About six weeks ago, my parents called and asked what we thought of spending Thanksgiving in Alaska to cheer for the ASU Sun Devils basketball team in the Great Alaska Shootout. According to this post, we thought it was an ok idea. :) So last Wednesday, off we went.
The flight left on Wednesday at 8:50pm and arrived in Alaska around 1am (factor in 2 hour time difference...6 hour flight). The kids were all right but not as easy as I expected. There were tears about halfway through and lots of whines and shifting who was holding who.
The first day we were there was Thanksgiving day so we headed out to dinner around 2pm (after sleeping all morning). The first ASU game was that night so we dressed in our ASU garb and headed out to dinner. Nana made Hayley and Andy these adorable sun devil beanies to wear while we were there. Hayley loved hers---and surprisingly, Andersen got used to it and stopped pulling it off after a while.
Sammy, Hayley, and Dallen warming up by the fire before we left for dinner.
My cute nephew, Dallen, practicing saying his R's. He makes this face everytime he says it.
It started snowing before we left for dinner so we went outside to check it out. Daddy and Andersen had fun standing in it for the picture.
And we got a pretty darn good family picture too! I love that everyone looks remotely normal in this picture.
Andersen all bundled up for the weather. He want the hat off but actually liked the mittens on his hands.
Hayley and Dallen packed into the 15 passenger van my dad rented to drive us around.
Andersen mid-chew at Thanksgiving dinner. He LOVED the sweet potatoes and ate all of mine (since I didnt care for the brown sugar glaze on top of them).
This is Hayley's kids meal salad. What? It was no different in size than mine. She didnt finish it, not because she didnt want to but because she stuffed too much in her mouth at once and threw it back up onto the plate so we took it away. Gross, I know.
Day Two: We walked (yes, walked...my mom is crazy) 3 blocks to a museum and had a blast there. That night, we went to see Santa at a tree lighting ceremony.
Best friends hugging each other after breakfast down in the lobby.
Will's favorite thing in the whole world...his iPod. He loves music.
The kid's checking out Alaska from the window in our hotel room.
Can you tell who likes to do the opposite of what he is asked? Here are the kids all bundled up, waiting for us to walk to the museum.
We made it to the museum without anybody slipping on the icy sidewalks (seriously, I almost fell with Andersen in the moby wrap so my brother-in-law had to hold my arm to keep me and my son (mostly my son) safe)).
There were lots of fun things for the kids to do at the museum. This was a definite favorite for all of them. The balls would roll through this contraption and the kids could control which route the balls took by turning certain levers.
Andersen and I tried this contraption where we sat on a chair and I pulled us up higher using that rope. It was harder than I thought and I only got maybe halfway up. 
Andersen climbing (his favorite action) through this play place that was made to look like the forest.
Andersen's other favorite thing...cars/trains.
I couldnt get a clear picture of Hayley here but she loved jumping into the "ocean". It was a water bed type deal with plush fish laying in it. Both kids had so much fun here.
Hayley drumming on this board to make different patterns in the sand.
Me pretending to kiss a bear.
Jamie being a wuss and not being able to get close enough to the bear. She says it looked so real as she was staring at it, kind of like how she's afraid of the wax museum. :)
Will taking after his favorite sister and being brave enough to kiss the bear. 
I wanna fly like an eagle...
This was Hayley's spot for most of the upstairs in the museum...on grandpa's shoulders.
Grandma and Hayley after the museum taking a nap. 
That night was by far one of the coolest parts of our trip. We went to the Anchorage tree lighting ceremony where they used real live reindeer to bring Santa in. Here is Hayley with her daddy, both all bundled up. It was freezing...literally. 
Little did we know, they had a couple of the reindeer out for kids to pet before Santa came. It was so cool. Hayley, of course, stayed pretty far away and always in someone's arms while Andersen LOVED petting them and was giggling the whole time. Poor Andy was so bundled he could hardly see but he was still so happy. 
Me and my boy all bundled up. 
Day 3: We went sighting seeing and saw the Anchorage temple. Hayley and Dallen freezing their little buns off. It was so cold this last day. 
Andy Bubba with a pink nose and rosy cheeks (thank you, Aunt Jamie, for crocheting this hat for Andersen).
Our family with the icy ocean behind us.
Then we visited the Anchorage Alaska temple. When we got there, the stake center next to it had icycles hanging down everywhere. FREEZING, it was!
I got a beautiful picture of the temple...Breathtaking might actually be a better word for it. 
That night was our third and final ASU game at 8pm (10pm our time). Hayley fell asleep halfway through but then woke up screaming and I had to take her out. We walked around for a bit and she started asking for a drink. The game was 3/4 over and so everything was closing down. She saw the icees and kept asking for it but when we got in line, they told the person in front of us that they were closing. I was so sad but tried to explain it to her and she was so angry. The guy in front of us talked them in to making one more before closing and then the nice lady looked at Hayley and said, "That girl needs one too. Ill make a special one just for you." I was so grateful for her in that moment since it was the only thing to keep my crabby girl from having a huge break down.
Our flight home had a layover in between in Seattle and luckily, the kids did AMAZING this flight. Everyone besides me slept most of the way (I finally fell asleep during the layover at 6am Sunday morning) and the kids even slept through the layover. Andersen was on the floor on a blanket...
...and Hayley slept in a chair, looking quite uncomfortable.
Andy Bubba with a pink nose and rosy cheeks (thank you, Aunt Jamie, for crocheting this hat for Andersen).
Our family with the icy ocean behind us.
Then we visited the Anchorage Alaska temple. When we got there, the stake center next to it had icycles hanging down everywhere. FREEZING, it was!
I got a beautiful picture of the temple...Breathtaking might actually be a better word for it. 
That night was our third and final ASU game at 8pm (10pm our time). Hayley fell asleep halfway through but then woke up screaming and I had to take her out. We walked around for a bit and she started asking for a drink. The game was 3/4 over and so everything was closing down. She saw the icees and kept asking for it but when we got in line, they told the person in front of us that they were closing. I was so sad but tried to explain it to her and she was so angry. The guy in front of us talked them in to making one more before closing and then the nice lady looked at Hayley and said, "That girl needs one too. Ill make a special one just for you." I was so grateful for her in that moment since it was the only thing to keep my crabby girl from having a huge break down.
Our flight home had a layover in between in Seattle and luckily, the kids did AMAZING this flight. Everyone besides me slept most of the way (I finally fell asleep during the layover at 6am Sunday morning) and the kids even slept through the layover. Andersen was on the floor on a blanket...
...and Hayley slept in a chair, looking quite uncomfortable.
It was such a neat experience to have with my family and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to go. Family trips are one of my favorite things and I love keeping those memories forever.
Now, if I could just get us all healthy, life would be grand. Andersen developed croup on our way home from Alaska and I have a horribly painful sore throat and have lost my voice.
Let me tell you, it is very hard and frustrating to try to talk to your apparently-hard-of-hearing daughter when you're losing your voice and straining to talk to her.
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