Summer 2011

Our summer has been full of things to do and full of nothing to do.

Here's some of what we did:

Blueberries and Rasberries:

We have a big field of low-bush blueberries less than a mile from our house. We went picking 4 different times. The low bush aren't as easy to harvest. It takes some work. The rasberries we found were a bit farther away. On Eielson Airforce Base and we up in the hills. We made it an outing with a bunch of other mothers and kids. It's so fun to just harvest out of the woods these berries that are so expensive to buy in the store.

The girls enjoying some of the fruits of their labor.

I only made one batch of blueberry muffins, but we made jars and jars of blueberry jam, syrup, blueberry and rasberry jam.

Golden Days Parade:

What is summer if you don't go to a parade? We went downtown to watch the Golden Days Parade. We got there so early that we saw the Golden Mile Fun Run, it inspired us to try it next year as a family.

Ella not wanting her picture taken, and Shad forcing her to smile.

Amaya was playing shy too. But now that I have a super speedy camera, she was not match. I caught her between hiding her face.

Dash is a handsome good sport.

Lazy Days of Summer:

We had a very cold summer low 60s and high 50s and rain for much of it, sadly this made us want to stay inside. It did give the kids a chance to be together.

Amaya reading to Dash (no she doesn't know how to read yet)

Ella has always been our snuggle-bug and when she found Dash sleeping on the chair, she couldn't resist. She inserted herself into a protest-free snuggle.

On one of the rare warm days, we went to Chena lake to soak up some warm sun. Though we had friends there, the girls were more content to play with each other. I ran down the beach to catch this moment. I love when my girls get along.