A 4th of Fun

Why did I think taking my three boys camping would be a good idea... because I'm CRAZY... and my motto is "I can do hard things." Sorry Chris, you missed this view of Bear Valley view...

and this dirt smudged face...

and this slobbery chin (because he got his first tooth)...

and Zach using the Force, with his new Star Wars fishing pole, to reel in a big one.

Taking turns with the poles was a challenge for these eight little friends, but an even bigger challenge was for parents: try not to get snagged as the kids perfected their casts.

Jackson never seemed to get near the water without getting totally soaked. His mother, knowing his tendencies, brought an ample supply of clothing for him.

What's the Fourth without a BBQ and homemade ice cream? This time we had Vanilla... Hutching style. Rod gave each parent an ingredient for the ice cream and sent the kids down the assembly line with a baggy. At the end, they placed their zip lock bag inside a larger one with salt and ice...

and then everyone got their groove on and shook their bags for about tne minutes.

With a little help from mom, this soft serve went perfectly with the dutch oven brownies.

We had a little bedtime snack of roasted marshmallows before putting everything into the bear proof... cars. Apparently, in the early hours the morning of our arrival a black bear was snooping around camp eating leftovers. He left one muddy paw print on the hibachi grill as his calling card. We did not want any more unauthorized visitors in our camp.

We tunneled on over to Windier-- I mean Whittier-- for some 4th of July festivities.

This small town put on a traditional...

and not so traditional parade.

But who really cares as long as they throw candy, right? ;)

Tethering Ethan to this metal buoy seemed like a good way to keep him from blowing away.

The most fun part for the boys was the whip cream throw.

It was so windy that we tried putting rocks on our plates to keep the food from blowing away. When our full cans of soda started to blow over we gave up and retreated back to our non-windy camp site. In the end the boys were having so much fun our overnighter turned into two. My boys just couldn't get enough playtime with the Kent kids. This camping trip was unique in so many ways. I missed having Chris' extra pair of hands, but mostly I just missed not being able to make these memories with him. Thank you, dear friends, for helping me with the boys and allowing us to share this holiday with you.

And Jackson, I know you were only trying to SAVE Zach from crocodiles in the river, not throw him to them.

Doctor's Orders

I see biking... a lot of biking in my future. When I met with the orthopedic doctor today and he reviewed my films he said... NO SURGERY! YAHOO! I really bruised my tibia badly, but the hot spot they saw on my meniscus did not show up on all views so he felt confident that surgery will not be necessary. I was advised not to run, jump, hike, or play soccer for at least the next four weeks. I can, however, bike and swim. Swimming is out, but this is prime biking season here. I borrowed a bike today and felt good overall. I plan on shopping this week for my own new wheels.

I find it interesting how the Lord prepares us for things. My husband has been a roadie for years. He hoped that I would get into it so that we could go on biking tours together. I was so wrapped up in soccer and running that I just couldn't get excited about it. Then, a couple of months ago, I was thinking of ways to challenge myself physically and considered a sprint triathlon. Long story short, I have slowly become more and more interested in getting a road bike. I've been saving up, and we planned that on this trip I would get one to bring back with me. Having already decided to start biking, a knee injury that prevents me from running has not been such a let down. Plus I'm only ten pounds away from my pre-baby weight gain and I really don't want to put anything back on.

Summer is back ON!

Going Native

Ethan felt better, so my friend Marjory and I took my little Native Alaskans to meet some Native Alaskan dancers.

The Aleut Indians are represented here.

They wore no clothing until Westerners arrived and gave them wool and buttons.

Not knowing what buttons were for, they used them for decoration.

We explored several villages from different clans.

A normal door would actually be about a third the size of this one.

This structure would house 60 to 70 clan members.

In the carving shed there was a totem pole in progress.

The boys were excited to see REAL dinosaur bones and were very disappointed to find out they were really whale bones.

They were impressive nonetheless.

We learned that Polar Bears don't taste good and they can kill you whether they are dead or alive. When alive they hunt you down by playing games. When they are stalking you they hunch down and cover their noses with their paws so they blend in with the snow. Their hides are very useful, but the internal organs can't be eaten because they have too much vitamin A in them. Also, the meat must be boiled for four days before it can be eaten. One of the guides told of a family member who only boiled it for two days before eating it, and ended up in the hospital for 13 days with liver failure.

This cache is for keeping your food safe from bears. So much for child locks on the fridge and cupboards...  to keep Ethan out we should have installed one of these instead.

The best part of the day was watching a demonstration of Aleut games. The following pictures are of different athletes, but together they showed AMAZING skill!

There are a one and two leg versions of this.

I think they said the record right now is 7' 2''.

Native children begin practicing as early as age five. However, these boys started around age twelve.

I loved this shot! To complete the task they must not only touch the ball, but also land on their feet. These boys are super fit. Did you notice the leg definition in the first picture, and the full abdominal crunch in the last?

Summertime Blues

I tangled for the ball, ten minutes left in my first soccer game in a year, twisted my knee, and fell. I got up to continue playing and quickly realized I couldn't and subbed out. With five minutes left I went back in and finished a great game.

The next morning my whole body hurt, especially my right knee and thigh. Oh well, that was to be expected. Three days later I played in another game and by the end my knee just didn't feel good. Now two weeks later my body feels great except for my knee.

Today the MRI showed a suspicious spot but I will not know the final diagnosis until Monday, but it's looking like a meniscus tear (the cartilage part of the knee), with surgery in the very near future.

After this wonderful news I was to meet some friends for dinner, but Ethan threw up in the car on the way there. It is no fun to cancel especially when everyone is already at the restaurant waiting for you. I cleaned up the poor little guy just to have him barf again, but this time insisting that I pause his show in between heaves. He then sent himself to bed unusually early. He is now up again and not doing so well. Will this be a stomach flu weekend for the whole family?

Then I got some unhappy news from my sister to top everything off.

As I sit here watching the clock until it becomes a reasonable enough hour to call my husband overseas, I open this email from him and it totally makes me laugh.

This may have crossed his mind once or twice recently, as I left him the job of painting the house while the boys and I are away.

Adventures In The Midnight Sun

My main goal this summer is to spend as much time outside as possible. Since arriving it has been mostly overcast with a bit of rain. Today the sun played peek-a-boo, but it never got above 60 degrees. After 3ish hours in the park with friends we spent the afternoon at home. After dinner we set out for our new favorite exploration spot... Cuddy Park.

One can't thoroughly explore without the proper gear...

BOOTS!

This one loves adventures as much as his brothers do and gets real cranky if he doesn't get some outside time.

The boys had to get in some serious play time before these storm clouds rolled in.

A good spy must know how to blend in with his surroundings... and pee without anyone seeing his 'privacy' (as he calls it).

These secret agents had to pass a series of booby traps and tests to prove their worthiness.

This park is also frequented by migrating geese and it takes some skill to navigate around their deposits.

Ahhhhhhhh-- the sweet smile of success!

Sometimes the boys threw flowers...

and sometimes BIG rocks.

Just when Ethan thought he'd dodged the last booby trap he got a surprise and rolled down all the rocks on the bank.

This scrape (soon to be black eye), as well as others on his elbow and back, were nice additions to the massive goose egg on the back of his head thanks to his brother walloping him with a stick earlier in the day.

He is seriously one tough (and totally filthy) cookie!