Last weekend we took a trip down to Valdez.
Valdez is a little fishing community down on the coast.
We liked the pirate ship.
She just couldn't stay awake!
The Alaskan Range on the drive down.
In the background is Mt. Wrangell.
What a pose!
We stopped at Worthington Glacier.
We decided to hike up to it so that the kids could touch it. The hike was one of the highlights of our trip. It made Caleb feel very "Indiana Jones-ish!"
Bridal Veil Falls 
On Monday I went with some friends on the Riverboat Discovery. It was just a touristy trip up the river a few miles. It was beautiful weather and nice scenery. The leaves are already half turned here so fall is officially here.
Our little boat
My moose friend...I know all you hunters are jealous!
Curtis is home. We are all glad especially Megan (who cried for an hour while Curtis left to take Nick to Tae Kwon Do). She has resumed her position in his arms, or on his lap, or on his shoulders, or wherever else as long as it is nearby Curtis.
On Wednesday, the boys got ready to head back to school. They were all excited and so far, have great teachers. They are in 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade. They look so big to me. I am a mom in denial. They can't really grow up, right?
This is just a side note. Nick got crafty one afternoon in the kitchen and made this up for dessert. It was tasty. He'd better watch out before he has a permament job in my kitchen.
While dancing in the kitchen to the Beach Boys, Caleb decided to get a little wild. He climbed onto the countertop and began to run around it. Well.....common sense tells us that that is not a good idea. And Caleb proved it for us. He landed hard on his chin and split it open good. I wish the pictures did better justice to it; a video camera would have captured it better. His skin was flipped inside out and you could see his fat layer. When he moved his mouth to talk, you could see deep inside of it. It was amazing. The cut was at least a 1/2" deep. Since it wasn't too long since his last round at the ER, he knew exactly what was coming. In fact some of the same people were working there again, and they recognized him and knew that a fight was on their hands.
They wrapped his body like a mummy, and I layed on top of him. The med tech held his head(the same one that held him down for the staples). The doc worked quick with stitch inside and then some on the outside. Caleb was mad at everyone and kept yelling for at the tech to "stop murdering him". The doctor had to cut away some of his fat that would not fit nicely back into the cut. He got a nice little chin tuck. When we were all through and the med tech was leaving, he told us thanks for the work out, now he didn't have to go to the gym that day. It was all a great adventure, but I think that we are done with that kind of excitement for the summer....please, Caleb.
This is before our half-marathon. We are nervous and filled with adrenaline. We are also foolish!
It was incredibly hard. I hit a wall around mile 5 but felt good and pushed through. By mile 8 my knees started ache. By mile 10 they hurt more than I knew body parts could hurt. My great friend, Kari, helped me push through even though I wanted to quit many times.
It felt soooo good to cross that finish line. It was a huge sense of accomplishment and relief! By the way, the clock is wrong, so don't pay attention to that.
This was taken after the race. Secretly we are all leaning on each other for support!!! Thanks guys, it was great!
This week I have been making jams, syrups, and honey. It has been fun to get together with other girls and hang out in the kitchen making these great creations. There is (L to R) pineapple-mango jam, blueberry syrup, strawberry jam, strawberry-kiwi honey, blueberry honey, clover honey, and strawberry-mango honey. They are all so tasty!
And Caleb wanted me to add in that he had his staples taken out, and he is all better. I know that no one can see his scar is his big mop of hair but he wanted to prove to everyone that he was back to normal. Plus his little profile is just kind of cute!
While out berry picking with some friends, Caleb got hit with a rock on his head. We all know how head wounds bleed...tons! When we took a closer look, we saw that it was gapped open a bit and wound need some stitches to close it.
After a trip to the ER, Caleb came home with 3 staples. It was quite the adventure considering Caleb's Hulk strength when he sees someone coming at him with anything sharp! It is healing beautifully. Soon we have to go get the staples out, and then we will have to call in reinforcements to hold him down!
That's my man, the NCO of the Wing! Congrats, Curtis. We are proud of you. You deserve it!
We got back in time to play in their very last baseball game of the season. Jake and Nick were on the same team. They both did great, but I didn't get any pictures of the actual game.
Caleb was up to bat, and surprisingly he hit it! It is sad but I don't expect great things from him physically. He is just not competitive.
But he loves to play with his friends and be part of the group! He thinks that the C on his jersey is for him, and we will let him believe it!
