Orcas Island

Last weekend we made it up to Orcas Island for a long overdue visit. Our last visit was in January, so it was nice to come up in the summer. We had a really good time, though the 3 nights we stayed went way too fast!

from the ferry...always good picture time!

Chillin' on the deck. Ethan opened his belated birthday gifts from us and we picked some fresh Dungeness crab.


Carmen got to sleep on the bed in the tent with us. She was really happy (she isn't allowed on the furniture or in our bed at home).

We celebrated Ethan's learning to ride his bike with a little chocolate gelato! Eric enjoyed mentoring Ethan on bike riding.

More Uncle time!

Kira with rainbow and sunset reflection.

Carmen and Kira on the beach

Saturday night's sunset. All three nights had very different, but amazing sunsets.

Sunday night's sunset...

Monday night's sunset. Wowie!

We had a relaxing time. Thanks for always being wonderful hosts Ronna, Grant, Kira and Ethan!

Olympia Pet Parade

Olympia's Pet Parade was last Saturday. We were so jazzed to go participate then found out it's only for pets and kids under 16. So, we just watched instead, which was pretty cool anyway. Next year, Kira and Ethan will have to come down and be in the parade with Carmen.

The wizard of OZ with the Cowardly Cat (in the cage) and the Scarecrow goat!

Dorothy and Toto the rabbit.

This little Daschund sped by in his cool wheel chair.

Bagpipers with their corgi mascot

Up close shot of the Scottish corgi.

Carmen had a great time watching. She was really interested in the horses at the end of the parade.

Merey's Farewell Dinner

Our good friend and neighbor Merey went back to Maine to teach for the Fall semester. Our friend Jeff (her hubby) put together a nice surprise dinner for her in the back room of Trinacria last Friday - this picture was taken at dinner. We will miss Merey and can't wait until she comes back in December!

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Alaska Trip

Mum, Ronna, and I just got back from an awesome trip to Alaska. We spent the first part of our trip in Kodiak, on Kodiak Island then went to Anchorage and Port Alsworth on Lake Clark. This was a trip to get to know family, learn more about our Alutiiq heritage, and see the places where my Grandma Benson (Mum's mom) spent time. I'm only posting a few pictures from the trip on the blog, but the rest of the pictures can be accessed on our Flickr photo site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27599627@N08/sets/72157606411186022/

This picture shows why Kodiak Island is called the Emerald Isle. The hills are very lush and dense. They almost looked tropical.

Wild flowers abound. There was such a diversity of plants.

Kodiak Harbor


The king crab was so yummy, fresh, and affordable.


Fishers on the Pasagshak River


There is a heard of Buffalo near Fossil Beach. Ronna thought this guy was a brown bear at first.

Alaska Cotton - the coolest wild flower ever.

Gigantic (and sweet) red salmonberries!

Benny is a celebrity in Kodiak.

This is the church where Grandma and Benny got married.

A beautiful sunny day on Near Island. We saw many tufted puffins and black oyster catchers here. In Kodiak we also saw humpback whales, sea otters, and harbor seals. No bears, but we did see a moose in Anchorage.

Captain cousin Glen is giving us the emergency talk before taking off to Port Alsworth. Only eight people fit on their BIG planes!

View outside my window leaving Anchorage and heading for Lake Clark Pass.

Many glaciers are visible along Lake Clark Pass.

More of Lake Clark Pass

Our family in Port Alsworth were processing their subsistance reds (sockeye salmon) when we arrived. What a treat. We had fresh fish for dinner (better than Copper River salmon).

Salmon being smoked in the smokehouse.

This picture was taken at midnight - notice that it is still light out.

This is a picture of the farm house looking out at Lake Clark and Tanalian Mountain. What a view!

Reflection of Tanalian Mountain.

Me, Mum, cousin Glen, and Ronna. We really enjoyed our trip and were sad to leave.

Lotsa Bike Racing...

Check out this link to a video on youtube created by one of my team mates. It shows some of the bicycling road racing I've been doing this year with the Valley Athletic Bicycling team. I completed a difficult two hour moutain bike race yesterday and I'm sitting here pretty beat up today, but it has been a fun racing season so far!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVuMRE6h0qY

Dave and Karen's visit to Oly

Eric's Dad (Dave) and girlfriend Karen came to visit us in Oly last weekend. They spent most of their trip in the Portland, Oregon area, but spent a long weekend with us. We did some fun stuff: went to a Tacoma Rainier's game, strolled along the Oly waterfront and Farmer's Market, toured the Capital campus, brunch at the Budd Bay Cafe, went to Westport, and had a picnic at the Boston Harbor Marina. It was a short, but nice visit.

Who are those two relaxed and happy vacationers?

Yummy seafood brunch at Budd Bay Cafe.

It was like 95 degrees while Dave and Karen were here. Carmen was hot so we took her next door to our neighbor's pool. She didn't really like it because she thought she was going to get a bath. She was a good sport though!

We couldn't take the heat, so we hopped in the car and drove to the coast, BUT is was cold there! What happened?

Eric and Carmen had fun in the surf anyway...

We enjoyed a nice dinner together on their last night in Oly before they headed back to Oregon for the rest of their trip.

Demolition of a deck

We had a nice large deck off the "2nd" floor of our split-level home, but it turned out the support beams were rotten and beginning to fail. We need a new deck, but before the new deck comes the demolition of the old one. Eric had a vision of how to tear it down and his vision worked well. The deck came down in a few hours and no one got hurt. We had a pizza party with the neighbors afterwards to celebrate as they helped at the end of the project.

Before the deck came down...

The railing is off and now come the floor boards...

The manly neighbor men lend a hand.

the last support is about to fall...everyone get back!

Eric gives us all a nice pole dance on the last pole standing

Now we need a new deck!

We couldn't have done it without Carmen's love and support :)