Alaska in a million pictures

Nicholas, Eliana and I were lucky enough to spend a few days in Alaska last week. It was a quick trip, but we had so much fun. My brother Jacob and his son Garion were visiting the same weekend, so my parents had a houseful. We've been home a week and Nicholas still hasn't adjusted back to Texas time. Today, Nicholas told me that he didn't want to go to our house - he wanted to go Grandma's house in Alaska. So here is a little photo journal of our trip. It may seem like a lot of pictures, but I'm only posting a tenth of the pictures I took {I love digital cameras!}

Eliana and my Grandpa. {There are a million pictures of the two of them . . . I'll try to limit myself to only a few.}

Garion, Eliana and Nicolas with Grandpa . . . you have to love Nicholas' face!

All the boys. Nicholas is, of course, cooperating just like we asked him to!

I love the look on Grandpa's face in the picture.

How much we miss out on by living so far away from family!

Four Generations of Cox Men.

Doggie, meet Doggie.

Nicholas meeting a future Iditarod sled dog champion.

Part of the beauty that is Alaska - Summer Flowers.

Taking the fox for a walk at the Alaska Zoo.

Now, how would you like to have this creature scrounging for food in your backyard? This is from the zoo, but black bears are common sights in some parts of Anchorage.

Check out the claws on this Grizzly!

Nicholas had fun chasing the mountain goats at the zoo.

Here's a picture of Mt. McKinley. On a clear day, you can see it from Anchorage -- which is over 130 air miles south of the mountain. Pretty impressive, no?

Mt. Susitna, otherwise known as Sleeping Lady. Can you see the sleeping lady? {Her hair is flowing off the top of her head to the left.}

The Legend of Sleeping Lady: Legend tells us that a millennia ago, the Great Land known as Alaska was inhabited by a race of giants. Among these people was a beautiful young maiden and a handsome young man whose devotion to each other was admired by all the villagers. Wedding preparations were underway when word reached the village of a warring tribe approaching from the north.

After a village council it was decided that the young man would bring gifts to the invaders to show the peaceful and friendly intentions of the villagers. Keeping herself busy while waiting for the young man's return, the maiden eventually grew tired and laid down to rest.

Soon after, word reached the village that the invaders rejected the offer of peace and a battle ensued in which the young man was killed. The villagers, gazing at the sleeping maiden, did not have the heart to wake her.

So there she rests today, still waiting for news of peace and the return of her love . . .

A shot of downtown Anchorage.

A picture of the Inlet.

My dad caught some salmon while we were there. Nicholas was fascinated with it.

Here we are posing as tourists.

We got to visit some reindeer. Nicholas called them antlers and thought they were great!

Nicholas feeding the reindeer. {This one was a little gross - he was still loosing the velvet from his antlers and it was disgusting!}

Again with the tourist poses.

Eliana didn't quite know what to make of the reindeer. She was pretty brave, though, and petted them anyway.

We couldn't resist . . . :)

Nicholas and the chocolate waterfall. He was dying to jump in!

My Grandpa.

Eliana loving the bear skin that hangs on my parents wall . . . you HAVE to love Alaska!