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What else has been going on around here…
- No Fish Camp!?!?! June 10, 2023
- Our Latest Project June 8, 2023
- Getting the greenhouse ready. June 8, 2023
- Dog Life is Good! June 8, 2023
- Lupines for my Loves June 7, 2023
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Category Archives: Family
Do you or your kids watch YouTube or TikTok? Are you tired of being bombarded with culture de jour that perhaps doesn’t fit into your idea of “wholesome”?
Yeah, me too. So what do we do about it?
I’ve threatened many a time to just turn off the d@mned internet. I get very weary of all the junk I see on the two subscription channels that we have. And the free channels, well, I guess that’s to be expected. But we all know that modern life is difficult without connectivity, and getting moreso. I do long for a simpler existence. Off-grid and disconnected sounds better every day. Except for keeping in touch with loved ones part.
In the mean time, instead of mindlessly scrolling YT shorts I’m trying to focus more on subscribed channels that we know, and content creators that we trust, like The Outdoor Boys and Simple Living Alaska. Positive messages, useful how-to’s and interesting real life is what I aim for. Things that I like and want my kids to watch & learn from. I’ve also been posting more videos to my own channel. Which for now is pretty sparse but hopefully in time will be full of Alaska Life and our weird & wacky unique lifestyle (but not that sort of weird).
Besides my own channel, coming this fall, AB will be officially launching his own YT channel as part of his schooling. He is very excited about this to say the least.
You can sub to my channel here. Peruse a few Alaska videos and let me know what you’d like to see.
I’m also giving Rumble a try, check back in with me to see how that goes!
My last kiddo, the artist formerly known as Lil Mister, has a new name. He has repeatedly informed me that he is Alaska Boy. Thus, he needs no coat, or shoes for that matter, to run amuck in the snow on a warm spring day.
So from now on, I’ll be referring to him as Alaska Boy or, AB for short. Or at least until he informs me that he’s reached Alaska Man status. 😂
How is it possible? It seems like just yesterday we were snow machining and hauling loads of it away!
Signs of spring are very welcome! I’ve spotted Canada Geese flying in and Dean saw some Sandhill Cranes the other day. You can start to hear a few songs birds now and then but I’ve yet to spot a Robin. I’m behind on getting all of my Birch trees tapped, maybe today I’ll get another one or two done?
May is always a busy month physically but also emotionally as well. Besides the happy celebratory days like Mert’s birthday, Mother’s Day, a sweet little red-headed girl’s birthday and my Seester & John’s anniversary, it brings somber reminders of those we’ve lost as well.
Today would have been my step-brother Michael’s 54th birthday. Blessed memory.
My Grandmother’s, also of blessed memory, 97th birthday would have been on the 27th. She’s been gone for 18 years now.
We’ll celebrate the official end of the school year, although does it ever really end?? Ours just morphs into summer school and next year.
Memorial Day of course, somber for those remembering a loved one who paid the ultimate price for being an American. Whilst the rest of us kick off the summer season with joy. Both extremes of celebration wrapped up into one day.
All of the flowers watered by last months’s showers should begin to pop their blossoms. It’s time for some color other than white everywhere.
I hope your May is full of beauty and goodness. Soon, before we know it, fish camp will be here and my mantra begins… “winter is coming”!!
Yesterday was our “end of year” field trip. We’ve still got a few weeks left but a little early celebration never hurt anyone.
Before we boarded we spent some time exploring around the docks.
Major Marine Tours out of Seward took us out for a 4 hour tour. (Glad it wasn’t three and the weather wasn’t rough.)
First thing we see after leaving port are Dall’s Porpoises swimming with our boat. They look like little baby Orcas. They were quite amusing swimming and jumping out of the water, crisscrossing in front of the bow.
Then we saw a bald eagle perched on an enormous rock. We spotted a sea otter in Thumb Cove.
After traveling past Fox Island we saw some Stellar Sea Lions sunning themselves on Mary’s Rock. Captain Marcelle was terrific for getting us excellent views of the wildlife. We had a beautiful day, sunshine, 41-45° air temp and no sea swell! Simply gorgeous spring day!
We cruised past Barwell Island on the east side of Resurrection Bay, which has some WW II era bunkers. Then the best thing happened, another vessel alerted us to a pod of three Orcas just two hours into our tour! What an awesome inspiring moment!
We also experienced a mirage, called fata morgana, of Montague Island. It made the island look like a plateau instead of the peaked mountain tops it has. Once we changed position and could look back at the Island you could once again see it’s peaks and valleys. So weird!
Besides the abundance of wildlife that we saw and learned a few facts about (did you know there were 10 types of Orcas worldwide and three types that frequent our Alaskan waters?) we also learned about history (WW II, Russian exploration, President Harding and the Good Friday Quake) and geology when we passed some unusual rock formations of pillow basalt. It was quite the learning experience!
We peeked into Carol’s Cove to observe 6 Harbour Seals on our way back towards the west side of Resurrection Bay where we had a great view of Bear Glacier. Lil Bit was excited for this one, she really wanted to see the seals. It’s nice to see them elsewhere, than in our nets stealing our fish! Then we spotted two coastal mountain goats on the sheer face of the mountain side! And another Harbor Seal in the water along the Callisto Cliffs.
Nearly 4 pm and our tour is about over, what a wonderful experience! I love seeing the rugged beauty and bounty of Alaska. And seeing landmarks like Cain’s Head which we’ve explored a couple of times on foot. I think Lil Bit counted 8 species in total that we spotted today. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! Little Mister was most comfortable on the bow feeling the wind rush through his hair. Thing 2 wasn’t in too many pics as he enjoyed the freedom of roaming about the boat at will.
I’m very grateful for the homeschooling resources we have with IDEA and the rich experiences we get to have thanks to their efforts. Trips like these would be out of reach for us without them.
Alaska on my mind... 