Our drive north to Marshfield for the Barnes Family Reunion started under some overcast skies and random drizzle. The tour of the Marshfield firehouse was our first stop, so there was plenty of time to hope for the clouds to pass. Brian's tour was well worth the early morning start in Coloma, the facility was beautiful, and Henry could barely contain himself-- run, run and touch everything.

For the adults the highlight may have been their 9/11 memorial, which consisted of the largest piece of the twin towers currently on display. For Hank the cherry on top of he tour came 5 minutes into the event.



As we were chatting in the lobby and waiting for a few stragglers before beginning, the intercom clicked on and a call was announced. Brian pitched his ear towards the ceiling, digested the codes and address that were rambled off, and then quickly told us to walk outside as the machinery would be making a hard left to yield us a perfect view. We scooted outside and I elbowed my way towards the front of the Barnes group and held up Henry. He smiled, squealed, and I had all I could do to keep him from leaping towards the screaming, blinking, groaning, red machines of joy.

Thankfully the sun burned off the clouds and sent us digging into our bag for Henry's sunscreen by the time we found ourselves in Hewitt, WI for the reunion. As always, it was great to see everyone and our only regrets were in not visiting enough with the many good folks. Plenty of photos here.



Wisconsin with family is always a great time, as Henry is learning.

Now that life is settling back into day to day Anchorage, our return from the Midwest and Henry's second birthday party seems like a blur and an amazing achievement. We traveled back to Alaska with the following (to list it is the only way to believe it): a jogging stroller, car seat, 2 fish boxes filled to the brim (not with fish), 2 adult suitcases, 2 adult carry on bags, and 2 Henry carry on bags. Thankfully there was no layover.

Henry was in a happy mood throughout the entire flight, though he is getting wigglier by the second. Personally, I classify a toddler as a bad flyer if they fuss and keep the plane at attention with crying and whining. If they only wiggle and kick their parents while chowing down on snacks and playing with stickers, that's a victory. Ultimately, I'm looking forward to a long time passing before we fly again -- a time when Henry will have his own seat and a little more ability to lock into his own activities. Slowly but surely it all moves forward.

Once we arrived home a very tired Henry hit the carpeting as if shot out of gun and seemed to express endless joy at the safety of his toys. Becky and I shifted into a quick unpacking mode, generated our Costco list, divided up the tasks at hand, and then set to them. Becky focused on the birthday cake and cupcakes while I headed to the store for buns and a few other perishables that just couldn't have been purchased before we traveled south. It was the second leg of our Saturday marathon and by 8 pm we had an exhausted Hank and a home fully prepared for our birthday guests at 10:30 am the following morning.



It may seem odd to the uninitiated, but toddler parties are usually around 10 am. You're essentially building your schedule around playtime, snack/lunch, and then a goodbye when everyone retreats home for naps. Evenings and late afternoons just don't swing it. By 1pm Bella, Maggie, Ann and all the adults had headed home into a beautiful Sunday blue sky, something which was in question at 9 am when storm clouds loomed. Everyone had a nice time, the dark clouds happily drifted across the party's playtime in silence, and Henry's Mom and Dad relaxed into a wonderful night's sleep that evening.

Photo Links

I'll certainly have more to say about our 3 week trip through the midwest, but for now here are the photo sets.

The Barnes Family Reunion.

Travels in central Wisconsin.

 July 4th in Indiana.

Hanging out in Indiana.

Henry's 2nd birthday.

Henry and Becky did experience a taste of the hot summer we are having in Alaska before heading to Wisconsin last week. The picture below is of a Sunday at Maggie's right before the flight south. It began as you see in a windbreaker on the slide, progressed to a t-shirt as Henry and Maggie watered (read: dowsed endlessly) some plants, and finally ended in a shirtless Henry running around the front yard in the 70 degree sun proclaiming, "naked guy". We're a classy bunch.



The red eye flight with Grandpa and Lucille was as smooth as it could have been, though Henry only made it through an hour of sleep before a screaming baby on the plane woke him up. He then shifted into quietly looking out the window and just taking in his surroundings. Becky and company landed without sleep firmly in zombie mode, but Henry was a polite air traveler, which is all we can ask.

Amongst the text messages and photos I receive telling me all about Henry's travels across the various lakes and playgrounds of Waushara County runs the constant thread of his happiness. He enjoys all the folks he's meeting, loves the weather, and crashes out every night. I hope he has some gas left in the tank when I arrive later next week.

Grandpa and Lucille's visit is winding down and later tonight Becky and Henry will join them on a trip back to the midwest. I'll be joining them in a few more weeks and attending the Barnes reunion in Marshfield, WI. When Alaskans travel to the lover 48 in June we typically expect to get a dose of summer heat. Thus far, Wisconsin looks to have had a less than stellar summer. Alaska has been blue skies, 70 degree temps, and near 20 hours of daylight for the past 2 weeks (minus the day of the triathlon, thank you). At a glance, it looks like Wisconsin might be a step back for us. We're looking forward to seeing family and friends, hopefully tracking down some sweet corn, and sleeping under the blanket of a star filled night.

Henry has happily soaked up all the retaining wall construction he's had a chance to observe. Whether it be watching the cement mixer churn or inspecting the brush pile with Grandpa, Hank is signed up. I foresee many baths thanks to the digging and inspecting going on in outdoor Indiana and Wisconsin.

Our gears have happily shifted to fun activities with our visitors -- Grandpa Barnes and Aunt Lucille. The weather has been close enough to Wisconsin's, so our guests feel more at home then they might have expected (minus a few nasty, rainy days). Grandpa Barnes is working away at Randy's new retaining wall and Aunt Lucille has been enjoying some time at our home. In the midst of it all Henry is filled with glee at the happy visitors, heavy machinery in Chugiak, and hikes through our backyard bog. Along the most recent hike with Lucille this moose cruised across the trail. We really do know how to put on a show for the tourists.




I am very silly at times. In January I decided to participate in the Eagle River Triathlon for the third time. It is always fun and is an excellent push to hit the gym and steam through the remainder of winter -- It sets a bullseye on Spring. My training went well and I entered the home stretch fitter and faster than ever, though unfortunately the home stretch ended at a 40 degree rainy day in June. I would not see all of those training hours cast away, so I plowed ahead. Ultimately it was a fun event and I was pleased with my times, though I could have taken a pass on the need to run wearing gloves in June.

It will give you whiplash up here. 9 days ago it was snowing strongly, and now it is 80 degrees and a constant commercial for all of the reasons anyone would want to live in Alaska -- blue skies, sunshine, 20 hours of daylight, and miles and miles of trails.

Henry and I headed out to the Eagle River Nature Center for some hiking, deciding to choose the jogging stroller over the backpack. The trails are pretty wide and mellow for the first several miles so the stroller was an excellent choice. As for the trail alongside the river on the return leg, I quickly found myself carrying the stroller with Henry and the diaper bag inside over 20-30 yard stretches of mud and downed trees. In the past I have been guilty of describing hikes with Henry as short, mild walks that I hoped would become longer and more rigorous as time goes on. On Sunday this 2 hour hike gave me all I could handle.





As I become muddier and muddier while carrying a charioted Henry over the obstacles, he began playing peek-a-boo to the huffing and puffing Daddy above him. He had a great time and we will be hiking again as soon as possible, though in the future the Albert Loop is not on the list of choices.