Ethan hates camping & Thomas gets injured

Our summer began in a rush. Thomas' right hand was crushed by a heavy dresser. We didn't even know he was injured until Kyra asked, "What's that?" and pointed to splashes of blood across our double glass doors and porch. He wouldn't let me see his injury. Insisted on going to work. Refused to go to the E.R. That night, I finally saw that the fingernail on his third finger had actually been torn out from underneath his flesh. The fourth finger nail looked swollen too with blood pooling beneath the nail bed. We were supposed to go camping the next day. So on the way to the campsite, I drove him to the E.R. As it turns out, he broke the bone in the tip of his finger. The bone had actually punctured through his flesh and nail. (He will need surgery on June 11 even though he still denies that he is hurt).

These videos pretty much sum up how Ethan felt about the whole camping experience.

Hiking

Summer in Alaska always engenders plenty of outdoor activities. After work one evening, Thomas decided to take us for a short hike. While it took a frustrating two hours to get the kids ready and a long windy dirtroad drive to Resurrection Trail (which we couldn't hike because it was buried in snow) and another long drive back to our neighborhood to discover at the Eagle River Nature Trail parking lot that we didn't have $5.00 for parking and a big fight between mom and dad where we almost decided to forget about the hike and Kyra complaining that she was hungry and another long drive out to the closest grocery store to get change for our $20 and a picnic dinner, we are proud to announce that Kyra finished her first trail in Alaska! Thank God for long daylight hours...I think this photo was taken around 9pm.
Kyra learned that not all bugs are called "lady bugs" especially the scary ones called "squitos.

Did you hear Daddy ask Kyra, "Dragon protecta you?" Every night, she goes to bed saying, "Dragon protecta me." When we were nearly at the end of the trail, Kyra gives up...but with a little encouragement from Mommy, she ran to the finish line.

By the way, Ethan spent most of the hike dozing on daddy's back.

And finally, our favorite video of Kyra feeding the "lady bugs" apples and ketchup!

Swimming

Kyra and Ethan learned how to swim on Elmendorf Airforce Base.

Why I love Alaska

Southfork Eagle River is alive again...it's the first day I'm able to hear the river from my porch. Yeah, my days for writing beneath the sun and the wind gently brushing my hair are back...just a brief month in a year before the mosquitos. This summer we will only enjoy half of Alaska's best, as we will be in D.C. for Al's (Thomas' old roommate) wedding and Chi's wedding (Thomas' cousin).

Recently, the two baby moose that were born around Kyra's birth hung out on our lawn for an afternoon. One even came right up to my first floor window (we call this floor our basement) and I got a chance to touch his nose (through the glass). Mom would've loved this!