AK on the GO

Time for another great Alaskan weekend!

Laundry and wet boots aside, there is nothing quite as nice as returning home from a trip. The delightful weather that met us at Ted Stevens International Airport yesterday fired us back up after a wet and drippy departure from Ketchikan. It’s time to get back to the familiar routine, and Fun Friday is just the place to start, we think. It’s the last weekend in July (holy moly, that means school is just around the corner!) and time to ramp up the remaining weeks of another Alaskan summer. We’ve got Port of Anchorage tours, tons of music, and a chance to “rock out” at a local museum. Big thanks to Alaska Center for Pediatrics for continuing our Fun Friday sponsorship; they’ve been caring for kids since 1982 and we’re glad to have them on board.

Visit beautiful Palmer and the Friday Fling farmer's market.

FRIDAY: Palmer’s Friday Flings continue with the Veronica Page Band playing in downtown Palmer from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. during the Farmer’s Market (market hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m.). While you’re shopping for locally-grown veggies, be entertained by Veronica’s great voice. Take a minute while you’re there and stop in at the Palmer Museum and Visitor Center, the little log cabin adjacent to the old deopt and the market. Some great exhibits of Palmer’s days gone by are inside, and kids love the dog sled, especially. FREE.

The Alaska Museum of Natural History is winding up its “After the Dinosaurs” exhibit at their Bragaw street building. Explore which creatures came out of the shadows after the dinos made their dramatic (we think) exit. $5 per kiddo with an accompanying adult. This self-guided trip around the museum is suitable for the whole family, and don’t forget to stop at the dig pits!

Peratrovich Park is the place to be today at Noon for more Music in the Park, sponsored by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership. FREE music and lots of fun people-watching. Bring a jacket as the breezes can kick up.

Town Square Park continues their Live After Five concerts tonight from 5-8 p.m. with the awesome Whipsaws performing their rockabilly tunes. Love these guys. FREE music; beer garden and food available.

Any butterflies in there? Take the Junior Naturalist Class at Eagle River Nature Center and find out!

SATURDAY: Eagle River Nature Center continues its commitment to teaching young people the beauty of the outdoors with their Junior Naturalist program al about “Caterpillars and Butterflies”. From 2-4 p.m., kids K-6 can go on a butterfly safari (bring your own net or jar if you have them) and hopefully learn a little more about these beautiful creatures. FREE, $5 parking for non-members.

Don’t forget about the new Discovery Tours at the Alaska Zoo, leaving the main gate at 12:15 p.m. every day through the end of summer. For $15 for kids/ $25 adults (includes zoo admission), a family can get a behind-the-scenes look at the zoo’s animals, their homes, and the wonderful staff who care for them. It’s worth it, trust me.

SUNDAY: Been on Port of Anchorage tour, yet? What the heck are you waiting for? These FREE tours are held between the hours of 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Port (park by the AKRR Corporate HQ at 327 Ship Creek Ave.) and feature a one-hour motorcoach tour, narrated storytelling, and FREE lunch. Yep. Hotdogs carefully grilled by different port personnel each week. Who knows? You might get a railroad engineer doing the honors! Kids’ coloring pages provided while you wait for your lunch. This is a great way to learn how and why the Port of Anchorage is so vital to the citizens of Alaska. Hey, check out my cohost’s visit to the Port last week right HERE! Scott did himself proud and now I want to go.

Don't forget the Alaska Botanical Garden as summer transitions into fall!

Need a little walk with the kiddos to wind down a busy weekend? The Alaska Botanical Garden is in full bloom and simply stunning displays of flowers, trees, and herbs are right at our doorstep. Visit the Garden off Tudor/Campbell Airstrip roads, near Benny Benson school in east Anchorage. We love the kid-friendly trails. Do watch for our bear friends, however; with Campbell Creek nearby, they do occasionally find ABG a lovely spot to picnic.

Want to know all about all the great outdoor activities upcoming in southcentral Alaska? AKontheGO is a proud member of the Get Outdoors Anchorage coalition, a group of agencies, organizations, and individuals dedicated to promoting families and the beautiful outdoors we call home. Find a complete listing of events and members at their website (link above).

Run the Kids' 2k and get a cool hat and medal!

Have you signed your kids up for the Big Wild Life Runs Kids’ 2k? This incredibly family-friendly event is part of the Anchorage Running Club’s big day of running, walking, and general fitness on Sunday, August 21, beginning and ending on 6th Avenue/Town Square Park. Kids take off at 8:10 a.m. and will run a short 2k around downtown streets to throngs of cheering bystanders before  heading back to the finish line for a shiny medal. Now who wouldn’t want to do that? Sign up HERE and look for us, we’ll be there!

Happy weekend!

EK

The AKontheGO mailbox is beginning to fill with queries from would-be visitors to the 49th state. Aside from the usual stuff about moose and bears and mountains and fishing, AK Fam receives a lot of questions regarding clothing and what works (and doesn’t) for sheltering and protecting our little people’s bodies during a trip to Alaska.

AK Kid (above) has his basic “uniform” during the summer months, and we’ve found it to be practical, affordable in the long run, and darned cute, besides. Other parents around Alaska will likely agree with me (feel free to chime in here folks) that Alaska is not exactly the place to be concerned with fashion, although our sense of what is cool sometimes differs from the Lower 48; but I digress.

The outfit of AK Kid in the photo above illustrates perfectly my point, and the practicalities of fast-changing weather systems and dropping or rising temperatures at a moment’s notice. Bipolar weather, that’s what we have. We also have factors that are not related to the weather report; bugs, underbrush, and dirt all play a role in how our kids dress and how we clean them up. So, let’s look at AK Kid from a “top-down” perspective, shall we?

Hat: Bring two. One warm hat that covers ears and noggins with a comfy fleece or wool-blend and feels so nice at night in a tent or camper or standing by the bonfire at a fishing lodge; and one hat to keep sun out of eyes, and in AK Kid’s case, off his ears. It needn’t be fancy (we found this floppy sun hat at a tourist trap for $4 after his other one blew out the car window. Don’t ask), but hats should shade eyes (and/or ears) and ideally, the back of the neck, since pesky mosquitoes seem to love that area to bite as much as we moms love to kiss it.

Trousers: Since arriving in Alaska five-plus years ago, we’ve discovered a few things about children’s clothing; most of the hiking/camping clothing made in Outside (anywhere not Alaska) isn’t suited for the exuberant kiddo who will undoubtedly spend his or her vacation digging in the mud, sliding down a hill backwards and headfirst, carrying smelly fish, or burying other people in sand. Yep, life is good for a kid up here, and we have the pants to keep it that way. Carhartts are it. Duck cloth, double-kneed, ultra wearable treasures, they are, and people up here dress their babies in the stuff for the ride home from the hospital (well, not really, but we could). At any rate, we love the way Carhartts shed water, turn away hungry mosquitoes, and clean up real fine. Available online, at Fred Meyer stores and the famous Army/Navy Store in downtown Anchorage, Carhartt is a brand to trust for outdoor fun. Bib overalls, pants, denim in both, and shorts are all great choices, and, they come in Slim sizes. Buy ‘em a little long, roll up, and add an additional summer to the wear time. Awesome.

Coat: Last summer was a dud, weather-wise. AK Kid’s raincoat received more wear than any other item, it seems, and it showed. Now grown out of that cute little number we found at Fred Meyer (thank goodness), AK Fam has moved on to our preferred brand, REI Elements. One step up from the REI basic brand, Elements offers sealed seams, breathable fabric, and cool styles. They also make rain pants that we’ll be packing for our southeast Alaska ferry journey this July. Raincoats are great layering tools for Alaskan travel; fleece and breathable shirts underneath make the ideal combo for 49th state fun, and are must-haves.

Boots: I’m in love with Bogs. Not the geographical term, the boots. The hottest fashion accessory to hit Alaska since Carhartts, Bogs are true all-season boots for kids and adults that are better than anything else I’ve found. True story. AK Kid loves his “Classic High” Spider boots with easy-on handles and a nifty design. Bogs are three-layers of neoprene, mesh, and rubber that are 100% (yes, you heard me) waterproof AND warm. Ta-Da! Find them at REI, Zappos, Amazon, or at the Bogs website. The only caution, parents, is that sometimes Bogs become too warm, so skip cotton socks and move on to breathable ones. Yeah, a bummer, but I’d prefer dry tootsies.  Smartwool makes a nice breathable sock that outlasts even the sweatiest feet.

So there you have it; a primer for at least starting pre-Alaska shopping. We’re all about function in the 49th state, and who knows, you might start a  new fashion trend where you live.

Happy exploring, we’ll see you this summer!

EK