Life By a Bluff

 
 
 
 
 
 
If we step outside our door and across the driveway, there's an empty lot that ends at the bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet and the Kenai River. Ammon and Abraham have a make-believe secret fort out on the bluff, complete with a princess room for Ziya and me, a knight's room for them and many other complicated ins and outs. They like to take their light sabers out there and duke it out in battle. Here, Jacob and Ziya got caught in the middle of one of their duels! Aside from the battles, we also enjoy picking berries out there. There are some wild bushes hanging right on the edge of the bluff. Moose should probably be the only ones eating from this precarious location, but we took our chances and picked some berries and made freezer jam... ymmmmm!

Legend Has It...

Our little old neighbor Buford, tells us that fireweed, this beautiful Alaskan wildflower, actually predicts the weather. Supposedly, as soon as the fireweed is gone, the snow will come. I hope it's not true. My boys have been enjoying playing on the bluff, where there's tons of fireweed growing. I don't like to notice that each time I go out there, there seems to be less and less blossoms on the flower. See how the tuft of blossoms hangs out at the top of the flower? The petals on the bottom are long gone. Hmmm... early snow?

Fishing in Seward

On Memorial Day weekend, Jacob's co-worker and friend, Coach Trujillo, took us out to fish on Resurrection Bay in Seward. The weather forecast said the weather would be perfect... and it was! The five of us along with Coach Trujillo and his wife arrived in Seward at about noon or so. We put the boat in the water and "trolled" for silver salmon. The fish were jumping left and right, but we didn't catch any (remember, it's called "fishing", not "catching"!). We did see some otters and lots of cool birds though, and we all just enjoyed being out on the water on such a gorgeous day. Unfortunately, I learned that beautiful weather (no clouds) actually makes the water rockier. I started feeling some motion sickness, but as long as I stayed up on the deck with wind blowing in my face and doing what I called "candle blowing" breathing (like they teach in Lamaze), I was o.k.

The boys had fun hanging out on the bed and at the table eating all their snacks. They both ended up falling asleep for quite a while... I think the lull of the water was just too much for them. Ziya did great the entire time. She spent her time exploring the boat and getting passed around from arm to arm.

We did see some excitement towards the end of our outing. Coach put a large tote with the anchor in it up on the stern of the boat. His wife cautioned him against this... Anyway, as the water got rockier and rockier, we could all see that it was about to fall off. He handed me the wheel and balanced his way out to try to save the anchor. Well, long story short, the anchor fell in, Jacob had to quickly hand me Ziya so he could go out and assist Joe. In the panic of things, my arm somehow hit the accelerator and we lurched forward. Fortunately for all of us, this caused the rope to get cut somehow and we lost the anchor. It could have been bad... real bad if that rope hadn't got cut. I'm thankful for the blessing of safety.

We saw some really big fish being cleaned back up at the boat launch area. I was curious, so I asked. Most people told me that they'd caught all their fish early in the morning. We simply got there too late. That's my explanation!

Petting Zoo

 

Abraham was somewhat hesitant... but courageous all at the same time!

 

We were babysitting our little friend Raven, who already knew a lot about farm animals!

 

I caught Abe doing a "touch and run" move.

 

I like the way Raven is "comforting" Abe... he was a bit nervous.

 

Now Ziya is on the run... rabbits can be scary, you know!

 

My own little billy goats...


Sometime during mid-summer, a Saturday market sets up camp just about two blocks from where we live. They sell everything from homemade jams, jellies & honey to wood carved salmon, moose and bears to knit, crochet and handsewn clothing items to regional jewelry with a whole lot of stuff in between (oh, I love the fresh produce, too!). My kids spotted a petting zoo and begged and begged for me to take them to it. They had a fun time. It made me think that one day I would love to have enough land to have some animals. I think there is much kids can learn from working with animals. For now, we'll be happy with paying a couple of dollars to pet them!

If Only I Believed in Reincarnation!

I got this in an email from a childhood friend of mine. No wonder we're such good friends... we think alike. I totally laughed out loud... hope you will, too! (click on the image to enlarge if it's too small to read)

Papi Needs To Practice

 

 

 

Last week I went to Anchorage. Jacob had a cross country meet, so he took the boys with him and dropped Ziya off at Gina's house so she could be properly supervised (thanks Gina!!!). When I got home and looked on our camera to see what he snapped during the day, this is what I found. I think he needs to practice doing her hair more often. What do you think? I'm just glad that it was Gina's where she had to show her face and not somewhere more public!

60 Degrees Last Week

We get excited about 60 degree weather in Kenai... so excited that shirts come off and we run through the sprinklers (at least my boys do!). This is funny to me - the girl from Brawley who for her growing up years, tolerated 115+ temperatures all summer long (and then some!). I remember getting in the old truck and scalding my back because the seat was sooooo hot. The steering wheel literally couldn't be touched for fear of peeling off layers of skin from our fingers. And walking into the grocery store with a big wet sweat circle on one's back was absolutely no big deal... everybody else had one, too.

Now I wear sandals and short sleeves at 50 degrees and my boys act like they're going to die of heat stroke and must get permission to run through the sprinklers when it hits 60. Hey, it's all about perspective, I guess!

*I took this video last Monday, the 17th. It was our last truly sunny day for a while. I remembered the video because today it reached 60 again... so exciting!