South Florida Wildlife

endangered small deer

one  of the dozens of Hemingway cats.

South Florida Sojurn

Back in mid-August, the girls and I headed to South Florida to take care of my mother, who has been very ill every since.  It was a challenging time (I will share more on that in a later blog) but despite, or in spite of her ill health, I wanted the girls to spend time with her as well as some of their family in Florida. It had been 2 1/2 years since the last visit to the Sunny State and two years since their aunt and uncle (along with Grandma Ruth) visited us here. Thus, we took advantage of our ill fortunate and about thirty-six hours after Alaska we headed South East. It was a bit of jetlag for a few days but the warm sun, the pools, yummy food and precious time with their family made it all worth it. Below are some of the highlights of our time there.

Aunt Kim took us to the top of the light house in downtown Key West. Amara said she was getting signs to climb it. Aunt Kim, who was born and raised there had never been to the top, so it was a first for us all. It was hot, humid, step but the view were so worth it.

Kino's a Key West classic. Handmade Cuban sandals, made in KW for decades, the girls Great Grandma Ruth wore them until she died. Aunt Kim has some and last winter I got a pair. The running joke is about the sandals not only being cute but a form of discipline (many a child's bottom was given a Kino smack!). We took the girls there and they both got a pair of their own!

Uncle Timmy. The girls adore their Tio.

Time with Tia Kim was priceless. Here they are in Hemingway House. All the sites were fantastic, rich with KW history and lore but being with their Tia, that was the highlight. 

My kids love their Carib food as much as their parents!

First time paddle boarding!

                                             

My sisters and the girls.

With Aunt Natalie, who was showing them the underwater sea life! 

My beautiful grandmother. I love Amara in background there!

It's not a trip to South Florida without a juice and tostones from El Placacio. 

The girls with my bio-dad, checking out his Key Lime tree.

                                                                                 

Back to School ~5th & 7th Years

The 2019 school year started with a bang and a fuss (or two) back in September. Amara moved up to Middle School. Havana is now a 5th year. That means, in our mixed aged Montessori School, the girls will not be in the same classroom again and in two years time, Amara will off to High School. That feels bittersweet for this mom who is watching her two small gems grow up way too fast. 

Amara was preparing for the big Middle School change for months. Lots of fears, projections, anxiety and excitement, along with concerns about clothing and looking cute. Yup, we are in Middle School! Yet within a few weeks, Amara got the hang of  the rigorous new work schedule (we had to hear alot about that, in some very loud tones) and was on her way to getting into the many new routines that meant being an elder student.

Havana is no longer the youngest in her class and has to step up her game. Not yet the elder student but working towards that is a big shift developmentally. She has been doing so with pride and a tad bit of hesitation. Yet I can see, just two months in, how she is taking much more ownership of her schoolwork and her role as 5th year. After a few bumps last year, academically, I see her growth and look forward to on-going progress. Havana, with her kind, gentle heart, has been looking out for some of the new 4th years, helping them with their transition to the Upper Elementary classroom. Both girls are caring in that way; looking out for others to be helpful and kind.

The 2019-2020 school year looks like it is off to a promising start; one with growth, challenges and the rewards those will bring.

Guess Who Went to Alaska?

These three are world travelers. They love to see all the sites as much as the rest of us.

It would not be the Davi-Coughlin Clan without them!

Kenai Peninsula

When planning a mere ten days in Alaska we knew we would be only barely touching the ground. Five states of Alaska make up the entire lower 48. That is a serious fact to ponder when taking in how much land there is here. So much to see and do. In an effort to see some highlights we opted to do Denali and then the Kenai Peninsula. I thought that would allow us to see some of our top choices; Denali, wildlife and glaciers. Not that original in ideas (millions of tourists do the same thing each year) but to witness those would be pretty darn awesome. The Kenai Peninsula, on the south central coast would give us access to two out of three of those. We knew the land and seascape would be pretty spectacular but we had no idea just how auspicious the sights would be or just how lucky we'd get with all the wildlife.

Our trip on the peninsula allowed not only for grizzlies but we saw salmon in the river, flying fish, jellyfish pods out on the ocean, a mama eagle and her two young in a nest right in front of our RV site (where we stayed three nights) and two out on the water, two moose (from the air), puffin and five orcas.We have played in lakes and rivers. Hiked up to the glacier and trekked through some woods. We have smelled the deep woods and breathed in the frigid cool glacier air.  We visited sled dogs who partake in the famous Iditarod Alaska race. We came upon ice cold, crystal clear lakes and met some of the friendliest people. We have seen and learned so much in a short time. But most important we have witnessed the magnificence of the Great Creator.

The days are long here, darkness falls just before 11 pm. The girls are going to bed late and waking up a tad too early. They are, at times, as grumpy as a hungry grizzly but overall the wonder and awe of the natural world here has feed our hearts and souls. We love this part of Alaska and are most grateful to be here.

There were many salmon in this river; they were bright red; which was a sign that they were at the end of their life.

Kenai Fjords National Park~by Land & Sea

While in Seward, we were staying at an RV park just a few miles from the only accessible road to the Kenai Fjords National Park.  We had flown over a glacier but could not pass up the opportunity to hike up to Exit glacier to get a bit more up close and personal. And, it allowed for the girls to work on their Junior Ranger Program. We learned so much during hike through the trees up to the glacier. We learned how old the glaciers were and how quickly they were retreating (there were date markers all along the trail, which was quite telling and disturbing). We learned how much snow falls each year on the ice field (up to 100 feet a year) and why it was in the mid-seventies on the lower trail but when we got up close there were winds and air temps in the fifties  (the temperature of the ice changes the air temperature).  Our hike made for a very good afternoon.

The following day we took a six hour boat tour into the park.  The boat ride was a commercial operation but there was a Park Ranger on board who provided even more educational information for us. We learned about the original peoples of the land, the history of Seward and how glaciers impact the ecosystem of the world's oceans. We all need be concerned with their rapid melting.

We also saw some wildlife that was the stuff of National Geographic. Sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions (who were sparring on a remote stretch of rock way out into the ocean), countless birds including the cute puffin, a pair of eagle and then the show stopper, a family of five orca. And all around us, for six hours were breathtaking peaks, water as clear as glass and at other times as turquoise as that in the Caribbean. I don't think I would ever tire of a place like that. It was beyond beautiful. Words like exquisite, breathtaking, splendid; they just don't cut the endless raw beauty.

The crew fished out some glacier ice to make margaritas. They were kind enough to give us a cup of ice to chew on.

We saw hundreds of jellyfish.