Only in Alaska..

Yesterday I had quite the little..incident happen on the way to work. There I was, driving down the hill only a mile from my house, minding my own business when I see a Black nose coming out of the bushes into the street.

Uh, I think my heart just stopped.

I screetch on the breaks in time to see the Black Bear take few more steps, look at me, decide that I wasn't worth breaking the windshield to devour, turn around and walk lazily back into the woods.

OK, I can breathe now.

I've heard there has been quite a few bears in town this summer but it seems I never actually see them- which I guess is a good thing considering I also don't want the bear to ever have to decide whether or not to devour my helpless child as he plays in the yard. Because, I think we all know where that would lead.

Last month, we had a mother moose and her twins laying in our neighbors yard across the street (above). Moose are much more common "sightings" than bears, which is good because while they may stomp on you and break your ribs, they will not eat you. And that's ALWAYS a plus. Except, if your friends are up from Utah who specifically want to see wildlife, be forewarned that there will be neither Moose nor Bear sightings whatsoever. Ask me how I know.

Anyways, Jeremy went fishing with a couple friends today on the Kenai. They saw 4 Grizzlys and a beaver.. and even caught some salmon while they were at it! He got sunburned but had so much fun.

Jack and I went out to the Valley to hang out at my moms because I didnt feel like being home all day. Boooorrr-ing. Then I came home and finished HP2. Guess I need to go buy the 3rd!

Oh! I hit the Nordstrom sale on Thursday for a little retail therapy and ended up with a little buyer's remorse. Gosh, you can't win!!

They should really do a study

on Alaskan water. I promise you, when it comes out of our tap, it should be FROZEN. It defies science. This is why, growing up, "ice water" was just not something that we ever requested. Water the temperature of dry ice will do just fine, and that is easy and readily available by just filling up from the faucet.

Anyways, while convenient for a refreshing drink, it is not so convenient for a would-be swimmer like Jack on an Alaskan sunny day (which by the way, we've been having so much of! Jeremy actually called a restaurant tonight to see if they had air conditioning before deciding whether we'd go. They didn't. Nobody does. This is Alaska.) So, we fill this little baby up and as the ice cystals are forming I figure I better bring in some backup. I brought out buckets of hot water, but it was no match for Alaskan water. We finally got the water "tolerable"- and Jack finally got in. In case you were wondering- "tolerable" is approximately 9/10 HOT water and 1/10 Alaska water.