Return to the Land of the Midnight Sun

Event Dates: 7/15-7/23/2013 - Sam and Matt headed northwest to Alaska for fun with family and friends.  The flight was not so fun for either passenger, but we made it after hours of squirming. (Now that he is two, while buying Sam his own ticket will be painful on the wallet, it will be much easier once we're on the plane.)
Once in AK, we were welcomed and hosted by friends Karen, Mike, and buddy Avery.  Sam loved climbing all over Avery, who was more than willing to show him how things should be done on the south side of town.
Sammy noticed right away that it seemed nearly everything was big in Alaska.  Matt kept trying to get him to notice his favorite view in Anchorage, the Chugach Mountains, which make up the eastern border of the city, Sammy's attention was almost always captivated by the presence of huge trucks everywhere we went!  Between the construction equipment that takes over the roads as soon as the snow melts, the RVs rumbling out of town, the tour buses, and a Ford F150 in every other driveway in every subdivision, there was a truck around every corner.  Matt even drove 3 miles up a gravel mountain road to give Sammy and his Grandma Terry a chance to revel in the glory of the mountains without such distractions, but what did we find at the top?  A school bus and an excavator!  Oh well.
We had so much fun playing with cousins and friends in Anchorage, but when Sammy's older buddy Avery went camping, we relocated for the weekend to Matt's older buddy Gary's house.  Hanging with Gary was such fun!  He had all kinds of instruments and we got to introduce him to Shabbat.  Since it was the weekend, we took a road trip with Gary to Seward.  Along the way we got 120 miles of gorgeous alpine vistas and once we got to town, we saw boats, Resurrection Bay, and a trip to the Alaska SeaLife Center.  Sam's nap on the way home was much deserved, but we woke up just in time to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center outside of Girdwood.
Meanwhile back at home in MN, Sheyna was working hard, enjoying quiet time around the house, and catching up on reading (possibly with relaxing a glass of wine at dinner), but missing her family more and more each day.