Alaska #2 - The Wildlife

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All Alaskan adventures should include gazing at the unique Alaskan wildlife...like this deer we spotted on Day 2 of our trip. Yes, I know, it's hard to see and it's a deer...but it's an Alaskan deer. We had to include it! We, of course, hoped to see whales in Alaska. But despite our efforts of staring out at the ocean often, this mural beheld the only whales we saw. We did see a couple sea lions! And fortunately many others in our party did get to see whales.

In Alaska Bald Eagles are plentiful. See them holding a council down below?

We mustn't leave out our squishy friend Mr. Jellyfish:

Here's Levi proudly showing off his eagle feather...unfortunately, it's illegal to keep eagle feathers as one kind shopowner informed us. So the feather was placed carefully on the cement...for another non-Alaskan to discover I'm sure.

Here's my dad proudly showing off his sea urchin shell. Those shells were spread all over the place by hungry birds!

I know we have deer in Washington, but how often do you get to see a mama deer with twin fawns walking around? (Oh and if you click on the picture you can see a giant crab above the mama's neck...yep, wildlife!)

More eagles hanging out on the rocky beach. The brown eagle is a juvenile. They get their "baldness" with age just like humans. lol!

Eagles on poles...very picturesque:

In conclusion, Alaska really was full of wildlife...like this half-eaten fish Levi discovered on the dock.

Tune in next time for more Alaska fun!

Alaska #1 - The Family

We journeyed to Petersburg, Alaska recently for the Bringhurst Family Reunion. There's so much to tell and show that I'm going to break it into pieces. Today's "piece" features our family - the main reason we left our little home in Mukilteo and ventured north.

As most of you know, I grew up a Bringhurst. The Bringhursts are famous for holding yearly family reunions. I have many fond childhood memories of family reunion adventures with the outdoorsy Bringhursts - camping, rafting, playing cards, singing around a campfire. My expectations for a fun reunion were far exceeded in Alaska. Enjoy the ride!

Our immediate family consists of us four Petersons shown here outside our B&B in Petersburg.

These fine Bringhurst folks are the reason the younger Bringhursts exist (from left: Uncle Mark, uncle John, Aunt KayLynn, my dad (Todd) and Uncle Ron):

Sometimes during family time, grown siblings attempt to throw one another off a dock:

Eleven of the 12 "Todd Bringhursts" in front of a viking ship...mom is taking the picture!

Cousins bonding over delectable bakery items (Levi, Caleb and Levi):

GramB takes a turn keeping Nathan occupied:

Sometimes brother-in-laws invent interesting ways of showing affection...especially during Alaskan crab feeds:

Got bored of looking for whales and posed for a mother/daughter shot:

Christy and I proclaimed it skirt night in Alaska:

The fun thing about having a reunion in a small town was running into our family without even trying (Cousin Ryan and Aunt Cindy):

Jenny and Mark:

Cousins Cami, Lauren and Tierney kept Leah, Levi and little Mark occupied at lunch:

This is basically what Uncle John and Aunt Jeanne's livingroom looked like every night:

This was the first Bringhurst reunion I can recall that had an official sign that we officially used to participate in a parade:

By the way, the Bringhurst family won second place in the "neighborhood" category of the parade. It was either because of our song where we happily repeated, "Bringhurst family. Branches on our family tree!" Or, perhaps it was Uncle Ron's umbrella dance....we may never know!

Sometimes certain family members decline to participate (that would be my dad shown here in the black sweatshirt). But there's always a family member around to do some coaxing (go Juliet!):

There is always competitiveness within families - shown here Cousins Tierney and Cami battle in out in the log roll competition (Cami won 3rd place overall - YAY!!!):

Sometimes families brave hikes together through the Alaskan muskeg at 10:30 p.m., despite the fear of bears and "no see ums" (thanks Pres and Autumn for joining us!)

On our final family adventure, we sat side-by-side and watched the 4th of July fireworks:

We had a wonderful time being reunited with family and even meeting some family members for the first time! More Alaska to come!