It's spring in Alaska and lots of fun stuff to do in much warmer temperatures.  Last night we went to the Ice Park where there are competitions to make ice sculptures out of blocks of ice.  It is quite impressive, for those of you who haven't seen it.  There are also lots of slides built out of ice for kids & adult kids to play on.  Next year Brooklyn will be ready to go down all the slides.  This year we took in the sculptures, surroundings and enjoyed the people watching.

The next five posts are of our trip to California & Arizona to visit Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles & family friends.   Here is our last day, back in California, before coming home. 

 

 

 Uncle Jeff couldn't hold Brooklyn enough.  We are excitedly awaiting the arrival of Charlie from Jeff & Aunt Marie.

 Last morning, out to breakfast with the family.

A week in warm, sunny Phoenix with Liz's family.  Brooklyn had many first's while there.  She starting crawling, cut her first tooth & developed her "Grrr" face. 

 

 Grandpa Mike showing Brooklyn his skills with an orange.  She was entertained by his humor all week long. 

 Uncle Van & her "Grr" face

 Starting to crawl

 Unfortunately, this was about the only way to get her to take a nap, the entire two weeks.  Grandpa spent a lot of time out in the cul-de-sac walking her.

 Grandpa showing Brooklyn "patty cake".

 Grandpa bought a bonnet for Brooklyn, similar to what great-Grandma Anderson had bought Liz when she was a baby.   She loved it and kept it on when we were in the pool or out in the sun.  I think she actually new it would keep the sun from her eyes and didn't pull it off.

 She also really liked her sunglasses and marveled how it changed the color of everything.  Here we are about ready to get into the pool at the community center.

 Aunt Mary Jane showing Brooklyn pictures of when she was a baby.

 Family friend Rosie getting her grandbaby fix in, since she is away from her own over the next month. 

Grandma Mary & Brooklyn in the pool.  We were all amazed at how much she loved the water and didn't even care when her face became wet. 

Start of week two of vacation, we drove to Phoenix to visit Liz's family.  On the way, we made a detour to Joshua Tree National Park and went on a hike.   Brooklyn's first real hike in the backpack.   I think she's going to be a rock climber, like her dad.

 

On our first week of vacation we were in California, visiting Kevin's family.  We had lots of great family time.  We miss being so far away from our families, but loved all the precious time we were able to spend with them on our trip.

 Grandpa Bing making Brooklyn giggle!

 

 Tata chilling with Brooklyn

 New expression of the week, how to stick out my tongue.

 Nana doing her "rolling, rolling, rolling, rawhide" skit for Brooklyn.

 Cousin Kameron was great with Brooklyn and let her tug on his cheeks & hair.



What do you do when you are in California?  Of course, go to an amusement park.  Brooklyn, Nana, Kevin & I decided to take a trip to Magic Mountain.  Kevin & I rode the rides and Nana & Brooklyn hung out for the day.  Brooklyn is all greased up with sunscreen, but was happy to be outside in the nice warm weather and walking around in her favorite place on this trip (the stroller).

The start of our trip to visit family in Arizona & California.  Brooklyn was still relatively good travelling, but it's not quite as easy to entertain a very active almost 7 month old, vs. a 2 month old that sleeps on your lap the whole time.  As you can see, I already look pretty exhausted, even though we are only half way through our travel day.    

 

 

 

Gin & Ben's Baby, Oliver, arrived 4 weeks earlier than expected.  So the baby shower came after his arrival.  He is 3 weeks old here and awake for a few minutes to get a picture.  Oliver is doing amazingly well and growing up to be a big boy.  Good friends Chad, Susan, Shane, Shauna, Sue joined us for the shower.