Mid-July in Alaska

So you can definitely tell it's mid-July in Alaska. Traffic is backed up, tourists are running all over the roads and rivers, and Fred Meyer's Parking lot looks like an RV park. I think it is so funny that all these tourists come to Alaska in their RV's to experience Alaska and they end up camping in a grocery store parking lot. I guess with the price of gas, staying in a free parking lot seems like the best option. Anyway, along with mid-July comes the second run of red salmon  in the rivers. Along with getting paid to live here with our PFD's, we locals also have the privilege to fill our freezers come dip-netting time. Our family qualifies for 85 fish, not that we could ever eat that many, but we headed out on the river to dipnet anyways.

My sweet husband took the girls (Bex, Pepper, and I) out the other night to try our luck. What fun we had. We slayed the fish, ending up with 80 in about 5 hours. Bex had never dip-netted before and Pepper has only done it from the beach, so watching these two girls was quite entertaining. We eventually got the system down, and ended the night soaking wet, covered in fish scales, and laughing all the way home.

If you have ever dip-netted before, you know the fun part is the catching...not the cleaning and storing. We eventually made it to bed somewhere around 4 am and did it all again the next day when my parents came down to fill their freezers. We ended up with 48 that trip. Needless to say, the smokers and caners have been going full steam ahead for the last 2 days. A huge thanks to my mom for running the caners and my dad for skinning all those fillets. 

How lucky we are to live in a place where we can step outside our door, drive 15 minutes to the river, and put food on the table that night. There is nothing better than fresh salmon hot off the grill, but after smelling fish for the last few days straight, I might need to go back to chicken for a little while. Happy fishing all!!

Swanson River adventure

What a weekend we had. Aaron and I floated the Swanson River (for those of you who do not know it, it is more like a creek with huge boulders randomly placed and a lot of really slow moving water) for the first time in about 3 or 4 years. When we did it the first time, we went by ourselves and got a really late start on the river where ended the first night camping under a bridge with me frantic about all the moose we had seen in the river. Since that first memorable float, Aaron and I have gotten it down to a science where he mostly drives and I mostly fish (just the way he likes it). I also know that while we may hit lots of rocks, the odds of us tipping are not likely, so I have learned to relax and enjoy the experience. As a result, we approached our friends, the Hansens and Ponds with the idea of floating the Swanson way back in April when we were planning our summer fun.

This last weekend was the designated time, so we set of with no kids, Pepper 6 1/2 months pregnant, and I later found out that it was also her first time in a canoe! Now the Swanson is a great place to learn to canoe, but maybe not when your 6 months prego. Lets just say that canoeing the Swanson is a great test for any marriage. It is also a lot like marriage where you have to learn to communicate and work with your spouse. Aaron and I just smiled when we heard both Hansens and Ponds saying things like "You have to tell me where the rock is before we hit it!", and  "Steer right, I mean left, no right!" We only smiled because we said a lot of that our first 2 times on the river. 

As usual, we had a lot of great laughs and crazy conversations. We also saw some great wildlife, not too much moose thankfully, but one really cute baby right in the middle of the river. He thought he was tough stuff, and then momma came running through the trees and herded him out of our crazy trio. I think some of us had to change our shorts after that, but no one was harmed. We also saw tons of beaver dams, lots of adorable baby ducks, and some beautiful wild flowers.

Aaron had to liven things up on the end of the first day when took a little dip off the canoe. He has never fallen from a canoe that I know of, but we got hung up on a rock, and as he usually does, he got out to push us off the snag. He landed one foot on the rock, then quickly discovered the huge drop off the side of the rock as his second foot plunged to the bottom. Rather than tipping the canoe and taking me in with him, he gallantly let go of the canoe and got water all down his waters. What a guy. Thankfully, we were pretty close to the campsite and were able to get him dried out pretty quick.

We all survived the 20 mile trek, and I think we all had fun (I think it will take Pepper a few months to decide) :) Props to the pregnant one! Until the next fun-filled Alaskan adventure! Thanks to Grandma and Papa for watching the kids too. You are the best!!

P.S. Bex, put some pics on here for me would ya? :)

4th of July Fun

So for the last two Fourth of July weekends, the kids and I have been in Utah (without Aaron). Because Jaron's birthday is on the sixth, Aaron has missed his last two birthdays, so this year we decided to stay home and enjoy as much of our short Alaskan summer as we can. We have been wanting to take the four wheelers up north to the Palmer area to do some trail riding, so we made a long weekend out of it and had a blast. We were lucky enough to have Dave and his family, my sister and her family, and the Hansens come along.

We had so much fun four wheeling both in and out of the mud. I just need to say that my Haylee is quite the daredevil on the four wheeler. She didn't hesitate to dive in the first mud pit she saw. Brady on the other hand is more like his mother and tends to play things safe. And we all know what a wild man Jaron is. A few more years when he and his machine are bigger, I know he will be getting the muddiest of us all.

Speaking of Jaron, we celebrated his 7th birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's annual Fourth of July block party. It is always nice to see old friends and enjoy the yummy food everyone brings to share. Jaron wanted a Cold Stone cake, so I turned into a Sponge Bob cake which everyone enjoyed. He got a lot of great gifts, the best of which are some Incredible Hulk giant hands that make Hulk sounds when you box with them...so JJ.

We all made it back Sunday night relatively unscathed, except for a hornet sting that poor Jaron and Taegan got in Eagle River. (That's a story in itself).  We are so grateful to have the opportunity to make such fun memories with our kids. I grew up with wonderful memories of playing in the Alaskan midnight sun, and how awesome is it that I get to do the same with my own kids.  Take a look at my boys blazing through the water. Way to go guys.