August 2021

There are no outdoor swimming pools in Alaska. We utilize nature's swimming pools and go to the lake.

Mirror Lake August 3, 2021

We braved the outdoors and took all 4 dogs to the lake to play in the water to fulfill Eden's dreams and wishes of playing with the dogs in the water. I think they all had a fun and dirty time.

Bath a dog AND slip n slide. It's a good way to spend the day either way.

Kael's birthday celebrations. I love how the kids always find ways to spoil one another on their birthdays and really make each other feel special in some way.

Valdez, Alaska

This trip was amazing. We rented a trailer to stay in for several nights. The first night there Kael, Derek, and I took off to go fish and caught a ton of pink salmon. The next day we rented a boat and tried deep sea fishing on our own. We passed a glacier on the boat ride, and Derek was an excellent ship captain. Valdez is so beautiful, and this trip was so much fun. At the camp ground/trailer park we were staying at there were wild bunny rabbits all over, and the kids kept naming them all. The next day we took the little kids fishing for pink salmon as well. We were hoping for silver salmon, but the run came in later, and we were just happy to catch some pinks for fun, and ended up making dog food for the dogs out them.

The first night while we were out fishing there was a huge sea lion who decided to hang out by us and fish right along with us. At one point this big guy got about 10 ft in front of me (Sharice) and we had a staring contest, in which the sea lion won and I slowly backed myself out of the ocean, declared the sea lion the better fishman, and conceded the contest to him. I'm certain he was over joyed, as I was over joyed not to make him upset at me.

 

On the drive to Valdez we made a pit stop and decided it was so beautiful we should take a picture.

Oh Captain, my captain. Captain Derek.

On the boat.

After ocean fishing we came back and got some ice cream.

We were able to go and snag for pink salmon off the bay the next day and took all the kids. There were SO many spawning salmon coming back to the hatchery. We snagged right next to the hatchery.

We got a picture at the hatchery and in the water were just thousands of spawning pink salmon. You could see the water just churning with so so so many fish. It was a little gross, but also really cool.

Valdez was amazing! We had such a fun and memorable experience. When we got home it was time to process all those pink salmon. We made homemade dog food for the dogs and they were in heaven. Elara thought the eyes were really cool, so Derek cut out a bunch of the eyes and put them in a bowl for her. She was very happy. I was thoroughly grossed out.

After waiting for a year for his turn for swim lessons, Connor was finally able to get in the water post covid! He had regressed quite a bit and was basically starting over learning to float and glide, but it didn't take him long to figure it all out again. Elara was swimming laps quickly again as well. So fun to have all 4 kids in the water at the same time.

I always love it when Derek makes a mustache for me. I love how silly he is at times, and can pull off any look. It didn't last long, but it was fun while it was there.

Derek was lucky enough to have a mission buddy live here in Alaska and after lots of failed attempts they were finally able to meet up. Cody Kreidel served in the Czech Republic the same time as Derek. He has a fishing river boat and offered to take Derek and some of the kids out on a silver salmon adventure. Derek wanted to test out his river boat he got, and it was awesome that Cody could be his guide for his first time on the river. They left at like 3 am with Derek, Kael and Eden and Cody's fiance and they all caught their limit of 2 silvers within just a couple hours, which was pretty cool. They went on the 20 mile river, and it was an amazing first trip for Derek to take his river boat out on. I was just a little jealous because those silvers were way fun to catch.

Cody and Derek

Eden and Kael with the catch of the day.

It seems like it is always raining in the summer in Alaska, especially when you are trying to fish, but it is always worth it.

So many good fish were caught.

My next project was to paint a loft bed we got for the girls room. We ended up putting Elara's mattress on the ground so it would be a bunk bed for the girls. And the next project was to paint used chest of drawers for the girls as well. It seems like I'm always looking for used furniture to restore.

Finished chest of drawers for the girls.

The finished bunk bed.

New and improved girls room so they had SO much more space. Having two twin beds were so pretty, but they just didn't have the room they needed to function, and now they have space! It didn't take them long to fill that space though. These girls work and play hard and are always creating.

Kael getting ready to process his silver salmon he caught.

Hatcher Pass, Alaska

We drove north in search of blueberries. It was so beautiful and berries were found!

I feel like the pictures never do the vastness of Alaska justice.

All the blueberries we found. Derek ended up making some delicious blueberry muffins and we made some smoothies.

The muffins!

Halusky is always a delight in our home.

Captain Stubenpants was a caterpiller that Connor found and kept for a couple weeks and when he finally died the kids gave him a glorious Viking funeral. They even played Viking funeral music.

We finally made it out to beluga point! It was really windy, and we didn't see any belugas that day, but it was beautiful and a fun adventure.

Derek found a climbing wall on facebook marketplace and decided to add it to the treehouse for the kids. It was a project of love and the little boy came out.

Derek took Kael and Eden to shoot guns. They had a fabulous time.

The dogs are so silly always finding the weirdest places to find a comfy spot.

Freya especially loves comfy and fluffy places.

First day of school photos even though we were homeschooling. We took them the first day of co op.

Our first raspberry that we planted in our yard was picked and it was a very happy moment for myself! I grew that thing! I think it was a culmination for the month of August. So many fun adventures, school starting, and then to end with something new and wonderful.