Our Summer List

So last night we went into Anchorage for our nephews birthday and on the way in Tristan and Calista were fighting like cats and dogs. I was about ready to lose my mind! On the way back home they started in again so I distracted them with "What kind of things do you want to do this summer?" It worked fabulously and we came up with a GREAT list! Of course most of this is pending finances:) As always! So here is our list:

* White water rafting in Denali and the kids want to either take a tour bus up or the train. They are feeling envious of all the things the tourists get to do that we never do:)

* Tristan wants to float down a river either in a kayak or canoe and camp out "in the middle of nowhere", it doesn't count if it's a "touristy" thing. He would like to do a 2-3 day trip.

* I want to make wine. We have a place here to do it and you get 25 bottles for every batch. We are going to get together with a bunch of friends to do a few batches so that we all get 5-10 bottles of different kinds. So be expecting wine for Christmas this year!

* We want to hike, of course! But we want to do several new hikes that we have never done before. We live in hiking central and there are hundreds of hikes that we have never done. One that Martin and I would like to tackle is Pioneer Peak but we aren't sure if Martin's hip can handle it so we might have to wait post-hip replacement. It's a 12 mile hike and fairly challenging so it is going to take some training up and down Lazy Mountain and maybe Mat-Su Peak.

* The kids and I decided we are going to go into Anchorage one night and feed all the homeless people we see. We are going to buy like 25 sandwiches at Subway, granola bars and oranges and pass them out. Tristan suggested it might be a nice gesture to pass out blankets. Him and Kev's friend, Kevin Sampley, slept outside the other night (I know, I have crazy kids!) and he said, "Mom, it's cold! I feel really sorry for the homeless people now". So that turned into, well, maybe we should start getting people to donate their old backpacks and stuff them with blankets, food, and some other treats and pass those around. Could be a fun endeavor!

* Martin and I want to get down to Homer for a motorhome camping trip. With the cost of gas we won't be doing much of that but Homer is only 3-4 hours away and a very fun place to go. And they have a beach!! A real beach, not just an Alaskan rocky beach!

So these are our goals this summer. Along with MANY trips to the lake. We have DOZENS of lakes EVERYWHERE here in the valley. You can't drive one mile without passing a lake, literally! So we usually hang out at one of them most of the summer. Both my sister and us have lake accesses in our neighborhoods too and we are on opposite sides of the same lake. We are going to cross the lake to my sister's house a few times this summer just for kicks.

And of course, I need to get up to Fairbanks at least once to see Grandma and Grandpa, Dan and Brenda, and my cousins. And SHELI, of course!!! We haven't been able to go much since returning from the motorhome trip so I'm long overdue.

Happy Summer everybody!!!