alaskan summer

we went out tonight at 8pm to do some exploring at fort richardson. we're on elmendorf afb, but the 2 installations are connected. where we live is anchorage. fort richardson and the other side of our base are alaska. we have downtown. the markets. the businesses. the restaurants. they have wildlife. streams. moose. trees.

we went to otter lake, which is breathtaking. it took us a while to get there, bc the path in is a gravel/dirt road. we had to take our jeep, bc the van is too pretty to take. spencer fell asleep, and emma was bored and worried. she loves being outside, but i guess the rocks hitting the jeep were too much for her. and maybe the "WARNING: BEARS" signs were too much as well.

there are cabins at the lake that are ridiculously cheap to rent. 8$ a night. bunkbeds for the kids. a double in the back room. nothing special, but just right for people who are used to camping in tents. we don't want to use tents here, though, bc the bears are also a bit too much for ME. and ken does not want to have to get a gun just for us to do tent camping.

of course, more pictures to the right in the family link.

going green

that phrase is everywhere right now. in fact, not a day goes by that i don't hear it or read it. people are doing it many different ways. we're trying to do our part.

we had a regular mower at our old house and for every other place we've ever needed one. before moving from utah, we sold ours at our yard sale, assuming that we would buy a better one here. the one we had was just okay.

well, after some research and some thinking, we bought a reel mower today. it's not electric. it's not gas. it's not battery operated. it's not a new concept. people have been using them for decades.

and while it's great bc it is perfect for the environment, it's also perfect for us. no fumes in our garage. no chance of running out of "power" for it. and it is something that we can supervise emma using it.

i believe that after our lease is up on our van, we are also going to heavily research the pros and cons of getting a hybrid. while i'd love to say helping the environment doesn't have a cost...it does. hybrids are pretty pricey. gas prices can no longer be ignored. and i do believe that it's something that has been a long time coming. if this had not happened, i am pretty sure that "going green" would not be in peoples' minds the way it is. when the wallet starts to hurt, changes get made.

we made the switch to the cute little spiral bulbs. not that i'm fond of the mercury inside of them, but they're super sturdy and last substantially longer than the others.

we also are recycling for the first time ever. i'm ashamed to say that. well, it's not the first time ever, but it's been about 5 years since we did it on a regular basis. it's a wake up call to how much is wasted on packaging. embarrassing, really.

anyway, i'll get off my soapbox. here are some pictures of ken mowing the yard at 10pm. oh, that's another thing...no noise pollution!!

we went to the beach!

only, it's not a beach like any i've been to. but we will have to make do, as this is what we have.

we went with the friends we met on the ferry. the kids had a blast. rock throwing. mud stomping. plane watching. it was beautiful, and the weather was perfect. i think the temp reached 67 yesterday, so it was ideal for being outside. not quite bikini weather, though.


there are more pictures to the right...click on the family pictures link.