This summer Allen and I and the kids went to Anchorage for a visit. While we were there, Allen and I took off to Seward for an overnight trip - last one before we become parents of 3. This picture is of Allen at Portage Glacier. Note all the ice, even though it's the end of May. It's one place we always go when we drive the Seward Highway.

Allen and I at Portage Glacier

Hiking to Exit Glacier. We walked all the way up there, but portions of the trail were still closed due to the snow (there was lots of it). When we had gone last year during July it was a really nice hike.

Playing in/on the Kuskokwim River has become one of our main forms of entertainment. The boys especially love going down to the riverfront and tossing rocks in and "swimming".

Aaron REALLY loves tossing rocks in the river.

It's always a fun family outing! All the guys walking back to the (old) car. We don't have that one any more.

Sometimes we take the boat out and go upriver (we haven't gone downriver yet, just in case we run into "difficulties"... rather hard to drift upstream.

When we first got the boat out, Aaron didn't care for it too much. 3 months later, it usually puts him to sleep. This is nice, as he does not otherwise nap, ever, anywhere.

We have been a bit gunshy since the incident in this photo. Here we are stuck on a sandbar in the middle of the river. Nobody else was around. Allen and I got out of the boat (in the middle of the river) and pulled the boat about 30 feet off the sandbar into deeper water. We didn't go out for a long time after this happened... but Allen has found some boating friends and we've since had several uneventful and enjoyable trips.

At the small boat harbor after taking a trip

Other entertainment includes playing in the yard, "landscaping" and berry picking. Allen Leigh loves picking and eating blueberries. Aaron is less enthusiastic as the tundra is hard to walk on (spongy) for his little legs, so I take Allen Leigh after Daddy gets home from work, and we go pick together and come back and share with Aaron.

One thing I've taken up during the summer is stenciling. For my first project, I stenciled a morning glory vine in our arctic entry. We are all pleased with the results... I got to pick a new one to go over the windows in the living room and am looking forward to buying the paints in Anchorage soon.

Another picture of the stenciling.

So, we've been busy, mostly outdoors. Allen is about to start smoking some salmon he caught with some people he knows in town. We're all looking forward to that. We've enjoyed our first summer in Bethel, which I think is coming to an end, since it's actually getting dark, and getting dark before midnight... it's going to be winter before we know it. There's always this to look forward to next year though.