4th of July in Homer

The best part about a long 4th of July weekend is when our whole family is able to spend it together. How lucky are we that this is possible? :-) We all decided to spend this holiday in Homer - D, Boyd and I slept in the camper with Grandma Mim and Papa Don, while Risha, Gabe tent camped and my mom slept in the truck. My in-laws even managed to get us a couple camping spots in our favorite campground!

A pretty happy kid on the 4+ hour drive down from Anchorage. 

A scenic overlook sits at the top of the hill before descending into Homer. 

On Friday, July 4, all eight of  us piled into D's boat and we motored over to Seldovia, which is across Kachemak Bay from Homer. The girls were going to check out the town during the Independence Day celebration while the boys went halibut fishing.

Leaving Homer harbor in the morning. 

Grandmas!

The boys leaving Seldovia harbor after dropping us off. 

Seldovia has a cute little playground that we hit up first thing in the morning. 

Interesting sights around the little town...it was a beautiful day for exploring.

The Seldovia Slough. 

4th of July Parade photos...

Seldovia Harbor...

And canoe jousting!

What a great catch. 

Words to live by, for sure. 

Playing on the beach and watching for Daddy's boat to come by. 

Bath time in the camper. 

This was so cool - I went out with the boys for one last fishing run on our final morning in Homer and we saw these two sea otters playing in the harbor area. One of them even hauled up on the dock!

July photos

Our summer sure seemed to fly by - here are a few photos from July!

Fun at the Sand Lake Elementary playground. The ground covering is a rubber mulch and Boyd pretended to swim through it.

Getting ready to "feed" his turtle pillow breakfast.

Fun times downtown at Music in the Park. I think "Fiddle-dee-dee" was playing on this day.

I had to come in to work for a few hours on a Monday (usually my "Momday" with Boyd) so as per usual he took over my desk and charmed everyone in the office. He still asks to go to mama's office every once in a while.

I bought these hearing protection earmuffs even before Boyd was born, just in case we would need them for the boat or an airshow - but we've yet to use them. Mostly he likes to put them on randomly - they do make his little cheeks look even rounder!

Measuring up a box in the garage. D put Boyd's green lawn chair in there - and ta-da: instant fort.

At the end of July, it was time for to try our hand at dipnetting from shore. D's parents had camped at Centennial in Soldotna, so we were able to stay with them and they watched Boyd for us as we fished.

Dipnetting from shore in Kenai was an interesting experience. We started around low tide and the photos below were from when the tide came in - we were VERY far out and the water was right around my chest area. 

Glassing for moose on the highway, from the truck. 

The Troopers stopped by while D and I were fishing - the officer gave Boyd some awesome goodies!

Pyrah's U-Pick Farm

On Friday, August 8th, I took the day off to join my friend and her kids at the U-Pick farm in the Valley. Technically this farm is in the Butte, near the town of Palmer. Every week during the summer they open different fields for vegetable picking and charge by the pound. On this day we picked up peas, potatoes and broccoli.

We scheduled a hayride in the afternoon for us and the kids. Boyd requested horses but they pull these wagons with tractors.

Boyd eventually got into the picking process and really had a good time checking out the plants.

My friend, one of her kiddos and Boyd:

He held these peas for the whole drive home (45 minutes!)

Hay!