Vacation!

We had a wonderful trip to Indiana and South Carolina in May. It was great to see family and friends, and in a way it felt like we'd never left. Warm weather was also a bonus, especially since Alaska has had such a blah summer. We're VERY close to breaking the record of consecutive days of rain--27 currently! It's not as exciting as it sounds. It's nice to look back at the pictures and remember a time when we could wear shorts outside. I'll let the pictures do most of the summary of the trip.

 Playing at the park

Driving Daddy's Jeep

Visiting the Indianapolis Zoo

Will didn't care for the shark petting tank.

Ethan wanted to help Aunt Katie push the stroller.

The Butterfly Garden

Great-Grandpa Burger, Grandpa Biehl, Anthony, Will & Ethan

The Children's Museum

The boys were intrigued by these funny things called Barbies.

They LOVED the Carousel.

I went in to get Will up from his nap one day and found him with a piece of the coat rack stuck in his pacifier. 

He told me he was an elephant.

Then he found an old swimsuit and decided he wanted to be a zebra.

We spent the last week of our vacation in South Carolina and Georgia, which is where Anthony and I went on our honeymoon. It was wonderful to introduce the boys to a beach and ocean where it's warm enough to go swimming. A tropical storm threatened us for a few days, but luckily it blew over and we had lots of sun and great weather. The boys loved digging in the sand, running into the waves and looking for shells. I'm sure we'll be heading back there as soon as we can.

Hilton Head Beach, South Carolina

Making holes occupied a lot of their time.

They were brave until the waves came in, and then they usually ran right back to us.

Ethan always wanted to sit in the holes.
He's our little "Fragile" Frankie Merman.

He wasn't so happy when the tide came in.

We spent one day touring downtown Savannah. I was most excited about eating lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons. It was the restaurant she started before she became famous, and I'd heard so many good things about it. We had to get there first thing in the morning to make a reservation for lunch, and then we took a trolley tour around town. Since we finished a little early, we decided to go by the restaurant's gift shop, and as soon as we stepped through the door, I couldn't believe who we saw--Jamie Deen, Paula's oldest son, was signing autographs and taking pictures. Anthony's mom and I were a little hesitant, but Anthony finally convinced us to get in line, and we were able to catch him just before he left. 

Once we made it to lunch, we were very impressed with everything. Our waiter was awesome, and the food was absolutely delicious. I was so glad that I had bought a cookbook with all of the recipes from the restaurant when I was looking for something for Jamie to sign. Now I can recreate the meal anytime, as long as I stock up on butter.

 Will regaled us with his impression of a walrus while we waited for our drinks.

I love visiting the South. We always have such a good time. You've got to love Southern hospitality.

On our way home, we made a detour to see the Angel Oak, which is believed to be 1,500 years old and the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi. How often do you get to see something like that? We were a little nervous about our directions because even as we got close to our destination, we never saw any signs. I know it's just a tree, but you would think that something that historic would have at least a billboard or a road sign. We ended up at a church and it seemed like a dead end until we noticed a dirt road and a small sign on a tree in front of us.

If I was the Angel Oak, I'd be offended. We were all glad we found it because it was definitely neat to see.

 Ethan & I felt tiny next to it

 The boys had the most fun looking for acorns as a souvenir and finding a tiny frog.

 Will was trying out a new smile while showing off his frog.

Overall it was an awesome trip and hard to head back to Alaska. Thanks everyone for some great memories!

The Update

Long story short, we've been having trouble with our computer lately, and we're waiting until we get back from vacation to do a complete rehaul. So, I was trying not to download pictures because I wasn't sure if I could, but it looks like I can, so I guess I can do some updating.

Right now the boys and I are learning how to get along on our own for a few days. Anthony's off in D.C., where he's representing his squadron at an awards ceremony. His unit won the best small maintenance squadron in the Air Force, and he was one of two Airmen who were chosen to go along with some of the higher-ups to the ceremony. He's staying in a hotel that he said "blows every Marriott I've ever stayed in out of the water." While he had a blue crab sandwich for lunch, we had fish sticks and canned fruit, so it's pretty much the same. When we took Anthony to the airport, Will told him, "Don't do it," when he said he had to get on the plane. That is one of his favorite phrases to try to keep us from doing anything he doesn't like. And Ethan has been following me around everywhere, as if he doesn't want me out of sight. Other than that, they're pretty oblivious. There are far too many things to destroy around the house to notice anything is different. Patience is wearing a little thin (today I cleaned up an entire box of macaroni noodles that were thrown all over the basement), but it's only for a few days, so we'll make it. I think.

We're also REALLY looking forward to flying home on the 8th. I'm worried about the temperature difference, since it's usually 30 degrees hotter in Indiana, but hopefully we'll adjust. We will definitely need super sunscreen when we go to South Carolina. The boys have never been to a beach where you can go swimming, and we are all white, white, white. We were able to go outside and play on the playground for the first time today because it finally made it to 50 degrees and most of the snow is melted. It was really nice for the boys to be able to run around and play in the sand. We had to watch out for multiple piles of moose poop, but that's just how it is here.

Will's learning that he has a mind of his own, which in turn has made Ethan realize the same thing. Instead of the little boys that would come when I called, they like to run halfway to me, laugh, and then bolt in the other direction. Some days it is funnier than others. We've also learned to be a little worried when Will says, "I did it!" A few weeks ago, I was making chili for dinner (if you're a Corbin, I mean goulash) and I went to the bathroom. I came out to Will telling me, "I did it!"

"What did you do?"

"I dump it all in!"

"Dumped what in where?!"

Then I noticed he had in his hand the what was once full jar of chili powder that was now half gone. I frantically started searching the house and finally glanced at the fish tank. The water was blood red. I yelled for Anthony to get out of the shower, and he helped me grab the fish and the snail out of the mess. The fish got in the clean water and gave what looked like a cough, which made chili powder fly out of his gills. Amazingly the two are okay. Our pets are invincible. We just have had to remind Will that spices are not fish food, and he shouldn't feed the fish without our help.

Ethan has learned to climb up the bench in our entryway, pull himself up the windowsill, and stand with only his toes gripping onto the window ledge as he holds onto the frame and yells out the window. He has absolutely no fear. He also drags the little rocking chair around to wherever he needs to reach something, so nothing is safe. My favorite thing is when he picks up an item he thinks I need (everything from my iPod to a toy car), brings it to me and says, "Go" as in "Here you go." He's very helpful. He also told me dinner was "gross" the other night. He is SUPER picky. I'm pretty sure he takes after my brother Daniel, who even at Thanksgiving will only eat turkey and rolls. If Ethan doesn't like a food, or even thinks that there is a possibility that he won't like it, he will turn his face away and stick his tongue out so I can't get anything in. Waiting until he gets hungry enough doesn't work either. Hopefully it's a phase.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple months:

Ethan enjoying his first taste of soda

Will with his new blanket from Grandma Corbin

Celebrating Fur Rondy, our annual winter festival

One of the snow sculptures at a Fur Rondy event

Sledding at Hillberg Ski Area in March

Ethan after his first sled ride down the hill

The sunset turned the mountains a beautiful purple that this picture really doesn't do justice!

 

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Happy Marmot Day?

We don't get to celebrate Groundhog Day in Alaska. We get Marmot Day. I wasn't even sure what a marmot was until I found some pictures on Wikipedia--where you know you are getting the best possible information. Here's the picture I found:


So, groundhogs are marmots, but since we don't have many groundhogs here, we have decided to encompass all species. Well, aren't we politically correct, Alaska? Unfortunately, he is not expected to make any weather predictions. I guess he doesn't feel the need, as there is no doubt that we will be having 6 (and more) weeks of winter. Perhaps Bill Murray can make a new "Marmot Day" movie, so we don't feel left out.

Nothing big happening up here, but I wanted to share some of the silly things the boys have been doing lately. Will has been pretty funny:

His favorite phrases are, "That's purty neat!" and "That's a awesome!" And anytime he leaves the house with Anthony, Will tells me, "Bye. I going to work."

He thinks a girl is called "a toot." We think maybe he's saying cute, but we have no idea where he got it from.

He told his first "joke" last Thursday. I was getting them down from the table after dinner, and Ethan started heading upstairs to play in his room. I was trying to get Will cleaned off, and I kept saying, "Ethan, stay downstairs!" because I was pretty sure the bathroom door was open, and he loves to play in the toilet. Instead of listening to me, he started laughing and crawling faster, but I couldn't let go of Will. So I just yelled, "Ethan!" again, and Will turned to me and said, "He a punk" and laughed. It made me laugh pretty hard because that's what we call them whenever they're being, well, punks.

He's still very obsessed with the movie Monsters, Inc., and we think he's imitating one part on the special features. There's a character named Roz, and in the "gag reel," she keeps appearing and saying, "Hello!" in unexpected places. Will loves to hide behind doors, walls, anything, and pop out and say, "Hewwo!"






Yesterday he was playing with Ethan in their own version of Peekaboo.





What is Peek-a-bookie?


Ethan is still being mischievous. I found him this evening in the laundry room, where he had learned a new trick.




He has even been practicing using a spoon by himself.




He has also gotten very good at imitating dinosaur sounds.





Those are our crazy boys. Every day is a new adventure. So, happy Marmot Day to all, and I hope your marmots are lucky enough not to see their shadows!

Celebrations

I know, I need to be better at updating the blog. But I'm not going to say it's my New Year's Resolution because I never bother with those. We are getting everything organized around the house, so I'm feeling like I can get more things done in the future, and we'll see if that includes the blog.

Ethan turned 1 two days before Christmas, so he was able to practice his present unwrapping skills. He went right to it.


But Will just couldn't take the suspense anymore.



Doesn't our tree look cool in this shot?


Since neither of the boys had been too interested in the presents beforehand, I wasn't sure how this would go, or if it would start a tidal wave of wanting to open everything. But they were very good and only opened the ones we gave them.

I was having a hard time deciding on Ethan's cake, but a week before his birthday, he was messing with my cookbooks and surprisingly only pulled out two, instead of all of them. One of them was a cake decorating book I'd forgotten about, and I found this cute bear idea. I think Ethan was trying to give me a hint.


And of course he loved eating it.





One of his best presents was a rocking horse from our friends Sheila and Tresanay. Both of the boys love it, although Ethan prefers mostly just to pat the horse for now. Once he's a little taller, I'm sure he'll be more excited about riding it.







For Christmas we started the tradition of everyone getting new pajamas to open and wear on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we watched the Church Christmas Devotional, made cinnamon rolls and homemade hot chocolate and finally got around to opening presents around noon.



Ethan was stealing cinnamon rolls off our plates.




We almost had to force the boys to open presents. Every time they would open a new toy, they wanted to play with it (of course). So unwrapping took quite awhile, which is why we didn't take many pictures. It was enough effort just to get them to sit down. We felt very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who care about us so much. It was a wonderful Christmas.

That night we decided it was time to convert Will's crib into a toddler bed. He seemed to really like it--for the first week. Then he liked it too much because he realized that he could get out whenever he felt like it. After several days of no naps and staying up playing until 3 a.m., we went back to the crib and decided to wait a little longer. And he was okay with that. I think he just wasn't ready for so much freedom. He doesn't try to climb out of the crib at all, so we'll try again when he understands a little better.





Last weekend we were able to go downtown to the Ice Carving Competition. The Town Square is one big ice skating rink, and the ice carving was happening all around it. There's an even bigger one held in Fairbanks, but I liked that the drive was only 5 minutes instead of 9 hours. Maybe someday. It was neat to see what people could create out of a block of ice. Just one more cool thing to see in Anchorage that doesn't happen just anywhere.














For quite awhile, Will's favorite book has been "No, David" by David Shannon. A few days ago, I heard him "reading" it to himself, so I just had to get him to do it again for the camera. Either he has an excellent memory, or we read the book way too often. Either way, it was pretty amazing.




Everything else is great here. We're up to 6 and a half hours of daylight, but we're also wondering if the real cold is about to begin. So far we've been very lucky! Not a whole lot of snow (just a couple feet), and the weather's been bearable.

Anthony received "Airman of the Quarter" yesterday for his flight. We're going to have to set aside a whole room for all of his awards and accomplishments at this rate! He works hard at everything he does, and it truly shows. That reminds me that I also never did post the picture of him when he met Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. So, here it is.




At home, Ethan and Will are teaming up on me and getting into all kinds of mischief. Whether it's playing in the fish tank, coloring on the walls, playing in the fridge, putting lotion on our new TV, pouring all the black pepper into a pot, drinking salt out of the canister, throwing up that salt back into the canister, or climbing onto the counter to get the candy out of the cabinet, I know that I can't turn around for even a second without something happening behind my back. I think the next few years are going to be big trouble. Whenever I see a rerun of "Malcolm in the Middle," it makes me cringe a little more each time. Boys. But no complaints. Life is good!