Tomorrow's the 4th of July. I like that holiday. It's upbeat, it's summer, there are parades. Bethel's 4th of July has a certain charm. I remember when we lived in Wasilla we were in a parade participating with part of my husband's work - we only had 2 children then, Aaron was a baby. I remember it was hot, uncomfortable, everyone moved way too fast, and at the end, Aaron was so overheated/sick of being bounced around that he puked. I said "we won't be doing this next year" (and in fact, we were on our way to Bethel that winter - so we didn't.)
Last year we made our first trip to Ketchikan and it encompassed their 4th of July. I liked it so much that we planned this trip specifically to experience it again. It looks like we'll get to have the same wonderful experience as last year - crystal clear blue skies, sunny-almost-too-hot-but-just-delicious mid 70s weather. Southeastern Alaska is known for its rain... Ketchikan has a "Liquid Sunshine Gauge" that shows how many inches of rain it receives in a given year - it's some ridiculous amount - according to wikipedia, 152 inches. In my limited experience it seems that yeah, it may rain a lot sometimes - but frequently it mists in and out, it pours a little then it quits. Perfect for someone who likes variety.
Anyway - I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Here come some pictures from today, which was spent outside 95% of the time.
Tonight I talked my dad into going to a nearby beach to play with 3/5 kids (one didn't want to go, and we opted to have Rosalie stay with my mom since the older 2 we were taking wanted to run/jump/play... and she runs at a different speed from them). Here's my awesome, hardworking Dad with 5 month old Andrew.
Candid photo, I like this one. Aaron and Perpetua were looking for seashells...
This is actually how I found this picture! Can you believe, the tiny mussel shell inside the bigger one? Obviously it was left there that way by the tide - but still, I thought it was beautiful!
you can see the rock is striated and there are collections of shells and rocks all over...
it's odd how the striated rock meets right up with the ocean-smoothed thin hard round rocks all around Ketchikan. Some beaches have sand too - (still an Alaskan beach - NICE Alaskan beaches, but forget that California fun in the sun stuff - our beaches are special). Last year I came to visit Ketchikan right before Perpetua's birthday and I took home a bag of flat rocks to use in craft projects (painting as ladybugs for a birthday party project, etc.)
The kids found something more than seashells on the beach - baby crabs! The mortality rate for those little guys was kinda high judging from the intact whole bodies we started finding in the rocks. Thrilling for the kids though - Aaron & Perpetua have a crab each to take home.
And, here's what I saw after we got back to the house from our beach run and a "quick" trip to my dad's office... heading southward. Taken from the back deck - I can't say enough what an awesome view my parents have. It's relaxing just to check out!
