Boys In Trees

On the way up to Blueberry Loop, the trail climbs through some marvelous twisted trees. They are just begging to be climbed on. Ben and his friends had so much fun... and Daddy just couldn't resist getting in on the fun. We also took the opportunity to get a family portrait taken.

Blueberry Loop at Flat Top Mountain

Even though it appeared to be covered in clouds at times, we decided to take all three dogs and go for a hike at Flat Top. We were joined by the Knowles who were visiting from Texas. The hike starts out very steep and slanted, but eventually levels out. Ben made it the whole way around, as did our Penny girl. She is almost 12 years old and is experiencing some stiffness in the joints. We made her sit out the big run of the night before to make sure she could handle the hike. She took it slow, but did great! She hates to be left behind. As always, the views of Anchorage and the inlet were awesome! As you can see, we even ran into some snow along the trail. Speaking of snow...there was fresh snow on the tip-tops of the mountains on July 23. Yikes!

Once upon a summer day...

Yes, we've actually had two sunny summer days this year. Ben and I took advantage of one of them to ride our bikes on the coastal trail by Westchester Lagoon. Ben had to stop and pet every dog we saw, and really enjoyed the field of daisies, and blowies (aka: dandylions). He picked a beautiful bouquet for me! What a sweetie!

Arctic Thunder Airshow at Elmendorf AFB

The Thunderbirds performed at this years Arctic Thunder Air Show and Ben thought they were awesome!! He got to go inside several aircraft and climb on "Red" the firetruck. As long as he had his earplugs in, things were just fine. During the Thunderbird show, the two solo planes snuck up behind us and about blew us away with the noise... scary, but so cool! We had a great time!

4th of July in Seward

Well...because of a late start leaving town, a propane leak, and a 3 car wreck at the summit that held us up for 2 1/2 hours we missed the fireworks in Seward. We did finally make it in and enjoyed riding our bikes along the harbor and through town. Ben had a blast playing at the big new playground and got to go fishing with Daddy. Mom enjoyed sipping her latte and visiting with friends in the flower garden of the best coffee house in Seward, that is until we decided that the sprinkles really had turned to rain. This has been the coldest, grayest, wettest summer ever! We've made it to 65 degrees only seven times and have only had 2 days of actual sunshine. Sun? What's that?!?

Homer Traditions

There are several traditions that we have in Homer:

1. We meet the fishermen at the cleaning station to watch them fillet the days catch.

2. Whoever catches the biggest halibut, buys everyone a round of ice cream.

3. Ben rides on the little red boat ride outside of the ice cream shop.

More from the Spit...

A trip to the Homer Spit just isn't complete without a walk on the beach and sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Yum!

Memorial Day on the Homer Spit

The arrival of Memorial Day signaled the end of a v-e-r-y long winter! We were surprised to get over a foot of snow on April 25! Papa and Grandma Melba came up from Texas and went camping with us. Papa even got to go fishing and caught a halibut. It was very cold and windy this year, but that didn't stop our girls from taking a swim on the beach. Memories were made and we look forward to going again next year!

It's great to be 4!

Hot on the heels of Daddy's birthday, we celebrated Ben's 4th Birthday! He likes to tell everyone that he'll be 5 soon, but right now he's 14. I guess that he thinks that 14 comes half way between 4 and 5. We had a quiet celebration this year at home with Mom and Dad.

Fun Run at the Zoo

On May 3rd we not only celebrated Daddy's birthday, but Ben ran the Arctic Fox Trot at the Zoo with his buddies. It was a great day to be outside running and enjoying the animals!

Easter Surprises!

Once again the Guyer family opened their house to host Easter. With snow still on the ground the kids had great fun doing an indoor egg hunt. More families joined us this year, so the group of egg hunters has expanded!

Skating at Westchester Lagoon

Ice skating outside in the winter has always sounded so appealing. The whole family got ice skates and decided to give it a try. It's harder on the lake, since there are no walls to hang on to, so a chair comes in mighty handy! We also practiced at the outdoor rink at mom's school and the Elementary school down the street from our house.

"Swim Like A Fish"

Ben loves to play in the pool, but had a problem swallowing water. He would later throw it up, thus closing the pool for cleaning. We decided that it was time for swimming lessons. Rob told the instructor that Ben just can't keep his mouth closed... he smiles all the way to the bottom! He learned how to blow bubbles with his face in the water, hold on to a float tube and kick his feet, and how to float on his back. He's a regular fish... too bad the bathtub is too small!

Merry Christmas! 2007

We spent Christmas in Washington this year. Ben was concerned about Santa finding us down there, so we made sure to write Santa a letter. We left out milk and cookies by Grandma T's fireplace, and sure enough, Santa came through! Ben got the red snowmachine that he had asked for and even a DVD of Meet the Robinson's since he had been especially good this year! We ate pizza on Christmas Eve at Aunt Terry's, had Christmas dinner at Cousin Tiffany's and had New Year's Dinner at Aunt Cathy's. It was great getting to see and play with so many friends and family members.