First Day of Kindergarten

Wow!  I can't believe the day is here.  Honestly, its a tad bit quiet without Miss M around.  Miss Amelia and I will have a productive day around the house but we will be anxious to hear how the first day went!  I can only hope it goes well.

I did learn a few things:

1. We got up way to early. We can sleep until 6:30.
2. I over packed her lunch today.
3. Got the bus stop about 5 minutes too early.

The bus arrived, and Molly got on without looking back!

Enjoy the pictures.

SeaLife...

We have been fortunate that every weekend has provided us with a beautiful day of sunshine to get out and explore.  This past weekend was no different.

Andy started off Saturday with a spearfishing/free dive trip off of Pillar Creek.  He went with a friend and was not disappointed.  The water was clear and balmy 54 degrees.  He ended up shooting at HUGE starry flounder! 13.17lbs and upon further review it appears to be a world record. He will submit an application for approval. Fingers crossed.

On Sunday, we pulled carpet and then as a reward we rented an MWR boat.  I was anticipating a little bit of fishing and a lot of a boat ride, but check out our poles.  Unfortunately we didn't catch anything, although we did try hard and learned a lot.  We learned exactly what we need to catch Halibut and Rock Fish... patience and an incoming tide.

A picnic on the boat

This is co-pilot Molly reporting in...do we have fish on? Watch out of those rocks! Land Ho!  If we were in Bubba's boat...

Along for the ride, and  pure sense of style (frilly dress and new boots) and adventure.  Actually, she slept for most of the ride!

Sea Lions!

World War II bunker and sea lions. Singing to us.

This is a sea otter!

TGIF -- Kodiak Style

The kids and I had a quiet Island week.  We went on a small hike and met new friends. This group meets once a week and the ages ranged from babies to toddlers to a few 5 year olds.  Amelia and I will continue to go once Molly is in school!  The forest was totally different than we had expected.  It was cool, damp, and moss was everywhere.  We ended up on a small beach for a snack, fairy house building and shell collecting.  Molly asked if we could come back, so that she could do some "research."

Also, this week Molly found out her teacher for school!  The classes sizes are a little large but the classroom is lovely.  The school Moto: Its a Whale Of A School! Love it.  The teacher was great and already molly is asking the important questions...what to wear on the first day, do I have a lunch box, did you pick up a cool pack....  One thing we do need to get is extra shoes.  The weather is very wet here and the kids are required to keep a pair of sneakers at school.

Friday brought a day of sunshine. Its AMAZING how warm 60 degrees and sunny can feel. The flip flops and short sleeves came out.  The MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) department put on a free fish fry.  It was delicious, organized chaos.  On the way to the event, Andy wanted to drive to the top of Pillar Mountain. It was awesome.  Views on all sides, listening to the wind mills, and a very cool breeze.

We finished our night at the Fairgrounds.  Two events were happening, Motor-cross and a cowboy shoot.  We went to the cowboy shoot out.  A first, a free raffle.  No money required, just come get a ticket. Lots of neat prizes including a pistol and two rifles. What, a free way to win guns. Yes, this is the Final Frontier.

A cowboy shoot is just what it sounds like, cowboys on horse back shooting at balloons or other targets.  It was loud. We lasted through the kids run and two of the shooting rounds.

To finish a few pictures highlighting our pulled up carpet. New carpet arrives on Monday! Woo Hoo.

Molly at Orientation

Ontop of Pillar Mountain

Looking down on the airport and coast guard base

A bald eagle

cowboy shoot out

Sunday Funday at Anton Larsen Bay

So....I had big plans today to get Andy to tackle the drainage of the yard.  He instead convinced us to go on an Adventure with him.  With so few sunny days left, how could I say no. There will be many rainy, icy days ahead so things like hanging the paper towel holder can wait, along with pictures etc... It was time to explore.

Once you get onto Anton Larsen Bay road there is a warning regarding the road.  In the summer its not bad, but I can imagine in the winter it's un-passable.  Pretty quickly the road turns from  paved to gravel and its windy through the mountains.  Today the mountains were a bright emerald green with peeks of waterfalls.  I felt as though a bear would jump out at us, but fortunately they are very shy animals.  I also felt as though I could be anywhere in the Maine backwoods.

Andy started casting at the roads end on Anton Larsen right away.  The fish were jumping!  Within about 30 minutes I am chasing Amelia and Andy is hooting and hollering about a fish on.  I am thinking, oh great another Pink.  He keeps exclaiming how big the fish is he has on the line.  Of course, the girls and I miss the spectacular show but saw him land it!  I can't even being to tell you how excited Andy is about this fish...or if you know Andy; you can imagine it!  Coho Salmon are the last to run up river and they generally average about 7lbs, therefore; a 12 pounder is impressive.  These fish are also really good eating!

After our fishing excitement we headed to Buskin Lake.  Here there is a weir. A weir I learned today is: A weir /ˈwɪər/ is a barrier across a river designed to alter its flow characteristics.  In this case, it lets the fish up to spawn in the lake but they can't get back.  It was packed and the fish/game does a count.  We also saw the cycle of life, I thought the Pink Salmon had a disease, but after the fish spawn they start to decompose.  Its pretty nasty.

Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs, did a show of a dead salmon count in Northern California. I wish I could find the episode.  Maybe one of my followers can find it :

We hope to get a few friends and family up to visit next summer to partake in the Salmon Run. Enjoy the pictures!

Buskin lake and the ocean

Waterfall

Start of Anton Larson

Emerald Isle

The Weir

Loads of Fish

Tired fisherman

On the Ocean...playing, sleeping and fishing.

One Week

Its been a great week.  The girls and I were on our own as Andy has some work travel.  We were busy and tried to find a nice routine to our lives.  We still had a bunch of unpacking to do, but we also got out and explored.

This was our last week of Swim for Molly and she did great.  She has FINALLY gained the confidence to swim on her own and has done so well. We are now working on her confidence to back float and front float.  As soon as we can master these two floats she will be moved up to the next level.  Amelia on the other hand would LOVE to take swim lessons, but the two places in Kodiak only start at Age 4.  When speaking to the Rec department I mentioned that A had been in swim since before turning 1.  Their response was that they find it easier to work with Age 4 and up.  They also only offer swim lessons during school breaks.  There are not enough kids or instructors on the Island to keep it going all year.  So,  it looks like I will be teaching A how to swim and M will join us at open swim times.

We got to tour M's Elementary school this week and register for Kindergarten.  I am  not going to post too much about her school, as this is public forum.  It went really well.  On Monday we will find out her teacher.  Its such a small town and school that is sort of like having a casting call. After 4pm on the given day, your child's name is posted on the front the school.  You drive and up and check. After, this we will have a parent conference with the teacher.  As I mentioned the school is small, with two teachers per grade (K-5th).  M will ride the bus.

Its going to be an early morning as the bus arrives before 7:30!  We went to the Bus Safety event on Saturday.  A great event and I am so glad we went. The kids got to simulate being picked up from the bus stop and then a quick bus ride going over procedures.  Each kid is actually assigned a person to sit with and seat!  Wow.

The girls and I went to the little touch tank/aquarium facility on the Island. Its run by the Alaska fish and game association.  Its lovely. Small, but lovely.  We saw a variety of crabs, sea stars, halibut, flounder, rock fish and of course Salmon.  Molly got to hold a sea cucumber!  The hermit crabs were much bigger and a little more shy than we were used to.

Lastly,  it was  great week for sunshine!  We met some new friends in town at the 10.00 Beer/Burger night. Delicious. I love Burgers and this was one of the best, plus you can't beat the price. The only funny side was that the Beer wasn't delivered so slim pickings :)

My goal for the next week is to find my adventurous side and get out on a hike.  The girls and I have yet to do this on our own and I've heard its easy and fun! The trepidation comes from the possible bear sightings but since we make a lot noise, probably not likely.

Enjoy the few pictures...