Hatcher Pass Hill Climb

June 19 is possibly the most important and anticipated day in Kep's summer... it's the Hatcher Pass Hill Climb! I am so proud of his love for exercise and determination and I'm also thinking... he is crazy to LOVE climbing a mountain on his bike! OUCH!!! But, he LOVES to do it and we LOVE to cheer him on as we did on this foggy Sunday morning, alongside our Young Life buddies! It was so thoughtful of them to come encourage Kep and (cousin) Keeton up the mountain. Here's most of the YL kids, in the clouds, making some noise for the racers! Savannah was totally fine with cheering from the ground!
Our favorite father at the top of Hatcher's Pass with his proud kiddos on Father's Day!

We had already made a last minute plan to hike after the race so we didn't let the wet and cold change our plans! These clouds were insane... we were dripping 1/2 way up the hike!

Now that Savannah is 3... we encouraged her to do this hike on her own! Here she is 1/2~way up and oh~so proud of her new skill!!! ;o)

This was Savannah and Dane's first hike with their own legs doing the work~ thumbs up for them!

Snow on June 19th!?! I was a li'l disapointed because it felt like the snow just finally melted from our lawn but these boys were PUMPED, to say the least! There was a snowball fight between the dads and boys for about a 1/2 hour or so... until one snowball landed in the wrong spot~ tears! Even so, gReAt TiMeS!!!

Savannah thought she was so funny and was convinced that she surprised Kep with her snowball!

What a fun way to spend Father's Day with Kep's favorite things and our friends, the DeKruifs! The kids and I are incredibly blessed to have Kep in our lives!!! Love you, #1 dad!

li'l su campout with friends

If it isn't obvious from all our past posts... we love camping! Camping is even better when you have friends along and 2 days of 80~degree weather! So, in mid~June we had a blast camping out by the Little Su River with our good friends, the Davies! They have 3 sweet children whom we all love spending time with.

who knew the water pump would provide such entertainment!?! This was so cute to watch Nathan use all that he had to try and get Savannah some water... what a gentleman! ;o)

These boys are definitely all~Alaskan! If there's a sled around, you gotta use it... so these 2 second~borns were sledding down a rocky hill! (I added this pic in the wrong spot... they are in jeans and sweatshirts because it was 8 in the morning and was rather chilly after a cloudless night!)

This next shot cracks me up... the kids were so excited to be on the Davies' boat that they didn't even care that some were still wearing their helmets or that there was no water nearby... there was fishing to be done!!!

another fun shot of these 2 peas in a pod on our boat ride down the Li'l Su...

where we landed on a sandy beach to spend the next few hours "fishing", digging, and snacking...

Uncle Teagen came along with us and gave Parker some sweet duck feet!

here is Parker fishing with his good buddy, Megan. They were born just a day apart and we are always surprised at how similar their personalities are... it was so cute to watch them fish and how Parker took the time to unhook their lines~ just like his dad!

Teag's face says it all... he couldn't believe how much PINK is all around his niece!

OH MY, these 3~year olds were cracking us up... welcome to their spin class! Nathan and Savannah are both new to training wheel bikes and they kept getting high centered so they decided it was more fun to just stay put and spin! And, it was easier for the adults as it kept them entertained for 20 minutes at a time and all through the evening til our midnight bedtime! Uncle Teagen told us he overheard Savannah asking Nathan if they could stop and go have a running race and Nathan said, "5 more minutes, 5 more minutes." And Savannah, true to her negotiating~self, replied with, "how 'bout "free" (3) more minutes?" To which, Nathan agreed "OK"!!! Haha~ too funny as neither of them have any concept of time but they obviously hear their moms saying this to them all the time! ;o)

It was solstice weekend so we all just kept putting on more layers as we laughed around the campfire! The sun was still bright and attitudes were happy until we finally headed into our campers at midnight! Fun day with fun friends. Savannah especially took to Miss Allison!

and here are the 2 cuties that are truly outnumbered by boys... soon there will be 5 boys between our 2 families! Savannah and Megan will have to stick together!

Thanks Davies for a sweet and memorable Solstice!

new backyard: phase 2

This new backyard project has proven to provide our kids with a hefty paycheck!!! We think it's awesome that they enjoy helping! We don't care how many rocks they're actually moving to the right place, as long as they are having fun and "working"... we hope it's teaching them a good work ethic!

I have a garden~ this is phase 1 of our garden! We had worked most of June on backyard projects and spent the remainder of the time camping... so, when it was time to find a spot for our li'l garden we just put it together on a slope and thought it looked good! Oh my goodness, what were we thinking!?! We didn't think, we just wanted to be done with projects! I planted the seeds in perfect li'l rows and then got out the hose and quickly realized... it's not real smart to put a garden on a slope! So, that garden will be moved as soon as we get the rest of the yardwork done and we'll hope for more successful gardening in 2012!!!

Our cute Noah moving a li'l shovel full at a time into his li'l wheelbarrow!

Homer and Spit

Teagen was a great sport... he slept with all 3 kiddos on the King side of the pop~up! There was no convincing any of the kids to join mom and dad's side especially since Uncle Teagen tells much better bedtime stories! I think Savannah's "Purple Bear Teddy Bear" (see what I mean about literal names!?!) is Snow White in this story and all 3 kids are totally loving another storytime with Teag!

Our Homer campout was amazing and then we topped it off with this incredible eagle show. The eagles' names are Homer and Spit... it was such a treat to see them up close and personal!

OH my... they are intimidating, yet graceful!

This is why we call Teagen the "Yes Man". He will never say "no"... even if it means he is scrunched between two carseats for 6+ hours. A fun weekend in Homer has these 3 all tuckered out! We love you Teag and we are thankful to have you along on our family adventures!

all of us in Seldovia

Once the "men" were done fishing, we gave them a tour of all the wood carvings! Savannah was a proud tour guide and the boys were ready to run and climb!

men fish... ladies tour Seldovia

We planned our trip to Homer to camp with Mo~mo and Uncle Teag and to let the kids experience tide pools. But, we had no idea that we would go on our own personal halibut charter and tour Seldovia! When we drove onto the Homer Spit, Mo~mo called her good friends that were gonna be camping there and they invited us to camp right next to them along the beach. Then, they invited the "men" to come out fishing while the "women" got dropped off in Seldovia~ we could not believe it! Thank you Parkers~ we have always wanted to do both of these activities and it was such a treat!
Noah and Parker with their first catches from the ocean... red rockfish!

The ladies enjoying coffee (and hot "toto") at a quaint li'l coffee shop along the Seldovia Slough, it all sounded perfect until I said "slough"!!! It was a li'l chilly and most the shops were closed, being that it was Sunday, so we spent quite awhile just sipping and chatting before we ventured on...

These wood carvings were amazing~ Savannah loved her personal photo shoot!

Then, we wandered through the harbor~ I have always loved looking at the clever names on boats!

and this is where we ended up for awhile as this otter was entertaining to watch. I asked Savannah what we should name our li'l friend and she came up with a very clever name... "Otter"! OK! In case we ever get a boat, I don't think she'll be naming it... as all her stuffed animals are named according to their animal name~ too funny!

Isn't Seldovia gorgeous and quaint! We loved walking around on this quiet Sunday morning and I hope to go back on a weekday when the shops are open!