Well, look who’s ready to greet everyone who comes to my place this weekend for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW. It’s the “King Of The Raccoons” from the “The Animal King-dom Exhibition.” Amazing animal sculptures by my friend Deana Bada Maloney… each with a sense of whimsy… and you know hoe I LOVE whimsy!!! This little cutie came home with me from ART IN THE BARN this summer… and is anxiously waiting for his big debut next weekend!

Check out more of Deana’s amazing work – https://thebadacreative.com/

So we finally made it to Anchorage… where we stayed with Theresa’s Uncle Tim. He asked about my trip… and asked if I wanted to see more moose? Of course I said yes… as he said he knows just where to go to see them! I was still doubting Tim’s assurance we would see moose… our moose hunting track-record had been pretty slim so far. However, just a few minutes later we came across this large moose just strolling down the bike path!!! Guess Uncle Tim was right!!!

Not only was the scenery AMAZING… but there was wildlife all around during our Kenai Fjords boat cruise. So amazing to see a bunch of sea lions, puffins, bald eagles, harbor seals, otters, goats, murre birds, jellyfish & so much more! We saw most of them in the SeaLife Center…. but SO much cooler to see them out there in the wild. Definitely the highlight of my Alaskan Adventure!!!

We woke up on Wednesday and the fog had started to lift. We returned to the port of Seward… and it was pretty cool to see the town, the port, the boats, the mountains… all the things we couldn’t see at all the day before due to the intense fog. We started our day at the Alaska SeaLife Center. A very nice “aquarium” that houses local Alaskan sea life. It was nice to see some of the “residents” up close… all the while hoping that we would see more of the same later that day on our ocean boat tour.

Even the puppies are celebrating another Mugshot Monday!!! Perhaps not so sure to start… but then Pepper went ALL IN while hanging out in the car!!! Thanks Kim for sharing this precious puppy moment!

So it’s the night before… and one last chance for a quick “teaser” of my “buggy” collaboration with Cory McCrory! About a week ago I was wondering IF we would even have ANY bugs?! A little kiln explosion… but Cory is a Wizard!!! And she turned it all around & worked her magic. I’m so excited that we ended up with ten pieces as originally planned. Each one a singular masterpiece!

They’ll be making their “buggy debut” at ART IN THE GARDEN tomorrow morning! Hoping to spread the “infestation” to some new homes soon!!!

A dozen ducklings… Mom looked calm but those little ones
were paddling their little feet as fast as they can!!!
A fun sight during my afternoon bike ride along the lake.

And that water?… STUNNING!!!

Yesterday we had a great adventure… kind of a SAFARI ADVENTURE!!!

My cousin Kim, niece Taylor & my sister Jen and I went to a drive-through animal “safari” park in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. You drive through the park with animals all around… coming right up to the car for a snack… and INTO the car for even more snacks!!! They give you the animal feed when you enter… and it’s obvious the animals know the drill. At times it almost felt like one would block the car so the others could come up to the windows!!! Too much fun… and great to see these animals so close-up & wandering free. As “we” were the ones in the “cage” of our car!!!

Who knew there would be “zoo” right next the gas station? Is this a Wisconsin thing??? We stopped for gas last Sunday during our pottery tour roadtrip. And you’ve got to know that I’ll stop in heartbeat on a roadtrip to see something fun or unusual. So the sign said “zoo”… and I’m all in! Really, it turned out to be mostly farm animals that looked a little rough after a long winter. But at least the peacock was beautiful!!! And we got gas…

And it looks like I wasn’t the only one out enjoying the sunshine today. Seems like I was making a new friend while I was out on my bike in Northerly Island… at a safe distance… thank you zoom-lens!!!