shore.  

Cool new playground in Anchorage with a "moose" in a "pond" and lots of other fake natural things to play on.

Video of Kadin throwing rocks and seaweed into the ocean with the raucous calling of gulls out at the  dilapidated pier.  At the end, he says, "Baja... Agua." which litterally translates as waterfall (cascada in Spanish) which is exactly what he is looking at in the distance.

November 8 - 15, 2016 - 2 years 4 months

Maw!!!
(Kadin calls planes "maws", based on the sound we make when we pretend to fly them… maaaauuuwww….) 

Our first night home! 

Maw!!!  
(Kadin also calls cats "maws", based on the obvious….)  

Kadin crashed Jeremy's birthday celebration and I don't think he realized it wasn't HIS birthday again!  Jeremy was less than pleased...

Video Link:

https://youtu.be/W8FbKc1bWb0

July 16 - 31, 2016 - 2 years old

Wholesome food at daycare

Our tadpoles are now froggies!! This is in the froggerarium I made for them in the house.

And a few days later, we released 3 little froggies near the pond on my property, where we had collected the eggs.

Good luck little froggie!

Kadin helped me let the froggies loose, enjoying the soft mossy area near the pond.

Every morning, Kadin jumps up and goes to the foot of the bed to hug Birch.

Just too cute, I can't stand it.  Oh, and look at Birch's little paws in the corner.  Birch loves Kadin just as much.

Here he is… my new associate veterinarian.  

This is the second shot, a bit blurry, but it has it's own appeal...

Apparently at daycare, when Kadin goes under the table, it's because he's pooping.  Hee hee.

Mia made the kids at daycare a yummy smoothie and Kadin was the only one who liked it!  That's because he's used to my concoctions with the Ninja!  

Kadin helps me pick up my local veggies… including this cabbage that is bigger than his head!

We went to drop off a bunch of recycling in Wasilla and they have a little nature trail with various creatures made from discarded scraps.  

Every so often, Kadin gets a sudden desire for green things and binges on them.  Here, he just attacked my salad and shoveled it in as fast as he could.

July 1, 2016 - July 3, 2016 – 23 months and 3 weeks – PART 2: FOREST FAIR IN GIRDWOOD

Ama went off to visit other friends in Copper Landing and we packed up our camping gear and headed to Girdwood for the Forest Fair. 

Here, Kadin and I stop at Burrito King in Anchorage for dinner before driving one more hour south.

Friday evening, we set up camp and catch the last music show.  The popcorn booth was closed, but Kadin pulled his best labrador puppy imitation and begged a shirt full off of a nice lady and her daugher (you can see them in the background).

The next morning, Kadin was heading off to the festival in true Girdwood style – naked!  I managed to throw a quick outfit on him and we went off to hear some more awesome music (and Kadin was on the look-out for more popcorn).

Chillin' at the Youth Stage

Met up with Regan, Ben, and their kids, Nia and Teo.  Amazing to see how big they are!!!

We met up with Tressa too, although I didn't get a photo of her, she took this one as we listened and danced to more music.

Tressa and Regan both only stayed for the day, and in the evening I grabbed dinner for Kadin and I and went into the beer garden for a drink before heading back to camp.  I should have know that the beer garden was where all the kids were!  Kadin ate a bit of dinner, spied a young girl with popcorn, and had a new best friend.  Soon, there were about 8-10 kids playing in a mini-forest grove with the parents chatting, enjoying their beers, and keeping an eye on all the little ones.  AWESOME!

(BTW, Kadin is just in front of the kid with the tye-dyed shirt, not quite in view in this photo.)

More kids in the beer garden...

After the kid party broke up, I was about to head to our camp, when Kadin spotted another group of "kids" with popcorn.  He ran over to a group of 8+ college friends and asked the big blonde guy to pick him up.  What a hoot!  They were originally from Kodiak, seemed tickled pink to hang out with a silly toddler, and Kadin hung out with them for more than an hour.  

He actually hung out with one more group of adults who also had popcorn, but by then he was finally fading and we crawled home and read stories in the tent until we both passed out around midnight.

Our final day at the Fair and we finally got our own GIANT bag of popcorn!