Orange County Choppers in AK

Orange County Choppers built a 50th year anniversary chopper to celebrate Alaska's 50th year of statehood. Unique Machine of Alaska had this bike commissioned with OCC and then they are donating it to a raffle for The Children's Hospital at Providence. To advertise for the raffle, the chopper was displayed last week in the atrium at my office - it was really neat to be able to see this bike in person! The details were amazing - I've been a fan in the past of the show but never gotten to see one in person. Dan and Harper came over to the building after work/school to check it out one day as well. It's a pretty amazing machine being used for an amazing cause - supporting the local Children's Hospital. (Note: for some reason unknown to me, the raffle on the website says it was to be over in March 2009, however there are still tickets available for this and the drawing will be held September 11th...contact Unique Machine of Alaska if you are interested).

So, some of you blog followers may notice I haven't been posting very frequently since June...summertime has been totally busy for me and I just haven't been able to manage going through all the thousands of photos we've taken! I have been blogging over the past (almost!) two months though, so if you keep scrolling down you'll see there are five more posts!

August Fun

This last part of August has been a lot of fun around our house - we celebrated el Guapo's 7th birthday and Harper is crawling now! Guap is growing old gracefully so far, and the only part of him that shows his age is the gray in his chin fur. He's still just as rambunctious as ever, and acts like a puppy the second he sees a ball. Harper started crawling at day care today - I stopped in to see her over my lunch break and she saw me and crawled over to me! I was shocked and when I exclaimed "Ohmygosh! She's crawling!", the teacher said nonchalantly "Oh yes, I guess she is." So it's not a big deal to them, I guess they see things like this every day. I'll try to get it on video for the fam who wants to see...

We've had a resident moose family in our neighborhood this year with two calves, and we see them in our front yard often. Here's a few photos of them over the summer - they have grown a ton.

Moose calf kneeling down to eat

Mama & one of the baby moose

Mama moose eating super tall fireweed

Harper & moose

For his 7th birthday we got el Guapo a new bed - he loved it immediately!

We also got him a new bone and birthday candle!

Dan running in Humpy's Half Marathon - smiling as he's on his way to the finish line

Uncle Andrew, Aunt Hilary and us after dinner for the one night they were in Anchorage after their cruise through the Inside Passage - we love it when family & friends drop in!

After Eagle River Triathlon - it was slightly chilly in all the rain, but it was perfect weather to not get too hot!

It had to happen...

Harper is 'mobile'! She has been scooting around for a couple weeks now, and we knew it was coming, but of course we aren't prepared for it...it's only a matter of time before she actually crawls. We'd better get moving on Harper-proofing the house...


For now, el Guapo is getting used to Harper eating solid foods, and he definitely likes her new high chair so he can grab up any scraps that fall to the floor.

Harper seems to like her new chair too!



Harper enjoying her first sippy cup!

Harper in a bubble bath - she's getting too big for the baby tub.

Fish on!!

Lady of the Rings

I turned my back for just a few moments one day while Harper was playing by herself on the floor with her stack-able rings, and then I heard a light thump which usually is followed by a small cry, meaning "I fell over come pick me up now", however there was no cry. When I turned around, this is what Harper looked like:

The first thought in my head was "Oymygosh! She's not moving...is she okay? Did she hit her head?". But then I had to laugh because it looked like she was taken down by a coordinated attack of the rings. It seems that instead of fighting back at the rings she decided to just lay there like a slug.

She did make a couple half-hearted attempts to get up though:

Summer Vacation

We took a bit of a "break" in July, spending time with my parents in Alaska, followed by a trip to California for my work and then a trip to Massachusetts for more family time.

In Alaska we had a great time fishing on the Kenai and a great time in general with my folks - the weather was spectacular...sunny and warm every day. We had pretty good outings on the boat fishing, followed by trips to the local ice cream shop (a must do after a long day on the river). Harper got an ear infection in the middle of the trip, but thanks to a nice doctor at the medical clinic we were able to get her some relief and she was smiling again quickly.

Dad fishing in Lake Creek


Dad's Kenai King - he was the only decent fisherman this day

Grandma & Grandpa with Harper at Kenai Magic Lodge

Harper much happier after the doctor's visit

After my parents left, we had a day to get packed for a couple week adventure from sea to shining sea...literally! We flew to LA for my work for a couple days, and then flew from LA to Boston to see Dan's entire family so that they could all meet Harper and we could spend some time together. The last time we were all together was at our wedding! We also helped to move Dan's mom out of her old house into a newer one that is within a retirement community. It was great fun with family - and we eve got a couple of visits in to Kimball's!! I also celebrated my birthday with the Willman side of the family, which was a treat...complete with a gluten free flourless chocolate cake (that I completely gorged on!).

Having fun at Marblehead, MA on a summer day

Fresh cucumbers taste soooo good!

Too cute baby girl!

Cousin Cooper, Grandma & Aunt Michon at dinner before mini golf

Now this is the way to play putt putt!

Playing with rings on Grandma's floor at the new house

On the same changing table that Daddy used to be changed on!!

Happy after a nap

Eating frozen peas for the first time - they sure helped with teething!

Happy Harper!

It was a great trip, but the travel through the airports with an infant is starting to get a little old. We have been flying with Harper a TON, and so I'd like to think I pretty know what to expect from TSA...until they throw a new one at me. To get through security, usually I just carry Harper through, and if I'm also carrying milk / baby food, they usually have to wand it. BUT, in Burbank, that wasn't good enough and they decided they had to pat us down as well, Harper included! I had to hold her in mid-air while the TSA agent checked her...Harper just grinned her two tooth grin the whole time. I'm glad she's really good with strangers. The funny thing is, on our way out of Boston, TSA didn't even check the baby food or milk at all - something that TSA in every other airport that we have been in has done (Anchorage, Seattle, Honolulu, Burbank, Denver). I was surprised that in Boston they didn't, but I won't complain too loudly because we were able to make our flight that we were late for!

We got back to Anchorage and tried to settle back into our normal routine after picking up el Guapo from the Valley. It was a nice sunny weekend and I was able to wash the car with Harper for the first time! Photographic proof below, washing the car at 9 months. Grandpa will be proud!