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Category Archives: Photos

Where did the summer go?

Summer officially begins here with the solstice, and solstice is a big deal in regions where there is limited sunshine in the winter. Many places have solstice celebrations and such. Kenai Harley Davidson had a Show & Shine car and bike show which we attended. On the way home after the show we stopped at this little tourist trap not far from our house. We’ve been meaning to stop here and take pictures for like, you know, two years. Well, finally we did.

It is a chainsaw carving spot and during the tourist season you can stop and see them working on carvings. It is pretty cool to see a dude with a chainsaw doing his thing and making a piece of art out of a log.

The big draw and sign out front is this giant chair.

The Big Chair.

The Big Chair.

And then there are various carvings scattered around, photo-ops and all.

Totem

Totem

It's mine and you can't have it bear!

It’s mine and you can’t have it bear!

The ol' moose

The ol’ moose

Bear in a cave with a bunch of cave dwelling nymphs. The one getting her arm eaten on is quite amusing.

Bear in a cave with a bunch of cave dwelling nymphs. The one getting her arm eaten on is quite amusing.

Then there is an old mock mine and when I went inside I found this Lil Bit of a bear growling at me…

Lil Bit bear growler

Lil Bit bear growler

A bear bench full of nymphs.

A bear bench full of nymphs.

Seeing the fall foliage starting to appear and realizing summer has disappeared… has me looking forward to snow!

Autumn

We drove up to Cooper Landing this evening for a Recycled Fashion Show (more on that in another post) and along the way stopped to enjoy Nature’s beauty. The Chugach National Forest and the Kenai lake are here. It is a beautiful wide spot in the road. Enjoy some of the pictures we took.

Across the river, Chugach National Forest

Across the river, Chugach National Forest

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Some fall foliage starting to turn.

A pretty little spot with fall foliage and a spawning salmon, can you see it?

A pretty little spot with fall foliage and a spawning salmon, can you see it?

Here it is!

Here it is!

Not the best for clarity but you can definitely see the salmon now!

Not the best for clarity but you can definitely see the salmon now!

Some exposed roots and a couple of small animal burrows. Neat stuff along the trails.

Some exposed roots and a couple of small animal burrows. Neat stuff along the trails.

Dogwood

Dogwood

Wild rose hips.

Wild rose hips.

All this and so much more. You have to see it to believe it and really appreciate the beauty that is our home. ❤ Alaska.

 

Kenai River Festival 2015

It’s that time of year again! Fun in the summer sun at the Kenai River Festival. The kids enjoyed the human Foosball and all of the fun activities in the kids zone. There is much to learn about our beautiful river and the salmon who come home every year.

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Watching the game.

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 Licking the cotton candy off of her fingers.

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The human Foosball arena.

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All ready to play.kids.krf.6 kids.krf.7

Something smells fishy!

View out my door…

One simply does not grow weary of the view.

Sunset and the treeline on the north side of our property.

Sunset and the treeline on the north side of our property.

Photo by Thing 1.

Siblings

We have Mother’s Day, we have Father’s Day, we even have Grandparent’s Day. But what bout those pesky brothers and sisters?

Today is National Siblings Day. A relatively new holiday (and not officially recognized yet) it is merely a teenager, 14 years old. But for those of us who grew up tolerating annoying little sisters and brothers, or bossy big know-it-all sisters or even the over-protective brother, this is momentous. We finally get a day set aside to reminisce those wonderful memories of growing-up with other little people under the same roof.

I have three biological siblings and many more non-bio siblings that have joined the family over the years. Most of my memories are naturally of those whom shared the same roof as I, even if for short periods of time. I had the torturous experience of growing up with two full-time siblings until I was an advanced teenager…then came Mert. Periodically we had Billy & Mike for summer visits.

collage

Those mug-shots are from somewhere circa 1990-ish.

Most of my memories about growing up with my siblings involved some sort of fighting or disgruntlement. There were many grave injustices, which of course always happened to me... There were “clean up the room” fights, and “who does the dishes” fights, and “why did you cut my doll’s hair off” fights, and no one will ever forget the “why did you paint my Bon Jovi Scarf” epic fight. The “stay on your side of the bed” fight was a regular occurrence in our case, my sister and I always shared a room except for a few brief moments in history.

There were astonishing amounts of “why do I always have to do all the work” statements and plenty of rolling of glasses-clad eyes and sighs… oh the sighs.  But there were those tender moments…

*crickets*

Surely, there were tender moments?? Right??

Ah yes, but those came later. Much later. Grown adult moments. Holding each other’s newborn babies, or getting birth announcement phone calls. Being in the wedding party. A sweet hug after a long absence. Rejoicing in one another’s joys. A strong embrace in moments of grief. Sharing an inside joke, or a good laugh after a stinky fart…(outside mind you). And copious amounts of adult beverages.

The Fab Four

The Fab Four

Now look at us, all grown up!

They are mine. I am theirs. We cannot deny each other, we are stuck with one another for life. 😉 *evil laughter*

I love them & miss them all. Even my “new” siblings who joined in along the way: Missy & Matt & Kathleen & Sean & JOHN!!

Our Seder

…it was a bit unorthodox, but it works for us!
Since the kids are still quite young we had some fun making a Pesach tablecloth telling the story of the 10 plagues. We used some inspiration from Challah Crumbs coloring pages and fabric markers and got to work. I spaced ten circles around an oval, each representing one of the 10 plagues that hit Egypt-recorded in Scripture, encircling the Hebrew word for Pesach on our tablecloth. We don’t use the typical seder plate, so our table-cloth is sort-of our seder setting.

Thing 1 and I did most of the work. I sketched out the rough drawings and she got to work coloring in the motifs. Starting with #1, her specialty (Egyptology) and making her lettering look like it has little highlight bubbles… 🙂 She is proud of her little signature marks and she is quite creative (and knowledgeable about Egypt’s history).pesach2015

Thing 2 and Lil’ Bit preferred to play outside, they didn’t realize all of the fun we two were having… until they came in, and great wailing and gnashing of teeth came to pass when they discovered only two motifs remained! *gasp*

Once we finished our art work we heat set the cloth. We’ll add a few finishing touches with some white puffy paint so our table-cloth will be textured. Then some hemming of the two ends. Another project for another day is making some matching napkins and matzah covers.

pesach2015.2We enjoyed various modern Passover songs, including the best ever… Bohemian Rhapsody parody. You should watch it. Our meal was a seasoned, seared beef roast, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts & matzah w/karpas and charoset of course. And wine. White Merlot is yummy! And of course, it was enough!

Much to Thing 2’s dismay, Thing 1 discovered the afikomen and was awarded a cash prize. With a lesson about grace and mercy, Thing 2 and Lil’ Bit were rewarded with small gifts of their own. Teaching moments… once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler.

We have a few new recipes to try this year for our week of Unleavened Bread but are already looking forward to next year and our cool tablecloth. ❤

What a special surprise!!

Alaska has a lot of wildlife that we like to see, and we see frequently. Caribou are one of the critters that we rarely see here on the Kenai. We have a small herd, and occasionally see them from afar. This morning we were blessed with a special visit from a small herd right here crossing our property!! So cool!

Bull, checking me out.

Bull, checking me out.

The dog was barking and caught the bull’s attention, then he spotted me. He kept a watchful eye on me for a few minutes while I snapped some pics from up the drive.

A few young ones.

A few young ones.

My photos are grainy, that ol’ bull wouldn’t let me get any closer. I didn’t get an accurate count but I think there were 8-9 altogether.

Crossing the drive, headed for the trees.

Crossing the drive, headed for the trees.

They crossed through our pit then headed off into the trees.

Hoof print.

Hoof print.

I could safely follow along now, and the neighbor boys joined me as we went looking for them. We spotted their tracks headed into the trees…

Tracks up the embankment.

Tracks up the embankment.

And then we spotted them through the trees before they disappeared.

Bye bye Bou!!

Bye bye Bou!!

It was so awesome to get to see them so close. The kids got to look at them from the window, they crossed over not far from the house so the vantage point was good. I love Alaska. ❤

Every Little Boy’s Dream…

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men.boys

A WINNER!!

At the Kenai River Festival the kids all participated in a drawing for an iPad mini. They had to take their passport to education and visit at least 12 booths, having each booth validate their passport. Then at the end of the day we turned in the passports for a drawing for the iPad. The tub they were placing them into was stuffed full and this was the second day with another day to go. Thing 1 was super excited about the possibility of winning the iPad, she’s been asking for one for months now. I gave her the “be realistic dear” talk, trying to help her understand the odds were not in her favor to win.

Ha. Guess I should have saved my breath.

The little stinker won!

When I got the call from the Kenai Watershed Forum I said “No way!!” With over 1000 entries! I think I was excited as I knew she would soon be. We went before he city council meeting that night to have it presented to her. She got to have her picture taken with the Mayor and city council members along with a radio interview!

City Council Meeting Photo courtesy of the Kenai Watershed Forum

City Council Meeting
Photo courtesy of the Kenai Watershed Forum

My baby was on the radio, she’s famous! 😉 She did such a good job on the interview, I am so proud of her!

Being interviewed by the famous Katie Quinn for the local radio station.

Being interviewed by the famous Katie Quinn for the local radio station.

What a blessing! That little device really has made life easier for us. With a mifi connection and the iPad the kids can Skype again and each of them have some fun and educational games to play for reward time.

 

 

More on the Birthday Girls

Big Girl’s Birthday

Thing 1 had her birthday earlier this month. For a special treat we went out to eat and she got to pick the location. And she got some super fun stuff for her birthday: a fashion design set and a portable CD player (with download capabilities…). Her Dad sent her a $20 gift card and she was able to pick up a new outfit (a bright pink and white striped dress with leggings), a new pair of flip-flops, a matching bow, socks, colored pencils, a sketch pad and a new purple water bottle. She is quite the shopper! She also got to pick out some really cool sticker play-sets that the babysitter got her. What fun!

Here’s the Big Girl doing some of her fashion design….

My little fashion designer!

My little fashion designer!

Yesterday she got a surprise package from Grammy & Papa will lots of fun hair things and girly stuff which made her day. She’s been feeling a bit forgotten on her birthday this year so she’s finding out that sometimes good things come to those who wait!

Here’s one of her fashion designs:

fashiondesign

Little Bit’s Birthday

We spent several hours roaming about the Kenai River Festival for something special for her birthday. She had a blast making all sorts of crafts.

Here’s her salmon that she painted. Aunt Claire will love the hot pink color that she picked out!

Hot Pink Salmon

Hot Pink Salmon

 

Here’s the birthday girl with her haul from the festival:

Little Bit and a bag full of goodies!

Little Bit and a bag full of goodies!

She’s also wearing her new outfit she picked out and the matching hair bows and glittery flip-flops she purchased with her $20 gift card from her Dad along with a Hello Kitty coloring book and crayons. She’s a pretty good little bargain hunter too!

She managed to get some pretty cool birthday presents a junior fashion designer set (so she can be just like big sis!) and some new Hello Kitty socks. She also got a Hello Kitty Lego set from the babysitter! What a score!

Plus yesterday she got a surprise package from Grammy & Papa with all sorts of fun little girl things in it for her birthday. She was thrilled!