Happy Mother's Day (early!)

Last Sunday we headed happily off to Seward, the sight of our traditional Mother's Day destination; Alaska Sealife Center. Yep, we love it. And never get tired of it! I guess the educator in me can't get enough of a place that teaches me something new each time I visit, and the animal lover in me is always a bit giddy about getting so close to such fascinating creatures.

Our favorites?

Woody, the huge bull sea lion who loves to throw his weight around

Kiska, his friend (except at feeding time)

Inki, the resident sea witch aka pink swirling octopus

and all of the shorebirds too! We get a kick out of watching them, and we envy the worker bees who get to walk among them, feed them, and let them perch on their arms while they do their jobs. Those lucky marine biologists! Chena got very interested in someday becoming an intern, when she heard about their program. It would be pretty fun!

The girls were acting extra sneaky, so I pretended not to notice when they came out of the gift store with a bag under their coat..but after we got in the car they excitedly pulled out a special mom's day present bought with their own money- a very cool new coffee mug, decorated (of course!) with a pod of sea mammals on it. I love to collect mugs as souvenirs from places we visit. Anything that ends up with coffee in it is alright by me!

On the way out of town Michael mentioned he had run into some sailors, from the USS John Thomas, a Navy ship docked at Seward. So, we decided to drive by the port to see if we could see it. Sure enough, it loomed in the harbor, dark and grey and actually kind of menacing-looking. Quite impressive! I bugged my poor "yes dear, anything for a photo" man to get closer, so he tried a few roads and found one without a gate and I got a few shots. My favorite part was the brilliant American flag waving proudly on the stern. Maybe its cheesy to say it brought tears to my eyes but hey, whatever. It brought tears to my eyes.

All in all, it was a super Mother's Day celebration. I love a good road trip! I be a road-trippin fool mama! And to top off "my" weekend, I got home from errands to see an old enemy of mine, a layin on the sidewalk panting for breath...as it sighed its last watery leaky sigh. Yep, my DISHWASHER, the one that hated me and secretly loved to leave green guacomole goo on forks, and made puddles for me to get my socks wet each morning...is SOOOOO GONE! I got me a new baby! And its lovely and obedient and quiet, even. And it understands that by definition, a dishWASHER is supposed to wash. So yeah, I pretty much love it.