Summer Re-Cap?!

I’m trying to avoid work…really…
So I decided to do a blog post…and well, a long one, at that. It just keeps going and going. I recapped about 3 month’s worth of life in Skagway:

Ella riding her first bike ever! We took an overnight trip to Whitehorse, Yukon in July (110 miles north of here…our closest “BIG” town). We were in a second hand shop, and Ella spotted this kid’s bike with training wheels. Of course we gave in and got it for her! She still LOVES it!!

We took it out in the parking lot of the Aquatic Center that they built for the Canadian Olympic Games. It is a fabulous swim center, with a lazy pool, a huge slide (with absolutely no lines!), and the biggest hot tub I have ever seen! We love it!! Here is the happy girl:

A photo I shot out the window on the drive home. Sometimes I take it for granted, and I have to remind myself that this is my backyard. WOW!!!

Ella at her Mexican boyfriend’s birthday party. She was a bit timid with the pinata, but she got pretty good at throwing an airplane (it was an airplane party) into the hula hoop decorated with streamers:

Maiya enjoying a strawberry with our friend, Norcuzia, at the party. Norcuzia lives with her husband in St. Thomas (Virgin Islands) half the year, and Skagway the other half. They have almost completed a beautiful home right on the water that has been a work in progress since before we met them! We will have to go see them in St. Thomas some day! Wohoo!
Our home, for anyone who wonders what we live in during the summers, feels like a sanctuary from the scorching heat. My friend, Morgan, tries to tell me to think of it as “camping.” But really, it’s just simple living, and we love it! Though, I must admit, sometimes we do dream of upgrading with air conditioning replacement services. If your ac stinks, you should have it inspected by an hvac technician to determine the cause. Contact a heating and cooling tumwater wa technician and schedule annual hvac services to maintain your unit’s energy efficiency.  Looking for a heating and air contractor Greensboro contact Triple A Heating & Cooling. And if you need professional duct cleaning services, make sure to hire professional services like Air Duct Cleaning Long Beach. You may also contact this kailua hawaii ac repair service.

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Ella is a total ham. If I pull out the camera, she loves to pose, and won’t act “normal” for me:
And WHEN they get along…they get along great!!!….Ella sneaking into Maiya’s pop-up napping bed at work…
Here’s Maiya’s best friend, Kinley, who is just 2 weeks older than her (of course, she may not realize she’s her best friend yet…but I’m sure they’ll be best buds in the future!). Her parents work for the train, and she is delivered to our door at 6:30am three days a week. Luckily, she keeps sleeping, and when we get up for work, we take her in with us. She stays with us until 1:30, when her mom shows up and takes both Kinley and Maiya to her house until we close the store around 7pm. It works well! Kinley is typical character around this place. In fact, every family prayer that Ella says includes Kinley as part of the family! Very funny!A typical Maiya pose:
A sight you might see at the store:In the coolest playpen ever (thanks to Lara, Lea & Jenny!):
An usual day at the store. Why is it unusual, you ask? Because there is SUN coming in! We have had perhaps 12 days of sunshine this summer. Yup…TOTAL. Pathetic, don’t you think?!!
More photos from our backyard (the neighboring valley of Dyea):

And some photos that Charlotte Aldrich took of us before leaving Skagway:
A photo she took as she left Skagway. (Sigh) Home sweet home!
Some photos that illustrate that Fall is not just coming, it is HERE!

The dying rhubarb:SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN!!
I’M CRAVING SUN!!!

Two more weeks of this mad house.
Well…more like 3,
but I’m trying not to think of it that way.

I love Skagway…but can I turn off the tourists, yet?
Thank goodness there is a long winter to recooperate!