Hunting and Training and Bears, Oh My!

So, we've had several crazy weeks/days.

On October 1, Greg left for a hunting trip with a new buddy from work, and even though I had the complete itinerary and all the specs for the boat, trailer, truck, passenger, captain, and location, plus the Plan B and Plan C info, I was still unusually uneasy about this trip.

My anxiety manifested itself in unbridled shopping each day Greg was gone. As we are on quite a tight budget, this was not good to say the least.

What IS good, however, is that Greg is back safe and sound. He and his friend had a fun trip, their weather was awesome (crisp and clear) and they got to explore an area that Greg had never had time to in the past (It's a secret, I can't tell you where they went!). There is no meat for the freezer, but he may give it one more try before we winterize the boat.
Yes, they went boat hunting. This entails taking as much as the boat can carry while being diligent to leave enough room for a slayed moose or two, as well as room enough for two large burly men to sleep. In addition, you have to be sure to carry enough fuel to get you back home since it's not like there's a station on every corner, or even a corner for said station to be on.
Anyway, it was a pretty luxe trip by our standards, but kind of roughing it by lower 48 criteria (no shower, running water, heat, walls, etc) but it was Greg's one big hunt for the year and he had a good time being out there. They saw lots of moose sign, but no moose. They saw thousands of goats, but weren't prepared to hike up in to the alpine on this trip. They saw several deer but no bucks. And they saw the biggest brown bear Greg has ever seen. Luckily they were in the boat at the time and the bear wasn't.

Speaking of bears.... while Greg was gone, we had one here at the house. He ripped up our trash pretty good and spread it all around the neighborhood (the bear did, not Greg). We also had a mouse in the house and the girls and I had to set out traps. Later that same day (yes, mouse and bear came around just minutes apart), I smashed Amelia's hand in the trunk of my car. She is fine (just a small bruise) but I was a little wobbly to say the least.

Speaking of Amelia (such original segues, huh?), she is potty training! Yes, she's only two and a half but she seems ready so we have the "big girl potty chair" out and are giving it a try. She is pretty hit or miss, but doing a great job so far. Some days she claims she is still a "widdle baby" and needs to wear diapers. But usually she is clamoring for the pull-ups.

Speaking of pull-ups (remember those exercises you used to do in gym class way back when? the trembling arms, the straining, the agony...) Well, I'm not doing them. But I am in training. Lo and behold, I am going to be 40 YEARS OLD in February, people!!! I am trying to lose 40 pounds so I can play in a soccer tournament in Kona, Hawaii over President's Day weekend, which is the same weekend as my birthday this year. I've been picked up by a team from Whitehorse (Yukon Territory, Canada). Since I really want to survive the heat and enjoy the challenge, I am up nearly every morning at 5:39am before Greg goes to work so I can hit the gym.

So far I have almost zero progress to report, but I feel I'm on the right track, if only I wasn't set on eating all the Halloween candy in Juneau before those pesky kids can get it.

Speaking of Halloween, you may wonder what in the world Amelia was wearing in that last picture. She and Gwen were saying good-bye to Daddy and Amelia insisted she wear her "Princess Jaguaria" outfit to do so. It was sent from Yakima by Greg's sister, Suzanne and Amelia loves it. Although I'm fairly certain the little cheetah/jaguar costume was meant to be separate from the adorable princess/ballerina dress, my girls combined the two and came up with "Princess Jaguaria". Behold:
Greg and the girls have a standing date every week at the swimming pool. They have a great time. Greg insists on "lessons" for the first half hour then free time for the second half. It seems like a good plan and the girls get a 'big' reward (it was homemade cocoa last night) when they get home. I may have to join them and do some water aerobics while they are doing lessons.

I can't figure a smooth way to transition in to this, but my mom got a chuckle out of it when I told her, so maybe you will too....

Gwen came home from school last week and told me about all the drills they have to learn in Kindergarten. I asked if she meant fire drills and she said, " Yeah, and drills for the big waves and earthquakes. But the drill we had today was the best one." (By the way, "big waves" = tsunamis.)

"Oh, what drill was it?", I offhandedly inquire.

With eyes gleaming as only five-year-old eyes can, she said, "It was the bear-on-the-playground drill, and it was so fun!"