Time in Anchorage with the VanMeters



The boys having a blast!



One of the jets we saw while we toured the base.

 

Adam and Cade climbing on the climbing wall.



Adam and Cade golfing

The waterfall that we hiked to.



On the hike with the waterfall behind us. Yes, Spence is wearing a gun and we are all happy. This is apparently a big popular bear hang out! 




Cade and Adam getting eaten by a bear!



The kids in a big tree in the park we hiked in!



The two big boys, Mark and Spence.




Both families on our hike today. Amazing day!




The kids spent a ton of time just playing in the sand. They built a big dam and just had a blast!

 We have gotten to spend the best part of our trip with some of our oldest and best friends. Spence and Mark were best friends since childhood and Lisa and I have been laughing about how it seems like they havent spent a day apart ~ they are like peas in a pod. VanMeters have 3 kids, Connor, our Godson, who is about 6 months older than Alex, Caitlyn who is 10 and Cade who is 7, almost exactly a year older than Adam. It has been so wonderful getting to spend some time with them. We have hiked a couple of times in some really beautiful places around their house and toured the base where Spence is a commander, Elmendorf. They live in Eagle River, close to Anchorage and it is georgous here. Tons of wild life around within minutes and hikes that are amazing. We hiked to a waterfall last night and did a hike in the Eagle River Nature center and Iditerod tail head today.
Lisa and I did the Alaskan Run for Women this morning and it was an amazing. 7500 women with bands, drumming groups and cheering crowds along the way. It was really an experience and it needed to be. It was not the 5k that I thought but a 5 mile run. I knew the run next week would be 5 miles but I was planning to use today to help get ready for next week. ( I am such a beginner!)  Didnt matter - it was so fun I didnt feel like I struggled at all. We did the 5 miles in 55 minutes and loved every second of it! Not bad for only have run once in the last month.
We are headed to Seward tomorrow and are excited that Connor will be with us for the week. We will do a Glacier Cruise tomorrow and will hopefully we will have alot of new photos and we will hope that there is a photo of a killer whale. Adam thinks we wont be to Alaska until we see one so we will keep our fingers crossed!