THE fair

another fav AKan August activity is the good ole AKan State Fair... we were blessed with another outing of sunshine and happy kiddos! Yes~ success!!! What's a fair without plenty of pix to remember the fun times... here's our day captured in MANY shots!

Savannah and her first taste of Dippin' Dots~ Teag was thrilled that he now has a Dippin' Dot buddy!

Pelican... I had no idea they were so BIG~ Parker requested a picture! ;o)

Noah was so cute... all on his own the day before the fair he asked what was the name of the "BIG circle ride" because he wanted that to be his first ride! And, we heard about the ferris wheel for the next 24 hours until he got off... he loved it!

And, Savannah wanted nothing more than the "horsey ride" and the "pink elephants"! She smiled the whole time and everytime she passed her dad and brothers... she waved her princess wave!

BMX Stunt Show~ these guys are amazing!

face painting... this is the first year our kids showed any interest in getting their faces painted. It's easy to see that they're still a li'l apprehensive about getting it done but as soon as they came out of the painting booth...

they were all smiles!

Teag~ Teag~ Teag! He just couldn't resist the temptation to be Spidey with his nephews, especially when Noah asked him to get the full Spidey paint! Here they are acting tough!

and then there's Sensei Wu (LEGO Ninjago character) meets Spidey! Yep, we were THAT family walking around with 2 Sensei hats!

Savannah was so stinkin' adorable with her first face painting... we had to pin back her bangs so it could all be seen by everyone!

FiReWoRkS... a perfect way to end a perfect day at the fair!

blueberry tradition

blueberry pickin'~ it's just what you do in August! We are not hard core blueberry pickers and we only ever get about 2 gallons because we have li'l ones in tow but we love to do it! Every year it gets easier to take the munchkins up there as they become better pickers, themselves. This year was by far our fav trip up to Hatchers because the sun was shining... no rain while picking~ that's a first for us! YaY! The boys were so fun... they kept running through the brush looking for the best blueberry bush... like a treasure hunt. Then, we'd hear one yell out "JACKPOT" and the other would go dashing over to help harvest the jackpot bush! Too fun~
Savannah with her "jackpot bush"~ she did a great job, too!

I love that I have a hubby that thinks this is a fun family tradition. This year the rifle came along as some of our buddies spotted a momma bear in Hatcher's back in May... now I'm a tad~bit scared to be in Hatcher's without a gun!

another cool part of blueberry pickin'~ is having Uncle Teag along the last 2 years!

ha~ this pic cracks me up... it appears as though Teagen just stole all of Savannah's blueberries! hmm!?!

Savannah has her own branch... this was a great way to keep our youngest into blueberry pickin'. She wasn't feeling totally great (a li'l headcold), was tired of standing and wanted to go back home so I was trying to come up with something to make her last... so, I started breaking off branches full of blueberries and then she could just sit and pick blueberries... PERFECT!!! Then, we got about a 1/2 hour more of pickin' done!

what's a blue sky day in Hatcher's... without a family pic!?! so glad the rifle could be a part of our new family pic~ so AKan!

a fun evening as a family... topped off with Swedish pancakes with our tart Hatcher blueberries!

1st professional race shot

Parker's 1st road race

Tour of Anchorage was a busy and exciting weekend for all of us and especially for Parker! The Arctic Bicycle Club added a kids' bike race in between the different divisions and it was perfect since they already had the whole street closed off from traffic! Parker and his friends, David and Abby, raced along with about 50 other 6-12 year olds for 3.2 miles! They each did amazing! Here they are posing with their first bike bibs!

Then, they got their first interview and were featured on our local Channel 11 News~ Abby did a fabulous job answering the reporter's questions but the best part was one of David's answers... "My goal is to just beat these 2!" Ha~ the parents all got a good laugh on that one! But he did it, David came through with his goal... he beat Abby and Parker! ;o)

These 3 racers had plenty of people to cheer them on, including these 2 second~borns! It was fun for Parker to have his Uncle Teagen there for yet another BIG day in his life!

And, Savannah in her la~la land... she has her own rock, a G~2 that's stained her face and she's right dab in the center of the race!

Here Parker comes! He rocked! (these pix are blurry since we don't have a super classy camera!)

and there he goes... finishing his first bike race!

The race was topped off with recieving their medals from an Olympian! Kikkan Randall, a famous AKan Cross Country skiier, came to start the first kids' race and she congratulated them all at the finish line with their medals! So, of course we HAD to get our picture taken with an Olympian!!! What a fun day that will be remembered fOrEvEr!!!

3rd in TOA

wowzas~ that was one busy weekend! Kep trains hard on his bike all year and looks forward to these road races. This past weekend was the "Tour de Anchorage" where he competed in a variety of races, totaling 5.... ouch!!! But, he did it and finished 3rd in his division~ YaY Kep! The best part of all the racing is hanging out with our good friends, the Novaks. Our kids love David and Abby! There's the pit crew!

Memory Lake Derby 2011

"Popeye" is the name we chose for our children to call Kep's dad. He is one silly and fun~loving man so it is only suiting that he be called by a funny name! Well, this Memory Lake Derby was started by Popeye... he buys killer prizes for the largest trout caught in his lake by any Kroon member! Last year, I believe Uncle Tills won and our boys are determined to beat his record. So, we went out on a gorgeous AKan evening and the challenge is ON...
our cutest li'l fisherwoman patiently watching her line

and there it is... Noah's Batman rod hooked this trout but he was too scared to reel it in so Parker took on the fun challenge. Parker reeled in this 19 1/4 inch Rainbow Trout like a pro... now we have to convince him to hold the slimy thing like a pro, plyers just won't do!!! ;o) Although, I don't blame the guy!

And, since Noah's rod did hook the current 1st place finisher in the MLDerby'11... he needed to have a photo with the trout, too!

cousin time

It was sweet to watch Savannah love on li'l Cason~ love that boy!

Cousins Cason, Allison and Ella were up visiting for Uncle Keeton's wedding and we all loved getting to hang with them! Our kiddos appreciate any cousin time, they can get!