Wleklinskis in Alaska!

Last week the Wleklinski fam was all together for the first time in over thee years!

Plus we had Ellen's boyfriend Corey and Sarah's friend Alya with us!

Everyone came in from all over the world -  Sarah from Amsterdam, Alya from Paris, Ellen and Corey from LA, Mom and Dad from Walnut Creek, and Matt and I from North Pole, down the road from where we all stayed.

Somewhere over Alaska - E&C's connection from Anchorage to Fairbanks
was on a little propeller plane!

We spent the week in a big cabin just outside of Fairbanks.

The trip was a big deal because it was everyone's first time meeting Lydia (except Mom who met her twice before), my first time meeting Corey, and the first time Matt and Sarah really got to spend time together (they met at the wedding three years ago but didn't really get to talk or get to know each other). So it was a chance for us to all hang out and spend time together... which was definitely overdue!

Everyone adoring Lydia

And I mean, the location couldn't have been more amazing. :)

Dad :) and our patio view

Mom and Dad flew in on Saturday and did a big stock-up at Fred Meyer to get food for 8 people for the week, while Matt, Lydia, Barkley and I drove over and met them at the cabin. First order of business: introduce Lydia and Grandpa Mark! 

It turns out Grandpa Mark is the world's best book reader. :) His improv and funny additions to the stories were so funny!

That night the 4 of us (plus baby and Barkley) chatted and caught up, had a big dinner, and they showed us the little cabin right behind the main one where Matt and I would be sleeping (and Corey too, in the room next door). 

Patio view from Matt's and my room... uh-ma-zing!
It's hard to tell here but you could see the Alaska mountain range in the distance.

The next day Sarah and Alya arrived and Sarah met Lydia for the first time! They needed a few days to warm up to each other...

But before long they were wearing matching outfits and taking selfies in the car. :) I think it was the combo of Sarah singing 'the pet song' and dressing L up in cute clothes that finally helped her decide that she was ok with having a baby around. Ha!

Here's how that car selfie turned out -

Matching headbands!

That evening before din we all went to my favorite Alaska museum and to the downtown riverwalk to introduce them to Fairbanks and chat. It was perfect.

Antler arch by the riverwalk downtown
photo cred - Alya!

On Monday Ellen and Corey flew in! It was cute because it was their first time flying anywhere together. :) It made me remember the first time Matt and I took a plane ride together  - click HERE to see the post I wrote about that trip!

It was fun to finally meet him after hearing about him for months, and Ellen finally got to hold little Lydia!!

Lydia rocking her moose hat 

Then we started our first day all together (with everyone except Matt who had to go to work)! The first stop was Creamer's Field nature area to see the Sandhill Cranes Mom wanted to see, and we walked around a little bit, braving the 35893430673947 mosquitos that were swarming around. What did people do before DEET?? 

Alya was there too - she took this pic!

It was sooo beautiful but SOOO buggy so we didn't stay long. Next stop --> Big Rays!!! Everyone was excited about this one because really, you can't get more Alaskan than Big Ray's. :)

Then we stopped at The Crepery....

I love Dad's expression in this one! 

...before heading to the car museum. I'm pretty sure I heard Mom say it's her favorite museum ever?? It's a good one - everything in that place sparkles. :)

They had clothes out next to the cars to show what people wore when the cars were new, which was really interesting!

"Lydia, look what you never have to wear!" Ha!

They let us dress up and take pics inside one of the cars, so obviously that was the best part. :) 

Group pic minus two!

Girl pic!
I love how you can see Lydia's cheeks from here, haha!

Aaaaaand then we came home and crashed for a while because two of us were completely jet lagged and two hadn't slept in over 24 hours (red eye flight), but after a long naptime we had appetizers on the patio until Matt got off work. Then it was time for family pictures!

Then it was off to dinner. :) We went to The Pumphouse, which never disappoints, and got to sit right on the river.

Thanks Matt for remembering to take a pic!

We made sure to order reindeer meatballs, chicken 'n' waffles on a stick, and a couple salmon towers. :)  Only the best!

The next day was Dad's birthdaaaaaay!

His birthday party --> a trip to Denali National Park! We all slept in and then everyone except Matt and I left for a day at the national park! Matt had to work and I stayed home with Lydia - I'd already done the big tour and was going again the next week with a friend who was visiting. But everyone else had fun!

 

After the big tour they took Dad to this great restaurant about 10 minutes outside of the park, complete with an antler chandelier.

On Wednesday we had a slow start to the morning since everyone had gotten in at 2, but when we finally got going we all headed out to Fred Meyer!!! Ha!

It was really interesting to Alya since they don't have huge 'everything' stores like it in France, and she was especially impressed by the nice Levi jeans she bought (for super cheap) right along with our groceries, ha! Sarah and Ell were impressed with the outdoor gear and giant kayaks piled up right next to home decor. :) Welcome to Alaskaaaaa!

Then we went to a cute coffee shop and Mom and I popped into a kids clothes store and picked up a few necessities for Lydia. :) 

Two of us were done with pictures by now, can you tell who they were? Ha!
Poor Lydia!

Then we all headed to NORTH POLE to show everyone where we live!

The first stop was North Pole Wendy's, ha! It's decorated for Christmas year round so obviously everyone needed to see it. 

See the Christmas tree? :) Also S & A missed Wendy's burgers because they don't have them in Europe! As if that wasn't enough Christmas in August, we walked over to visit Santa! Since he lives here. :)

Normal.

After Matt got off work we went out for our last meal all together with the whole group, and I have to include this pic because of the classic Sarah face...

Poor Lydia cried through dinner but everyone else enjoyed it! I mean, if it's good enough for Guy Fieri, it's good enough for us. Then Sarah, Ellen, Matt and Corey went off to play two-on-two (Ellen wants me to add that she made a 15-foot shot with a hand in her face that clinched the victory) and the rest of us went out for the best ice cream in town!

After bball Matt took them on a quick tour of where he works, and then they went up to Ester Dome to see the sunset / the best view of Fairbanks and Mt. Denali in the distance! They said it was one of the best parts of the trip.

After they came back, we all hung out at the cabin before Sarah and Alya had to catch a 2am flight. We missed them as soon as they left! 

On Thursday after sleeping in, Mom, Dad, Ellen, Corey, Lydia and I went to UAF for the Museum of the North, the botanical garden, to see the reindeer, and to Hot Licks for ice cream. :)

My favorite pic of Ellen and Lydia :)

Photo cred - Dad!

Hot Licks ice cream sandwich - YUM

After Matt got off work we had dinner at the cabin and then a few of us went out to the video rental store, which still exists in Fairbanks (in addition to a Blockbuster! Talk about a blast from the past) and hung out for the evening.

On Friday we spent the morning making The Wleklinski Family Christmas Card. :) It was really fun! We decided on a family photo from the ones we'd taken few days before, and had fun picking out a few others from the year. 2016 has been quite a year for all of us! Then we went out for Thai food and to a cute little used book store where Lydia ended up with a few new books. We love to read to her!

Before E & C left for their 2am flight back to LA, Mom and Dad dominated a game of scrabble (and we used every tile!)

Cabin Scrabble. Dad's face :)

Saturday was just Mom, Dad, Matt, Lydia and me! It was pretty low key but so good to let them have some more time with Lydia! We went to the farmers' market and had one last dinner at the cabin. When Matt and I packed up to head home it seemed like we'd JUST gotten here but were already leaving. We managed to fit in one more game of Scrabble though. :)

Barkley on Mom's foot

Such. A. Whirlwind.

Every day we had a different mix of people and someone was always coming and going. In between of all of our activities there was a lot of fun down time / general hanging out, which might have been the best part of the whole trip. 

"Starting Lydia's music education early"

Chatting with Grandma

Barkley on an Adirondack chair

"7:30am - first moose sighting"

And getting from place to place was always a different combo of people in our Rav and my parents' huge rental Explorer. :)

The car rides were one of Lydia's favorite parts. :) That face!

Matt and I headed home with a bunch of leftover food, balloons and farmers' market flowers. 

HUGE thank you to Mom and Dad for making this trip happen... it's not easy to gather 8 people with full schedules and big personalities, from all over the planet, and organize a trip we'd all love! It was the best. :)