On the road again...

Wow.  A year ago right now, we were in the middle of our journey from Connecticut to Alaska.  The past year has flown by, and we feel completely at home in Homer.  So much so that I do believe we will be back for good once our Coast Guard ride is over.  Sorry, Mom(s).  But I think you knew this already.  

The past month has been a whirlwind, with the end-of-school activities, playground build, and lots of crazy ship logistics.  Today was our first regular weekend day in longer than we can remember.  The highlight of the past few months for me has definitely been the playground build.  Now we not only have a fantastic new place for the kids to play and spend time with their friends, but we also have lots of new friends of our own, met alongside table saws and paint brushes.  

It started as a forest of posts, 18 of which I helped set myself!

Last day of work

Complete, huge, and awesome.

We are finally greening up around town, with new baby moose wandering around and dandelions everywhere.  Two sets of moose twins were born in our neighborhood.  And after spending a winter's day at minus 26 degrees, 55 is t-shirt weather for sure.

Monday the kids and I are headed north for what we are calling our Great Alaskan Road Trip.  The LT (soon-to-be LTCDR-select!) can't get away from work, so we are going it alone.  We will be spending time in Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna along the way.  We haven't been further north than Anchorage, other than our drive in from Tok, so we are really excited to explore new-to-us parts of the state.  I downloaded the Blogger mobile app, so I should be able to give daily trip highlights along the way, just like we did last year with our drive from CT to here.  If you have been through or to any of the places we are headed, please leave us suggestions of your favorite pit-stops and attractions!

Summer Adventures Begin at Home(r)

When we first moved to Homer, finding a playground was at the top of the kids' to-do list.  The closest one to our house is at Karen Hornaday Park, less than a mile away and a nice walking distance.  We made only one trip to that playground last summer, because once was enough to see that it just wasn't a fun place for small kids to play.  Many structures were missing pieces or just not built for little legs to climb (heck, I even had a hard time climbing up some of the ladders).  It was also very dirty, even by Alaska standards, with the base set in gravel and sand.  But the location is amazing- views of the bay and mountains, and right next to the hospital so kids can watch the helicopter come and go.  After emptying the gravel out of their shoes, the kids begged to go back to "the big Groton playground" that we used to frequent in Connecticut.  Um, that's 5,000 miles away.  Sorry.

A photo of the current playground, from the HOPP Facebook page

We went to a street fair later in the summer and were so excited when we discovered a fabulous group of community members there who were trying to raise funds for a new playground.  They sucked us in with tables full of bubbles and play dough and then told me all about their vision while the kids were occupied.  What a wonderful idea, especially for a town like Homer that has such a sense of community.  The Homer Playground Project (HOPP for short) raised funds all fall and winter, and now we're only a month away from "build week."  It's amazing to see SO many people from town get together to make something like this happen.  A design firm was brought in to plan the logistics.  It's the same firm that did the Soldotna Community Playground, about 75 miles from Homer, that my kids now frequently request to visit.  Still not quite close enough for an afternoon at the playground, but we'll stop by if we head up to do some shopping.

So, our first adventure of the summer?  Helping to build the playground!  The entire thing gets built in just one week, with about 100 people working each of three shifts per day.  We actually even cancelled a trip to Kodiak that I had booked for this week because we don't want to miss it.  Thanks to the playground design firm, HOPP has build week down to a science, from knowing how many hammers are needed to arranging volunteers for childcare (who will even be background-checked for safety) to securing food donations that provide each building shift with a meal and snacks.  It's a HUGE job to organize it all, and we've been helping out where we can.  The kids and I will be baking and freezing cookies for the snack table over the next few weeks.  I've signed up for a few building shifts.  The CGC Hickory is organizing a team to work some of the shifts as well.  We ordered our pickets so the kids will have their names on the playground forever.

Homer friends, here's the link to visit to find out how you can help out.  And believe me, if you don't sign up now, you wish you had when build week comes around and the whole town is buzzing with excitement!