We stayed at the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge in Cooper Landing.  It’s a scenic lodge-style resort right next to the river.  While we were waiting for my parents to arrive, the kids and I took a walk down to the river.

Yes, the river water is actually that color.  It’s glacier water, which is super-oxygenated and gives it that bright blue-green hue.

The kids also had their first experience sharing a bed.  I thought they’d never actually go to sleep, but eventually they did.  Koren was up until 10pm and Kaelin was up until 11pm because Grandmommy and Grandpa arrived a little after 10pm, so she had to stay up to greet them properly.  They brought her that face mask, which came in handy as their room was full of windows and the sun was up in the middle of the night in July.

Apparently my son is quite the bed hog.  After he finally STOPPED TALKING long enough to go to sleep I was reading in the other room when I heard Kaelin say, “Um…Mama…can I get some help here?  Koren’s way over here.”

And he certainly was.  Somehow the smallest person in the family had managed to take over the entire bed in one spread-eagle move.  I moved him back to his side, but he kept inching toward Kaelin.  Thus the pillow barrier in the middle.

Oh, and check this out…I’m actually afraid to put this in writing for fear that it will *POOF* disappear as soon as I do, but…

THIS IS OUR THIRD DAY OF SUNSHINE IN A ROW!!!

I don’t think we’ve had 3 full days of sunshine since sometime in May – much less CONSECUTIVELY.

Sunny and 60, baby.  It’s a good day.

Apparently, Alaska was just determined to break the all-time record for the cloudiest, wettest summer on record.  The day after that happened, the sun returned.

Oddly the year I moved to Seattle, they also broke the record for the most consecutive days of rain on record.

Hmmm…

• Children’s Place
  • I have been trying to place an order for a week now, and each time I do, I get an email the next day informing me that they have canceled my order.  According to CP, there’s something wrong with the card authorization, but when I call the bank, they say they have authorized the charge and have no idea why the order would have been canceled.
  • Today I opened a Childrens Place Card so I could get some rewards for all the money I spend with them.  When I immediately tried to use it on the order I placed (again) today, I was informed that that just wasn’t going to happen.  No reason, just NO.
  • I then tried to log into the account online to see if there was some issue with the card, and when I was setting up the online access, I was again informed that this just wasn’t going to happen.  No reason again, just General Error, Can’t Help You Today, Oh and It’s Sunday So You’ll Have to Wait to Talk to a Live Person Sometime Later This Week.
• Alaska USA Credit Union.  I use this bank for my business account and I tried today to access my account online.  I entered my account number and PAC where asked and the first time I tried to log in, was informed that I “have exceeded the number of login attempts,” and will have to call sometime when it’s not Sunday to figure it out.
• The Weather.  At least it’s not just me.
• I ordered an iTunes Gift card weeks ago, and it still hasn’t shown up.  Come on, iTunes, don’t you know that YOU’RE MY LIFELINE???  I need that gift card because there is ONE RADIO STATION here that actually plays music, and their taste is rather questionable.  They also tend to play things at odd times, like all the hard screamy rock in the early morning and slow oldies in the afternoon.
• I cannot find my car keys.  I came back from the store almost 2 weeks ago and after bringing in all the groceries, I couldn’t find them anywhere.  I’ve looked all over the car, the house, and in between.  I’m convinced that there’s a troll who runs off with my stuff.

In other news, Kaelin has 2 loose teeth.  Bottom-center.  Most kids don’t start losing their teeth until age 6 or so, but my daughter has always insisted on doing everything early.  She took her first steps before she was 9 months old and was speaking perfectly understandable English long before the other kids her age.  So I guess this just follows suit.

This morning was monumental because it wasn’t raining when I woke up.  In fact, the sun was out and it was quite beautiful outside.  By the time we left for church, it was overcast again and by the time we got out of church it was raining.  It’s now 8pm and still raining.  I forget how pretty it is here when the sun is out.  We so rarely see it anymore.  I feel like Margot in All Summer in a Day.  There were a couple of hours on Thursday that it was sunny.  We high-tailed it to the beach to take advantage of it because it’s been nothing but rain rain rain for 2 months now, with the occasional “mostly cloudy” day thrown in. 

I haven’t been jogging in weeks.  I’m actually starting to look forward to winter when all the rain will at least turn into snow and not be so…wet all the time.  I feel sorry for the kids, they don’t get to be outside much.  It’s a good thing they have a great school program 3 days per week to keep them busy.

I really like the kids’ school.  They do baking, gardening (weather permitting), field trips, and all kinds of other activities to keep the kids busy.  It’s so much more than just the “mother’s day out” programs we’re used to.  They only attend mornings, so I think I might add another day for the winter session.  I wish they had an option for a 3/4 day, ending at 2 or 3pm, but as it is, I either pick them up at 12:30pm or 5pm.

My aunt and uncle are coming to visit this week, so we’re looking forward to seeing them.  Hopefully the weather will give them a break while they’re here.