Home at last!!!

There's no place like home.

There's no place like home.

There's no place like home!!!!

My camera died on me about a week ago...

so no pictures.

maybe I shouldn't have taken it on the zipline & kayaking :)

But I am SO VERY glad to be home.

Andrew flew up to Utah last week to meet us for a wedding.

which was wonderful since I hadn't seen him for TWO MONTHS!

then he drove home with us.

There was too much STUFF and too many people

in that Yukon.

for 18 hours.

straight.

PLUS the airconditioning only worked part of the time.

And I was tired of driving... and sitting.

THEN I had to go through 2 months of mail.

Found out I let the life insurance lapse.

oops.

Now it is back to the real world.

But I am so grateful for a wonderful journey!

To Grandmother's house we go....

After we got off the ferry, we spent some time in Bellingham, where Robert and I met (24 years ago!) But I will have to wait to put the pictures up until I can use the laptop again. From Seattle, we drove to Roseburg, OR where we swam with the kids and then Robert helped me finish up my 50 miles biking in Oregon. Way fun! Then we had a LONG driving day to get to my mom's house outside King City, CA. It is definitely in the country and we have had a BLAST! My step-sister, Ann came down from Fort Irwin her 3 kids and it has been non-stop fun....

Shea and her cousin, Jillian feeding the cows

Emily, Jillian and Shea with their glowsticks.

Braden and Zachary playing on the 1947 Army Jeep.

every boy's dream!

Me, Shea and Jillian in Aunt Nix's swimming pool.


Cousin swim time!

Robert's perfect dive!

Grandma Zee and Emily washing off the mud.

(or maybe it was cow poop?)

All the kids and Janet in the Jeep after swimming...

A hard day of playing and swimming....

Supper time!

the kids shucking corn for dinner....

YUM!!!

A sad goodbye...

We left Ketchikan Wednesday evening on the ferry....

arriving in Bellingham, WA this morning at 8:00.

2 nights.

no cabin.

hard floor.

screaming babies.

snoring weirdos.

(but hey- that's how I did it when I was a kid!)

I asked the kids what their favorite thing in Ketchikan was...

they both said Ziplining!

Robert favorite was beachcombing.

My favorite....

Everything!

except the mosquito's.

and expensive groceries.

and leaving.

Sorry no pictures...

I think I was too sad to take any as we left :(

Kayaking

Always looking to save a few bucks, we decided to take kayaks out by ourselves rather than go with a tour. ($90 vs $250). It was a perfect day to be out on the water. Maybe not four hours though. My arm muscles felt like jelly when we where done!! But it was worth it!

Braden and I went together -

he paddled like a man!

Shea had a pretty easy life with Robert

doing most the work.

Shea brought her dog -
of course!

Our own private beach

for a few minutes of rest.

Isn't this a beautiful scene??!!

Eagles

There are eagles everywhere here...

When I saw this eagle, I thought it was a carving,

until it moved!

Shea took this eagle-in-flight picture

amazing!

Just hanging out downtown.

Gypsy

About two weeks ago, we were at Ward Lake and the kids started playing with a dog that was there with a wonderful lady that turned out to be my 9th grade home ec teacher. Small world! She saw how much the kids loved playing with Gypsy and offered to let us borrow her whenever we wanted. Today was a heat wave of 75 degrees and perfect for taking a dog to the beach. What fun!

throw stick.

watch gypsy fetch.

watch gypsy shake all over mom.

watch gypsy roll in dirt.

repeat.

Beatiful day at the beach!

Ward picnic

Today was the Ketchikan ward pioneer picnic. An amazingly beautiful day!

Family photo.... right after Shea won the pie eating contest.

Go Shea, go!

Braden and some friends out swimming on a log.
that's a cruise ship leaving in the background

Braden working hard at playing!

These are a few of my favorite things...

One the best things about Ketchikan is all the amazing plants... so here are a few of my favorites:

fireweed

grows everywhere and is SO beautiful!

blueberries.

blueberry pancakes, oatmeal, muffins.

blueberries and angel food cake.

I'll eat blueberries and anything!

salmonberries.

very yummy to eat!


skunk cabbage.
stinky - but cool looking.

devil's club

evil, evil thorns.

(related to Sasha)



daisies and buttercups

the roads are lined with these.

so beautiful!

Zipline Adventures

We did the Southeast Zipline Adventure... a drizzly day that dried up just as we got started.

a little scary.
a lot of fun.
can we do it again?

getting ready.

note the older couple in the background.

if they can do it... I definitely better not scream like a girl!

Shea just after she landed from one of her zips.

Braden getting ready to take off.
smart boy left his glasses at home.
but they would be easier to find here than in a lake.

Robert coming in

the course also included some rope stuff.

I much preferred the ziplines!

Action shot of me coming in and Braden going out..

favorite shot of the day -

One of the zips required a running start

Shea was a bit slow and had to pull herself the rest of the way

with a rope. She ended up flipping almost upside down.

loving it all the way!

Beaver Falls Trail

Ketchikan only has 16 miles of road going north (we are staying about 12 miles out) and about 11 going South. Yesterday we went all the way south and took the Beaver Falls hiking trail. The kids did great (after I told them I was going to eat their donuts at the end of the hike if they kept complaining!)

It was a pretty good climb going up to the falls.

This picture is at the top of the falls.

Beautiful views... I LOVE the colors

of the mountains in the background.

They are all on other islands.

Shea's new favorite flower.

Purple.

Of course.

Looking out... just ocean and islands.

City Park and Eagle Sanctuary

Yesterday, we went to city park which also has the Eagle Sanctuary and Fish Hatchery.... I wish Lubbock had a park like this!

We were able to watch Isreal Shortridge carve a totem pole (cost is only $4,000 a foot - should I get one?) Shea and Braden each bought a greeting card print of his. Shea's is a killer whale and Braden's is a wolf. He was kind enough to sign and date them for the kids.

The eagles here are unable to live in the wild, but they make their sanctuary as similar as possible to their habitat.

I love this eagle close-up!