4 Monkeys and a Butterfly

This last week in Kodiak the weather has been crazy! Since Sunday we have been on a every other day of rain and shine. One day of sunshine we just drove and ended up at white sand beach. We weren't really prepared to play at the beach, but had a sandy fun time! Here are some pictures of the beach.

We went fishing for part of my birthday. I hate fishing, but I was out numbered! It turned out to be pretty fun. The boys mostly got little tiny fish. But then Clayton reeled in a whopper. Well, compared to all the other fish. When they pulled up that one Jeremy shouted out, "Its a whopper!" Clayton thought that was the name of the fish. On the way home we let the boys hold the bucket of fish and told them not to touch them anymore. We caught Clayton touching and poking and playing with the fish. Jeremy asked him if he was playing with the fish. Clayton said, "I am playing with my whopper." Jeremy and I just looked at each other and let him be, we were almost home... Clayton and his whopper. All the boys had a good time. Even Jackson got in on the fishing action!

For my birthday we had a great day!! Jeremy let me sleep in and made me a delicious breakfast of french toast. After breakfast we went hiking somewhere we have never been before. We went to Near Island and hiked a trail in Northend Park. The trail went through the woods and ended at the beach. It was a beautiful day and perfect to be outside. While we were hiking Jeremy found this cool little "woods house". The boys had fun checking it out. On the trail lined with salmonberry bushes! These are salmonberries! They are huge and taste similar to raspberries. And they are everywhere in Kodiak. More trail pictures. At the beach. It was low tide. During high tide all this is covered in water. Jackson wants to climb the tree with his brothers. All along the trail there were Salmonberries. The kids love to pick them and eat them. I had Jackson in a backpack on my back and every time we passed the berries he starts yelling, "I wanna a bite." If I didn't get f...

This was the last week of swimming lessons. They do 2 week sessions, This is Carson's second session and Clayton's first session. When Carson started he would not put his head under water. Now he is swimming! He swims like a stink bug. It is so cute! He swims all the way under the water except for his bum sticks out of the water. I was trying to get some of his swimming in the video. (I couldn't upload the video and I didn't have any pictures of him swimming. But I did get some other pictures to upload.) Clayton also didn't like to put his head under water. He would just dip his face in the water when they did bobs. But now he goes all the way under!! He does a great job on his floats. He is so confident in the water. He will be swimming soon too! I loved taking them to swimming. It was my time to just sit and watch the older boys. Jackson usually stay home with Jeremy. He came with me a few times. He is so silly while he is there. And just ignor...

I have never given my boys a hair cut. I leave that up to Jeremy and if Jeremy is not around Grandma Christensen has always be there to help. Well, I got tired of asking Jeremy over and over to please cut the kids hair. So, today I just decided to get out the buzzers and do it myself. I figured if it was really bad I would just buzz their heads. I think I did okay. I am proud of my first hair cuts. They still have hair.

The first time we came here I had to call my mom to tell her about the white sand. It looked like Hawaii. It was so strange! This is a beach at the end of the road. It is Monashka Bay, but everyone calls it White Sand Beach. These pictures the sand looks a little gray, that is because there are patches of white sand during high tide. The big spots of white sand are out during low tide. The first time we went there the tide was low, but we didn't have our camera with us. So for now this is the best I can do to show everyone White Sand Beach in Kodiak. Jackson loves to get covered up with sand! This beach is one of my favorites because white sand doesn't seem to be as dirty. All the boys had a blast in the sand!! This is Carson while the tide was coming in. The other reason I like this beach is the water stays shallow for a long time. I went out waist deep to throw the stick for scout so she can swim instead of just walking out to get it.

So my silly Carson says some funny things. I put him in swimming here in Kodiak. Today was the last day of the session. Next session starts next week and Clayton is joining him. This posting in not about how great he is doing in swimming, that is for another time. This posting is about the funny things he says. Last week when the session started his teacher went over the rules everyday and had the kids help list them. Teacher : What are the rules of the pool? one kid says: no wearing socks in the pool another kid says: no running Carson says : no showing your privates The next day the teacher gives a safety tip. Her tip is to look before you jump in the pool or in the lake or the ocean. Teacher says: You should look before you jump to make sure you don't jump on anyone or if there is a rock there... Carson says: Or an enenamy I thought he was funny!

This is Mill Bay beach. We call it Tide-pool beach. It is about 2 minutes from the house. It is Carson's dream come true. All kinds of sea creatures get stuck in the tide-pools. The easiest creature to catch are the hermit crabs. Carson has a handful there next to him in the picture. So far none of them have pinched him. I am waiting for the day to say, "I told you they might pinch you." But we have been there several times and he has been safe from the pinches. The top pictures are from one of the first times we went there. The pictures below are from the last time we went there a few days ago. All the boys get into playing in the tide-pools, even Jackson. Carson found a crab, not a hermit crab, a crab crab. Anyway he was pretty excited. The dogs love going to the beaches too. Even little Bella is going in the water now! (When we first got here Bella ran away from the ocean. She acted so annoyed if her paw got wet.It was kind of funny.) Scout loves goi...

What a great day!! It started of with blueberry waffles and sausage. While we were having breakfast Grandma Christensen called to make sure we let him open the gift she sent. He opened it while she was on the phone. He loved it!! Next Jeremy took him fishing, just Carson and Dad!! They hiked to a lake and spent the day fishing. He caught a little tiny fish. He was excited to show me. While they were fishing Clayton and I decorated the house for Carson. We had fun spending the day together too. And Carson loved the decorations!! When Carson and Jeremy got home from fishing Carson opened presents and cards, Then we had cake (that Clayton helped me decorate). After Cake we went to Sometimes Island and did fireworks!! When we got home from fireworks we had Carson's birthday dinner of popcorn shrimp and cris-cross fries, yummy! It was a fun day!!