Our First Dipnetting Trip!

This summer we finally took our first dipnetting trip since living in Alaska. For those of you who aren't familiar with dipnetting or, sustenance fishing for the official term, here is the basic description. You go out to the muddy beach to stand in the freezing ocean dressed in your waders, gloves, rain jacket and boots, hold on to a 5-10 foot pole with a giant net on the end and stand there, hoping some salmon swim right in. Now, lots of people get really lucky at this and catch enough fish to feed their family for a year...i.e. sustenance fishing! You have to be an Alaska resident to do this and you can only go during a set time of the year when the salmon are migrating to the rivers. The rules are very strict on catching the fish and claiming all that you catch. Tons of people go and stand side-by-side in the water all day long. The first day we were there the wind was treacherous and therefore the waves were huge and people, not us, still stood out there with waves crashing over their heads trying to load up on their quota of fish. You can take home 10 fish per person in your household....which is a lot of fish! We weren't quite that die hard on having a ton of salmon, mostly going for the experience, and Josh opted out on the wave crashing and waited until things calmed down some. Most people just bring tents and camp right there on the beach, wake up early and start fishing. We rented a trailer that we shared with some friends and drove on out there, camping in the parking lot on the beach, which is another popular option, we almost didn't even get a spot. The kids entertained themselves by playing in the mud, sand and rocks. All in all is was a great experience, and we had a fun time, although we did only go home with 3 fish, not 40, but oh well...it is all about the experiences, right?

Here we are in our spot with the camper.
Josh's first 2 fish!

Aren't waders so sexy!
The girls all bundled up watching while we hung out on the muddy beach. And yes, that is an ironing board behind them. People bring them to fillet their fish on as they catch them. There are tons of fish heads/bones all over the beach and tons of scavenging seagulls. Can you say....mine mine mine mine mine!! (Nemo fans will understand)

That's Josh in the red jacket hoping to get lucky!

The highlight of the trip for the kids was whacking the fish. You get a fish whacker, the little orange mini bat looking thing, and when you pull the fish out of the water you have to whack them over the head. They loved this, gross huh, and all had to have a turn.

After our fun dipnetting experience we had the trailer for an extra day so took off to Homer for a night and had a wonderful time. To me, Homer is one of the most beautiful spots that I have seen in Alaska with the mountains and the ocean surrounding it. Josh hadn't seen it yet so we had to ride down there, all the way at the end of the Kenai peninsula to check it out. It is a quaint little fishing town with lots of little shops, restaurants and fishing charters all set out on the spit....a little strip of land that sticks out into the ocean.

Some of the shops lining the spit.

Ate some fabulous fish chowder here, yum yum!!

One of the big reasons people head down to Homer is for the Halibut charters. This was a charter that was just returning and we stood to watch this mans amazing filleting skills...I am not kidding, he was super fast, it was awesome!

Too bad those aren't our catch

Most photographed building in Homer, it is an historical landmark for the town, the Salty Dawg Saloon.

A great shot of the spit from up high, most of the previous pictures were taken while we were down on the spit.

Beautiful Homer, I suggest you all go if you are ever in Alaska.

Just had to add this great pic of Carson hanging out at home after the trip.

Josh's Vacation! (oops, I mean work trip)

Josh had to go on a trip that included a stop in Guam. Well, apparently their plane broke down and they ended up spending the week there doing whatever they wanted. So, basically Josh got a weeks vacation in Guam doing things such as eating out, scuba diving, swimming, boating....you know all that fun beach stuff...while I sat at home with the kids in what seems to be a very rainy summer in Alaska. No, really I am not jealous :) I am happy he gets to have these experiences, just wish I could have them too! So here are some of the awesome pictures he took while over there, enjoy!

Yeah, I have no idea what that is....doesn't look very appetizing though. Josh couldn't seem to remember what it was either, but he did actually eat it!His hotel room balcony...ocean view...gotta love it!

Goofing Off....and attempting a back yard camp out!

You just can't deny how cute this kid is!! We were singing the smile song for family home evening...this was Carson's version of smiling...in other words making faces then cracking up at himself when we all inevitably laughed! Trying on Daddy's new scuba mask he acquired while on his extended "work" trip to Guam...more on that coming up!

We have been trying to find a good night for weeks to "camp" in the back yard. We decided that just Josh and Bella would try it out...no use in fighting Carson and the pregnant women sleeping in a tent if we don't have to, right? So here they are helping Josh set up the tent. Let's just say this "camp-out" lasted about 1 hour before Josh inevitably gives up on getting Bella to calm down and sleep and storms into the house and into bed....so much for a quiet night!
She loved hammering the stakes and insisted on doing each one. She is getting to be such a big girl now and can accomplish so much when she sets her mind to it.

Daddy Daughter Princess Ball

Some friends of ours threw a little Daddy Daughter Ball at their house. All the little girls dressed up and so did the Dads. Josh was gone on a trip so I didn't think Bella was going to go, but at the last minute her friends Dad offered to take her along with his two little girls and be Daddy sub. It was really nice of him and Bella was so excited to go. She didn't really understand the concept of it being a Daddy Daughter thing, I didn't elaborate much so she wouldn't feel bad, I just told her she was getting to go to a dress up party and she LOVES any chance to dress up and play princess. All the little girls looked so cute dressed up. She talked about it for long time afterwards. It was a great idea to do.

Renaissance Fair

They have an annual Three Barons Renaissance Fair here in Anchorage. It is relatively small, but we went 2 years ago and had a good time and decided to check it out again this year. Everyone is dressed up in costume, walking around, putting on various shows and demonstrations. This picture is of the live chess match, where two kingdoms are feuding and so they call out a move and the people standing on those squares challenge each other to a duel, whoever "wins" gets the spot and the game goes on. It is probably the most entertaining show they have. It is overly dramatic and the acting is pretty poor, but it is what you make of it and it's fun to watch!

The best part to me is the area set up where they show you how some things were done in Renaissance times. Here the girls are checking out various dried herbs, smelling them, touching them and learning what they were used for. Bella loved the hands on demonstrations where she could actually touch and learn.

Here she is helping wind up thread to use to make cloth.

Watching a show with Daddy.

Getting a nice little design and jewel on her face....try hard to disregard the obvious cleavage in her face! We tried to get a pic without it and failed...oops! Imagine what Bella must have thought!

A nice little design of my own so we matched.