the Alaska Run for Women

drummers playing music to keep up spirits & cheer on the runners / walkers

we had to take a rest to watch the drummers.  the Moose's foot started twirling as soon as she could hear the beat, far before we saw them  :D

you can see all the food the Moose was stashing in her stroller

little L was DONE.

yay! the Moose's 2nd race, our longest yet

The Moose & I joined up with our friends big & little L to walk the 2012 Alaska Run for Women yesterday.  We got there late and were the last ones to start - everyone had at least a 10-15 minute head start.  The Muni truck picking up the barriers to close off the streets was just ahead of us.  Without the awesome force of 7,000+ women alongside you, it was a little scarier running through the middle of the downtown streets that was the course, so we got on the crowded sidewalk pretty quick LOL  

About mile 2, we caught up with some other walkers.  When we got up to the drummers (above, almost mile 3), there were even more people resting.  We stayed for a minute ourselves, then got back to trekking.  There were at least a half dozen other little groups that finished after us.  It took us about 1 1/2 hours to finish, which is exactly what I guessed it'd take  :D    We all had a good time & the Moose had NO problem passing out for her nap when we got home LOL  not a bad way to start the day at all.

This kid...

So, I'm a dummy & I set my alarm for 5:30PM, not 5:30AM.  When I woke up at 6:30AM (having to be at work at 7AM), I panicked.  Curse words came out & I rushed out of bed, down the hall, and into the Moose's room to feed her.  Poor baby had soaked herself in the night, so she needed to be stripped, wiped down, & changed into some nice DRY clothes.  Thankfully, she was so good this morning & didn't have a melt down (she normally gets fed first & then has no problem enduring the coldness of changing).  After feeding her, I went to put her back to bed and, as usual, kissed her cheek.  Wonderfully UNusual, she turned her head & opened her mouth for a kiss  :D  Totally made the panicked morning less stressful & I walked out of there no longer in a rush, but now at peace with being late.  Thank you baby.

Yard Happenings

the Moose is inspecting the kiwi vines

2 potato rows, grapes & tomatoes in pots, and strawberries & garlic under the hoop

the raspberry bushes are filling in!

the dulgo crabapple is flowering

some robberjays came to visit  :)

everything's rose-y!

and the pooping gnome continues to guard out strawberries & garlic... plus a couple of marigolds, dahlias, a sweet pea, and a grape vine

Our Week

eating corn on the cob - excellent teether, btw

little monkey

more blueberries.  NOW.

bike trailer...

let's go!

Our 3rd day at market is tomorrow!

this metal cart thingy is fantastic!  it makes hardening off the plants a snap!

little helper

lots of teeny Tiny Tims  :)

Market Day, round 2

the Moose's 1st full day at market  :D  btw - it turns out that being next to the bathroom is an excellent locations; most everyone has to walk passed you at some point!  plus, we're actually at one of the 2 entrances & I never have to scope out the bathroom line before heading over LOL

she did SO well - we even had other vendors commenting to us at the end of the day about how surprised they were at how well-behaved she was all day  :D  she met all kinds of people, hoo-hoo'd a lot of dogs, and ate all kinds of yummy foods.  she also got incredibly dirty.  note to self: babies who still mostly crawl should NOT wear white sweaters to market.

oh yeah, market was pretty good, too   :D   we sold all kinds of yummy things & ate all kinds of other yummy things.  we talked to loads of new people & met a bloodhound for the first time - I had NO idea they were so big!  since we had the kid & the plants this time, we borrowed Yobo's dad's truck since our car can only do one or the other - that thing is a beast!  I had to stop by Mimi's house on the way home, knew she'd get a kick out of me driving an enormous vehicle; but I tell you what, the drive from Eagle River back into town was the scariest drive ever!  thankfully it got a little easier with practice & I had to run some errands back in town LOL

Happy birthday!

We had a 5-day birthday "weekend"  :D   What a weekend!  We were vendors at our first ever farmers' market, went on our 1st ever family road trip, had visits with both grandmas, played our first round of Travel Scrabble, ate a whole lot of wonderfully bad (& wonderful!) food, ran a bunch of errands, did loads of gardening, and the Moose had her first real play-date today (she was so good & had a lot of fun)!  Happy birthday indeed.

on the road to Kenai / Nikiski - look at all that snow!

I know it wasn't long ago that we still had snow here, but man! it seems like forever ago now that the grass is green & the sun is shining  :)

the back bed - strawberries on the right, garlic in the left & middle.  the short green plant behind the left plank are some of my first ever dahlias  :)  the tall green in the upper left corner is an Indian pea a fellow vendor gave us at the Market - it's supposed to have lovely purple flowers!  and, of course, the gnomes are ever watchful; mine is also, as usual, helping fertilize the plants  ;)

daddy & baby checking on the kiwi vines  :D  LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

papa bear explaining kiwi buds to baby moose - she was SO interested, I think mostly because she got to hold onto the wall of water & look into it LOL  it was pretty freaking adorable.

poor baby is letting mama know how indecent it is that she's been told "no hands" on the apple buds  :p