College for a Weekend

Once Nadia decided she wanted to major in Zoology, this greatly narrowed down the list of possible colleges for her to attend. Fewer than 40 colleges offer that major in the US. Liberty University offers two different tracks, and one of theirs is for those who do not want to become veterinarians. This past weekend we attended College for a Weekend at Liberty University. On Thursday morning we left our home around 10:00, dropped Milo off at the Seibert's home and then drove to Maryland. We spent around an hour with the Towfighis before Nadia, Paul, and I continued driving to Lynchburg. We stopped at a Wendy's to get dinner. We didn't arrive at Liberty until around 7:15pm. Stopping in Maryland added two hours of driving time, but Ian and Oliver were able to spend three days with the Towfighis. Micah turned ten on Friday. I think it was the first time the boys were with him on his birthday. After we parked in a parking garage, we walked to the Student Union to check-in to the event. Nadia then joined her friend Rory for games and ice skating while Paul and I went to my dad's house. Paul came back to pick her up a couple of hours later.

Friday morning, Nadia and I left bright and early so that we could park and walk to a biology classroom for an 8:15 class. I returned to my dad's house after we found the classroom. Nadia attended a second biology class at 9:20. Paul and I met her for convocation. The Vines Center seats about 9,500, but that wasn't room for everyone at 10:30 on Friday because of the extra people on campus for Parent's Weekend and CFAW. They use the basketball arena, which seats 4,000, for overflow when needed. We ended up in the overflow because Paul and I had to park much farther away when we returned. In addition to a time of singing, we heard from Cole Hocker, who won the 1,500 at the Paris Olympics this summer. Convocation is mandatory for those living on campus and is held twice a week. About 6,000 students also voluntarily attend a chapel service on Wednesday evenings. Although we went to church with my dad at Heritage Baptist on Sunday morning, Nadia will most likely attend Thomas Road Baptist (on campus) on Sundays while she attends Liberty. Our church isn't small, but our church is about 25% of the size of TRBC. After convocation we went to the dining hall for lunch. The amount of food choices available was impressive. After lunch we visited two different dorms, went on a "Surviving your first year" tour, and bought a sweatshirt at the bookstore before Nadia attended a digital photography class. While she was in class, I submitted her application, paid the enrollment deposit, and picked up the "free" t-shirt and blanket offered for those who applied and paid their deposit. The application fee was waived because we were there for CFAW. After her class was over, we visited one more dorm before we drove back to my dad's house. The four of us went to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner. My dad said he hadn't had a steak in at least 20 months. Later that night Paul dropped Nadia off for late night games on campus and picked her up two hours later. 

Saturday morning all three of us left bright and early for a tour that started at 8:00. Parking was no trouble at that time on a Saturday! After the "academic" tour, we went to the Snowflex Centre where Nadia tried their ski slope and also did a little tubing. We paid $10 for a two-hour pass, but she only stayed for 30 minutes. She prefers skiing in Pennsylvania. After having lunch in the dining hall, we took a third student-led tour before meeting my dad to see a performance of Anastasia. After Anastasia we ate dinner at the dining hall. In hindsight, it would have been better if we had eaten dinner on campus on Friday night and eaten at Logan's Roadhouse on Saturday night because they had very limited options on Saturday in the dining hall because there was a football game at 6:00. That evening we played games with my dad at his house and Nadia worked on her online college classes. 

On Sunday morning we attended the 9:00 worship service at my dad's church, and then we drove to Maryland to pick up the boys. We left his church around 10:30 and arrived home about nine hours later. Our stop at the Towfighis was much briefer than it was on Thursday, but we made brief stops for lunch, dinner, picking up Milo, and buying a few groceries at Aldi. If we drive from our home to Liberty, it takes about 6 hours including a stop for gas and/or food. There are usually other students from our church attending Liberty each year, so I don't think we'll need to drive down and back every time Nadia has a break during the school year. Rory is taking dual enrollment classes now just like Nadia, and both girls plan to start at LU in the fall of 2026. Rory's brother is currently attending Liberty. Although this was Nadia's first and we presume last official college visit, she has visited (and taken tours on some) other colleges including IWU, Houghton, SWU, OKWU, and Messiah. Ian isn't sure where he'd like to go to college so we might be visiting more than one with him. I think Cairn will be the first on our list to visit with Ian. Considering that Paul and I are in our 50's, it doesn't seem abnormal to have a child who is getting close to graduating from high school, but on the other hand it feels like the past sixteen years have just flown by. Liberty is certainly bigger than all of the colleges I attended or taught at. Praying for the continued growth emotionally, spiritually, physically, socially, and academically for all three of our kids! 

The last two pictures were taken from the top of the tallest building on campus.

Thankful Thursday

1. I forgot to mention that during our trip to Alaska, I spotted two of the four license plates I was hoping to find. I saw one from Nevada and South Dakota. Usually it's harder to get North Dakota, but for some unknown reason I've seen MANY license plates from North Dakota this year and only one from South Dakota. The two I am still looking for are Hawaii and New Mexico. I haven't found all 50 in one year since 2021. I certainly saw FAR more Alaska license plates than usual this year! 

2. Last Saturday we spent the day in Lititz. Our first stop was the Johannes Mueller House. We had a guided tour that included a lot of interesting information about the Moravians. Then we met 10 out of 11 Towfighis at the high school to see a production of Tuck Everlasting by a group called Servant Stage. I've read the book and seen the movie but never seen that musical before. Their shows and concessions are all "pay what you wish". We had pizza at Nino's before driving back home to Milo. We've certainly seen the Towfighis more often this year than we usually have in the past! 

3. Everything went smoothly with the boys' orthodontist and dentist appointments on Monday. Ian now has braces on his bottom jaw for the first time. Oliver pulled one tooth out at church on Sunday morning, and the dentist pulled two more (at the request of the orthodontist) on Monday afternoon. 

4. Nadia started taking two Bible classes online through Liberty University this week. We're thankful she can earn some credits toward college while she's in high school.

5. They have chosen the Wizard of Oz for the spring musical, which was the one Nadia voted for! All three kids plan to participate.

6. Yesterday the kids enjoyed roller skating with friends (for free) at a homeschool roller skating party from 10-12. The party was *supposed* to be from 12-2. We wouldn't have been able to go if it was held then. I'm thankful Carolyn made a mistake, and that the owner of the rink was able to scramble at the last minute to open up the rink two hours earlier than planned! 

7. Nadia is glad that some of her friends want to go to the homeschool prom with her. She didn't go the last two years, but she's planning to go in May. This means we need to buy her a dress!

8. On Tuesday I took seven kids to PSU. Ben and his sisters followed behind me. I had organized a field trip to the nuclear reactor at PSU. The 2.5-hour program was outstanding. The kids enjoyed eating some M&M's as they learned about half-lives, and they also enjoyed eating some marshmallows after they finished building some atom models. About 20 homeschoolers showed up for the program plus a few moms. We were parked in a parking garage right next to the Creamery, so I decided to treat the ten kids to ice cream after we ate our packed lunches. It was delicious! 

9. When we attended the homeschool potluck on September 6, I tried a new recipe - campfire cookies. They were so delicious that there weren't any left to bring home. I already made them a second time since then. Yum!!

Thankful Thursday

 1. The last two days we were in Alaska went well. We enjoyed seeing a variety of animals at the Large Animal Research Station in Fairbanks (including sandhill cranes), sled dogs at Husky Homestead, milking calves at our final Airbnb, muskox at the Muskox Farm, and a variety of animals at the Reindeer farm (my favorite being the bison). 

2. Returning the van went smoothly, and we again appreciated having TSA Precheck when we flew out of Anchorage. Our flight was delayed, but we arrived safely in Baltimore early in the morning on August 30, and Joe kindly picked us up and brought us back to their home. It was lovely to not need to pay for parking at BWI!

3. We enjoyed spending some time with 9 out of 11 members of Yvonne's family on August 30-31. Joel and Nathan joined us for an excellent production of Pilgrim's Progress at the Museum of the Bible.

4. The Seiberts did a great job taking care of Milo while we were gone. We were grateful to be reunited with him on August 31. Addi and Westyn took care of our guinea pig and mowed our lawn once while we were away. 

5. Nadia began taking voice lessons with her choir teacher on September 3. It means we now have a weekly commitment Monday through Thursday between piano lessons, voice lessons, art, and chorus. Nadia is also staying 30 minutes later on Thursdays for an extra session to prepare for district choir auditions. That extra session doesn't cost us more money. 

6. All three kids are taking art and chorus this year at MCS. It's the first time Oliver has taken any classes at MCS. Ian and Nadia took classes there in 2018-2020 and then returned in the fall of 2023. We're also thankful that the three possibilities for the spring musical are all ones the kids could enjoy. Some of the musicals they've done in the past would NOT have been appealing to my boys. We're waiting to hear if they're doing Barnum, Willy Wonka, or the Wizard of Oz.

7. On September 4 Bible quizzing and the youth group resumed meeting on Wednesday nights. This is also a first for Oliver. Quite a few new kids showed up last week for Bible quizzing! Because the adult small groups didn't resume until yesterday, Paul and I went on a date last Wednesday night using the money my dad gave us for our 23rd anniversary. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and I got a treat at Rita's. We also got some clothes and shoes for the kids at the thrift store and some groceries at Aldi's. Dates when you've been married 23 years are a lot different than dates prior to marriage, ha ha! 

8. On September 6 we enjoyed having dinner with other homeschoolers at the VanHorn's. 

9. Nadia is improving in her driving skills. I'm very thankful for God's protection! On Monday morning when she was driving Ian to his orthodontist appointment, it hit me that she's been driving a lot and never gotten gas. She's been the only one to drive Paul's car for the last couple of months. I feel like the Holy Spirit graciously prompted me to think of this because when I asked her, she said she didn't know how much gas was left. I leaned over and was shocked to see it said we had two miles until we'd be out of gas. Thankfully we were less than 2 miles from a gas station. Whew. There are so many lessons to learn with driving including paying attention to the gas gauge. I've never run out of gas before, and I hope she never does either! 

10. I paid for one month of access to the Angel guild. As a family we watched Sound of Hope which is about a small town in Texas that adopted a LOT of kids through the foster care system. Oliver has watched a few episodes of the Wingfeather Saga, and all the kids watched some episodes of Tuttle Twins. I don't plan to keep it more than a month right now, but it's nice to be able to access their movies and shows from time to time. There are a few more movies I'd like at least some of us to watch before our month ends. 

11. We haven't had a working doorbell for two years. Yvonne wisely suggested purchasing a wireless doorbell. It was very inexpensive, and it was also very easy for Paul to install. Problem solved! Ironically the very first people to use our doorbell were two women campaigning for Harris/Walz. I politely said we wouldn't be voting for them and said have a nice day. Usually if people are coming two by two to our door, they are Jehovah's Witnesses. I don't ever recall anyone ever stopping by for a political reason. They asked for Paul in particular, probably because he's registered independent.

12. Last Wednesday I waited at church while the kids were in art and chorus, brought them home, and then turned around and took them back an hour later for Bible quizzing and youth group. Paul suggested that our normal routine should be that the kids just hang out at church for about 90 minutes after choir until Bible quizzing begins at 4:30 on the weeks he and I are coming back at 6:30 for our small group. This means that we will have a window of up to five hours together without kids. If he's busy with the stock market, it might cut that time in half, but still, it seems like a great plan to me! I don't think we'll typically go out to eat, but we can go for a walk, play a board game, etc. There are definitely perks to Paul working from home! 

13. Finding good coupon codes for Shutterfly is NOT as easy as it used to be years ago, but I did manage to get two copies of a photo books that contains over 100 pages for small amount of money. I used to make photo books more frequently when they were only 20 pages long. Now that I can make them a little over 100 pages long, I have only been making two photo books per year. This photo book was for March through early September. 

Muskox, Reindeer, and Huskies

On our last full day in Alaska, we started our day in Fairbanks at the Large Animal Research Station that is run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. They have muskox and reindeer. We watched two muskox charge at each other over a piece of vegetation our tour guide was offering them. Their name is misleading because they don't have any musk glands, and they are most closely related to goats. At the Research Station we also saw and heard (they are very noisy!) some sandhill cranes. We also visited a muskox farm the following day in Palmer, which is about one hour north of Anchorage. While we were there, we heard a couple of male muskox roar. It sounds very similar to a lion's roar although not as loud. At the farm, we also saw four calves which were only four months old. After they've attempted to mate some females with a couple of males, they separate the females who *might* be pregnant and wait eight months to find out if they are pregnant or not. The only way they know is after the calf is born! Under the shaggy coat of fur muskox have a layer called qiviut that is insanely soft. They shed that layer once a year, and that is the reason the muskox farm exists. They sell yarn and other things made from the qiviut. Ian's one souvenir from the trip was a plush muskox.

After driving south for about two hours, we visited the Husky Homestead, which is near Denali National Park and is the home of Jeff King, who has won the Iditarod four times. Amanda Otto also works there and recently finished in 8th place in the Iditarod and second in the Yukon Quest. First, we got to hold a puppy, most of which will eventually be sled dogs for Otto, King, or one of their competitors. These dogs LOVE to run. They have a very large hamster wheel for both the puppies and the adults to use. We also watched the adults run as a team on a treadmill. Amanda and Jeff told us about some of their experiences. 

It was a cloudy day, so we didn't see Denali. On our way to Palmer, we ate dinner at a cafe that has a wonderful view of Denali when it's not hidden by clouds. The food was good, and the prices (by Alaskan standards) were reasonable. On the trip we mostly got our desserts from the grocery store. The exceptions were that four of us had gelato (and Paul got fudge) in Seward one night, and we all got ice cream in Palmer on our last night in Alaska. Although I booked our final night through Airbnb, it was actually a bed and breakfast. I hadn't realized that breakfast would be included so we had already purchased two breakfast sandwiches at the grocery store for Nadia and Ian to eat for breakfast. We left those in the freezer in the guest suite for someone else to enjoy as all five of us ate the homemade breakfast. Had we arrived at 7:00 pm, we could have bottle fed four newborn calves, but we didn't arrive until 8:00. 

The next morning, Oliver and I got up early so that we could bottle feed the calves. Oliver fed two of them. I was very content to leave the pen after I fed one of them as I didn't realize how pushy they could be and how they would try to suck my legs. My pants were getting covered in slobber! Oliver also picked raspberries and strawberries from their garden for our breakfast. She served us scrambled eggs, waffles, potatoes, fresh fruit, orange juice, and chocolate milk. Yum! Our first stop on Thursday morning was a Muskox Farm, and our second was at a Reindeer Farm. They actually had MANY different animals at the Reindeer Farm. We fed many different kinds of animals that day including a moose and reindeer. The animal I was most impressed by was a bison that would obey various commands such as giving the woman his knee or his hoof!!! That bison is more obedient than our dog.

After we left the Reindeer Farm, we drove to the valet parking lot near the Anchorage airport where we returned the Dodge Caravan minivan that we had rented through Turo (basically the vehicle equivalent of Airbnb). We took a shuttle to the airport and breezed through security. TSA Pre check is definitely worth the fee in my opinion! We purchased an early dinner at a McDonald's in the airport. Had we known our flight was going to be delayed, we would have waited on buying it. We flew to Seattle and then to BWI. We tried to sleep on the second flight. Some of us were more successful than others, but none of us got *that* much sleep. Joe picked us up at the airport in Maryland and brought us back to their house. Nadia, Paul, and I went back to sleep. I had a headache most of the day due to getting very little sleep and adjusting to a four-hour time change, but still we enjoyed spending time with Yvonne's family. Brenden spent a lot of time in my arms. 

On August 31 we spent the morning with Yvonne's family. The boys didn't get up until almost 10:00 am. After eating lunch, we drove to DC with Joel and Nathan as we had tickets to see a performance of Pilgrim's Progress at the Museum of the Bible by the same group that we had seen perform Prince Caspian. After the show was over, we walked Joel and Nathan to the nearest Metro station, and the rest of us drove back to get Milo and go home. We were very tired and went to bed shortly after arriving home. I was grateful I had done three loads of laundry at Yvonne's house the previous day. We had to wait until after church on Sunday morning to stop at a grocery store and buy things like milk, eggs, and bananas. 

Alaska is a beautiful state, and we were grateful to see a variety of animals and despite the clouds making it difficult, we were able to see the northern lights. We were all healthy, all of the places we stayed were nice, and we didn't have any difficulties with our rental vehicle. Most days the low was in the 40's or 50's and the high was generally in either the high 50's or low 60's almost every day we were there. We didn't have any issues with mosquitos, although we did encounter MANY pesky flies on the hike to Exit Glacier. The leaves were starting to turn colors, It rained a few times we were there, but many of the days it was sunny, which is not typical. We were able to see Denali on two of the ten days we were in Alaska, and a minority of people who visit are able to catch a glimpse of it. The price of gas was very reasonable, but the price of food there is rather high. Subway is the national chain (not counting gas stations) that is spotted most frequently outside of the cities. I wouldn't make many changes if I were to have a do-over on this trip. I would definitely make sure to take a picture of Denali when I saw it (duh!), I'd visit the Creamer's Field instead of the ice museum in Fairbanks (the ice museum was a spur of the moment addition when I realized how close we were to it while eating dinner our first night in Fairbanks), and I would have had us drive in a loop by adding a stop at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in between our time in Seward and our visit to Fairbanks. That would have added some miles to our trip. Over the course of the ten days, we drove exactly 1,200 miles. Time will tell if we ever return to the state. My guess is that it was a once in a lifetime trip for at least Paul and me. I'm very thankful we were able to travel to Alaska! 

Forty-eight states done and two to go! Within the next year we hope to visit our last two states. I already got our tickets for our flight to New Orleans in May and our return flight from Phoenix. I decided not to cancel our Alaska Airlines credit card which means in light of the annual fee involved that we've decided to fly on Alaska Airlines to Hawaii next August because we will receive two companion fares for about $100 each, which is much cheaper than what it usually costs for a roundtrip ticket to Hawaii. We plan to visit my sister in Maryland in December for Christmas, but we don't plan on flying anywhere or going on any big vacations until May. Now that I've finally finished blogging about our trip, I need to work on making a video, a photo book, and getting a print to put in the Alaska space in the map on our wall. I have a feeling it's going to be a picture of the bull moose that we saw up close and personal!

Museum of the North in Fairbanks

New School Year!

I haven't finished writing about our trip to Alaska. I will get caught up on that eventually, but this is our first week of school. The schools in our area had been in session for about 8 days before we got started due to our trip. We started our school year on Labor Day as that isn't really a holiday we celebrate. To celebrate our new school year, I told the kids we'd go to Becky's, which is an ice cream place not that far from us. On Tuesdays from 6:00 to closing, they offer dogs a free small dish of vanilla soft serve, and we had never taken advantage of that offer although we'd talked about doing it many times over the last few years. Today was the day! After we ate dinner, Nadia drove the kids and I to the park for our back-to-school pictures, and then she drove us a few more minutes to Becky's for ice cream. Milo didn't finish his treat. It was too much for a little dog. He loved it, but he was shivering like crazy after he stopped eating. He's never had something that cold before to eat! I said it was also an early birthday treat for him as he turns four at the end of this month. 

Nadia will begin her classes with Liberty University on September 16, and the co-op at our home will begin on September 24. Two other kids might be joining our co-op later this year. Nadia had her first voice lesson today, and Ian will continue to have piano lessons on Mondays with Lyn DeVito. Nadia has been faithfully practicing the piano, and she's planning on auditioning for district chorus. She has set a goal of finishing two levels this year in piano. Tomorrow the kids will attend art and chorus for the first time this school year at MCS. It will be Oliver's first time ever taking any classes there. All three plan on auditioning to be in the spring musical. We've been told they'll either be doing Willy Wonka, the Wizard of Oz, or Barnum. Bible quizzing and youth group also resume tomorrow, which again are firsts for Oliver. Our first field trip (not counting the ones we took in July/August) will be to the PSU Nuclear Reactor on September 17, and their first homeschool party is at the roller-skating rink on September 18. Here are some things the kids will be studying this year:

1. Ian and Nadia are studying chemistry (Life of Fred and Apologia). Oliver is completing an elementary level chemistry/physics and also an elementary level botany science textbook. Paul is doing a chemistry lab during the co-op.
2. In math the kids are doing Pre-Calculus (Nadia), Geometry (Ian), and 6th grade math (Oliver). We use Life of Fred plus Teaching Textbooks. Ian will also be using Art of Problem Solving. 
3. In history we are studying from 1708 to the present. 
4. Oliver is working on his typing skills, level 7 of spelling, and level 3 of Fix it Grammar. 
5. Nadia and Ian are completing a University Ready Writing course through IEW. 
6. Nadia is learning French through Duolingo, and Ian is studying Spanish.
7. Nadia is learning how to drive, and she wants to get a job so she can have enough money to pay for her car insurance once she gets her license. She has applied for a job at Lingle's (grocery store) but is hoping to get a job at a horse farm or Warrior Run Petcare. 
8. We are working on memorizing verses (or in the case of Ian and Nadia chapters) from the book of Luke. 
9. I'm giving more specific assignments for literature for Nadia and Ian. This week they both started reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and soon they will also be starting The Two Towers, as that is a book many of the kids will be discussing at co-op this fall. Sometimes I will choose what Oliver needs to read on school days, but other times it will be his choice. Right now he's reading books from the Dead Sea Squirrels series, but he'll be reading Sign of the Beaver for co-op later this month.
10. We've started our fifth year of watching World Watch News five days a week all year long. 
11. We continue to listen to audiobooks together as a family. Currently we're listening to The Night War by Kimberly Bradley and Stellarlune by Shannon Messenger. 
12. In our fall session of the co-op we'll be doing chemistry lab, art, book groups, debates, and geography. In the spring session we'll be doing book groups, personal finance, drama, and chemistry lab.

I'm very grateful to be starting my twelfth year as a homeschool mom! Praying for the kids to grow physically, academically, spiritually, and emotionally over the coming year! 

Fairbanks

From Denali we drove a little over two hours to Fairbanks. We went to a BBQ place, and then walked to a ice sculpture museum that was positively a tourist trap, but Oliver had a blast sliding down the ice slide. After we walked around Fairbanks a little, we drove to our Airbnb, which was a two-bedroom guesthouse. Nadia slept on the couch in the living room. Similar to the cabin near Denali, the last road was unpaved with a lot of potholes; however, we were able to take a shower here. We purposefully didn't stay in downtown Fairbanks because we wanted to have a chance to see the northern lights. Using Aurora apps and checking a couple of websites, I had seen that prior to us coming up here, there had only been low activity (1-2 out of 9). I had been praying for weeks that God would enable us to be able to see the aurora while we were in Fairbanks. This was the primary reason we ventured this far north in Alaska and why I scheduled the vacation for the end of August. I was thrilled to discover through the websites and apps that the two nights we were staying in Fairbanks were BOTH good nights in terms of above average activity (4-5 out of 9). Unfortunately, there were two factors that made it difficult to see the beautiful lights. First, it is only dark for four hours a day here. Secondly, it was very cloudy both nights. The first night every time Paul got up to check, he only saw clouds. During our reindeer walk yesterday, other guests were talking about trying to see the northern lights the previous night. One family said they had seen them, but another family visiting from China said they stayed up until 4:00 am and still never saw them. The second night my aurora apps were sending out alerts on a frequent basis, but for many of those hours it was still daylight. I usually go to bed at 9:30, but I stayed up until 11:00 in my attempt to see the lights. Thankfully, Paul got up and checked a few times including at 2:45 am at which time there was one spot in the sky where the clouds weren't blocking the northern lights. Praise the Lord!! If the sky had been clear, it would have been such an amazing evening to see them, but I am very thankful that for the first time in my life I've seen the northern lights! I know they have been visible farther south this year, but this was my first time to see them. Paul and I both stayed out and watched them for about 35 minutes. I had read up on how to take photos of them with a DSLR camera, but due to the limited nature of the display we saw, I just took two short videos and one picture with my phone. The lights we saw were mostly green. Paul got the kids up, but each of them only spent a few seconds on the deck outside and then promptly returned to bed. 

Yesterday morning our first stop was the Museum of the North, which is located on the campus of the University of Alaska. We watched two thirty-minute movies there. One was on the northern lights, and the other was about bowhead whales. We also explored the exhibits. We had lunch at The Crepery. The size of the line gave evidence to how popular the restaurant is! The crepes we chose were pepperoni and cheese (Ian), ham and cheese (Nadia), bacon, egg, and cheese (Paul), whipped cream with three types of berries (Oliver), and Creme Brulé with two types of berries (me). They were all delicious! Although eating PBJ again would have been more economical, I'm glad we splurged and took a break from that to enjoy a special lunch. Our third stop was Running Reindeer Ranch where we spent 2.5 hours learning about and interacting with reindeer, which are the herd animal version of caribou. She has fourteen reindeer in her herd, but we only saw nine of them as some were elsewhere as this is rutting season. The program concluded with homemade cookies and lemonade. It was a very enjoyable experience! Afterward we drove back downtown for pizza and a stop at Safeway. The cashier at the grocery store joked with us about how we were dressed considering it was in the low 60's and sunny outside. He said that Monday and Tuesday had been the nicest weather days so far in 2024 in Fairbanks. We have been very fortunate on this trip because for the two weeks before we came here it had been raining SO much in Seward, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. We are very grateful that the weather has been mild, and we haven't experienced too much rain. Oliver and Nadia appreciated that the tv in our Airbnb had Disney plus, and Nadia enjoyed putting together a 300-piece puzzle on Tuesday night. Over the past eight days we've driven about 800 miles altogether. This morning, we will do one final activity in Fairbanks and then begin driving back south toward Anchorage. 

P.S. I wrote this post on August 28 not September 3!

Denali National Park

As we were driving to Denali National Park, the skies were totally clear, and we could see Denali off and on for about ninety minutes of our drive. We passed the south side scenic viewpoint, but it was only after we passed it that I realized what a gorgeous photo I could have taken there. If I could go back in time, I definitely would ask Paul to turn around. We stopped at the north side scenic viewpoint, but it wasn't nearly as pretty so I didn't take a picture (mistake #2 that day). I have a memory of how beautiful Denali looks, but I don't have a photo because then the clouds started to come in, and it was hidden the rest of the day. The next morning the weather cleared. It was a sunny day, but even on a clear day Mt. Denali is often covered in clouds as it creates its own weather. They say that only 30% of people who visit Denali National Park see the mountain. We saw the mountain on two occasions on this trip, but neither time were we in the park when we saw it. Another guest who took a bus tour told us that the driver said that in the previous 100 days he saw Denali 4 days while in the park. So, it seems the odds are more like 4%. If by some miracle the skies are clear as we drive back down toward Anchorage tomorrow, I will definitely ask Paul to stop so I can take a picture. 

Our first stop in Denali was to get lunch a Denali Doghouse. Paul liked his chicken tenders, and the kids liked their hotdogs. I made the mistake of choosing a bowl of chili. It's scary to think how much we paid for 3 hotdogs, a small container of chili, one order of fries, and an order of chicken tenders. Second, we hiked the Horseshoe Lake Trail. We were hoping to see a beaver as many live in that area, but we only saw MANY beaver dams. Third, we took a 5-hour bus tour into the Tundra Wilderness. They provided us each with a box of snacks and a can of water. We had packed sandwiches to eat on the bus tour. During the trip we saw 7 caribou, several Dall sheep (way up high), one moose, several willow ptarmigans, and an Arctic ground squirrel. Some people on our bus also spotted a red fox, but I didn't see it. On our way to our Airbnb, we made a quick stop at a grocery store. Our Airbnb was a log cabin. It had electricity and running water, but it didn't have Wi-Fi or a shower. We also didn't have much cell service there. The last couple of roads we took to get there were unpaved and had LOTS of potholes. The owner of this cabin is also a Christian. He met his wife through YWAM. 

The next morning, we returned to Denali and took the shuttle to the sled dog demonstration. We were able to meet and pet some of their sled dogs before the program began. After we returned to the Visitor Center via the free shuttle, we ate lunch in our vehicle. Next, we took another free shuttle to the Savage River Loop trail. During that hike we saw three marmots on the ground and more Dall sheep (that were very high up). The weather was gorgeous on our second day in Denali. It was sunny and the skies were clear, except right around Denali. During our drive back, we saw two more caribou. After the shuttle returned us to the Visitor Center, we went on one more hike in that area. Other people who were at Denali around the same time as we were didn't see any caribou, but they saw grizzly bears. I would really have liked to see a grizzly bear (or any bear for that matter) and a beaver, but I'm thankful I was able to see seven caribou and two marmots. 

On the Water

On Friday morning our first stop was the aquarium. Their touch tank was pretty impressive, but in general, it was hard for this one to compete with the likes of the ones in Camden, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Chicago. Our second stop was the free parking lot for the Kenai Fjords cruise. We had a very short ride on the shuttle to the harbor. Before boarding, we got a backpack from the NPS so the kids could earn another patch at Kenai Fjords. They each ended up earning three of the four possible patches/badges. In the gift shop Oliver bought two sticks of jerky - one from salmon and the other from elk. Nadia purchased a bracelet at the same time. The previous night she had purchased an Alaska hoodie. A relative had given each of them $40 spending money for the trip. Nadia's purchases exceeded that total, so she was also using some of the money she made at Camp Susque. We boarded around 11:15 am and returned a little after 5:00 pm. The weather was gorgeous! It was sunny with calm waters and very clear visibility. The captain, who has been doing this for six years, said this was extremely rare. 

During our 5.5-hour trip we saw one humpback whale, sea lions, harbor seals, puffins, sea otters, two coastal mountain goats, two eaglets, common murres, sea gulls, glaciers, and cormorants. We made a stop at Fox Island for lunch, and we saw many jellyfish near the shore. Lunch was delicious! They served an amazing salad bar, rolls, a hot chocolate bar, and three different kinds of soup. Oliver had salmon chowder. The rest of us had the best tomato soup I've ever tasted. Paul doesn't even usually eat tomato soup, and he liked it! He tried the Peruvian chicken soup first but wasn't a fan of that one. The only animal we hoped to see but didn't was an orca. Our chances of seeing one would have been much better if we had come in June, but it's possible to see them until September. On our way back to Seward, the crew gave us freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. After we docked, we bought two footlong subs at Subway for four of us to share. Oliver finished his chowder from the previous night. The cash register wasn't working properly so we couldn't use the gift card I planned to use, but they finally were at least able to accept a credit card. We returned the backpack to the National Park visitor center, took the shuttle back to our van, and returned to our suite for the night. 

Aside from the day we left when we had to get up REALLY early, we've typically been leaving our accommodation around 8:30 or 9:00 each morning. I planned it this way knowing that kids ages 12-16 sometimes like to sleep in. An exception to this schedule was on Saturday morning. We had to be out the door by 7:30 to drive to where we were white water rafting on Six Mile Creek, which is located in between Seward and Anchorage. We arrived at 8:40 and began the process of getting our shoes, helmets, life vests, and dry suits. The suits were far more comfortable than the ones we wore in Ecuador, and they truly kept us dry - even our socks stayed dry! I wore three layers of clothes that day to try to stay warm! We had a short drive to the site where we would begin rafting, and then we had a safety lesson that was rather frightening. Thankfully none of us ever fell out of the raft so we never needed to use the instructions we were given. However, they did make us swim to the raft to prove we could swim with all that gear on in the frigid water. That was definitely my least favorite part of the trip. Nadia and I also really struggled to pull Paul into the raft. Our raft guide's name was Elliot. Oliver picked that raft because Elliot is Oliver's middle name. There were thirteen customers rafting on that particular trip. The other two rafts each contained four adults plus a guide. The water level was lower than normal, which meant the rapids we went through were almost all class 3, and only one was class 4. Had the water levels been higher, they all would have been a class 5. We only rafted the first two canyons, because the third canyon is always class 5, and they have a minimum age of 16 for that canyon. It also costs more to do the third canyon. Thankfully we only had to step out of the rafts at the end. We took off our helmets and life vests and partially got out of our dry suits before boarding the heated bus. We were COLD! The four miles we rafted in between the two canyons was calm, but the rapids at the canyons were exciting! While we were rafting, we spotted a bald eagle in a tree. After we returned, we finished getting out of the dry suit and put our own shoes on. Most of us enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate. I purchased pictures they had taken of us on the trip. 

It started raining just as we were walking to our vehicle. We were grateful it hadn't been raining during our trip. Our next stop was the Alaska Native Heritage Center. We went on a quick self-guided tour of the six life-sized Native dwellings outdoors, and then we watched two thirty-minute programs indoors. The first was a Native Games demonstration. Those young men were quite talented with their jumping and kicking skills! Then we watched a dancing program. Paul spent some time in their museum. We ended up skipping the hike to Thunderbird Falls because it was raining and also because we were running behind schedule. We had dinner at Red Robin in Wasilla, and we also went to a Walmart there to get a little more food. The boys and I are low maintenance when it comes to lunch as we bought bread, peanut butter, and jelly at a grocery store in Seward on Wednesday. Paul and Nadia don't eat PBJ so we have to stop and buy them sandwiches far more frequently.

The first night in Alaska we were in an Airbnb that was on the top floor of our host's home. The next three nights we stayed at a family-owned Inn in Seward. The fifth night we stayed at a bed and breakfast. There were no other guests staying on the top floor that night, so we didn't need to share the bathroom with anyone outside our family. The home was gorgeous! Our room had four bunk beds and one queen size bed. The first five nights Nadia had her own bed. On nights six through eight she had to sleep on a couch. The night we spent at the bed and breakfast was the only one that included breakfast. I brought packets of oatmeal from home, so we haven't had to spend any money on breakfast for me here in Alaska thus far. In Girdwood they each ate one Danish or one donut for breakfast. In Seward they ate breakfast sandwiches that we purchased at the grocery store. The hot breakfast our host cooked was delicious - a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and granola, French toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Unfortunately, Ian threw up because a blueberry went down the wrong pipe. I gave him a Benadryl because at first, I thought it was a reaction to a nut, but there weren't any nuts in the granola. I had to do a bit of a Heimlich maneuver on him for the first time ever to help him. The host family are Christians. We had a lovely chat with her at breakfast. We could have had dinner with them the night before, but the price was a bit too steep. It was actually a better price than what most restaurants charge, but we've been avoiding paying the usual prices by eating pizza or using a gift card. Oliver enjoys trying new foods, and he's had both clam chowder and salmon chowder for the first time on this trip. He had trout chowder in January in Harrisburg. I've begun planning our trip to Louisianna in May 2025, and on that trip, I've decided to include fewer chain restaurants so that we can try more local food. Alaska is a very beautiful state, but it's definitely not a cheap place to visit. I'm thankful we have the resources to come!

Thankful Thursday

 1, Paul, Pop Pop, and I enjoyed watching the boys in their performance of "The Museum of His Story" at our church on August 2.

2. I was thrilled to see Nadia on August 3 and hear about the four weeks she spent at Camp Susque. 

3. The week of August 4 we watched a few movies at home as a family - IF, Fall Guy, and Unsung Hero.

4. We enjoyed having dinner at Texas Roadhouse on August 7 to celebrate Oliver's 12th birthday. I am so grateful that he is part of our family!

5. Oliver had an uneventful physical on August 12, and I had an uneventful dentist appointment on August 5.

6. I enjoyed having lunch with Tab on August 13 to celebrate her birthday! 

7. The five of us plus Cheri enjoyed a We are Messengers concert at a church near our home on August 13.

8. I'm thankful that we have the resources to pay for getting new rear brakes and three new tires on Paul's car on August 8. That car has been used very little over the last year, but that has changed recently as we've been having Nadia drive that car even though it's a bit uncomfortable for the five of us to ride in that car at the same time.   

9. Nathaniel and Julianna spent several hours at our home on August 8. Friends are a blessing!

10. Nadia, Ian, and I served as Compassion volunteers at a concert on August 16. Paul and Oliver also attended the concert. 

11. We got our very first picture of the six of us - meaning our first family picture that included Milo! A friend organized a Sunflower Festival, and we got our picture taken there on Sunday afternoon. 

12. We had a safe drive to Maryland on August 19 and were able to walk through the Utz factory en route to the Towfighis home. Joe graciously got up very early on Tuesday morning to drive us to BWI. We had a safe flight o Anchorage and were able to see Denali from the air! The weather was gorgeous on Tuesday and today (sunny with a high of about 61 degrees). We're so thankful we are able to travel to see this beautiful state and that we are getting very close to achieving the goal of visiting all fifty states! 

13. The Seiberts are watching Milo for us. We'll return the favor for them and watch Cooper in November. So thankful Milo does so well with them when we're away! We're also thankful that our neighbors are giving some food/water to Lily, and their son is also mowing our lawn once in our absence. 

14. We have liked the two places we've stayed so far in Alaska - an Airbnb in Girdwood and Tides Inn in Seward. 

15. We were able to see three moose on our hike in Girdwood yesterday morning, saw a bear cub this morning when we were driving to the zip lining course, saw salmon in Anchorage, saw some fish jumping in Seward, and saw an otter in the harbor near our hotel this evening. The bird we've seen the most often so far has been the magpie. We hiked to the Byron Glacier, and we hiked toward the Exit Glacier. 

16. Today we went zip lining! It was the first time Paul or I had done this, and it was the most exciting one the kids had ever done. We zip lined eight times. Some were as short as 65 feet long and others were as long as 1,100 feet long. We also walked across three suspension bridges and rappelled twice - once down 60 feet and the second time down 40 feet. 

17. We have enjoyed the pizza we've eaten, and we had delicious gelato last night. Oliver enjoyed his clam chowder this evening. 

18. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge as well as a patch at Kenai Fjords today. 

19. We encountered a LOT of flies during our hike with a park ranger to Exit Glacier today, but otherwise we haven't encountered any pesky insects. 

20. Everything went smoothly with the TSA on Tuesday, and we are all healthy!

State #48

 

We are in our 48^th state, which was the 49^th state to join the USA! I’m not sure exactly how many states I visited as a child. Some states that were new for the kids were not new for Paul or me, but this is the first time any of us have been to Alaska. Paul and I have been waiting for more than twenty years to go to Hawaii, but since I’m not a fan of cold weather, I can’t say I have had a desire to visit Alaska for a long time. However, I love seeing beautiful landscapes and a variety of animals in the wild, so I have been looking forward to this trip. We wanted to go in the summer so that it wouldn’t be *too* cold in Alaska, and given the kids had Bible quizzing in June and Nadia was working at Camp Susque in July, that pretty much left us with August for our trip. I chose to go towards the end of August because the aurora borealis season begins today. Nadia would have started taking a class with Liberty University this week if it weren’t for this trip. We learned from experience last year that it’s not ideal to be taking an online class while on vacation, so she won't be starting any classes with LU until September 16. Similarly, we normally would have started “back to school” this week, but we are waiting until September 2^nd to begin due to this trip.

Originally the plan had been to drive down to Maryland on August 20, but when Alaska Airlines changed the time of our flights, we decided to drive down on August 19. We left our house around 9:30 am. Our first stop was to drop Milo off at the Seiberts’ house. He and Cooper were very excited to see each other again! Our second stop was at the Utz factory in Hanover. We had a self-guided tour of the potato chip factory, and we each received a free small bag of chips. We arrived at the Towfighis around 2:30 in the afternoon on what was their first day of school. Everyone except for Andrew was there. It was the first time in 5.5 years that some of us had been in their home in Maryland. We all slept in the basement since we were getting up so early. Ian had a very hard time getting up at 4:35. Joe rode with us to the airport, and he drove our van back to their house, so we won’t have to pay for airport parking. Thankfully, they only live 30 minutes from BWI. I had gotten our boarding passes on Monday morning. We printed the tags for our luggage, dropped off three suitcases, and breezed through security because Paul and I got TSA pre check in June. We didn’t have to take off our shoes or remove laptops from our bags. The best part was that we went through metal detectors. I was so, so relieved. I had asked others to pray about that, and God answered our prayers.

To be on the safe side, we had left their home at 5:00 am, as our flight was to begin boarding at 6:30. I know the official recommendation is to arrive two hours early for a domestic flight, but arriving 90 minutes early was definitely plenty early as we were at our gate about 45 minutes before it was time to start the boarding process. We got breakfast at a McDonald’s near our gate. Eating breakfast that early wasn’t ideal considering we traveled four time zones west, but they don’t serve (free) food on flights these days, and McDonald’s was much cheaper than ordering through the airline, and we also had a lot more choices. we experienced a lot of turbulence on that flight, but we arrived safely in Seattle. We landed on time, but then had to wait 30 minutes before the plane could taxi to our gate. Our connecting flight was at a gate that was close to where we arrived, but we didn't have much time to buy lunch. If we had more time, we would have gotten lunch at Wendy's. Also, we discovered the food prices were ridiculous at the Seattle airport. We only had time to go to the bathroom and buy some very overpriced muffins and Danishes before boarding our second flight. The second flight was much smoother. We landed about 15 minutes later than scheduled. We picked up our luggage and then took a free shuttle to the valet parking lot where our rental car was located. 

By the time we started driving the minivan we rented through Turo (which is basically the rental car version of Airbnb), it was about 3:00 pm in Alaska, which felt like 7:00 to us. The first thing we did in Anchorage was visit the Anchorage Museum. We got in free through our ASTC membership. It was a combination of a science museum (including a planetarium), art museum, and history museum. Paul enjoyed it the most. The rest of us were a bit too hungry and tired to get much out of it. Our next stop was Moose's Tooth Pizza which has very positive reviews online and is a very large restaurant. The pizza was very good! The food prices here in Alaska are very high so we expect to eat a lot of pizza this week as that's typically the cheapest way to feed a family for dinner at a restaurant. 

Before we drove to our Airbnb in Girdwood, we went on two short walks in Anchorage. The first one was at Potter Marsh. We saw some birds, an eagle nest, and some salmon swimming around. Next, we traveled up in altitude and walked the short Anchorage Overlook Trail. If we had more time and more skill with hiking, we would have done the Flattop Mountain Trail which started at the same location. Finally, we drove to Girdwood. Shortly before we arrived at our Airbnb, we stopped at a bakery where we bought two very overpriced donuts and two very overpriced cheese Danishes for Paul and the kids to have for breakfast today. Because we were flying, we didn't bring as many groceries with us on this trip. I had packed oatmeal packets for my breakfasts, Kudos bars for Ian, trail mix bars for me, and fruit snacks for Oliver and Nadia. We also stopped at an ice cream place that was in the same location as the bakery. Nadia and Oliver each got a fruit smoothie, and Ian got a dish of ice cream. The guest suite we stayed in was lovely. Paul and I had our own bedroom, and the kids slept in the loft. It also had gorgeous views out the large windows. I went to bed early in light of the fact I had started my day at 4:15 am and was adjusting to a four-hour time change.

The weather on our first day in Alaska was gorgeous. It was a clear, sunny day. We were able to see Denali while we were flying to the Anchorage airport. The temperature was around 60 degrees when we were walking to the museum. Today it was cooler, and it rained a lot. We left our Airbnb at 8:30. Our first stop was the Lower Winner Creek Trail. The trail was 5 miles long. Most of the time there was a light rain. The highlight was seeing a total of three moose during our hike. The first two moose we saw were very close to the trail. The moose closest to us was only about fifteen feet away when we rounded the bend and saw him. We saw the third moose on the return trip, but he was farther away and in the midst of trees, so it was hard to get a good picture of that moose. We had lunch at the Subway that was right next to the bakery we stopped at yesterday. As we were about to leave, the Airbnb host sent a message that we left a library book there. Thankfully we were only about 8 minutes away, so we went back to retrieve the book before driving to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. I had opted to skip the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. Due to how cold and rainy it was, we spent more time driving around and less time walking around the site. The highlights were a four-week-old musk ox, and a bear that was having a blast twirling a large stick. Our last stop in Girdwood was to do a 2.5-mile (round trip) hike to a glacier. After this hike, we drove to Seward. We had dinner at Klondike Pizzeria, got some groceries, and then went to Sweet Darlings for dessert. The kids and I had gelato, and Paul got some fudge. Usually on vacation we stay at hotels that have a free breakfast, but on this trip, we will only get a free breakfast one morning. We got food for four people to eat three breakfasts, all five of us to eat two lunches at the grocery store, and ice cream for the kids to eat the next two nights, and that cost a little over $100! I'm sure I'll be in the same sticker shock in Hawaii if we make it there next August. Finally, we checked into Tides Inn, where we will be staying for three nights. "Checking-in" at this inn involved calling a phone number, and the person told me which room was ours. The key was in the door! The kids like this unit very much because it has four beds (in three different rooms), a couch, and a kitchen. We're very thankful that we can see a part of our country we've never seen before and looking forward to more special experiences over the next eight days!