First summer visitors were my parents! Bapa and Nana!
One day, my parents may want to come up for an actual, relaxing vacation, but for now.... we go, go, go!
We went to Eklutna Lake for some 4-wheeling. It was a nice day, so we ended up by the water. Which means, Josie ended up in the mud.......
It started with a smear to her face......
And ended with her in just her undies and covered from head to toe in mud.
Bapa and Nana with their wild, AK grandchildren
Salty Dawg with my daddio
He pinned a dollar bill on the ceiling!
Some daddy/daughter drinks at the bar
Can't beat that view! Beachfront camping, having a meal on the beach with an eagle perched nearby
Lines in the water for Kings
Ooops- back to Eklutna. Photos out of order...
Ooops- back to Eklutna. Photos out of order...
Beautiful day for an ATV ride and picnic lunch
Josie on the search for dall sheep, mountain goat, and bears
A great trail for my parents and Ashton on his own wheeler.....compared to our usual ATV routes!
Always a good time at Eklunta... hiking, camping, 4-wheeling, running, kayaking, swimming
Tomboy Josie- boots and a dress
River walk, searching for baby fish
Our "backyard"
After all of that explaining to Josie about butterflies wanting to fly away to search for flowers and not sit on a human's finger. And then this butterfly decides to sit on Josie's finger for awhile. Ha!
I don't think I was allowed to play soccer in the house when growing up. But here are my children, playing soccer in the house, with Bapa and Nana! :)
Nana brought books!!
They got Bapa in the air tent
Josie's first soccer season. She didn't enjoy it as much as we thought she would, but you just never know with Josie.
Off to Seward for a weekend!
Learning a card game with our neighbor, Katelyn.
Daddy trying for Kings
Ellie, Remi, Ash, Jos, rockin throwing
Got a look at that snow on top of Mount Marathon.
Got an even closer look at the whole mountain, ran it with a weighted vest. Josie hiked part way with Daddy, Ashton, and Angele!
Our girl at the bottom. She will be a contender in future mountain races, that's for sure. Impressed with her grit and checkout that dusty girl and ripped up dress!
Ash was our king catcher this summer! 1st king at ship creek
2nd king at ship creek!
Second summer visitor, my niece Shanin! She graduated high school in May, so we flew her up in June!
Hiking Baldy
She did it! This flat lander conquered a peak! Overlooking Eagle River
Pup cup for our best pup!
Fishing for Kings!
A boy and his best bud
Proud uncle right there!
Great team work!
Ashton's turn!
3rd King for Ash, ready for a bonk
Shanin's!
They dropped Josie, Tundra, and I off at the camper. Adam, Ashton, and Shanin slept on the boat overnight! :)
Off to Eklutna for a ride
landslide coming up
waterfall views
Daddy got to pitch a few to Ashton at tball
Hiking on a glacier! Made a snowman too :) In front of her right leg
Our little snowman on the snow ridge
Barely caught a glimpse of this cow and calf!
Josie's "scar" from the ATV accident with Ashton in April. We were able to meet with a pediatric plastic surgeon. He said that the trauma with the asphalt had tattooed her skin. Next step is microdermabrasion to hopefully remove or at least minimize this tattoo. He only comes up to Alaska twice a year and we are on the list for his next visit this winter. It is only cosmetic, thankfully. However, it is affecting her emotionally as strangers quite frequently ask her about it. She has also commented on how she will not look pretty until it goes away. My poor sweetie.
Ashton had his own harvest record for Kings this year! Love it!
Baaaaaack to Eklutna for some swimming. (well primary reason for the visit was to find my boot that I had dropped on the trail. But it was so nice out that it turned into swimming. in underwear, again.
FISH OOOOOOON!! Look at that face of determination! Have you ever fought a king, in river current? Well Shanin has!!!
Below is documentation of Josie's first, PURPOSEFUL, pee in the water. I didn't explain it clearly enough and hear she is, peeing, and Ashton is downstream!
Amongst the adventures, visitors, soccer, and t-ball, Adam and I played softball again. It's fun for us and also all of the kiddos enjoy getting together to play each week. Here is Josie with her friend (and possible future boyfriend), Brady. Holding hands and running to the field.
Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sue came to watch. As you can tell, Josie was very excited!
Shanin and I had a late, laaaate night visit to the gym. It was very entertaining!
Barbara Falls with Shanin
Annual Father's Day pic..... camo, boots, hats, fishing gear
More fun at the softball fields. The after-game routine is racing Luke around the bases! Ashton looked forward to this part of the night the most.
Uncle Shawn got into the racing too!
So beautiful and always exciting
Pup cup for Tundy! I just love, love, love how dogs are accepted and treated in Alaska. Always welcome and treats everywhere!
I was excited to see the mini mount marathon this year. A street race for the kiddos.
Our lovely neighbor, Ms. Debbie, engaged in backyard nerf gun fight with the kiddos. Poor Ms. Debbie can't be outside enjoying the Alaskan summer without a gunfight request from my kiddos!
The stairs. 120 stairs, that Adam and I use for training due to the fact that they are covered and in close proximity to our house and the school playground. I used rocks to tally each up/down this day. 30 times up and 30 times down. I do not recall if Adam made me wear the weighted vest or not. (he was my trainer again for Mt. Marathon and "gifted" me a 12 pound weighted vest Christmas. <insert eyeroll here>) Love/hate relationship with these stairs!
Back to Seward for the 4th of July and Mount Marathon. And Seward means low-tide creature hunts.
Princess Josie with her sea worm
Ashton's age group first. He did great amongst the herd of competitive boys!
My little runner. Running seems to be her strength. She won her age group, we think it was about 12 girls! **Also, she had a good bit of distance between her and 2nd place/the rest of the pack**
Adam on the karaoke machine! Little did we know how much this borrowed karaoke machine would impact all of our lives! It was loads of fun for us and complete strangers walking by but up for their turn on a song or two. It built confidence in some of the littles. And shortly after, a new karaoke machine made its way to both the Naber household and Harris household!
Sealife Center never disappoints. I just love these interactions and the awe
Another pic of our racers. Mount Marathon in the background!
After returning from Seward, Tundra started another phase of sickness. He was weak and unable to manage the stairs to the yard. Loss of appetite. Needed pretty constant supervision and help with being mobile even in the house. Lastly, the vet was less confident that he would pull through this one. So I stayed home from our North Carolina trip and loved on him (which included carrying his 70lbs of sweetness up and down the stairs for potty breaks and outside time). Tundra needed me. Here we are enjoying a nap on the deck, in the sunshine. It rained 90% of the time the rest of our family was gone to NC.
He thoroughly enjoyed the water!
And of course, his 1-on-1 time with Papa and GG was the best and simply priceless. He has always had us and/or cousins around. This was his first trip away- he did great and he absolutely loved it!
First time on a tube (in the water)
Josie came back with Adam and also enjoyed her 1-on-1 time with daddy, Tundy, and me.
Princess Josie hiked in her dress, all the way up Mile Hi! She is amazing!
Check her out! She is so brave and so very strong.
Look at our little hiker. She will continue to do incredible things in the mountains, whether it be racing or hunting or something else!
My girl at the first peak!
When GG, Papa, and Ashton arrived in Alaska, our main trip was to the Kenai for red salmon! One of our favorite trips of the year. Tundra was feeling better.... moving, eating, and happy. We were so glad to be able to go on this trip.
Kevin and Brittany met us there for fishing and sooooo much fun! Fish on, Kevin with a flyrod and Britt with the net.
Oh, we also stopped in Hope to get the kids on some pink salmon. This river is dark with abundance of fish swimming up, so it is a lot of fun for the kids.
Josie with the pole and Ashton on the net!
Woot woot!
Back to the Kenai. Josie in her waders, life jacket, crown, and sunglasses (for the eye protection against flying hooks) playing with a salmon on a stringer!
That's my girl, drinking juice from brother's drink hat (that matches daddy's)
Game time! Catch your limit and then play some yard games! Kevin and Brittany with great form, ready for the frisbee!
Beki checking weights, as we of course had a fish competition! Best is that wagon full of sockeye, headed to the fillet station!
Luke and Beki in ready position!
Now GG and Ashton
Back to the house for some dino play. Of course! (that's Ashton and GG's favorite)
Papa and Jos creating something incredible with those magna tiles!
Big smiles for our visit with Papa and GG! (Unfortunately, the end of their trip was heartbreaking for our family and for them, but we are so thankful for their presence and support during that time, more on that in the next post)
Trail views. This was the destination of a 5ish mile trail run.
Ashton is off to first grade!
Surprise, surprise, a dino backpack! :)
We ended summer by celebrating Josie's 4th birthday. First, a night of gravel bar camping with the Nabers, Keeners, and Angele and Katelyn.
Papa and Ashton on the river
Trail views. This was the destination of a 5ish mile trail run.
Kiddos throwing rocks into the water. They could do this for hours.
Our circle of campers
The next day we celebrated with cake, cupcakes, presents, and the reindeer farm!
Feeding caribou
Petting the biggest pig ever, who barely moved the whole time we were there!
Feeding a moose!
Birthday girl got bit by a highlander calf (her hand was flat, it was a sucky situation) So the farm owner came out to find her and brought us all to the caribou calves who were ready for a bottle feeding!
THEEEEENN all of the kids got a pony ride. She may never feed a farm animal again, BUT she can now say she has bottle fed a caribou!
Birthday girl in her birthday outfit. Our little purple, princess, fairy, tomboy! :)
See ya summer 2022, thank you for the fish in the freezer and can and for the memories
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