The Jessi James Gang

Try to take a photo in a crowded hot tub ..June 23, 2016

Try to take a photo in a crowded hot tub... you get extra fun faces! Family summer get together at Pristine Pools. Everyone who was in town came and Lincoln played and swam until the very last second.

Carter, Jessi, Meta, Zoe, Lincoln and Christy?

Thunderbird Falls - June 7, 2016

Thunderbird Falls. It is about 1 mile from trailhead to the overlook and we went with the YM/YW tonight. Then we hiked another 1/3 mile down to the creekside with a view of the lower falls and beautiful spray in the breeze. 63 degrees and scattered clouds.

Lincoln carried his backpack almost the first mile and then handed it off to one of the YW who carried it for him the rest of our hike. He was one of the hike leaders on the way back to the car.

Meta rode in the backpack most of the way, but walked short stretches when the pace was slow enough. Fun evening hike a short distance outside Anchorage.

Birthday Measuring Board - May 25, 2016

I got this plank of wood for my birthday in 2015 with the intent of turning it into a growth chart. During the winter, I made the snowflake stencils and painted on mod podge to seal off the wood so the snowflakes would maintain the original wood color). Today Lincoln and I put on the first coat of stain. We will do another coat tomorrow.

Next steps...
Finish cleaning up the cross country ski and attach it to the board somehow, maybe.
Stick on the vinyl numbers and ruler markings.
Finish by Lincoln's birthday so we can measure each of us against the growth chart starting with Linc.
Eventually figure out a hanging system for attaching the board to the wall. (not critical as long as we live in an apartment.)

High Tide - April 11, 2016

When we arrived at Point Woronzoff, it was close to high tide. The waves were splashing the rocks where Lincoln is standing. While we played, the tide went back out to where James and Meta are. We played on the "beach" for about an hour.

What a mom does - March 31, 2016

What a mom does -she carries the 'baby' and the bicycle. Westchester Lagoon

We missed ski season at Hilltop - March 29, 2016

The last day of the 15/16 ski season at Hilltop was Easter, which we discovered on our drive over to the resort. So we decided to hike for some turns anyway. But we were putting on our gear and Rick, the resort General Manager, came by to tell us that we could hike but not sled or ski.

Fine.

We chatted and asked Rick to take a family picture for us. Lincoln put on a serious pout face and Rick bribed him for a smile with some ice cream from the chalet. We changed out of ski boots while Rick went for ice cream. He came back with vanilla ice cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup. Bonus! Then we (Linc, Meta and Jessi) got a short ride around the slushy base in the Ranger with Rick. Bonus two!

We told Rick that we had vouchers we had planned to use today and they expired, apparently on Easter. So he extended the expiration date on them for us until the end of 16/17 ski season. We are determined not to let them expire a second time. Thanks Rick! Bonus Three!

Meta fell in a puddle/stream in the parking lot and almost derailed our Plan C hike. But it didn't soak through her snow suit or boots, so we ditched her boots and she went in the backpack in her wool - stockinged feet. For once, her hands and feet stayed warm.

It would have been a beautiful evening for night skiing. We still had fun in the snow, and started hiking season off well.

We started out by hiking ... just to the top of this first hill .... then to those two trees ... then let's check out the terrain park... and finally made it to the top of the ski lift. It was about 44-degrees on the thermometer we found on a tree half way up.