Jags, skunks, locusts, balls and WINNING.
I recently described the area we live in as being similar to Seward Alaska, accessible by road to the big city, but somewhat remote. A very small community with lots of tourism, more restaurants than it needs, minus the big chain restaurants, and littered with tourist shops and activities. A town that partially shuts down in the off-season, and has that small town feel, where you feel like you know or at least know of almost everyone in town. That is Flamingo; except most people here are always in bathing suits or shorts, and the beaches here beg you to be bare foot, not in Extra Tuff rubber boots, even in the rain.
In all actuality, we are probably smaller, people wise than Seward, and definitely smaller family wise. You see there is a large contingent of retired or semi-retired people here, people sans kids. Therefore the schools are pretty small. The public schools, open air Bodegas, are all in spanish, not an option for english speaking kids. So the only other choice is a private school of which there are three in the area. Our kids go to Gold Coast, the school with the most seniors of any private school in the area, 8. This does not often make for a robust sports program, and often the first clue is when every able body boy in the school is on the basketball team. Dorian and Jeremy are among those. Oh, and several of those boys have never touched a basketball in their life.
The Gold Coast Jags had their first game a few nights ago in Liberia, against a school with about 800 kids. Although the game was extremely entertaining, it was not very competitive.
The Jags practice facility. It reminds me of Madison Square Garden, at least the garden part.
One of the nicest Gyms in the area, and yes those are not windows at the end, it is open air.
First of all there are some American assumptions that must be cleared up. Practice: In America, high school sports practice for pretty much any sport is 4-5 days a week, 2 hours a day, at least! Here practice is 1 day a week for 2 hours in a dark open air multi-purpose room with no fans, no air conditioning and lots of hot, heavy dead air. Shoot, I coached kids from 5 years old and up and we had practice at least 2-3 times a week.
Dorian warming up. Ironic, since it was like 90 degrees out.
Facilities: In America every school has a gym. In Costa Rica a school is lucky to have desks. However every private school I have seen has a pool, but not a gym. And the pool is more for cooling off during lunch than for competitive swimming. That’s why our kids practice at a facility several miles away in the middle of Huacas, that is dark,dirty and hot.
More warm ups.
smiling as he gets hacked for an "and one"
Mindset: In America we drove our kids to excel, we drove them to succeed in sports, at all costs, and we drove them to a lot of practices, games and meetings. It was a lot of driving. Here athletes, except for soccer, seem to have more of a surfer’s attitude. They want to win or catch the big wave, but if not, well Pura Vida, there will be another one soon. Don’t get me wrong, the kids want to win, the coaches want to win, but it’s not like their life depends on it. They compete and play hard, they get mad when they mess up, they get frustrated when others mess up and they work their butts off during the game. But when it’s done it’s done, time to get some Burger King or McDonald’s, a rare treat in these parts, and get ready for the next wave, after a brutal 2 hours of practice in the coming week.
Jeremy running the show
Jeremy getting ready to score his first point as a Jag!
up and in!
the gym, and I don't know what the heck that thing is on the wall.
Playing under the bright lights, dodging bats locusts and bugs.
Like all things here, it will take some getting used to. But I must say these are a lot of the changes that we wanted to experience. We don’t miss driving 200 miles a day ( literally) to practices, dance classes, games etc. We don’t miss having stressed out kids and angry parents screaming in the stands. And we don’t miss winning. Okay, that last one is a lie. We sure would like to win a few games this year, but first we better work on scoring some points. But on the bright side, the games are fun to watch, if not for the basketball action, then for the giant locusts flying around in the gym, or the bats feeding on the bugs by the lights, or even the skunks that wander nearby. Winning quickly becomes a secondary concern when a skunk is involved. Perhaps the Jags can figure out a way to use it to their advantage on defense.
Surfing USA
Alright, I know we aren’t in the USA, but it was Independence Day and we are still US citizens, so I figured I could take a little liberty there with the title. We were eager to see what the Fourth of July would be like in CR, whether anyone would care or even know. They know, but I am not sure they care, other than caring to party.
Playa Grande
Alli shell hunting
looking for more shells
action Jackson
For us we decided to make it a family day and do something we had never ever done on the Fourth; surf. Since we had never surfed on the fourth, and most of us had never surfed at all, what better place to go than the place known for its big waves, Playa Grande. At the surf board shop we rented the biggest fattest board they had, because we like to go old school, and because they are supposed to be easier to use for beginners.
grand rock at Grande
The rocks residents
Kassie and Jake taking a rare break from the water
Big board Benny
The beach is called grande because it is a huge beach. White sand, big waves and a little wind, pretty much all you need. The white sand seems to go on forever, the waves are never-ending, the people are few and the water as warm as a spa. So into the water we went, dad the instructor who does not know how to surf, a 9 foot surf board and eager students. I suppose like anything, when you watch the pros do it, it looks easy. Swim out, turn around, catch the wave, stand up, your surfing! Of course it never is. To my surprise the hardest part was the swimming out. Almost every kid who tried had a hard time getting the board out past the waves on their own. Conversely, only after a few spills, every kid who tried to stand up and ride a wave succeeded. Our technique was simple, practice jumping up on the beach, practice balancing on the board in the water, dad holds the board until he sees a good wave then sends them on their way. Their job, jump up when they feel comfortable. To my shock, it worked.
Tra and Kassie cheesing it
hmmmm, I don't like to get my face wet, but this looks pretty cool.
Tra catching a wave on the boogie board
I can't believe I just did that! Righteous!
Now surfing is not just about standing on a surf board, that I know. But that is all I know, so until we have some actual teachers we will call that success.
After three hours in the water shuffling kids through the board, I could feel my head start to get warm and my muscles start to get tired, so I had to take a break. In fact, if I could figure out a way to sell a DVD with a wave pool that generated 5-8 foot waves over and over in people’s living room, I would be the next millionaire in the exercise market. It is definitely a workout to just stand in the surf.
Jake praying at the Mar Bar
our new favorite hole in the wall for lunch
Starving, thirsty salty and soggy we asked around for a good quick local eat and were told about Mar Bar, somewhat hidden but the only place to get some good quick grub. The Mar Bar is exactly what I would picture as a surfers hangout. Located as part of small, low-budget hotel, with a pool; It was very small, just wide enough for a row of eight three person tables an chairs in the “dining area” about 5 feet away from the six person bar. The bar had a 1/2 wall to block the road, and the rest was open. The small kitchen plainly visible to the patrons, with a flat screen tv hanging from the wall playing surf videos from around the world. Locals were in and out, the owner knowing them all by name. It was as much as of a pass-thru as a hangout. Our food was prepared by two local Ticas, and it was fantastic. All the items were fresh and handmade, especially the fries. The fries were hand cut half moons, light crispy, not greasy at all and seasoned with salt and rosemary; amazing. The fish burrito, again light but filling, loaded with fresh ingredients, as were the BLT wraps with slices of perfectly ripened avocados and special sauce. It was all excellent, and we will be back.
We finished the day with a local fireworks celebration near the Happy Snapper, a local eatery located across the street from the beach. There was live music which could be heard blocks away. Oddly enough, for USA independence day, the music was mostly Latin flavor and in Spanish. We chose to sit by the beach, not knowing where the fireworks would be displayed. Then in the pitch dark, at 7:30 we noticed that we had parked right next to the lighting station. No fences, yellow tape, nothing to keep you at a safe distance. We move a little ways away and made camp under some palm trees about 50 feet away. Half an hour late and the lighter man began the show. Now it may not have been the most awesome display we have ever seen, but what was awesome was that we were sitting on a beach, under palm trees, 8:00 pm in shorts and T-shirts, as the residual from the exploding rockets fell all around us and sizzled into the edge of the ocean. That was new. It was subdued, not overdone, simple but exotic, late, slow and appreciated, just like everything in Costa Rica. It was a good way to spend our first Independence Day abroad.
Alli and Playa Grande
Where are we and what are we doing, in 39,000 words (or 39 pictures).
A lot of questions have come in regarding where we are at and what we are doing. Well the first one is much easier to answer than the latter. We are in the Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica in a little beach town called Playa Flamingo. It is a very quiet little community with a mild tourist population. There are a couple of small hotels and resorts and a lot of local eateries. The nearest gas station is about 20 minutes away and the nearest grocery store is about a 2 minute walk from our house. It is about a 5 minute walk to the closest beach, and about a 10-15 minute walk to one of our favorite beaches. It is very sparsely populated and there are quite a few ex-pats in the area. In nearby Brasilito, there is a good population of Ticos. You can view the following map to get an idea where we are at.
As far as what we are doing, well that’s a little trickier to answer. We don’t know. We know we are supposed to be here, but we don’t know what we are supposed to be doing. We are keeping our eyes and ears open and praying for direction and I am confident we will find it. Until then there is not a lack of things to keep us busy.
Our first grocery bill for the Super Mercado.
over 200,000 colones, that's a lotta dough in any country! Note the second to last item, Alaska ice cream made by the local Dos Pinos ice cream factory.
We have had to start shopping from scratch, had a lot of work done on the house, get schools situated, church situated, contact old friends, make new friends,get a car, get driver’s license, get a bank account and watch sunsets. We are still working to get into a groove and that will take a while, but we will enjoy the journey and deal with the humongous changes that we have incurred. One way to make it slightly easier is to explore the area around and enjoy the beaches, boogie boards,food and sunsets, which we have been attempting to do, as evidenced by the following picture gallery.
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Partridge Godfreys for Project Rescue
Ahhh the dessert auction, is there any other better way to raise money? I cannot think of any. Spend outrageous amounts of cash for awesome looking desserts that you would never think to make or buy. I have attended several and I have always walked away with something, usually a couple more pounds. The most recent one was for Project Rescue, an extremely worthy cause. If you have not heard of it, click on this LINK and learn more. The bad news, as much as I enjoy a dessert auction my mother and grandmother enjoy them 10 times more. In fact they treat it as a mission or even a battlefield zone. They have special stealth skills and bidding strategies which all but guarantee victory in the silent auction. They lurk around the auction zones, pen in hand, fake names pre-planned, and body checks ready to go. If they bid, they intend to win, and it is fruitless to bid directly against them.
This was the scene at our church’s last dessert auction, and they did well walking away with 6, yes 6 different desserts. But why were they there you ask? They don’t live here, they don’t often visit randomly, so why? Well you see this auction also had a talent show, and some of the talent were their grandkids, or as Pastor Nick refers to them ” Charity Bait”. I know what you’re thinking “what is their talent? Having the coolest dad in all of America?” Well they have other talents as well, and unfortunately they usually keep them hidden. For this show Olivia played the piano, Ben played a song on the guitar and sang, and Alli performed a dance. All this in front of impatient sugar starved bidders ready to attack the foray of desserts tantalizing them from the display section. They were all nervous, but not nearly as nervous as mom and dad. They all three did fantastic, and we couldn’t be prouder. To see them fight back their nerves and perform for a worthy cause was very proud moment. I was proud enough that I wanted to share it with those of you who could not be there. So the following video is a combination of all three performances. The sound may be a little quiet as I recorded it all from my phone, so I couldn’t adjust the sound or zoom in but you’ll get the point.The whole video is about 9 minutes, with some random facts to keep your interest, so please enjoy.
JJJ and J
A few weekends ago we had some special guests Josiah, Josh, Jude and JoJo. We traded them for Dorian who had gone to the Fine Arts conference. Now I don’t know if it was a good trade, because you see Dorian is really not too much trouble right now, he can bathe himself, dress himself, brush his own teeth, and even feed himself when needed. There are no diapers, runny noses, whining … well okay there is some whining but not as much. So for that weekend our grand kid total was 11, and all but 3 of them were under the age of 13.
Ben throwing down some lessons to Josh, then.....
... he then threw down his own version of Happy Day
contemplating his next song
Josiah can get comfy anywhere
Josh follows suit
Jude the dude
Surprisingly it was slightly easier than I had anticipated. Perhaps it was because I was shuttling kids back and forth from across America the whole time. The one thing I have noticed is that when we have kids over, they almost always have someone to “hang” with, so unless there are sweets on the kitchen counter, they pretty much stay out of our hair. Yes, that is clearly a figure of speech for me.
Play time
we may have ruined rabbit hunting for the Gluth family forever
yep, ruined
Jo giving Jude "katar" lessons
It seems that they had a good time, never a dull moment, and definitely never a dull moment for Tracy.
She’s just playing
We knew early on she belonged on a stage. In fact, by the time she was two she was known as our little drama queen. She was unbelievably cute, she knew how to bat her eyelashes , smile, and even say things like ” oh daddy” in a patronizing voice. Oh yes, early on we knew this one would be trouble. Tracy figured that dance class may be a place for her use up her charm. She was right. Alli took to it like me to cheesecake, she devoured it. And as good as she was in class, she was even better on stage. She had the smile, the charm, the confidence, she had it all and she knew how to bring it all together to stand out on the stage. Things were going great, dance four days a week, performances 4-5 times a year, and a lot of driving and costume money from dad. But the important thing is that she had to have somewhere to put her creative energy. That all came to a crippling halt last year when her meniscus said ” I need a break“, or perhaps even more proper, I need a tear, as documented in this very blog.
- I really should be out there “acting”
looking beautiful
The three banditos.....
.... and the three princes
So she sat around the house for months with nothing to do, no way to release her creative energy except on her parents. It was politely suggested to her that perhaps the stage was calling her once again, alas not in dance but in drama. Her eyes lit up a little and it seemed as if something so obvious should not have been such a surprise to any of us. Of course she took to it like a rainbow trout to roe.
After a semester of drama she tried out for the school play and actually got two roles. Neither was a lead, but both were scattered throughout the play, and she was critical to the start of the plot and the closing scene. The whole family got to enjoy the play, and the consensus was: She must love sword fighting because she smiled the whole time, Jeremy loved the sword fights but was disappointed she didn’t die on stage, she looked beautiful and did a fantastic job. We are so proud and maybe its time for her one woman show, just as long as she leaves the drama on the stage.
Short video clip of a couple of scenes from the play
The Cast
Cool Hand Cole and Bad Boy Ben vs. Jail Breaker Jerms
Pillow fights, finger guns, even Nerf guns are old school. Now sleep overs are ruled by Xbox and all out Airsoft war. Instead of scary stories and flashlights it is now laser sights and screams of war as tiny plastic bullets fly across the yard, rarely hitting their intended target. The combatants are all under 65 inches tall, but well protected in stylish glasses, heavy winter coats and gloves. Their strategies are antiquated and brazen, yelling and charging and then yelling and running away. There are screams of anger when time-outs are ignored for reloads, because when you are not ready those tiny hard rubber pellets sting a little, especially in the cold of winter. Tactics are thrown out the window when, much like the Civil War, brother battles brother, friend battles friend all in the name of…. fun?
Now I know some people will tell me that I shouldn’t let my boys play games like this. That guns are not good, that pretending to shoot each other with real looking guns is not healthy. To them I say, at least they are getting exercise. Shoot, I wish we had these things when I was a kid. I played for hours with my finger, or a stick that looked something like a crippled gun with arthritis. The problem with those guns is that everyone could miraculously dodge those bullets. “You missed” ” No I didn’t” was 95% of the dialog in the battles in our day. Now a days you can hear the scream of pain upon the sting of the rubber pellet, and you have the satisfaction of knowing you had a hit.
There is no blood, no serious injury, a little excitement, a lot of heart patter, and tons of fun. So other than the toys used, nothing has changed. The games are the same, the goals are the same. Instead of using pillows to pummel each other until their heads ache, they use little colorful rubber pellets to show their brotherly love. Instead of shooting at each other with fingers and sticks, they use plastic guns. Instead of arguing…. Well, some things will never change, no matter how advanced the technology gets.
For those of you not opposed to such things, here is a short video of the recent epic battle involving Cool Hand Cole, Jail Breaker Jerms, and Bad Boy Ben ( aka the screamer). I was going to put it to cool music, but I rather enjoy the sounds of a battle in the early afternoon.
Hay, Hay we’re the Monkee’s
Have you ever felt like you were lost, going in circles, unable to figure out where you should go next, then looking to heaven for guidance? Well I have, literally a couple of weeks ago. You see, apparently a yearly tradition around here is the hay maze at the Solid Rock Bible Camp. Now we had never heard of the hay maze, but it sounded like great fun. I envisioned a giant maze six feet high, dead ends, running aimlessly looking for exits, laughing, frolicking and all that great stuff. Well it wasn’t quite like that. You see the hay maze was definitely a maze, but instead of six feet high it was about 20 inches high in most of the maze.
bravely waiting our turn to enter the amazing maze of no return
once you enter the red barn you may never leave
Now if you have never been in a maze of hay that is 20 inches high, there are a couple things to think about. Hay absorbs sound like a Shamwow sucks up soda. So your screams for help, well all they do is get you more freaked out and make you short of breath. Bricks of hay block out light, all light, and believe me when I say lighters are not an option. When you only have 20 inches to work with, you cannot use your knees, especially if you are full-grown, or over grown as in my case. So the military slide is a necessity, and doing the military slide over hay, well let’s just say hay will find its way in every area of your body, and I mean everywhere, especially when it is hanging over head. So if hay absorbS sounds like a Shamwow, then it absorbs air like a Super Shamwow mop with a mega twist handle for only 3 payments of $9.99. There is not a lot of air to breath in the hay maze, and I am not even claustrophobic; Tracy is. So I must admit that I was extremely proud of her when she conquered her fears and entered the maze, after much self deliberation and an external internal conversation.
Following dad into the maze, what brave smiles.
the bridge is the only place you can stand straight up and see any natural light
Once inside there really is no turning around, there is one way and that way is unclear. Luckily for us we all had flashlights and me, with a Game Warden’s keen sense of direction. Now prior to entering the maze I was given a hot tip, “look up”. Hmmm, I can’t even turn my bloody head, how am I gonna look up? I thought to myself as I came to the first crossroads. Right or left, right it was, with Jake, Ben, Kassie and my gasping wife in tow. “Worry not” I yelled, to myself as they could not hear me. “Hmmmm, this looks familiar.” And I realized we had just done our first full circle, all the sudden I felt a little short of breath, worried not for myself of course, but for those bravely laughing as if they were having fun behind me. This time I quickly took a left. I must have been going a little fast as I left everyone behind, but of course I had to scout out an escape route. Then I remembered to glance up to heaven, and out of the corner of my eye, on the edge of my L.E.D light I could make out the shape of wood, “ladder”. I quickly climbed to make sure it could hold the weight of the others, and at the top I had a little more head room, and there seemed to be more air. I was sure Tracy was far behind screaming and thrashing about, kicking over bails of hay looking for an emergency exit. To my surprise, she showed up shortly after I had helped the little ones and scolded them for excessively laughing and giggling to hide their fears and embarrassing their mother.
Jake screaming with fear... or laughing with fear... maybe just laughing
ben & kassie in the bridge area, the area of breathing I like to call it
The maze continued on like that, with bridges and areas you could stand, and more crawling, crawling so tight you had to turn sideways to get through. It even had a slide, and a fireman’s pole at the end. A pvc one where I learned that you do not want to wrap hands tightly around pvc and slide, especially if you need to have readable fingerprints.
Tra bringing up the rear and doing a fine job
waiting for mom, boy the flash sure makes a difference
All in all it was a lot of fun, for the kids. Tracy and I even did it a second time with them, just to show them how they could be brave and conquer their fears, not having to hide them behind huge smiles, giggles and words like ” this is so much fun” “this is awesome!” ” can I lead this time”. The false bravado touches a father’s heart. The best part of the hay maze, between all of picking hay out of …… areas, is that we had enough to make quite the bedding for our rabbit. Did you know hay sticks to tears?
Escaping from the jaws of the evil beast! Note Jake running full speed away.
That’s what I (don’t) love about Sunday
Sunday used to be one of our favorite days, now it is a painful day. You see Sunday is the day Jo has to go away for the week, every Sunday for ….. ever? We still believe that a miracle will occur and that she will be with us, but until then it is very hard to take a little girl you love with all your heart, who is crying and begging not to go, and give her to someone that you don’t think loves her as much as you do, or will care for her like you.
Yet every Sunday afternoon we do just that. It gives us a knot in the bottom of our stomach and a fist in our throat. We do our best not to think about it, but sometimes it just sneaks up on you and you realize the gravity of the situation and the pawns we have become in that struggle that is her life. Further, instead of getting easier as the weeks pass by, the pain increases, and the reality of the weeks and months that we have missed weigh heavy on our souls and cloud our minds.
We pray, try to lighten the mood, and encourage her telling her that she will be back, and maybe, just maybe next time it will be for ever. So from the time we pick her up on Friday to Sunday, we try to make the most of our time, and that is just what we did this Fourth of July weekend.
We started the weekend with a 2 hr. parade, yes 2 hours! An hour and a half of it were Harley riders and wrecked race cars. But the kids got tons of free candy, and after all isn’t that what Independence Day is all about?
Jo loving the deer. He better be glad hunting season is still a month a way.
candy hounds, this is how the spent 90% of the parade. I don't think they saw but 2 floats.
Jo took a picture of daddy
After the parade we boogied down to Clam Gulch and hung out at the beach all day. The weather was absolutely perfect and we staked claim to a great section of beach. The kids played in the freezing water, the miry clay, the unstable bluff and had a great time. If we hadn’t forgot the hot dogs, it would’ve been perfect. Good thing Tra thought to pack some meat for hamburgers and saved the day.
every day at the beach must include rock throwing
Ok, the water's a little colder than I thought
Hmmmm, looks like she does at home.
hmmm, looks like he does at home ( minus the cool shades & fire)
you know how I feel about cameras!!
I don't remember painting red, white and blue on my toes... I thought I went with straight blue.
Olivia and Jake
Jake and Jo
The warrior with the farmer tan, Ben.
No hot dogs, no problem
From the clan of ignorant fools.
Sunday was another beautiful day, and after church and a fried chicken lunch, the slip-n-slide was calling my name. I didn’t answer it, but the kids did.
Jake prepping the slide for maximum slippage.
Jake in action, and yes this is a redneck slip-n-slide.
Livy in action
uhhh, Kassie in action?
a redneck slide must have a redneck fort
- Jeremy building something I am sure, as always.
sisters forever
this is how you do it.
spray action
Jo eating something that is probably not meant to be eaten
Kudos to the kiddos
Today I had to go to Homer and conduct sea trials on one of our new patrol boats. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to get some shots of our new Prince William Sound vessel, the Sound Justice. The sea trials went well and when I finished, I headed straight north to home. By the time I got back to the office it was almost time to pick up Jeremy from soccer practice at 7:30 so I went directly there.
When I finally got home I was surprised to see how great the house looked. You see spring in Alaska is not a pretty time of year. The dirt so coveted for traction on driveways and roads in the winter becomes, well just stinking dirt. And dirt is dirty, go figure. Furthermore, there is a lot of dirt everywhere and the grass is not greener, and I almost always amazed at the prizes revealed buried underneath the winter snow; boots, gloves, scooters,balls, moose and more. I am shocked we have not yet thawed out a kid.
The tools of labor resting after a long day's work.
Kids playing hard after working hard.
The end result, a yellow lawn leaf free, and leaf free trees too. Maybe we won't have to rake next year.
Upon walking into home sweet home, I was quickly informed that the kids had helped mom for over four hours raking, washing, cleaning and just getting the house ready for summer. Tra informed me that they did this all without complaining and that they all worked very hard. In fact, believe it or not, Alli and Ben even got a sunburn on their arms and shoulders, from the sun, the actual sun!! Maybe it truly is spring in Alaska.
A beautiful clean driveway, next to a clean garage, every man's dream.
Never too tired to jump at, not even at 9:30.
The amazing part was that Tra was so sore she could not go do her nightly workout , and although the kids swore they were sore, they stayed outside playing until well after 9 pm. So this blog is a THANK YOU to Tra and the kiddos for their excellent work. Now if they would only drag the dead moose carcasses into the woods we could be done.
Kassie showing off her moves, I just hope she didn't land on Jake.
1/2 the kids around the house, including a few of the neighbor kids, who didn't help clean.
A sno-go Sunday
It has been difficult to blog since we have come home from Costa Rica. It just does not seem as exciting or interesting, and the material has somehow lost its luster. But we will persevere and fight through and together we can get back in the groove. So if there is something you want to know about, let me know and I will offer up a blog on it.
First an update on Jo. Recently I realized that I had not updated all of you as to the status, that is because the status is quo. We pick up Jo on Friday at 5 pm and then drop her off Sunday at 5 pm. This has been going on since before we left for vacation and will continue until????? We have still seen signs that cause us concern, so please continue to pray.
Her last weekend here we took the opportunity to go out on our snowmachine, a machine given to us by some extremely giving people. I took most of the kids out and let them drive me around, and they had a blast. You may recall, about 4 years ago Dorian had a little “incident” on a snowmachine a few years back and we haven’t gone out much since.
Now hold on tight!!!
Ben tended to get a little throttle happy, and at one point I thought he was determined to jump the Sterling Highway, and not on purpose. His second time out he seemed to have the hang of it.
Ready for takeoff
Olivia was a natural. She has the touch and went just the right speed for dad’s taste.
Livy scaring daddy
Kassie too seemed to have a great touch and as usual her smile never left her face, which in turn made me smile.
Ben waiting patiently for his second turn
Jake and Jo loved it. Though a little apprehensive at first, they soon warmed up to the adventure and the next thing I knew they had their hands on the throttle and apparently thought that I should go a little faster.
If we are not back in 5 minutes, send out the Troopers.
I thought we were going on a hay ride.
The next thing I knew, 2 hours had flown by and it was time to get ready for Sunday night church. Now if I could only get mom to come out for a ride, then I would have accomplished something. She has this “thing” about outside activities in the winter. My true Alaskan woman.
Jo showing daddy how to go faster
