Day Trip to Talkeetna

We've lived here for over 3 years and still had never been to Talkeetna! I've wanted to go for a while. So sort of last minute I checked the weather and knew that not only was Wednesday going to be a beautiful, sunny day but we didn't have anything going on that day either! We just had to be back by 7 for cub scouts, but that still gave us the whole day. It's about an hour and 15 minutes away from our house, which really isn't bad. We got there at 11 a.m. and Briggs was having a melt down  because he was hungry and wanted out of the car. So we decided it was a good time to have our picnic lunch we had brought before we got going. After lunch we went over to the Historical Museum District. We only had to pay for me and Ty, because everyone under 7 is free! So that was nice. It was really fun to see all the old stuff they have displayed. I love thinking about day-to-day life back then. The people that came to settle Alaska were so adventurous and just plain ol' tough! It's interesting to think about what life was like and how they dealt with it. Anyway after wandering around those buildings for a bit we walked down Main Street and down the path to the riverfront. It was just gorgeous. We had had perfectly clear views of Denali (Mt. McKinley) the whole drive up there. But of course now that I wasn't driving and could actually take a picture, it was cloudy and mostly covered up. Anyway it was still a beautiful day. The kids played in the river for a couple hours. We bought some cinnamon-roasted almonds from a local family who had a little stand. A yummy snack! There were lots of people that would wander up and look at the river and take a picture of the mountains, then go back out. Lots of Alaskan cruises and bus tours. A few of them even came over and talked to us.

Afterwards we went to the playground they have there. Then we went to Twister Creek for an early dinner before heading back on the road. It was yummy food and perfect weather. Briggs ate all the sweet potato out of my sweet potato fries for his meal :). Tyler was cracking me up with his comments, making it so obvious that we never take them out to eat! He was like, "Wow! I love this place. We each get our own food and don't have to share fries or anything!" haha. And then he said, "Are they going to clean up our plates for us?! WOW this place is SO nice!" Lol. Obviously we don't treat them to eating out much. And for good reason, it gets pricey quickly. However, we had 4 different people come up to me and compliment me on how well-behaved and cute our kids are. I was so grateful for their kind words. People stare at us a lot wherever we go, and it's sort of super-annoying. I feel like we're so intrusive and loud and disruptive. But it was nice to know that they weren't bothered by our presence, and even had good things to say about them. We really did have such a great day together and I felt good knowing that I can go and do those kinds of trips without Kenny. Of course we missed him badly and wished he were there with us! Always. We had a beautiful drive back home and the kids all went to bed at 7 they were worn out! Except for Ty, who had scouts :). 

Here's a few too many pictures of our day. 

They were a little freaked out by all the fake people. Brynlee especially hated them.

Imagine having that for a vacuum cleaner!

A full scale model of Denali and it's surrounding mountains. Lots of pictures and accounts of people that hiked it. Pretty impressive!

He tasted lots of sand and sharpened his little teeth on rocks! It was gross. :) I can't get over how soft and squishy and sweet he is. Also very heavy!

A magnifying glass is always a good thing to bring in your purse on outings :).