September 16 - 30, 2017 - 3 years 2 months

Grandma Baiba and Grandpa Butchie come to Talkeetna for a visit!  First stop… Twister!

While the grandparents are resting, Kadin and I wander through the railroad station and Kadin enjoyed his time behind bars. 

Butch shops the local "produce" while Kadin races around on his bicycle.

Weeeeeee!!!

I had to stop into the VFW to meet up with a friend and Kadin was instantly fascinated with the pool table.  He watched every shot, gave recommendations, and waited for the ball to travel from the pocket to the storage underneath.
Physics scientist or pool shark to be? 

Finally, a break in the rain and we get to be back on our bikes.  If you can see how muddy his legs are, on this trip we went looking for all the big mud puddles! In fact, he had a communication melt down when I went onto the bike path… yelling, no, no, bdda, bdda, (or something like that) and pointing across the street to the dirt trail.  I wasn't thinking in English and it took me forever to figure out he was saying "Puddles!  Puddles!"  I confirmed it with, "Oh, ¿quieres charcos?" Yes!!!!!
We turned around as soon as I figured it out and had a muddy fun time.

Fun little BBQ and bonfire at Sarah's place with Sarah, Drover, and Franny.  Kadin and Jorie ran around like crazy, ate hotdogs and roasted marshmellows, and then finally chilled out by the fire.

Silly times with bubbles.  Somehow Mom stopped this video just before Kadin ran after the bubble and came back telling us there were Trolls behind the building. 

addendum after Baiba's comments:

Kadin's beautiful and silly and wonderful Grandma Baiba…. Alaska's cold in September!

September 5 - 15, 2017 - 3 years 2 months

Daycare dress-up - ladybug outfit with a safety orange construction hat.  And note how he learned from all the girls in daycare how to hold the edges of the skirt up! 

Well, we missed the blueberry season this year but didn't want to come home empty handed.  Lots of high bush cranberries everywhere! 

What a fun time!  We were at the playground when it started raining so we headed home.  But then I had to pull over at the overlook because there was a rainbow… Pfff. Rainbow.  The next thing I knew, Kadin was running around like crazy, putting all of his firefighter gear on and putting out fires left and right.  We must have spent an hour there, having too much fun!

Hanging out at the Station parking lot, Kadin on his bicycle.  Notice the little froggy harness thing his wearing?  It's a leash!!  It had just arrived in the mail and I was trying it out on him… for use in Mexico and big cities for my little independent explorer.

And, last but not least, Patch, hanging out on the couch with me when Kadin isn't here.

Video:  Kadin putting out "muchos incendios" (many fires)!

Video: Kadin up on the old firetruck and climbing back down.

September 1 - 4, 2017 - Ama and Maya Visit Part 2 (3 years 2 months)

Ama, Maya, Kadin, and I spent a few days in Seward, camping in the rain, eating yummy King Crab, and enjoying being by the ocean.  It was a special treat to stay one night in Anchorage at a hotel with a pool.  The next morning, Kadin and I headed home and Ama and Maya relaxed in town until their flight that night.  

Morning ocean viewing from our campsite in Seward - Kadin commented on the comings and goings of every boat he saw.

We went on a wildlife and glaciar cruise and Kadin loved being on the boat and spotting the otters and birds and whales and other boats.   

The next day, we went to the Sea Life Center and the Stellar Sea Lion tank was definitely one of his favorite spots.

The touch-and-feel tidepool exhibit was also a favorite… although he was a bit hesitant at first.

First the sea star, and then he tried the sea anemone, one of my personal favorites.

Aye, aye, Capitán!

We spent the night at a hotel in Anchorage and made sure we found one with a pool!  Fun and games before bedtime.

Ama and Maya had just as much fun!

Wee!!!

September 20 - 30, 2016 - 2 years 2 months

Kadin took this photo of Mama and su cafecito.

This is another shot of Kadito the photographer.

Kadin put this sticker on his nose in a silly moment, which was perfect, because poor Mia was in the hospital on her birthday and we sent her this photo to cheer her up.  Happy Birthday!!  Hope you are healed up soon Mia!

Kadin, practicing his tree pose.

Namaste.

My friend Leighan painting a gorgeous sandhill crane on my wall.  It's Kadin's growth chart.

Putting the finishing touches on the crane… 

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

I think he was removing the rock from the road, 

Mi cocinero made scrambled eggs this morning, from getting the eggs out of the fridge, cracking them, mixing them, pouring it into the pan, scrambling them and serving them onto a plate.  The only thing I did was light the stove and help hold the heavy cast iron skillet!

Yay! Biking and high bush cranberries!

I'm going in!  Brrr… it's a bit chillier than last month's swim.  Didn't stop him though!

Since Kadito went in, his Mama had to follow suit, both in our birthday suits, of course!

Video of Kadin biking down a hill, making funny faces.

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/ujIryQOFeLg

September 16 - 19, 2016 - 2 years 2 months

Every evening when I pick him up from daycare, Kadin begs for a snack and then falls asleep in the car,  snack in hand (and usually all over the carseat too).

My friend Heather couldn't use her cabin reservation at Byer's Lake and asked if Kadin and I would like to go instead… I certainly was in the mood to escape life for a bit so I took her up on the offer…
 Yay!  A few phone calls later, appointments were re-arranged, and I threw a bunch of gear into the car and off we went.  Kadin is ready to go!

Here's our rig - a packraft set up with my backpack strapped down in front, the sleeping pad in the back, and the two of us squished in the middle.  Kadin enjoys it for the most part, but starts to get antsy after a bit.  Then we stop, look for feathers and leaves floating on the water, or have a snack, and all is good again.

Exploring and hiking around the cabin in the evening.  Kadin took a sudden liking to the ferns along the trail and I showed him how to put them behind his ear… like a cute little forest elf.

Kadin found a loon's feather down by the lake.  So pretty!  And we could see the loons on the lake, doing their crazy calls.  

Short trip, just one night, and back into the raft and on the lake 

It was a misty, drizzly day, giving the lake a completely different mood than yesterday.

The rain didn't stop Kadin from having a good time! 

September 1 - 15, 2016 - 2 years 2 months

Kadin wanted to play with a hairband and loved trying to see himself in the mirror with a ponytail. 

We went berrying picking and there weren't any left because someone had arrived before us!  I actually got to see the black bear briefly as he/she was sneaking by, trying to avoid us.

Kadin slept through most of the berry picking and bear sighting!

As we made our way home, Kadin had a big tantrum about something… can't even remember what.  

Best cure for the tantrum blues…. SNACKTIME!

Kadito, el cocinero.  Kadin loves anything to do with cooking!

Kadin and Farah running around naked together… what cute little tooshies!

My mini garden - chives and sorrel!  

Kadin helps in the office at daycare.

More blueberry picking!  This time, we were up on the tundra.  It was still late in the season and we didn't get enough to keep us happy for the whole winter, but it certainly was fun!  Kadin has learned that instead of picking them and eating them, he can just confiscate our jar and eat and eat and eat!!!

It's autumm and all the plants are turning.  This is Kadin's favorite… high bush cranberry.

Kadin "wearing" his undies!   

Gorgeous double rainbow made my day when everything else happening was rotten. Can't have rainbows without rain, right?!

Kadin enjoying the rainbow.

Short attention span! Been there, done that, time to go home now Mama...

Best buds, snuggling at bedtime.

The video is of Kadin chasing a laser pointer… and figuring out it's just a speck of light. 

Here's the link for the video if you can't watch it on the blog: https://youtu.be/GTHtbHjiDkY