May Day Fly-In

Every year they have what's called the May Day Fly-In in Valdez. Pilots bring their planes and compete in take-off competitions and the like. They also do flight-seeing tours. The VCVB does the marketing for the event - so this was one of the first things Dave had to undertake after taking the job...of course most things were already set in place he just had to see them through. It was VERY windy and cold this year, so the kids and I didn't stay long. We were there long enough for some YUMMY turkey legs (a personal favorite) and cotten candy (another favorite - I love fair-like food!).

Piano

I've decided it's high time I learn to play. My sister took a few lessons several years back and my mom kept her beginner lesson books. I'm half-way through the first one - teaching myself. My mom knows a little and Dave knows about reading music so they're both helping. It's a lot of fun and I get very excited (probably overly so) every time I master a new song. Currently it's 'When the Saints Go Marching On' - both hands even!

The Biltmore Santa Barbara

My hubby is attending the Alaska Media Roadshow in Santa Barbara, California this Fall. This is where he's staying. I soooo want to go! We're trying to work it out with miles and childcare...it's not a for sure thing, but it would be so awesome! I haven't been on a trip for a few years and what a nice way to celebrate our fifth anniversary!

Park dayz are here again!

My kids LOVE the park! As I'm sure most do. Every day Kali asks, "can we go to that one place, you know the one we went to yesterday?" It's become part of our walking routine - we stop by the park on the way home and play. I like it better that way. I've always felt funny strapping them in to the stroller or bike trailer so that I can get exercise and they have to just SIT. This way I can rest from my long walk while they get exercise.

Fishing.

We were fishing for halibut or yellow-eyed rock fish. We had no luck but did have some interesting catches and adventures.

Three different rock fish. In the picture above you can see a bloody spot on David's finger. He was poked by one of the spines of the fish - which are poisenous. His finger was numb for the rest of the night. Nothing serious - but definately can be if you're allergic!

My brother snagged onto someones line that had been snagged in the rocks. This was what was tangled in the old line. Some kind of funky star fish thingy.

Same fish as picture number 2. These fish are bottom fish and when they're caught their stomachs and eyes get all bulging from the pressure change. Usually if you poke their stomachs they'll swim back down. Otherwise they float, as this guy did. Amazingly the Bald Eagles see these fish from their perches in the trees on shore - and all of a sudden they'll just be there. Most of the time you never even see them coming. We knew this guy would be coming because we could see him, so we knew he could definately see the fish! He waited until the fish was about fifty yards from the boat before he picked up dinner. I tried to get a picture of the eagle's decent to pick up the fish - would've been much cooler - but you know how it is with point-and-shoot cameras...

The Eagle is headed back to Middle Rock Light where it had been watching us from.

Shrimping

Gaphing the bouy

Corey helping organizing the rope. The machine does the pulling (back in the day we used to pull them by hand) . It's much more enjoyable now! The pots rest on the ocean floor at about 360 feet in this particular spot.

Emptying all the shrimp into the bucket. Last night there were only about fifty-five total - not a good night. The first trip out this year there were 190, which is better but of course, we prefer the 300-400 nights.

Here my brother is replacing the bait. The shrimp swim in those cone shaped openings and can't find their way out. Sometimes, more often then we'd like, an octopus makes it's way into the opening as well. When that happens we pull a pot with an octopus and a bunch of shells from our shrimp. Sometimes we keep the octopus for halibut bait. Earlier this week my brother found a recipe online and actually cooked one. I refused to try it. I'm pretty sure the leftovers (7/8 of the meal) are still in the fridge.

Throwing the pots back. We check them every other day. Each boat is allowed five pots. We have one string of three and one of two. The pots themselves are very heavy but you also clip weights to the rope.

Corey is still a little unsure.

Trying to give you an idea of the size.

In the bucket.

Either on the way in or while we're fishing after pulling the pots - the heads are removed and the shrimp are rinsed in fresh water and bagged. If we're not going to eat them that day or the day after we freeze them after filling the bag with fresh water.

It's been a year.

A little over a year ago my sweet baby girl was diagnosed with Henoch-Schonlein. It was a scary time with frequent trips to her doctor and the hospital lab - pretty much every day for three weeks. Finally she was admitted to the hospital for iv fluids and only then did she get better. This picture was taken almost two weeks after she was released her legs were still swollen with arthritis but she had gained a little weight back. The recovery was long, she tired very easily, we kept her home from church for eight weeks giving her immune system time to recover and build back up before going back to nursery.

BUT the reason I'm writing this is because we are celebrating now - her doctor told us that if she didn't have any recurrences within a year then she was no more likely to get it again than anyone else. I think she'll always be on the petite side, but just recently she's put on a few pounds and finally looks really healthy to me...I love it. We are incredibly blessed.

From trike to bike...

Time for a haircut...

This is what I'm thinking...of course my face shape, and hair thickness (I have about three heads worth of hair) are different from this girl, but I think it'll work...But I do think I'll wait until we make a trip to Anchorage to have "my lady" at Allure cut it - she's expensive, but she's good!

My girl...my best friend.

Oh and did I forget to mention I cut her hair! She has incredibly thick hair, but the hair itself is really thin and was becoming damaged by all the ponytails, brushing, etc. Plus it's a spunky cut and she's a spunky girl so it works! :)

Boating fun!

It's that time of year again! Kali absolutely loves being on the boat - Corey thinks he absolutely wants to be in the water! He loves being outside - but he is a run everywhere kid and the boat is kind of confining...but once it warms up a bit and the fish are biting I think he'll love it!

Ishies

The kid can't have a puppy while at grandma and granpa's (they're done with that stage in life) - so we got goldfish. If I would have known how long they would sit and watch them I would have done this a long time ago! :) It has also encouraged the word "ishy" into Corey's vocabulary - progress!

Corey needs a puppy...

This lady stopped while walking her puppies to let the kids play. Corey loves, loves, loves dogs! He chases them down whenever we're playing outside - he runs right up to them - even the bigs ones...well after the lady continued on her walk we had to bring Corey inside because he was making such a scene - he was so sad!

Ten minutes later...

Fifteen minutes...

And twenty minutes...

Poor little guy!

P.S. the three pictures above are also the reason I'm nearly insane by the end of each day - I just keep telling myself that it'll be better when he can talk and express himself...we'll see!