1 September 2010

Hop aboard the FV Arctic Assault! Katy (and Jordin) drove the fam across the bay a few days ago for a fantastic family fun filled weekend!

Natalie and her little backpack full of sleeping bag and coloring supplies.

THE YURT! Yurts are the coolest. I want one. :)

Natalie and I did some spelunking and cave exploring.

Holly and my flying monkey found some cool rocks.

Frankie Lemon found my other sister.

beach fun and exploring with tomato soup girl

My sharpie found a log and a few little friends.

It started raining so we went and had yurt time.

I love yurt time.

And coloring time.

And cuddling campfire time. This lovely campfire evening was also accompanied with many jams from my ukulele. Love it love it love it.

Then this little darling woke up!

She’s so funnnny.

My sisters are funny too. Oh love love love them.

Time for more beach explorations! Sand dollar hunting.

The weather wasn’t the greatest, but life can’t be all sunshine.

Stacy and Adam were swinging Natalie around…

…and her arms got three times longer!

I found Wilson’s uncle.

And then we came home.

It’s always a lovely boat ride with Matilda!

Phil followed us home too. :)

Pops and I went on grand kayaking trip. We drove 3 hours up to Whitter, went through the tunnel, and unloaded our kayaks and packed all our gear in.

We ventured back to Blackstone Bay in Prince William Sound. Perfect water. Perfect sky. Perfect day to paddle 18 miles.

We paddled up to a stream where there were hundreds of pink salmon, most of which were dead. Salmon die after spawning. We saw a little black bear there too.

We FINALLY got to a beach where we could camp after paddling like 7 hours. There were lots of buggies, hence the mosquito net hats. :)

Day 2 began beautifully with another jolly day of sunshine. I love tent time.

We paddled up to a little river, pulled up on the beach, and wandered around for a while. When we came back, the tide had come in some and pulled my kayak out to sea! No matter how much you know about kayaking, that’s not a good thing.

Most fortunately Dad’s kayak got stuck in the rocks so he was able to go fetch my ol’ yellow boat.

Then we headed into the heart of Blackstone Bay. Talk about a plethora of glaciers!

We were paddling through icebergs like there was no tomorrow!

And there were beautiful giant waterfalls. See how little Dad is at the bottom of it. Yep, that’s a lot of cold water.

Another waterfall, another glacier, more Alaskan beauty.

Goodness it was such a good beautiful trip with perfecto weather.

We’d paddle around for an hour or so and then pull up on a little beach to stretch and toilet and snack.

The weather and beauty was incredible. Such a good earth we live in.

Dad told me stories of his early days up here in Alaska, when he ventured around, worked, hitchhiked, explored, and did all sorts of cool things.

My dad is pretty much pretty cool.

I’m lucky to go on all these beautiful adventures with him.

Beautiful night at a beautiful camping spot.

We had the best tin foil dinners ever! Yum yum.

Kayaking shoes. :) Camping socks.

Fun times with Schlumberger.

I love sharpies and forests and Ingrid Michaelson’s song Everybody.

Brekkie! Oatmeal.

A beach stop on the paddle back where we found giantesque leaves.

Cool forests in Prince William Sound.

And FINALLY after three glorious days and 50 long miles of paddling, we made it back to Whittier.

Another grand adventure of Chelsea and Dad.