Vacation pictures

Grace's World Fair day went off w/o a hitch. She did the state of Kansas and her group was the Midwest. The class was divided into groups of the country, and were responsible for creating sets and a movie (done in iMovie and all pretty funny). She's pictured here with her awesome teacher, Julie R.eal, whom I subbed for first semester. The barn in the background is Roger's creation.

We had a great time in California. The weather was mostly decent, although it was colder than we expected. Grace and I went a week before the guys with her girl scout troop. We did a lot of touristy things in San Francisco - the Duck, which Grace got to drive, China Town where we took a tour and tea tasting, and ate at Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp and Rain Forest Cafe. The troop walked the Golden Gate Bridge with about 5,000 other girl scouts from around the country. I wasn't able to go along - only two leaders per group, although they made an exception for us since we were the only AK group, but told us the day before. I already had plans to visit Alcatraz with Aunt Deb so skipped it. The girls wore their kuspuks - AK Native smocks - and were mobbed all the way across the bridge as if they were from outerspace instead of a few thousand miles north. I'll post pics of Grace's day when my friends forward them. Alcatraz was very cool and it was nice to have a break from all those girls!

On Monday, Grace and I headed to Hume Lake Christian Camp where our friends, the Wests, live now. We met them in Northfield and had a wonderful time catching up. They took us all around the camp - including a huge new treehouse for their campers, and to Grant's Grove of Sequoias. Roger, Luke and Nate arrived that Thursday and we headed into SF to the Exploratorium, cable cars and China Town before driving over the bridge to Muir Woods, a redwood grove. (We saw a lot of big trees this trip.) We spent a few days at Point Reyes, visiting lighthouses and beaches, then went east to Yosemite. Three days there, followed by two with Aunt Deb and Uncle Rick, including Luke's first time surfing and a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and then we flew home. Summer officially starts!

End of winter

It's spring! Occasionally, anyway. Today is a VERY busy day - Grace's school is hosting their annual World Fair (In fifth grade, they do the 50 states. Grace got Kansas as her state, is dressed in overalls and brought biscuits to share), Nate's preschool did their Muffins with Mom annual Mother's Day presentation and Grace and I leave tonight with her Girl Scout troop to California. On Saturday, the girls will walk the Golden Gate bridge with 5,000 other Girl Scouts in a ceremonial bridging ceremony, performed when the girls age up to the next bracket. We're also visiting Six Flags, riding the SF Duck around town and in the Bay and hitting several trendy eating spots - Hard Rock Cafe, Rain Forest Cafe, Bubba Gump, etc. something I don't normally do when I travel so it should be fun. The rest of the troop will fly back Monday but we're staying until May 24. The guys arrive May 12 - we'll visit Yosemite, spend several days in San Francisco, visit my aunt, check out the redwoods and of course, spend lots of time at the beach.

Last weekend Grace's troop hosted a Cache In Trash Out geocaching event at nearby Echo Lake. The girls are working toward their Bronze Award prior to bridging to juniors on Saturday. We hid treasure caches around the lake (Nate is pictured with one) that we posted coordinates to. People searched for them using a GPS and picked up trash on the way. It was windy that day but about 50 people showed up and the lake owner said it was the cleanest his lake had ever been. We had a fun cookout afterward and went home feeling very virtuous. Grace also participated in honor choir - see photos - and joined 4th-5th graders across the valley to perform a few weeks ago.

www.youtube.com/watch?=vwwPPDuDOJyU

Also posted are pics of Nate's prek icefishing trip to Finger Lake. Only one little girl caught anything and she guarded her hole jealously but just the fingerling salmon were biting so no big deal. Nate enjoyed the snowmachine and 4-wheeler ride better.

www.youtube.com/watch?=vwPMriflmfFU

It's hard to believe he's already done with preschool and will start kindergarten in the fall. Where did the last 5 years go???

www.youtube.com/watch?=v6MuJkYcSKuk

Luke has started his summer job working for Vanderweele Farms, which plants all kinds of veggies in fields across the road from us. He's training for XC and I'd like to send him to a hockey camp but it's very expensive. I'm hoping he works a lot this summer bc w/out a sport, that's all he has going on. It could be a good or bad thing...

Also posted are pics of Grace and Nate in Kenai, Nate discovering moose poop on the beach and a cool one of an oil rig off the coast. BTW, the mountains are much larger than the picture.

Have a great May!