A quiet week

It has been an unusually quiet week at the Fox house. That's good, because Avril's been less than easy to get along with. She's much more demanding than Alex ever was. And now he's gone and grown up so that he has to be at kindergarten all day and isn't home to play with her. When Alex was three, he could entertain himself for a very long time with nothing more than kitchen utensils. I remember when we took him to DisneyWorld and I dreaded waiting in those long lines with a preschooler. As we discovered, there was nothing to worry about. His fingers became these guys that were fighting some other guys, and even in a 30- or 40-minute line, he was perfectly happy. Avril is definitely her own person.

But she's learning to entertain herself a little bit. The Leap Pad was big today.

Self portrait. Chalk on stone terrace. From the artist's blue period.

She's a well-rounded girl. Leap Pad intellectual. Artist. Horsewoman.






Randy got home from West Virginia today and put his new fire pit together. We're going to sit on the terrace tonight and watch sticks burn.

Alaska

Hey everyone! I'm jumping into the blog world. We'll see how this goes. Turns out, the world of computer technology has changed significantly since 1985 when I was on the cutting edge. The 40mb hard drive and the advent of the CD ROM are no longer big news. Your patience with my attempts will be appreciated.

I thought I'd start with our trip to Alaska. We went in July with our friends Russ and Barb Randall. Had a really great time. We started in Seattle. Randy and I went a day early to be tourists there. Went up in the space needle. Went kayaking - lots of fun. Visited Pike Place Market. Nobody threw fish, but the produce and flowers were unbelievable. We also saw a Mariners game. We're trying to get to all the ballparks, which is really the only reason one would go to a Mariners game this season.

We left Seattle and went cruising. Very rainy and cold in Alaska, but really pretty. We went up to Juneau, then Sitka and Ketchikan and ended in Victoria, British Columbia. Amazing gardens and fireworks in Victoria.

We saw glaciers, whales, orcas, sea lions, seals, otters and lots of eagles. Who knew that a glacier would be blue and jagged? Pretty noisy, too when the big pieces fall off. Randy went salmon fishing and caught five. Released five, too. Went to a logger show. Completely touristy, but fun. Visited a native village. Food on the ship was - of course - amazing. Randy and Barb and I toured the kitchen and met a VERY large chef. Went to a culinary arts class and made paella.

Now we're back in the real world. I thought maybe our wait staff and cabin steward would come home with us, but apparently not. They're still not here. Nobody makes cute little towel animals for us.