Could you dream of anything better?

Blue skies.

Whispy clouds.

Watching gliders sailing through the air.

And looking for blueberries. You can see him behind the red bushes ... just barely. I didn't want to drive up Archangel Road so we looked elsewhere. This spot didn't yield much more than "Oh, it smells like bear" ....

and a paw print to say that there was probably a very good reason it smelled that way!

Trooper Tia came along with us.

We even did a little berry picking between snapping photos.

Enough for these pros to clean out 2 gallons. I haven't decided if I need any more or not. Probably do, but time is not exactly my friend ... I don't think I'll be picking anymore this year.

But then again ... you never know!

Ronda, if you read this I learned something today. There are huckleberries as well as blueberries here too. Maybe the blueberries just don't grow as big here for some reason. Beats me. The cabbage sure do!

I opted out this morning.

I opted out of doing this ....

What a mess, hey? Jari took 3 of the Laulainen boys fishing this morning. I decided that staying home and getting a double batch of pulla dough going, the laundry caught up and maybe a little paper cleaning was more to my liking. Getting out of the door at 5:30 a.m. after working all week? I would have gone if Brenda had decided to go. She came up with a better plan as well. I'll have to find her a special "bummer we missed it" prize. He'll come home and take a nap ... and then I'll get him out the door to go blueberry picking. :)

Well .. maybe I'm cheating a bit. In the middle of the pulla baking, I'm visiting you with my coffee.

I did see the sun this morning for a bit. It was lighting the trees around us. It never touched OUR trees ... and never the yard. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that it will show up sometime soon. My tomatoes would love it. The peas could care less.

My porch is a full story high on one side. I ought to go out and measure. Now I know why that tape measure was sitting next to the computer! The tallest pea plants that have the space to grow upward are 9 feet tall. The ones against the 8ft screen are a bit cramped ...

They're taking twisty turns and I've never seen anything quite like it. We'll need a step ladder to reach the peas once they pop out. Blooms we have. Jack is going to need a ladder for sure when he comes to visit!

Time to swap the laundry which, by the way, seems to be reducing itself. It is amazing what happens when offspring start washing their own for the most part. Then off to find a sweatshirt, rain jacket, pair of boots and a bucket.

The berries are calling my name.

August has not been a kind month

in the state of Alaska.

I'm sure I'm missing things along the way, but in the last week and a half ....

the state of Alaska mourns the loss of the former Senator Ted Stevens after the flight he was on crashed on Sunday evening. He lost his life along with 4 other individuals on that flight. Condolences to all their families and to the family of the pilot, who lost another family member earlier this month in a C-17 cargo plane crash at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

On August 1st, a C-130 cargo plane crashed at Denali National Park taking with it 3 men ... none of whom I knew ... all of who have families left behind. Aviators who loved what they did. Though I didn't know any of them, it appears there are many who did and loved them.

This morning there are still folks sitting out on Knik Glacier waiting to be rescued. On Sunday a plane went down at Knik Glacier ... all are alive with only minor injuries on that one. Then the Air National Guard helicopter sent in to rescue them crashed with no loss of life.

I'm telling you.

It has been a week.

My house stinks ...

like blanching broccoli. It really doesn't take that long to blanch 28 pounds ... takes forever to freeze it individually before you put it away.

Do you s'pose that the cauliflower smell will kill the broccoli smell? Haven't started that yet. I think I'm going to go sit outside for a while ...

and read a book or something.

The air is a bit fresher out there.

Waaaah!

I only have one day left of vacation! I go back to work on Tuesday ... then On Call Thursday and Friday evenings as well. It has certainly been nice to be off for a week. I wonder what I use to do when I wasn't working so much. I remember! I had little people around my feet. I was changing diapers, fixing bottles, cleaning spills, rocking babies and reading to them. That was then. Now I just appreciate a week to catch up on the things in life.

I've gone fishing several times ... and not gotten one thing. Just to be out enjoying the beauty of God's beautiful creation has been enough.

I actually loaded up the truck with donations and dropped them off at the thrift store on Saturday ... and only took out one shirt before I took the bags out of the house. Can't make a trip to the thrift store without going inside, right? That just wouldn't do. So we did ... and came out with only 2 things. A bulletin board that we promptly snazzed up ... and another bag for Tia.

And ... I've been able to spend time with this delightful child of mine who thoroughly enjoys her flavored, gussied up coffees.

There are two things left on my To Do List for the vacation week.

1. Pick broccoli at the farm (I'm going for green beans as well.)

2. Register Anna for school (That really wasn't on the list, but registration is tomorrow and she's still in MN having a grand time.)

I'm rather surprised at myself. I even managed things like vacuuming out the computer. Dust at my house? I know ... who'da thought.

I'd rather spend my time in the kitchen with the oven on, but I have this refrigerator that runs nonstop. Almost nonstop. Seriously sucks up energy and probably makes my meter spin sideways. I even pulled that bugger out on Saturday ... and Tia helped me clean it out. Was totally worth the trip to ...

... being as I probably haven't been there in the past year. I must say the french fries were scrumptious!

I'll be back in the morning ....

but just wanted you to know.

This picture was taken on Thursday.

Everytime the sun came in the window I started to burst into song.

It went something like this:

"Sunshine in my windows make me happy ..."

I didn't see any sunshine today ... but still managed to maintain my sanity!

We found a new hobby!

I've heard of geochaching before. In fact, I remember talking about it with Gary and Laurie quite a while ago. Recently, we had a patient at the hospital whose husband and children were out looking for treasures while she was having her procedure done ... and the seed was planted again in my noggin.

Tonight I signed in and started getting excited.

Jari and Fred were out fishing (no fish to can tomorrow) and when they came home we went out searching ... Jari and I by truck, Fred and Tia by 4-wheeler ... for ones that were incredibly close to home.

Mind you, we've never done this before.

We had no clue what we were even looking for which made it quite interesting.

The first one took a bit of digging.

I don't know if the GPS on the i-phones is accurate or even the right one (according to geocaching there are several different types?), and we were sort of walking back and forth in circles ...

digging in leaves ....

trying to figure out which way we were suppose to be heading ...

wondering if people get really creative in their hiding places ...

and voila ... Jari found it!

Inside this little cylinder is a tightly rolled piece of paper that you date and sign. Then log on in the internet to say you've found it.
We headed to the next one ... and found it quickly.
Thank goodness we started with the ones that were rated only ONE star for difficulty. Can't quite imagine looking for something that is incredibly difficult to find for a starting point.

I can think of several of you out there that read this who would have an absolute blast with your kids joining this fun adventure.
Joni ... there looks to be over 13,000 things hidden in Finland.
Frans & Jenny ... over 16,000 in Arizona.
Grandma & Grandpa ... you have the entire country to search the way you travel! Found a new past time for you. Imagine the fun you would have hiding them! In all your travels you could drop things wherever you went! :) 
We can't wait to try find some more tomorrow! And ... we can't wait to hide some ourselves.

Head over to geocaching at this website and check it out. It's free of charge and super fun! Let us know if you give it a try.