We have been busy fitting as much fun as possible into four quick months of summer. Let's get to it...
Midnight Sun Festivities
It was that time of year again - Midnight Sun Fun! The weekend festivities began with the run that is routed right in front of our house. The evening always brings lots of friends by the house and allows us to visit with our neighbors.
Yuri's cousin Barbara visited early in the evening before she headed out to run the race. Accompanying her was her mom, Andrea, and her kids, Lincoln and Kinley.
We pulled the trampoline out into the front yard for the evening. The neighborhood girls never seem to tire of playing on it.
Our house was definitely one of the quieter ones in the 'hood. It's always fun to visit some of the rowdy parties and then return home to a calm and relaxing setting.
Martin stopped by for a bit in between party stops. He was a bit disappointed that the Raffy didn't come in a bigger size (I second that disappointment).
2nd Generation of Riverview Rats - Henry, Morgan (Warwick), and Sadler kids.
Massie and her granddad always get along very well.
Massie was up well past her bedtime of 7:00 pm. This million mile stare occurred at about midnight. This is a sweet picture of a tuckered out little girl cuddling with her dad.
The day after the race we headed downtown for the street fair. It was hot as can be but the snow cones helped the girls cool down.
Best. Picture. Ever.
The girls and their dad watching break dancers.
Fourth of July Weekend
I took a few days off during the Fourth of July weekend as I didn't feel like I was getting enough time with my girls. The first day of our mini-break included a girls only trip to Alaskaland where we had a picnic and finished off the excursion with yummy pushups.
Playing on the equipment at the park
Those darned rocks always make it into your shoes.
We got to also spend some time with Heather and Harper. Heather's neighbor had a fundraiser for a local musician - the music, drinks and setting were all fabulous.
We then headed off to the Chena Hot Springs cabin and met up with my dad. We "fished", skipped rocks and did a little work around the cabin.
After getting the chores done at the cabin we headed off to the Hot Springs resort to do a little swimming. Although I'm never in the swimming pictures I assure you that I did make it in.
Our next excursion on our mini-break was off to Harding Lake. On the way out we stopped at the grocery store so that Yuri could pick up a treat. You can imagine my dismay when I saw that the treat involved chocolate with sprinkles...he didn't really think that one through (although it did make for a nice picture).
Rory hanging out with our neighbors at Harding - the Gustafson boys. Rykan, on the left, was on Rory's soccer team.
Massie trying on her granddad's ear protection - aka chubby cheek makers.
Time to get on the water! Massie looks a little hesitant but Rory is simply excited.
Same pose but with their hard working dad in the shot.
Ready to roar across the lake.
One of the down blankets at the cabin exploded all over Rory. She sure is cute covered in feathers.
Soccer
Rory's official soccer portrait. She is so darned cute...am I wrong?!
Team picture with Uncle/Coach Jesse.
Rory's BFF Shaye taking control of the ball.
Segway Party WWWW Style
I teamed up with Margaret Rich to host the July WWWW party. Margaret doesn't like to leave anything to chance so it was decided that we needed to do a test WWWW party before the real thing. So, we invited some friends and put on the Segway WWWW Party - Part 1. The party began downtown where we jumped on Segways and rode them into the neighborhood where we enjoyed drinks, dinner and each other's company.
L to R below - Jimmy P., Christy P., Catherine P., Leland R., me, Lance P., Karen P., Greg P. and Yuri. Unfortunately Margaret didn't make it into the picture.
Several weeks later we hosted the real deal - Segway WWWW party part 2. The weather didn't cooperate so the brightly colored ponchos came out. Fun was had by all...such a fun group of girls.
The Lake
Now that Massie is a bit older we've had the opportunity to utilize the lake quite a bit more. During our last trip out I got brave and decided to water ski. It's probably been 15-20 years since I've been on a ski so I was a bit nervous. It was a BLAST! So exhilarating!
This shot was taken after my quick run. Photo complements of photographer extraordinaire, Lance Parrish.
My knees were definitely shaking by this time...I forgot how physically demanding it is to ski. Photo by Lance Parrish (he's good isn't he).
The Morgan clan (and Jesse) getting ready to hit the water after skiing at the Parrish cabin. Photo by Margaret Rich.
Another photo by Margaret - sittin' on the dock of the...
Jesse catching some rays.
Lance picked a moment that says so much. "Why am I always waiting for these people?" "I wonder what would happen if I just took off without them?" "If they say 'one more minute' one more time I'm gonna cry."
Kids Being Kids
It's so much fun to watch the girls explore their surroundings, learn to make friends and just be kids. Piper and Rory always seem to play dress up when they get together.
Take a good look at this picture. The two divas are in the background posing and their little siblings are looking like rug rats in the forefront.
Riverview Crew with their rides.
We have learned to amuse ourselves.
The girls were invited to a birthday party down the street. This bouncy house was no ordinary house - it was jumbo sized!
Massie went to bed with ponytails in her hair...this was the result at the breakfast table. 80's chick!
More Massie...
The girls taking their babies on a walk.
In the Garden
We found this beautiful nest with little robin eggs in one of our hanging baskets. A week after founding this we found that the babies had been born. Unfortunately, nature is cruel, and a week later the babies were gone.
The birds have been eating our strawberries so Rory and I built a mini scarecrow to scare those darned birds away. Massie was scared of it; unfortunately the birds weren't. We're still not enjoying any of those delicious strawberries.
Golden Days Activities
Our friends Bruce and Betty were in town for the Golden Days festivities last weekend. We had a nice time visiting with them and participating in activities throughout Fairbanks. Here we are waiting for the parade to start - you can see Jesse off to the left thinking that he is out of the shot.
Trampoline time with Betty.
And the boys played golf. L to R - Steve, Bill, Bruce and Yuri.
And a fun video to end the blog.
