The first few weeks of summer were warm and sunny.  We spent as much time outside as possible.  Aunt Julia came to visit and on our trip to Talkeetna we got a perfect view of Denali. 

We played in the river and watched a bunch of birds diving into the water to get food.  It was impossible to get them in action but great to watch. 

The trip to Talkeetna was the warmest we have felt since moving to AK.  It was 85 outside and we kept telling Julia this weather was not normal.  It was cold and rainy the next day.

With Julia in town we decided to show her as much as possible.  This is Exit glacier.  We did not go the full hike because a returning hiker mentioned he had run into a bear. 

We also took her to Nilnilchik to halibut fish.  Everyone makes halibut fishing sound like it is something you MUST do.  It was completely different than I had imagined.  We were on a charter with 5 other fishers, deckhand Kevin and Captain Bob.  The water was very choppy at first and when the captain mentioned we would be out for about 5 hours it occurred to me that I had made a mistake.  How were we going to fish in this little boat for 5 hours?  It took half an hour to get to our fishing spot and the water did eventually settle down some.  Deckhand Kevin did everything for us, bait the hook, and even helped me repeatedly find the bottom at 170 feet after I missed it a couple of times and got tangled.  We all rotated on the boat from one position to the next.  Each time the hook hit the bottom we got a bite.  It wasn't hard to reel in a halibut but it was tiring because it seemed to take forever.  I thought I'd get a break sometime but each time I pulled one up the crew would unhook it, rebait the hook and out again.  I really didn't want the responsibility of condemning a fish to death.  I am more of a catch and release kind of person, but halibut is yummy.  The limit is two.  I got one that seemed to be a nice size according to Eric and then kept on fishing.   I was hit by a wave of sea sickness but was able to keep going with tic tacs.   I lost track of the number of fish I pulled up but by the last one I more than ready to keep it.   It went so fast.  After I kept my second fish we were at the fishing area only about half an longer.  We all caught our limit.  Eric can be the halibut fisher in our family. 

We also took Julia to Seward, Homer, and Portage glacier.  We loved having her here and really missed her when she left.  She joked about coming here to work on a halibut boat or counting fish, we would love that.

On Memorial Day Eric showed us how to make kites, with newspaper, fishing string and balsam wood.  He had made them at a day camp when he was 10 years old.  He wasn't sure they would work.  He used his fishing reels from CO to fly the kites.  It was very easy to let it out and reel it in.  I think all kites should have reels.  They worked better than expected and after playing outside all day, eating hot dogs, and just enjoying a day together we spent the evening flying our kites. 

Only one kite broke when it landed in the trees but it was time to go in anyway. 

We had a picnic at the river which turned in to a very long afternoon.  While we sat on a sandbar and ate, a moose wandered up the river and into the woods. 

There was no shortage of water, mud, or fun.

Even Hailey had a great time.  They both can't wait to go back to the river. 

Nathan started his golf lessons.  He told me last year he would not play another sport like baseball until he could play golf.  I was concerned that he might get bored, but he still loves it.  Running and golf are his two favorite sports. 

This is a horrible picture, but a moose and her calf ran across the driving range in the middle of  Nate's lesson.  It was so fun to watch. 

This weekend we drove to Seward.  The Reds are running and we are hoping to get some Salmon to take back to CO with us this summer.  It was cold and rainy but the boys loved it. 

Eric will be doing a lot this while the kids and I are out of town.