End of Summer

Last weekend we embarked on our annual drive up the highway at the end of summer to do some shopping in the big city, Anchorage, and to spend a few days with my sister Kristen and her husband Charlie who live in Palmer. While we are in Palmer we usually spend a day or two at the Alaska State Fair, but this year we decided to take a break from the Fair and see a few other things of interest in the area as well as spend some quality time at Uncle Charlie and Aunt Kristen's house!!

One of the highlights of the weekend was hiking in Hatchers Pass up to Gold Core Lake...I think the pictures will say it all.... It was a beautiful hike on a trail and then up the canyon climbing on huge rocks. The kids were in climbing heaven...our kids just love to climb and can never seem to get enough! Just over the ridge at the top of the rocks was Gold Core Lake...you wouldn't even know it was there until you step up over the top. Beautiful crystal clear cool water with mountains all around. We took a rest by the lake before we descended back down the hillside. Our legs felt like jelly by the time we got to the bottom (at least for those of that are not seasoned hikers)!! It was alot of fun and such beautiful scenery! There were quite a few of us on the hike...Steve and I and our 6 kids, my mom and dad, Charlie and Kristen, my brother Eric and wife Theresa and two girls, cousin Aaron and wife Jenny and 3 kids, and cousin Jakob! We made for quite the group of hikers!


The rest of our weekend was filled with hanging out at Kristen and Charlie's house and playing outside with the kids, doing a little shopping, and celebrating Tyler's birthday with family. Tyler is 9 years old now!!

We had a great relaxing weekend...a great way to end our summer and begin our school year!!