Adventure Trip #4 to Cannery Road Beach and Kenai Landing

Well, it has been a while since my friends and I have had one of our little adventures, partly because of my family stuff, but also because of the less than appealing weather.  There is just not any motivation to go and hike with kids that are already about to break down when the weather is also "breaking down!!"  While the rain is really good for the land and it keeps our fire danger down, which is important.  So today was our first day of full sun all day in a long long time, basically since our last trip! 

So Crystal got home and let her kids play outside instead of napping, and I told my kids that we were going to the beach and of course they wanted the neighbors to come and in 20 minutes we had decided to go and left.  That is 11 kids and 2 adults ready to go in 20 minutes!!!! That never happens :)  , but today the sun was out and we were ready to be gone! 

We had a wonderful time playing on the beach, and the kids loved splashing around in the water.  The waves were unusally big for here which made it even more fun for the kids to play.  We were concerned for the little ones just because the current was pretty strong and it was easily knocking them down.  After a few hours at the beach we headed to the Kenai Landing, which was the old cannery 50 or so years ago.  They have turned many of the buidings into sleeping quarters and there is a few shops and a resturant there.  We walked around and took in the scenery and stopped for a few photo ops too!

The 4th of July

Today was a most unusual day.  It started out beautifully sunny, but that soon faded to dark ominous clouds, which dumped rain drop after rain drop.  Not extremely inspiring for a day of picnicing and fireworks (which we can not fire off here in Soldotna), so instead we stayed inside and cleaned a little, played with puzzles, and visited with friends as they popped in and out throughout the afternoon.  It was a slow paced day, and most relaxing! I just wanted to express how extremely greatful we are to all the soldiers that have served, are serving, and will serve this country and protected the freedoms that we often take for granted.  Thank you for another year of service and protection.
Tomorrow is camps' country fair  for family camp, which we try to have on the 4th but sometimes does not always work out.  There are lots of games for the kids to do and the parents can sit and talk with friends and family.  Chad will be roasting two pigs for 12 hours(starting at 3am), as well as cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs for our family campers to enjoy for dinner!  Hopefully we will have a rain free day and I promise to take lots of pictures!

A Trip Home

Tonight I fly to Montana, where I will be going to my grandmother's funeral.  She died on Wednesday after a hard battle with Alzheimers.  Her funeral is on Monday morning and then I will fly back to Alaska on Wednesday.  I know that she is happy in Heaven and I am glad that she does not have to struggle through this world any more, but she will be missed greatly by our family.  Please keep us in your prayers.

Ohmer Lake Adventure Trip #3

Ohmer Lake was just a short hike this time at 1/4 mile, but it was to the lake, and had a cabin with a table and a fire pit and grate over the top for cooking.  This time Crystal, Farrah, and Farrah's friends the Gails, along with myself took our 18 children and they all had a spectacular time.  We had hot dogs and steaks, and they played hide and go seek for hours.  We had boat rides and smore's with giant marshmellows, and wonderfully icky lake creatures to keep the kids entertained as well.  We rented the cabin from the forest service and a few of our group might go back up and spend the night.  It is a peaceful spot to enjoy nature and relax!

Postponed

So Crystal and I missed our adventure last week and possibly this week too.  However we both had our own adventures this last weekend, and will probably have some more this week that I am sure will be posted.  So for now our adventure trips are postponed until next week where we have a cabin rented and a hike to get to it all by the lake!!  More to come on this later!!! 
So this week while we have a few more days with Aunt Hollie :) we are thinking of taking her on a hike, not sure where we will go yet, but I will post pictures of it when we get back :)!!!

5K and Triathlon

This week has been a busy one for Emma and Madison.  On Wednesday evening they headed off to Wagon Train for camp, and then early Saturday morning I grabbed them and we headed to town to run in a 5K race (3.1 miles).  They both did really well and finished strong for being so tired from being at camp!!  Then that evening we road our bikes over the course for their triathlon the next morning.  It was nice to show them what to expect, but agian by the end they were tired and at this point I wondered if it would be good for them to do another race!  However, after an early bedtime, and up early the next morning they had seemed recovered and we headed to the tri.  They both did and excellent job, and now we know that transitions are a work in progress!! :)  I think after this experience they are willing to do more races and I am so so proud of them for doing it!

bike stands

Wonderful little things we need for triathlons :)

Bear Mountain Trail Adventure #2

So this week Crystal and I took our 11 children up Bear Mountain, which was a little less than 2 miles roundtrip, but gained 400ft in elevation.  We both are really enjoying the time that we get to do this with our kids and glad that they can go hiking so well now.  We did have a few screaming moments.....most of the way up the trail :) (which we knew going into it) but on the way back down they were all so happy and had smiles on their faces!  The kids loved the view, and Madison told me as soon as she saw it "Momma, I am going to build my house right here so I can enjoy this view every day!"   I found it quite enjoyable that these young ones could appreciate the beauty that we are surrounded by and be so excited about it.  Even though we had some hard moments with our little ones, that time spent with the kids far outweighed that part of the trip.  I am looking forward to what is ahead for the summer! Stay tuned for the next adventure!!!!

Here is our group, except that Zechari only got his elbow in!  For some reason red was the color of the day!!!

Starting up the hill all in a row :)

Mason on one of the few times he was off my shoulders!

Heidi is sad and mad here because she got her bag of food taken by one of the other kids.  Poor little thing! She has gotten the pathetic look down :)

Looking at Skilak Lake from the top of Bear Mountain

More Skilak Lake

On our way back down stopping to look at the little swamp and flowers!

Mason and Tomi, my two little hiking buddies :)