Finally Caught Up!

 I think this post will finally get me caught up!

Another pic from our visit in SC.

My flowers and the blue Alaska summer sky at 9:30 at night.
I know y'all are tired of the whole 'midnight sun' thing, but it never gets old to us.

Boo and I took a bike ride together while Bit napped one Sunday afternoon.
We may have gone a little too far for the Lil Boo to handle. By the time we got home he was crying (tired) and hot.

Diggers behind the house mean diggers and Boo in the backyard!

Okay, it's been HOT here in AK this past week. 80s and 90s in places that do not see those temps ever. Records have been set all over the state. So, we had to find the closest thing to a beach that we could. This is at Goose Lake...the place where we went to watch the Iditarod Start. What a difference a few days make. The kids had fun, but I gotta say...it ain't no real beach. Lol! The beach was...dirt. Hmm. Not exactly what this beach girl is used to, but we made it work!

It was the place to be that afternoon!

She looks like such a big girl in this picture to me.

Sir Knight Boo and Hawaiian princess Bit!
He is her protector.

B-man getting ready to jump out of a Blackhawk helicopter.
Just another day at the office! :)

B-man took this one with his phone the other night at 0220 a.m.
Sun's coming up!

Our first visitors of the summer arrive tonight! We're so excited for our buddies to get here. The kids CAN NOT wait for them to arrive and I'm up early this morning with excited anticipation as well! We're going to have so much fun together and I can't wait to see some folks from home.

Sesame Street USO Show

The Sesame Street LIVE USO tour came to town a few weeks ago. The show was free and after forgetting about the first two show times, I remembered the last show and we headed over to the theater. The kiddos were beyond excited and I couldn't wait to see Lil Bit's face when Elmo walked on stage. The show's message was about moving and making new friends. Ya know who was crying? ME! 90% of my pals have moved already this summer. Ugh! It's a total bummer. But, whatcha gonna do, right?

Waiting for the show to start.

Boo was excited!

Their faces as Elmo and friends walked on stage.

She just couldn't get over it!

"It's Elmo, Mama!"

Thanks to the USO tour!!
It was so much fun and a day they won't soon forget.

Wildlife

Here are some pics of wildlife on post!

I didn't take these two pics above. A friend of mine did. This bear was over in the neighborhood we lived in when we first arrived to AK in 2011. This was right after the snow melted. It looks like this bear has been eating all winter if you ask me!

I did take the pics of these cubs.
A friend of mine sent me a text on their location and I loaded up the kids to go check them out.  Don't worry, we stayed in the car!

They were cuties!

Another bear that I saw out of the corner of my eye as we passed over a creek on post.
We turned around to get a better look.

Right after we saw the bear above, we turned the car around and saw this mama and baby moose.

Moose on the hill behind our house.

Same moose.

B-man recently took a trip up north and saw some caribou, bison, and a rare bull moose. I don't think he's seen a bear yet!

We are very careful. We have our bear spray and bike bells and we talk about wildlife safety a lot.

Oh, and Brian saw a porcupine a couple of weeks ago too.

Camping in Hope, AK

B-man has been working so hard since the beginning of the year. Well, he always works hard, but he's having to do some extra work these days. They Army is requiring him to complete a year's worth of schoolwork online in addition to performing his regular work duties. Traditionally, the Army sends you to KS for a year to do this course work. It is your only job while there. BUT, they are beyond backed up in getting people through, so they are forcing some year groups to do it online. So, to say that he's been busy is an understatement. He works late every night at his regular job and then comes home to help with the kiddos and then heads up to the office to study and his weekends are totally devoted to studying. He's trying to just get it done as quick as possible. It's a bummer because we are in ALASKA! And we've been having amazing weather and he can't get out and enjoy it. So, we decided to get out and take a break and enjoy this beautiful state. We went camping, in an RV!

We went to a little old gold mining town, Hope, AK. It's even smaller than Talkeetna. There are some RV parking spots and lots of room to tent camp. There's a little restaurant and bar on Main Street and the views are amazing. Resurrection Creek runs right along the camp and in August is a hot spot for fishing pink salmon.

Can I just say, it takes a LOT of work and preparation to go camping! Whew! But once you get there and get settled, it really is a lot of fun. The kids had a blast and were so excited to be in a "camper van" or "camper ban" as Lil Bit called it.

I think I'll let the pics tell the rest of the story.

We arrived LATE Friday night. We didn't leave Anchorage until after B-man got off of work on Friday night. But, we were up and cooking breakfast on our fire Saturday morning. Pancakes and bacon!

Wood gatherers all in a row.

Beautiful view of the creek.

B-man went right to work preparing the wood they gathered while Boo watched.

Lil Bit went right to work too with her...magic wand?
I was just giggling b/c she looked like a witch commanding a potion.
She was just swinging that stick around and singing and dare I say, chanting at the pot of water?! She had no idea I was watching her. :)

The cafe and bar.
Our RV site is down towards the inlet on the left.

Loved all of the log cabins in town.

Exploring on bikes.

My loves.

My handsome boy and sweet girl.

Did I mention the views?

Rock throwing.

"Mom, I skipped one!"

Dad gets in on the action!
Boo and Bit could've thrown rocks all day.
They were loving it.

The fish aren't running in Hope yet, but Boo didn't care.
He was content to fish and fish with no fish around.
He loved it and didn't want to stop.

Lil Bit had to fish too, of course...with her Tinker Bell fishing pole.
Do you see her big catch?

"Look, Mama! A fish!"

More exploring.

Roasting Marshmallows.
This was about 10 p.m. 

We are DIRTY in this pic!
But, happy and together!

Hot dogs!
I think Boo is holding his nose b/c of the smoke headed his way.

Bit pretending to drive.
I can't believe I didn't take any pics of the RV itself.

All day, I tell ya!

Listening to live music on the porch of the cafe.

A few more pics.
They were so good I couldn't leave them out...

We had to get up and get moving on Sunday to get back to town, get the RV cleaned out and turned in to Outdoor Rec here on post. Um, that was a lot of work too! Yucky work!

The little ones, and at least this big one, were worn out come Sunday night.

I'll definitely remember this little getaway and I hope that Boo is old enough to remember it as well.
And although B-man didn't get any/much school work done this weekend, I hope the getaway was good for his soul.

Happy Father's Day,  B-man!