Carter Lake Hike

At the end of a "tough" hike at Carter Lake...you can see it in the background. The Bug is holding his "bear" whistle.

Our Sweet Pea just a smilin' and happy she was out of the carrier.

I put my sunglasses on her to help w/ the sun...kinda funny she's looking through one eye. :)

Watching dad fish

Eating lunch...we were having a picnic!

Reelin' up the Rainbow dad caught

Holdin' onto the rod while dad landed the fish. He thought he was pretty cool.

This is where Sweet Pea hung out while we ate and fished.

I asked him to smile for me and this is what I got...eyes closed. Silly boy.

So, I took another pic and told him to smile...and he still had his eyes closed. He thinks he's smiling.

I finally asked him to point to the camera to hopefully get his eyes open...and they are, but he's pointing at the camera. Don't worry about the poor trout...Shayne put him back in the water in between pics.

My smiley girl...she did so well on the hike.

Our family pic at Carter Lake

Shayne and The Bug self-pic

We had to stop and get a pic of all of us...mostly so we had an excuse to stop and breath!

At the end of the hike...finally! See our bear protection? Notice the whistle in The Bug's mouth...poor Shayne had to listen to this most of the way up the trail...but we didn't run into any bears! :)

Throwing rocks into the lake. Have I mentioned he ALWAYS throws rocks in water?

Thumbs up! Life is good...salmon sandwich, throwing rocks into a lake, good weather. What more can a 2 year old ask for?

Sweet Pea and I hanging out eating lunch

The rest of the pics Shayne took on our way back down. He didn't even really stop. Just held the camera about waist high and shot the pic. They actually turned out pretty good. It was really beautiful with all the different colors of wildflowers and berries. We really do live in a beautiful place.

So, after camping at the Russian, we decided to go for a hike up to Carter Lake. I've heard it's a little bit tough at the beginning, but Shayne had a coworker who said he and I could easily handle it even while hauling kids up. So, we thought we'd try it out.

Well...let's just say that coworker had to have been smokin' something to think we could handle that hike while hauling kids up as well! It was ridiculously difficult!! Not only did I have a baby 2 months ago, via C-section, but I'm pretty anemic still and incredibly out of shape!! I was pretty sure the oxygen level on this hike was at about .1% because I could not breath! Lest you think I was just being a pansy, Shayne was sucking wind as well...maybe that's where all the oxygen went?

Now...I'm a sweater...I sweat just doing dishes I swear. It's not my most endearing and attractive trait. So, just imagine what I was like hiking straight up this mountain with no oxygen while carrying a baby on the front of me and a waist pack on my back with the water. I was SOAKED! And my poor baby who was laying on my chest was wet too...I felt so bad for her. But I'll tell you what...she was warm. She was also such a good baby. She slept most of the time she was in the pack and even when she was awake, she would just look up at me and give me the sweetest smile. :)

We considered doing the full hike to Crescent Lake which was another 1.5 miles but by the time we made it to Carter Lake, I was pretty sure there was NO way I was going an extra 3 miles. Maybe next year when I'm in better shape, and The Bug can walk and Shayne can carry Sweet Pea. :)

The Bug did great in the backpack. Shayne gave him a whistle to scare off the bears and he did a good job. Poor Shayne. But...it was hard for us to yell for the bears when we could barely breath so I was glad Shayne thought of the whistle.

We stopped at Carter Lake and had lunch...and I drank most of everyone's water. J/K! Shayne put together his fly rod and was FINALLY able to catch a rainbow trout...the first one of the season. It's not been his best fishing year. Amazing how much a newborn can affect the time you spend on the river...even for the dad. But...he did catch a rainbow and he let The Bug reel it in. And he thought it was awesome!!

So, even thought it was a very difficult hike to do while carrying kids...it was beautiful and we did have a very nice time once we got to the lake. And...the hike back was mostly downhill...so that's a good thing. :)

We'll definitely be doing this hike again...but I will be in much better shape before I attempt it again. :)

Gotta love making memories!!

Camping - Russian River

He did have a camp chair, but preferred the stroller instead.

Throwing rocks into the river...always throwing rocks into water.

We went camping again this weekend, but to the Russian River instead. Again, it was the perfect weekend. You know it's been a good Alaskan summer when you have tan lines on your feet from your flip-flops. Yeah!!

Anyway, we drove to the Russian, set up camp, and then took the kids down to the river. We were slightly concerned, b/c there are usually a lot of bears on the Russian. We kept passing people who informed us there was a sow and two cubs near the confluence, which was where we were headed. But, we kept going, b/c most of the bears there are used to people and more concerned about getting their fish and getting back up the mountain. I would be lying though if I didn't say I was a little nervous. I had out our bear mace and we kept yelling hoping to alert them. There were quite a few people on the river fishing so that helps too.

By the time we got down to the confluence though, she was gone. So...no bears for us. I was relieved, but sorta disappointed The Bug couldn't see a bear. He's seen them in the past, but was too little to really understand what they were. Anyway, he got out of the stroller and of course threw rocks into the river. Always throwing rocks...always.

We went back, had dinner and smores, and then put them to bed. Shayne & I were able to stay up talking around the campfire for a couple of hours...it was so nice to just sit and talk...just the two of us.

We got up the next morning and broke camp pretty early, b/c we wanted to go on a hike. We ended up leaving the trailer in the overflow parking at the Russian and then hiked the Carter Lake Trail. That's a whole other post...w/ lots of pics.

After the hike we stopped and got the trailer, and then stopped at a store in Cooper Landing to get some drinks, b/c we were very thirsty after the hike. Shayne got The Bug a smaller Gatorade and he started downing it. I was worried he'd drink too much so I took it from him. He also finished up a bag of cracker/chips along w/ the gatorade. Now...you need to know that this child has the WEAKEST stomach ever! If he eats just a little too much junk...blech! Everywhere.

So...we stop in Sterling to get ice cream and he wakes up and doesn't look so good, and isn't acting so good either. So, I'm a little concerned. We are like 5 miles from home when he starts to throw up. I grab an empty ziploc bag to "catch" the vomit and just as I put it up to he mouth, he grabs it w/ both hands and pushing is down and out of the way...so he can throw up all over himself and me...as I'm turned around and reaching over my seat to help him. I was soooo mad! He threw up all over himself, the carseat, and my hands and arms. It was lovely. Needless to say I hosed him off when we got home and then threw him in the bathtub. Shayne hosed off the carseat...and Sweet Pea was just a sweet pea. She slept through most of that adventure.

So...moral to our story...The Bug can only get limited amounts of "junk". Anyone who thinks I'm a crazy mom to not let my kid eat lots of sugar can come clean up the pukie mess he makes when he throws it all up. :)

But even though our trip ended a little messy...it didn't ruin the trip as a whole. We loved going camping as a family and can't wait to go again. Even if it's not until next year...b/c we are headed to Idaho in 2 weeks...for almost a month!

Camping - Quartz Creek

Throwing rocks...always throwing rocks in the water.

Sweet Pea is not a happy camper here...I think she was hungry. I think it's funny how she scrunches up her face when she's mad.

There's our pop-up! I love it!!

Gotta love that dirty face!

Playin' swords with the bush.

This kid seriously refuses to sleep under covers. We got a light sleeping bad just for him and this is where I found him the following morning. Too funny.

Dad "babysitting" while The Bug and I went to the bathroom. He does a good job don't you think?

Our walk around the campsite to Quartz Creek

After such a crappy summer last year with all the rain, I informed Shayne we would be buying a camper this year so we could still get out and camp...especially with a baby. So at the beginning of May we purchased a pop-up camper trailer from some people in Anchor Point...and I'm so glad!!

I've decided there really is no other way to camp if you have children. I would never tent-camp with kids if I didn't have to...I don't care how cool you sound when you say you've tent camped w/ kids.

It was so nice to set it up, have somewhere to nurse my baby and to also have somewhere warm to sleep with a toddler who refuses to sleep under covers and a 2 month old baby. It was SOOOO nice to have a camper. And...it's small so it doesn't cost us an arm and a leg to pull it places.

Our first place to actually camp was at Quartz Creek. We tried to go there the weekend of Shayne's birthday, but didnt' realize we needed to reserve a spot online. We drove to EVERY campsite w/in a 20 mile range of Quartz Creek Campground and found ZERO campsites left. So, the next weekend we decided to go I reserved a spot ahead of time. We only reserved one night, and we wish we had reserved two so we could have taken our time getting out of the camp ground...things we've learned.

It was so dang hot on this day! Seriously, I think it hit 85+ during the day. It cooled off a bit by the time we left, and was very comfortable when we got to our campsite. We camped next to Kenai Lake and The Bug loved walking to the lake, finding rocks to throw, or filling up his bucket with water. He also loved playing in the dirt and "helping" dad to chop some wood. We went for a walk around the campground the next morning before leaving which was nice as well.

We seriously loved getting out as a family and camping together. Can't wait to go again...which will be next weekend at the Russian River. Yeah!!