Roxanne G says:
June 7, 2011 at 2:48 pm

They have swimming pools on base, the ski slope where kids can also go tubing. They have a lot of activities to choose from such as ballet, tap, jazz dance. Also karate and running club, indoor soccer. They have a place called Artic Oasis that has indoor playgrounds, putt putt golf, rock climbing, and a skate park. There are festivals downtown quite a bit. There is also ice rinks in a mall downtown. If you care to drive a bit, there is a reindeer farm in Palmer. There is also the Alaska Zoo and the wildlife conservation center.


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Priscilla Brown says:
August 19, 2010 at 11:16 am

Next up for my attempt to get you excited about this base: free things to do with your family or kids.

Nature. It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s free, sometimes a cost of time and a little learning of how to get around or what to take.

Wildlife is in abundance up here! No matter where you live or go in the winter you have a pretty good chance of spotting a moose or two. When we first got here my husband and daughter kept seeing a moose everywhere they went without me. I was a little more than frustrated. One morning I got up and there was a moose in my front yard licking the snow off the tree!!! I was ecstatic! Drive, get out and explore.

I highly recommend taking your kids on the free bus tour the base offers. Be WARNED, before the tour is a LONG boring briefing for children. Try to plan around it as that is a downer for the kids. Once you get on the base they will take you to the eclub where they offer free drinks and snacks. They even gave us unlimited Little Debbie snacks, an ENTIRE box for FREE. It was great. Then we headed out on the tour where we found tons of places we had no idea were out there. One place is where you can take pictures at an outlook on your own time and it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a great place to see the northern lights when you can. We took our children there one day and watched the ice bergs floating down the river. It was amazing to see this as it was something none of us had seen.

Ft. Richardson and Elmendorf AFB are a joint base called JBER. Head over to Ft. Richardson and check out the awesome Shipwreck Park they have for kids! In the spring and summer you can take the prettiest postcard pictures of your family! People love taking pictures here because the scenery is beautiful.

Recently, our family headed over to Mirror Lake to let the kids play and check out the parks there.

Another recent favorite pasttime our family enjoys is fishing. Yes, the cost to start is a little bit expensive, but don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t go overboard. Once you have your gear you can fish for free.

I highly recommend you get your Alaska license as soon as you PCS here, one you can start getting qualified for the PFD?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s which I will post in the general section (free money per member of your family, yes it runs about $1500 PER person every October, are you excited yet, I am!), and you get your fishing license cheaper. Kids under 16 do NOT need a license. We have been going out to Jim?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s creek. It smells awful, but the view is pretty spectacular of the glacier. Plus, if you like going on an ATV, own one or know someone with one head on out there for a great choice in trails. Lots of people are there, which makes it safer if an accident were to happen to get help.

More posts to come


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Priscilla Brown says:
August 19, 2010 at 11:08 am

We have two age groups in our household. 14 month old twins and a 7 year old daughter. Finding places to accomodate the whole family is a challenge, but in Alaska it is possible!

First, it depends on the season you move here and what your interests are. I highly recommend you come with an open mind. We moved here in January of 2010. To kick off our new base we hit the ground running. The twins were 6 months at the time.

Bouncin bear is a wonderful place to let your kids of ALL ages bounce their energy out. Kids 17 months and under are FREE. Parents are FREE!! You only pay for your other children. We bought the 10 session card for $80 and received the 11th session FREE! Awesome right?!? Free is the key to not over spending our budget, but still having a ton of fun.

Next, we went to Hillberg ski hill and did the dog sled plus snow tubing. Ok, new adventures are awesome and great experiences to make your kids enjoy where they live. Snow and cold are not my idea of excitement, but here it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s just a beautiful oppurtunity. Sled dog rides run in the winter months. The people who allow you to ride the sled for an affordable price, and give the kids a vast amount of time to pet each dog. Plus, they answer all the questions you have and even take pictures of you with your children by the sled, by the dogs, and while riding. The wait is long due to that reason, BUT take the opportunity to rent a tube for an all day pass ($5 for children and $10 for adults.) you can ride the hill while you wait and that keeps you from getting a million questions on, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìMom/Dad, when will it be our turn?!??¢‚Ǩ¬ù

Next up we did ice fishing!!! Sounds scary, it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s not!!! You can rent the equiptment for a low price or do what we did. Find another family, two or three and split the cost and take the kids for a great day of fun. Dress warm, take snacks and a container of hot chocolate for the kids (um, we adults prefer coffee, lol).

Do not let the weather discourage you from enjoying this base! You will have the fun YOU and your family decide to make of it. This is only the tip of the ice berg, pardon the pun, but I will post more information to help you in getting excited to come to this amazing base!!


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Katie Moore Freeze says:
May 31, 2010 at 11:47 am

Skiing, Hockey, & tubing are popular with the kids here in Alaska. We do have one indoor waterpark in Anchorage called H2Oasis that is pretty nice as well.


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