Kiley in Action!

Sockeye Slugger, 2010

Kiley decided she would like to play baseball this year. She played her first game without a second of practice, and did alright. Since we have been home she has been going to practice and has played a game or two. She is the youngest one on her team and one of two girls. Her last game she hit the ball twice, got on base twice, and actually fielded a few balls.
Go Kiley!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Broccoli

Radish Bunch- picked and given to Uncle Joe

Bulb Onions

Despite the colder weather this summer our garden seems to be thriving! We got home from vacation and immediately checked on the garden, I was pretty stoked with the results. Just about everything we planted is growing in some capacity- potatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, lettuce and broccoli. I think our strawberries are done for the season, but at least we got a few berries out of them before we left.

The onions from seed look a little bleh, and the carrots don't look like they are going to really grow to any edible size. But we have 63 potato plants (red and Yukon gold) growing and with potatoes selling here in Dillingham for $9 for a 5 lb bag that is a lot of potatoes!

These beds that have carrots, potatoes and radishes in them. I can't tell much of a difference in growth yet compared to these plants and those in the garden, except in the carrot size. The carrots in our main garden didn't even grow! We'll compare the amount of potatoes when it is time to dig them up.

One of our biggest potato plants

With all of this green stuff growing in our garden, we sure do feel like farmers, or I do anyway. I feel pretty productive.... Jon finished our greenhouse the other day, and it is a little late in the season to really put a lot in there now, but watch out for next year!

Alamosa

Bella and Kalin, holding hands to shop!

We were in Cheraw for just a few short days and then drove to Alamosa to see the Alamosa Clouses for a weekend. What fun we had! We were surprised that Bella was a few inches taller than Kalin this summer, plus she has at least four or five more inches of hair! Maybe by next summer she will have caught up a little. Kiley was happy to note she is still the tallest Clouse girl.... for this summer at least.

Ben and Jenny have been extremely busy with the latest Sierra Contractors project- a humongous solar farm for the Valley. Talk about stress! They were up to their eyeballs in it, but we kind of took them away from it all while we were there.

We got to go to the Alligator Farm, the Sand Dunes and spend a lot of time just catching up. What fun the Clouse girls got to have with one another, sun up until sun down. The consensus when we were leaving was that we definitely should live closer so we can see eachother more often.

That's me holding an alligator at the farm, yup I'm a badass!

Posing at the Alligator Farm

Sand Dunes

Swimming Clip Summer 2010

A clip of Kiley doing the breast stroke. I see the Olympics in her future....

Swimming in 2010

We tried swimming lessons for both girls this summer. Kalin ended up getting three and Kiley got nine. Kalin wasn't quite ready, she was more interested in just splashing around; definitely not blowing bubbles or getting dunked in the water.

Kiley on the other hand was a pro this summer! She learned free style and the breast stroke, and a little back stroke (much to her swim teachers chagrin she reverted to the doggie paddle quite a bit). She also practiced her diving, in Arika's pool and in the public pool.

I have some great short clips of her swimming skillz, but for some reason I can't get them to post. I'll have to work on sharing them later.

Ahhh the long road to Colorado

We're home now, and I didn't get a chance to blog much from Colorado, so I will do it now that we are home.Forty five minutes to Anchorage and five hours to Denver.... it was a wonderful trip down south this year.
As always it wasn't enough time to do all we needed to do or to see all the people we needed to see, but we packed in as much as we could!

Here's a run down of our trip:

1. 9 Swimming Lessons for Kiley
2. 3 Swimming Lessons for Kalin (she wasn't quite ready, we'll try again next year)
3. Breakfast with Erin and family (the Lohmier crew) in Colorado Springs
   
4. Haircuts and Pedicures in La Junta
   
5. A visit to Alamosa to see the Alamosa Clouses
6. A visit to the Alligator Farm to, of course, see the Alligators
7. A visit to the Sand Dunes
8. Trip to Colorado Springs, a visit with old friends
9. Trip to Denver to pick up Matthew from Seattle
   
10. Trip to Bents Old Fort (in 95 degree heat)
11. BBQ with the Lewis's, Lambs and Clouses (4th of July celebration)
12. Lots and lots of visiting with nephews, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, parents, cousins......
    
13. Airsoft Game(s)- Jon, Ben, Lance, Soren, Matthew, Damon, Devin, Dillon
    
14. Launching water balloons (all of the above including Garry, Travis, Kiley)
    
15. About 12 trips to the public pool
16. Gathering toads, which believe it or not Kalin was scared of this summer!
    
17. Off to the movie theater to watch "Toy Story 3", we all loved it. I got a little teary eyed at the end.
18. A shopping trip to Pueblo with Aunt Jenny
    
19. Trip back to Denver to drop Matthew off
20. Many, many, many trips to Sonic
21. A visit to the Zoo in Colorado Springs with the Lohmier crew
22. A visit with Nancy in Denver

Just writing it made me tired! Phew! That's why we do it every year. The traveling is exhausting but the kids did so well this year, they are turning into little expert travelers. So a little at a time I will add pictures from our travels this summer.