The summmer of the great outdoors:

Another fun slideshow~ (and an easy way to catch up on summer happenings!)

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Parks we {heart}

We are blessed with an amazing amount of wonderful parks and trails here in Juneau! Here is some evidence of the fun we've been having:

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hooray for the red white & blue...and candy?

Our 4th of July weekend was fun-filled! We had almost been in Juneau a week, and one of Dan's nice coworkers invited us over for a BBQ. I'm a shy-kinda-nervous to meet new people kinda girl, and whenever I get nervous or sad or mad...I know crafty & fun food will make it all better :) This is what we made for the BBQ:

Bald Eagle Treats:  start with oreos, marshmellows, coconut, chocolate chips, & white frosting or melted white chocolate.

spread frosting on the marshmellow, and roll in the coconut.

put the coconut marshmellow on top of the oreo, and decorate with the nut & chips

An all American sugar rush!

I also made a pistachio-coolwhip-fruitcocktail "salad" & decorated it with berries:

The barbeque was great fun! The next day, we had some crafty time & decorated candy bags for the parade:

Waiting for the parade!!

They had SO much fun! Happy 4th of July!!
(yep. I know...it's August 22 ;)

Let's go for a walk in the rain.

This is a story of our first family walk in the rain. One evening, after dinner, we decided to get out of the house. It was warm & sunny the first few days in our new home, but this was the 5th day & it was wet wet wet! Dan drove to the Mendenhall Glacier visitors center & we got out to explore. The parking lot leads to many choices of trails, we chose the trail to Nugget Falls, as Dan had taken this hike once before & was eager to show us the beauty that it would lead us to. The rain was heavy, but that didn't worry us. We were ducks, afterall- right?? Just down the muddy trail, we passed another family of four. Sam told them (like everyone else we met that week) that we were "new to Juneau, and so excited to be here!" The dad of the group replied "well, you are doing the right thing, going out in the rain! That's what you have to do here."

Following our nature guide down the trail. So beautiful! (although I was a bit nervous...was not eager to meet ANY bears!)

Wow. Just takes your breath away. This is the Mendenhall Glacier.

I learned on this walk, that I need a better raincoat! I was completely soaked thru by the time we got back to the car. Totally worth it, though. A-maz-ing.

Our littles, pulling ice from the glacier lake. They looooved this!

We're almost to Nugget Falls!

Mendenhall Glacier, Nuggett Falls...Dan, Sam & Liv...wow, right?

Nugget Falls. Well worth the few miles of walking in the rain. It was an evening well spent.