Man of Many Hats

This kid loves hats...

His nickname is "Isaac Booty", stemming from pirate's booty (treasure).  He refers to himself by that name. "Hi guys! It's me, Isaac Booty!" I feel kind of bad for him in the future, but it's too cute to stop.

Farm Camp

I made a big step as a mom.  I signed my kid up for an activity that didn't involve me being there.  Clark went to a day of farm camp and was by far the youngest kid there.  I was hesitant to drop him off because it didn't seem super organized and I only saw one adult there.  So I decided to hang out with a friend that happened to live on the same street so I could be close by.  But of course he was fine and loved the independence.  Isaac and I joined him in the afternoon for a "Mommy and Me" toddler part of the day.  Clark got to show us his skills of scooping up manure, brushing the horses, feeding them hay, etc.  Other skills learned that day - riding a horse, finding chicken eggs, milking a goat, lassoing, and holding baby animals.  

 

The look says it all...

Season of Midnight Sun

We have been blessed with an amazing spring and summer here in Alaska.  Our kids don't want to go to sleep because the sun is still shining until midnight. "But it's not even dark yet!!" And of course since the sun comes up at 4 am, they don't sleep in either.  We are all cranky from lack of sleep, but we've been enjoying the nice sunshine while we have it.  Here's a random selection of summer favorites/events.

 

 

Chris completed a 50 mile walk/hike.  They started on Friday night at 9 PM and walked all night and into the next day - in the rain and wind.  They had 18 hours to complete the course.  Forty people started and only 5 finished. After seeing his many blisters and not being able to walk well for the next few days, he was probably wishing he didn't finish either.  But we're proud of his determination and cheered him on!

Sword (stuffed in his pants) and shield are a must

Clark got a real tool set. His favorite store is Lowes. He loves "fixing" our door knobs by unscrewing all of them.

Sneaking a turn on Clark's bike when he wasn't looking. Hehehe.

Legos are a HUGE hit in this house.

 

First attempt at a square foot garden in our wild backyard

Making due without a truck...

Finished product!  Now to keep the moose and the kids out of it...

 

He knocks on the door and hands me a bouquet of "sunflowers" when I answer it on a daily basis.  It makes up for the fact that he is a non-stop jabberer/attention seeker and wants to be fed hourly.    I think I'll keep him ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Land of Cheese and Chocolate

It's kind of a long story, but Chris and I ended up taking a trip to Switzerland at the beginning of the month. Traveling internationally was new for me. Seeing other countries is great, but I missed being in the U.S. where they don't charge you for a glass of water or to use the restroom. That aside, we had a great trip with perfect weather and fun memories! Thanks a million to Aunt Jocey and Uncle David for taking care of the boys for 11 days!! I won't bore you with lots of historic details because you won't know what I'm talking about anyway. But here's some picture highlights: 

View from the first house we stayed at.

We did a lot of hiking.

Rhein Falls

Some very Swiss architecture

Narrow cobblestone streets

Cheese fondue - I had my heart set on it and I'll be honest...not my favorite. Not enough variety!

We took a cable car up a tall mountain - Mt. Santis. Very pretty views from the top!

Famous cheese factory - I love stinky cheese now.

We hiked around some old castles. They were awesome!

We hiked around these old stone villages. Some houses are still used today and some are abandoned.  I really felt like trolls were going to come out and a dragon was going to come around the corner.  Pretty crazy people live/lived in these!

Obviously someone lives here - check out the satellite.

We had one of our hosts prepare a special dinner for us. She set it up in our room because it was too cold outside. It was literally 8 courses of local, organic food - all homemade, down to the crackers infused with parsley and rosemary. She served us each coarse over 3 hours!! We were stuffed and it was a definite highlight of our trip.

Eating bread and cheese on the trail. I swear that's all people eat here.

We popped into Italy for an afternoon because it was only 20 minutes from where we were staying. Might as well be able to say, "I've been to Italy!"

Italian Pizza - Ok, so it was good. But California Pizza Kitchen still wins. Then we ate gelato 2 times within 5 minutes. I had to try both gelato places!

And no matter what country you visit, you can (almost) always find a temple.  And people who speak English. :)