And They're off Again....

What a wild and crazy group we are! Watching the WGN news...mocking all the newscasters, and deciding if a model with serious drama REALLY is gorgeous or scary-looking. ~~Nice seating arrangement too, huh??
There really is a reasonable explanation for this...umm not really! He's just a pest.
And this...AG would only do this EXCEPT for a very important and mature reason! She is a PROFESSIONAL and NEVER silly!!
Dips, salsa, fruit salad, hamburgers, hot dogs, fires, cake, lemonade --yummy!!!!

It was great having the guys home for a month, we did something almost every day! Had the crew over last night :)

GOSH!!!!!!

CB...LOOOK these are in my collection!
And yummy! Irene is so cute, she brought all this over last night (still hot) "I know you'll be fishing" she told T. Guess what he did today. Got her 2 nice halibut and even gave bossy 20 pounder too!

Hiking & More Hiking....

AG with her FIRST cobalt blue sea glass.... MS found it!!! We walked right over it!
AG and I also missed the cute sea star. I think Dills found it.
The kids were amazed --phone booths that still work! LOL My husband used to call me from these before we moved out here --funny.
This part of the road/trail is always sort of flooded. I was trying to picture a jeep and the soldiers...yeah I need to go look in the books we bought at the museum LOL...
I got some puppy love from Jet (on the left) and Max on the right was just bored with Jet kissing him and being all excited like puppies are!
We ran into HH and TV on the trail.
Looking down toward Unalaska.
It was so pretty, I REALLY don't want August to end!

So I guess this trail has no offical name, but this has always been our favorite walk. We lived right near the trail for 8 years....now we're a little farther away and start on the opposite side of the mountain/hill but it's still absolutely gorgeous! The WWII "stuff" is everywhere...even a "bridge" made of 60+ year old planks!
I have a bunch of walks that I'm taking before this month is over. We don't have a pass to the rec center so I have to get out! We'll just renew it after we return from vacation. Mid-October is wet and windy anyway!
Busy everyday for the next 6 days...fun fun fun....I sort of want to lay on the couch and watch Mad Men....why do I like that show?? Everyone else can't stand it, I find it fascinating!

Kolecta Bay Memories

We missed the Festival of the Aleutians and the parade too...but I think all 9 of us are happy we went camping, even though it was gray and the clear day predicted for Sunday didn't happen. It was good enough weather. The boat is leaving soon, and from the sound of the wind this fall is here....or coming VERY soon.



A cute flower growing in the rocks, I can't pass a perfect one by!
Our glass ball, they're always just sitting in the driftwood, looking like they're waiting for us to find them!
We are certain there are several glass balls in every pile like this...but what can you do??
I bet it was 52 degrees in the morning...did that make Dills put on any clothes....nope!
Manderzz and Mr AG playing with some sparklers.
No sand and all rocks is better than I thought...less mess on us, the gear and the food!
Expelliarmus!Mr. CD....tending the fire...
Something was cracking AG up!
AG would not drink the punch I made --similar to the punch from Tundra Golf...so I had to work on it myself!
S'mores!
AB used a bouy I found as a chair.

Ahhh......so sweet!
Good thing we had 5 of us to figure out the hamburger-cooking thing! I couldn't figure out how to open it!
AB REALLY likes summer sausage!
The girls had air mattresses....we used the cushions from the skiff --rumor is I had both and T had none! Oops...I didn't know. I just know I was REALLY comfortable!
Checking the skiff.
We had 4 tents, each couple and one each for the boay & for the girls.

Just Getting There Was a Major Chore!

Yeah that's us...we had good the seats on the way out...the way back the kids were faster than me, I stood...and AG she was the only passenger on the other skiff...how I got 5 kids and she got zero I don't know!?

AG looking dashing, is she in a movie from the 50s set in Italy?? Guess the jersey, Xtratufs and PFD say no, but the glasses and scarf are cute!
Do they REALLY need to dress alike everyday of the week? Just teasing!!We brought AB along, his 1st time camping in Unalaska.Priest rock from the skiff.Has anyone ever looked in the cave behind Priest Rock??
My favorite rock! It's sooooooo cool. You have to click on the picture to see the interesting texture. It's 30feet deep right alongside the rock.I can't seem to get a picture of a puffin (so cute they make me smile everytime I see them) so we've got cormorants they're sorta cute..
Sunbathing sea lions, have to click on the picture to see them, sorry! We were flying by.
The bay Mr. CD and Mr. AG chose. I was pouty about it, but I did eventually get over it, rocks instead of sand is really a lot cleaner and the glass ball in the wood made the hill of annoying rocks worth the hassle. Ohhh yeah --NO BUGS or wind of any sort, which is cool and odd at the same time.


The forecast Saturday morning said calm winds for SAT and calm & CLEAR for Sunday! This was it, our only chance to camp as my husband will be gone most of the weekends until mid-OCT when we get back from Cabo. He called Mr. AG and let them know we were going...they decided to come too! It ONLY took 8 1/2 hours from 10:30 when he checked the weather until we were sitting around the campfire, 4 tents set up, cooking our hamburgers....is that worth it?? Yeah, of course!

We had to coordinate who had what food already, run around buying boots and food. I baked cookies (can't have store bought treats --the horror!) and some gluten-free brownies too, find all the gear, gather the kids, hope they had enough clothing, launch the 2 skiffs and find a suitable beach.

The one we camped at 2 years ago in Kolecta Bay was a bit less protected from the breeze than the one just next to it. So we went there. I wasn't happy about the hill of big rocks we had to climb to get to dry land, but it worked out of course.

Big Friday Night Happenings!

He was only being kind and sharing CB...but you have power! Remember that hike and all those hills we conquered with minimal gasping and resting.
Looking down makes me dizzy...but for some reason this precarious trail doesn't bother me at all...I won't go NEAR the edge on Ballyhoo.
Beaver Inlet was not too exciting...we turned around and started back to the car.
This was such a gorgeous waterfall....but a couple hundred feet down a sheer cliff...too bad!
The awesome band from Safeway's big party.
It was almost like the day AC had its big sale....except there were enough carts at this big event! KM from scrapbooking and Mandezz' 6th grade teacher are in the crowd shot I got.

CB beat me with all of this, but here it is anyway. I ran to the big party at "The Store That Shall-Not-be-Named" after work on FRI...it was 10% off everything! And there were coupons!! Thanks to everyone who pointed out the deals to me....the band was VERY loud and VERY entertaining. Manderzz and I were buying everything but the sales items, we were having fun, thank goodness for the people who pointed out the deals. It doesn't take much to have a party here...a band and 10% off and we come running!
T took the kids fishing, I conned CB into a little hike to the other side of the island. It was lovely..except for the rain showers and all the hills!! Ughhh I did pretty well, I was surprised, I'm certainly not looking like I'm in ANY better shape, but I can hike almost like I used to.
Next is the Prisoner of War trail. I've been avoiding doing that one with T. We used to do it practically running...probably won't be running this time...

And of course we ran into AK Steve...he's so, so serene? Is that the word I'm looking for?