Hatcher Pass

Today is our last official day of summer. Starting tomorrow we go to endless meeting and trainings before the first day of school.
We took a shot and hoped for sun on this dreary rainy morning. Boy did we luck out. We stopped at April Bowl Trail because it looked short and sweet. We ended up at the top of a mountain and surprised by two lakes the color of the most beautiful emerald blue.
Then we explored Independence Gold Mine, and old abandoned gold mine. It was like stepping back in time.
I'll stop talking now and let you enjoy the pictures of our hike and of the mine.

Kincaid Park in July

I love sunny days! If we wake up and it's sunny, I know that we're getting out. The day before and after this were cloudy and rainy. So I'm glad we took advantage of the weather. We saw a papa moose, Denali, and wide open spaces (am I the only one who think of I Heart Huckabees?)
I've never spent so much time outside until I moved to Alaska. And I think that's a super good thing.

Kenai Peninsula Trip

What do you do when family travels to visit you in Alaska during the beautiful summer months? You do as many touristy things you can.
Day one - drive to a cabin in Sterling. Mike and I took advantage of family to go out alone. I dip netted for the first time. Only AK residents are allowed to do this. You wade out into the river with a 5 foot net on the end of a 10 foot pole and wait for salmon to swim into it. It was ridiculously difficult. The tide was in and the current was strong and I was having a hard time holding the net in place. I'm hoping that my next experience with dip netting will be more successful and I'll be stronger and less grumpy. Then we went to the river to use a rod and reel. Fishing for salmon is much different than any other fishing I've done. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly and even had a few bite but in my excitement I forgot to start reeling and I lost it. Red salmon are nuts. They're strong and jump around. That was super fun and I hope I get to do it again a lot more.
Day two - Halibut fishing in Homer. We woke up at 3am to drive to Homer for our fishing charter. It was cold, cloudy, and drizzly. I knew I'd probably feel a bit sea sick, and I'd never get my sea legs, but I didn't expect this. After every fish I'd reel in, I'd get sick. I'm not sure if it was the motion of the boat coupled with the reeling motion (those suckers were heavy!) but I threw up more than I ever have in my life. We had a good captain though, a super smart and nice guy. I didn't feel bad or embarrassed for puking in between everyone. It was a small boat so I literally had to squeeze to get to the edge of the boat.
Day three - Kenai Fjords Cruise Tour. We set out on an 8.5 hour cruise along the Kenai Peninsula and out into the gulf of Alaska. Beautiful blue skies and sunshine made this trip spectacular. We saw sea otters, puffins, sea lions, harbor seals, humpback whales, porpoises, and orcas. And we saw huge glaciers sea caves and mountains. We sat for a while watching the humpback whales feeding. They'd dive together and round up the fish. You'd see the fish jump out of the water followed by the whales. Lots of flukes and fin slaps. It was awesome. then we stayed for a whole listening and watching the Aialik Glacier. I never knew glaciers were so loud. It sounded like gunshots and explosions. Then a minute or two later a huge chunk would fall off. Simply amazing. On the way back to port we stopped at Fox Island for dinner. This was and will be probably the biggest and most special thing I've done in Alaska.
Day four - another halibut charter in Homer. I didn't attend this one. My fear of puking got the best of me so I sent Mike in my place. And from what I hear it was the most beautiful fishing experience ever. Calm seas, blue skies, humpback whales and volcanoes. Granted it was so clear our that I could see the volcano Mount Redoubt from our cabin, I know it was something special to behold on the water.
Day five - red salmon fishing on the Kenai River. Long story short, it was fun and very frustrating. After being out ALL day, I caught zero fish and left with a sunburn and sore shoulders. One day I'll get back out there and actually catch something. I'm thankful to the woman who felt sorry for me toting my twins and three yet old around, and not catching any fish, because she left two huge red salmon on our porch.
This is the way family vacations should go. Extremely fun and extremely exhausting.

Tenderfoot Campground on Summit Lake

This will be a short but sweet.
We arrived Thursday afternoon. It rained, but wasn't too cold. The creek running along the backside of the campgrounds was overflowing its banks and completely washed out 2 sites. We waited for our friend Adam and his kids to show up later. Kids played, we sat by the fire watching the daylight never really go away. Of course at night I slept on and off between wiggling out if my mummy sack to re-paci the babies, readjust Adeline when she scooted too far down into her sleeping bag, and mike's middle of the night bathroom breaks. Only to be up and at them at 4am thanks to the snaggle-toothed Ben. I threw pants and a jacket on over my jammies and Ben and I took a walk around the campground. I paid extra attention because we were in bear country, but all I saw were bunnies. Still crazy early in the morning and very bright out, I set out to make some coffee and read a new to me parenting book, 'scream-free parenting'. Not that I 'scream' but still it was good and I needed something to do.
This day was the exact opposite from our first day. It was HOT! 60 doesn't sound hot, but the sun is crazy close out here and you'll swear up a storm if you don't watch yourself. The babies were hating it, everything. They refused to nap, refused to play in the pack in play and only wanted to be worn. Mike and Adam ended up on kid duty all day about. Walking to the creek, playing in the lake, and walking up a mountain. I finally gave up trying to get the babies to sleep so we decided to go hike Devil's Creek Trail. We show up and there's a well worn hiker, his huge pack, walking sticks, and gnarly dog well equipped with bear bells. He tells us that there's a huge grizzly up there and to watch out. Great. We set out knowing we wouldn't make it far with three kids, two babies, and super sunshine. We saw columbines, bluebells, and tons of other crazy cool ferns and flowers. Then we came across it, bear scat right on the path. I'm freaking out. We're overtaken by a German who's hiking to Cooper Landing, we're talking an all day hike. Crazy. We turn back, and the speed at which we started has slowed drastically with occasional children stopping altogether and just flat out sitting on the trail. Back at camp we assess our sunburnt faces, and I suspect I've brushed up against some cow parsnip because my arm burns. We make dinner, and I start to put the babies to bed. Not happening. Seriously not happening. 3 hours worth of trying; bottles, changes, cuddles, soothing, blankets, hushes, and finally I gave up and we wore the babies as we had 'kid free' time around the fire. To top it off, Adeline got a cough, a nasty honking type if cough and Ben cut his second tooth.
Oh I forgot to add that we didn't bring enough water, and the water at the campground was from a pump and said it needed to be boiled. It was yellow, and still tasted awful. Thankfully the creek was fast moving so we filled up there. I'll never forsake water, good clean drinkable water again.
Never again I told myself. Three times we've camped and it's not getting any easier and I'm struggling to have fun. Maybe it'll get better? Like a light switch will flick on with the babies and they'll just relax, sleep, and be in the great outdoors.