Long hike!

I was going through pictures on my camera and realized I had some catching up to do! In May "we came, we saw, we conquered" a long grueling 8 mile hike on the beach to Homer! We decided to take on the challenge of walking along the beach from Diamond Creek to Bishops Beach.

Steve and I and our 6 kids, my mom and dad, and Kristen and Charlie enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the beach and the bluffs. The first half of the hike was fun as we all explored and discovered many wonderful treasures. The kids found plenty of shells to fill their pockets, small dried up crabs that hopefully would make it all the way, interesting pieces of driftwood, fossils, rock formations, and even some old parts of cars. Tyler found a long bamboo pole that is used for halibut fishing, and he carried it all the way to Bishops Beach. What a treasure and lots of hard work to keep it! Kristen collected interesting pieces of driftwood and shells for her flower garden back home. Kristen, Tyler, and Alyssum are collectors as their pockets and back packs were bulging!

Halfway we stopped for our sack dinner...the wind was cold when we stopped, so we hurriedly ate our sandwiches and set off again. Probably would have been better to eat and walk as the wind really made everyone cold and it was difficult to get warm again.

The second half wasn't nearly so much fun as the first half. We all were asking how much longer and when will we get there. The tide was going out, so as we got closer to Bishops Beach there were many tidepools that would have been fun to explore, but we were ready to go home by then. We did see some wildlife along the way...eagles flew over, seagulls washing themselves in a fresh water stream on the beach, an otter sitting on a rock, and cormorants resting on another rock. Old fish traps along the beach are wonderful pieces of history from the turn of the century. There are also old coal mines nestled in the bluffs closer to Homer. Metal rails protruding from the bluffs are about all that is left.

Even though the hike was difficult and we all were very exhausted it is great to say that we did it...just as the "old-timers" used to hike along the beach to get to Homer to buy groceries, we hiked there as well, but we are all very glad we don't have to hike to Homer to buy groceries. Hard to imagine such a difficult life and yet Homer wouldn't be here if it wasn't for brave and adventurous homesteaders of Alaska!

Planting...

Summer arrived as did extra busy days of work and play. We are mostly finished with school...we got a little bit of this and that to complete, but should be able to get it in here and there...and ready for summer fun!

The kids have all taken turns working at Oma's when she needs them for spring clean up, in and outside her house. They enjoy having the extra money to save and she gets more work done! Grandma also wants them to come do some work around her place soon. I think we must not pay enough since they would rather go work for grandparents!

This week is planting week and the four older kids get their chance to work with Steve on the job. They love planting week and working for Dutch Boy! They are getting so fast at planting that the week of planting is getting shorter and shorter. Homer sure does look beautiful when they are finished!

Last week Steve and the kids put in our large garden. We have always had a good size garden, but this year it seems to have grown! Last year Steve did an experiment with remay (garden fabric) by covering some of the plants for part of the summer. The plants that he covered grew well and produced great, but the plants that he left uncovered didn't produce much and were so late. We did have a very cold growing season last summer so that may have contributed to the problem. But he decided we needed to cover the entire garden in remay, so hopefully we will grow a bumper crop of potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, lettuce, zucchini, onions, beets, swiss chard, kale, and cabbage. We also have yellow squash in the green house, tomatoes, and several herbs. There are several more tomato plants in the house as they seem to grow better indoors and also more herbs and a jalapeno plant. We may have more vegetables than we know what to do with this year!

Once planting season is over then we can hopefully get in a few camping trips and other summer fun! We have started our Sunday evening BBQ which is the highlight of our week! We all look forward to spending time with family and friends!

What a haircut!

Alyssum has been contemplating getting her hair cut alot shorter, but up until now has not wanted to. Her waist length hair was certainly her pride and joy. Our deal was as long as she could take care of it, I didn't mind it being so long. She always did a great job of keeping it brushed and was good about having her long hair braided before she went outside to play. Long hair though can be rather challenging in the summer for such an active girl! Anyways, she decided it was time to cut her hair and donate it for kids with cancer. We are sending her long ponytail to Wigs for Kids
This is how long her hair was before the haircut...down past her waist...

The ponytail and haircut...
The finished haircut...wow, her head is so much lighter!Alyssum loves her new hair and is so excited not to have so much hair to brush and take care of! She is so pleased to send her hair away to kids that need it...and maybe she will do it again since her hair grows so fast!

Summer is here!

At least it feels that way here in Homer, Alaska...our temps have reached over 60 this weekend! Feels like a heat wave has hit, especially after our cold summer that we had last summer. We are all hoping it is not a cruel joke of spring and this will be our week of summer...if it is, it might just be time to head to warmer climates!! We had our first picnic in our yard earlier this week...it was a little chilly by the time evening rolled around, but fun anyway...the beginnings of summer!

The box of sandals and crocs emerged as did the scrambling to find shorts and capris...whew, what do we do with such warm days! All the kids slept out in tents on Friday night and then spent all day Saturday running and playing in the yard, with a little work and spring clean-up thrown in for fun. Everyone had rosy red cheeks and arms by days end. No one wanted the day to end and kept hoping for more adventures in the sun, but the day had to come to an end as we put away tents, sleeping bags, jump ropes.... Saturday night showers and dinner made everyone sleepy and by 8 o'clock five of six kids were dragging themselves off to bed. No one realized how much they had worn themselves out! We are looking forward to more summer days!

Something we have to deal with this summer is the ash that we are left with from Mt. Redoubt dumping on us in April. The rain has washed some of it into the ground, but there is still plenty on top of the ground. One stroll across the lawn and your feet are covered in a gray layer of ash...each step you take, a small ash cloud erupts around your feet! At the end of the day when the kids come in from playing, Adams in particular looks like he has rolled in chalk as he is covered in ash from his head to his toes. Thank goodness water doesn't cost anything!

Now that it is May, school is winding down although we still gotta push to finish. It gets harder this time of year to keep plugging away at school especially when the warm summer air is calling us! The kids have completed some subjects and will be finishing up as the month goes along. Another end of the school year tradition is piano recital for those that are taking lessons. This year Ann Marie, Ethan, Tyler, and Kailee will all be participating in the recital mid-May.

Steve and Ann Marie completed the EMT course with flying colors a couple weeks ago! They both did very well on their EMT practical test and are still waiting the results from the medical test. They are now certified ETT's and can go on emergency calls. The EMT course was alot of work, but they both enjoyed the challenge and the knowledge they gained from the experience.

We are looking forward to a summer of picnics, camping, gardening, working, and playing!

Tea time...

Two little girls love having tea for two or sharing with friends! Today they shared tea with their dolls, Molly and Kaya...

Happy Birthday Alyssum

Alyssum is 7! She had a fun birthday party with her cousin friends, Anneka and Katelyn! The girls had a giggly slumber party!

Mt. Redoubt erupts, over and over!

Mt. Redoubt photos from the Alaska Volcano Observatory website. Photo below taken by Tricia Joy Sadler.

Mt. Redoubt has been erupting for the past couple weeks. The mountain is 120 miles northwest of Homer and has been in the very active stage recently! Most of the winds have not brought ash from Mt. Redoubt's eruptions to Homer, but twice now the winds have brought it our direction. The first time we got a dusting, but this past Saturday we got more than a dusting. The ash plume went 50,000ft into the atmosphere and the winds blew it directly towards Homer and Anchor Point. The skies became dark as night as the ash cloud covered the area and then dumped a good 1/8 to a 1/4 inch of ash. We stayed put in the house for most of the day. Even though the clouds had ceased dumping ash after an hour, the wind kicked up and swirled the ash around for most of the day. The ash creates quite a mess of everything! One of the joys of living in Alaska and so near volcanoes!


The gray snow as the ash was falling on Saturday morning. The hazey sky and haze between the trees is the ash falling.

Ash on top of the white snow and in the footprints from the first dusting of ash.
Ash "dusting" on the shed roof...we have alot more with the most recent eruption!