Boston 2011

Last Friday, Grandma Andrea (Corey's mom), Corey, Kya, and I headed east to see the newest baby Hager - Connor Francis.

We flew out in the wee hours of Friday morning and after two layovers and three flights, we arrived in Boston Friday afternoon. Kya was a super traveler and we even got a few compliments (yippee!).


Connor is adorable and such an alert one-month old. I'm so excited that Kya already has a cousin. It will be very fun to see these two grow up so close in age - only 18 months apart.


Kya was very nervous about the baby. She was jealous when I held him and really not sure what she thought about some little creature that makes noises – she would run away crying whenever he fussed.


However, she did enjoy giving Connor many light kisses on the cheek.

. . .


On Saturday morning, all the ladies (and Connor) went to Penzey's Spices. Andrea has been a loyal Penzeys catalog customer for many years and it was great fun to visit the store with her for the first time. We all went away with a few jars of spices to add to our pantries.


While we were buying spices, the men were tailgating at Harvard. Corey thought the tailgate food of Italian calzones were a nice upgrade from bratwurst and burgers.


This year Harvard is celebrating 375 years.


Built in 1903, the stadium is the oldest in the nation. More stadium info here (it's actually quite interesting).


In case you are wondering, Harvard won.

. . .

Sunday was baptism day.

We went to morning Mass and relaxed at Jesse and Megan's house for the rest of the day until the afternoon baptism. Jesse and Megan made a delicious Irish brunch with beans and bangers (Irish sausage) and eggs. As you can see, Kya enjoyed all the grandma time.


We arrived at the church a bit early, so Corey and I walked around the grounds with Kya.


I would have a better photo if her sitting here but she sat for literally a split second before running off to the next adventure.


And then she found the wall.


If this isn't the most adorable little gal, I don't know who is.


On another adventure.


She is a little nature explorer - even in urban Massachusetts.
This just might be my most favorite photo ever.

And then it was time for the baptism. As expected, Kya thought she had better things to do, so as she and I paced in the back of the church, Corey snapped away with my camera.

We are so glad we were able to make the trip out to be there for this special day.


Jesse (Corey's brother), Megan, and Connor



After the baptism we gathered for an early dinner at an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. It was a special urban treat to be able to walk to church and to the restaurant from their house in Medford, MA.


Kya discovered a love for french bread. She is perfectly capable of chewing it but she savored the bread by sucking on. It kept her busy for quite a while, so we let her be.

. . .

On Monday morning, Corey, Kya and I headed into Boston via the T (subway rail system) to explore the city.




In the Boston Common (central park in Boston)

Kya's first carousel ride. In Boston Common.

The famous "Make Way for Ducklings" ducks. I bought the book on our last trip to Boston in 2008 (for Jesse and Megan's wedding).

Kya got to enjoy another extended bread chewing/sucking ... this time with a soft pretzel from Quincy Market.

City views from the docks on the Charles River.

Later that afternoon, we challenged ourselves to a climb up the Bunker Hill Monument. We climbed all 294 steps to the very top. Corey and Jesse get extra credit for carrying Kya up.

View of Boston from the top.

. . .

On Tuesday we had to head home but not before some last minute snuggles with baby Connor.

Proud Uncle Corey.

Alaska Vacation: Part 10.1

Ok I lied. The previous Alaska post was not the last vacation post. This post will be the final Alaska Vacation entry.

We had a bit of last-minute fun before departing Kodiak.

Wednesday, June 15

Corey and my dad went river fishing at the Buskin River again. They first fished at a non-popular remote site at the state park. They fished for about 45 minutes until another fisherman approached and told them to be alert for a Kodiak bear. The fisherman had just seen one poke his head out of the bushes (on Corey's side of the river). With this news, Corey and my Dad quickly packed up and headed to a more populated fishing site a few miles away.
(thanks to their fear of bears, I have no photos to show here)

Right away in the morning, Kya, my mom and I went to a beach in Kodiak that is known for sea glass.  We got a nice baggie of rolled glass to take home.

In the afternoon, my mom had a few errands to run (since my parents will soon be visiting North Dakota they are also packing to travel) so Kya and I had the afternoon to ourselves. We walked right across the street and down a public access trail to the beach. Kya got the giggles and some last few steps on the beach.

A few hours before our flight, we all drove up to Pilar Mountain again. We were hopeful that the fog and clouds would clear so we could see the mountains.


We were lucky!


Oooh so bright. We're very squinty.


Looking out to the Gulf of Alaska. This photo shows our hiking and fishing spot - Long Island (farthest island, long and thin). This photo also shows where we got our long line stuck (far right side and out a good distance).

We had a early dinner at Henry's Great Alaskan restaurant and then flew out at 7:30 pm. The flight to Anchorage is about one hour long. Since we didn't fly out of Anchorage until the next morning, we stayed the night with Corey's aunt and uncle who live in Anchorage.


They have a beautiful home on the Anchorage bay.


And WOW. Check out the views.


These photos were taken after 11 pm. The sun was just going down. When we got up at 4 am it was already light again.

Thursday, June 16

On Thursday morning our flight left at 6 am, and was 5.5 hours to Minneapolis. The flight was mostly full so we shared our row of three with another person. Not my idea of cozy but we survived. One vent I have to make: on the flight from Anchorage to Minneapolis, I was told by the flight attendant that there were no diaper changing facilities on the plane and that I must "do that" at my seat. Unfortunately she was not kidding. No privacy for my little miss. Not cool DELTA, not cool. Lucky for us, it was just wet and Corey was there to help. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I was traveling solo with Kya and seated in the middle seat ... and opened a poopy mess. Maybe Kya could sense my stress because she was an angel on the long flight. She was awake for all but one hour, happy as can be.

Just throwing the question out in case anyone has an answer ... all the other toddlers on our flight(s) slept for what seemed like the entire time. What's the deal?! Do the parents "give them something" or are they just lucky to have a kid that can sleep though anything (and sleep for very long lengths of time)? Advice?

The last short flight from Minneapolis to Bismarck was a fight. Kya was not excited to be in another plane (either were we). Luckily is was just over an hour and nobody kicked us out mid-flight.


We had an amazing vacation but we're all happy to be back at home. (here is Kya helping me unpack)

Thank you so very much Mom and Dad, you were great hosts. We have millions of great memories of our time with you in Kodiak. We can't wait to host you in a few days!


The weather here in North Dakota has been sunny and warm so Kya and I have busted out our favorite summer duds. Of course that includes our favorite sun hats and sunscreen too.

Alaska Vacation 2011: part 9

Monday, June 13

Kya let us all sleep in on Monday (which we all needed) so we didn't get out on the boat until 10:45 am. Our fishing buddy Ted joined us once again.

The plan:
- Lay two long lines out by triple humps (a 45 minute boat ride from Kodiak)
- Fish for salmon the "old fashioned way" with fishing pole and lures
- Pull into the bay at Long Island and take the skiff raft to shore for hiking on Long Island
- After hiking, get back to the boat and pull in the long lines
- Return home by dinner time


After we left the long lines ...
Corey caught his "old fashioned" salmon! It is a red/sockeye salmon. Congratulations Corey!
This has been Corey's goal since we arrived on Kodiak.


We rafted to Long Island and Kya was once again happy as a little clam out in nature.

Long Island is uninhabited (that we know of) and was a WWII base.


There is a very cool primitive campsite and swings on the island.


Long Island, AK




Long Island is like no place I've ever been. I felt like an elf while walking in the mossy forest.


My parents and Ted have been there many times before so they took us inside this old bunker. Corey and I were not sure it was safe but we're happy to report we make it out in one piece. There is no electricity, so it was pitch black. These is lots of leftover "stuff" in the bunker.


We were told that this base was "blown up" when the troops pulled out of the island ... and there it sat.






These Quonsets were everywhere (old WWII housing). Many many of them ... and each as creepy as the next.


Great place to film a horror movie.




Heading back to the boat.


We arrived back at the boat and then headed out to triple humps to check the long lines.

The first long line came up great - we caught a few small (but keeper) halibut. From the start, the second long line was very heavy. This long lone was the one we made last week and this was the first trip for the new line. Corey and Ted took turns puling it in. We caught a few more halibut and few ugly fish. After about a third of the hooks were up, we started to wonder why it was so darn heavy. The guys slowly pulled the rope in, inch by inch, with lots of grunting. They had to tie it off to keep the tension and to keep the line from being pulled back in the water. This was like no other long line Ted or my dad had seen. It was SO heavy. The hooks were about 10 feet apart, and most of them had a fish (halibut or junk fish), so that kept us excited.  It was soooo unbelievably heavy. While pulling it in, the guys wore life jackets and were very careful not to get the rope tangled around them ... but I was still nervous. Ted was thinking that since we were able to pull the line in (albeit very slowly) that we had a huge fish on the line. So ... slowly, slowly, one inch at a time, we kept pulling the line in.

After about two thirds of the hooks were up, we had to use the boat to help us pull in the line. We'd have my Dad back up or slowly drive forward to give us the right angle for pulling. We'd count each hook to figure out exactly how much line we had left in the ocean. We figured that we still had a little line on the bottom of the ocean. At one point, we thought the best plan was to drive the boat back to Kodiak, while the rope was tied off (on two of the tie-off hooks) in hopes that it would tire the fish and/or dislodge the rope. When we tried this plan, the boat started to tip. Not a good plan. Back to pulling. After another hour of pulling, they got a little bit more line up. At that point, they deemed the best plan was to cut the line. The line was cut, and we shall never know how big the fish was ... and/or how stuck the rope was.

All in all, we caught about 12 halibut. Plus, Corey's salmon. And lots of ugly fish and a few star fish (which we threw back to the ocean).


We got back to the Kodiak harbor after 10 pm  ... very late for dinner ... and the sky was still very bright.