Tossing all shoes off rack and climbing on rack = fun times

Swim goggles + tutu

Wednesday night local hike

Done

After finishing the steepest part of the descent, Ava asked me "Why is the world so big?"

We had hiked to the nadir of the saddle, on the left side, covered by the top of the tree. Ava enjoys picking last years's dried Heracleum inflorescences, here at the bottom of the hike

Serious thoughts over a mug of hot chocolate at a cafe

Discovering dominoes

Alaska Botanic Garden, kiwi arbor

peony

Daddy's rhubarb pie from our own rhubarb. Ava decided she doesn't like rhubarb and wants it out of her pie, thank you

Rosemary's birthday hike at Independence Mine, with friends

Paragliders across the valley

Old mining cabin

Birthday girl

Neighborhood playground, geraniums

Horse arena = giant sand box, with scattered horse poop, which I choose to willfully ignore

Vetch flowers in our yard

Friday night hike, local

First of the ripe crowberries (Empetrum)

Baby vs. cushion plants, overlooking Anchorage

Ava told me: "I'm not alone. The flowers will keep me company."

Rosemary approves of tailgating with Daddy

Spoon skills

Positive sibling interaction

Petting zoo within the zoo

Post granola bar

Musk ox farm in Palmer. Mommy and the girls went there while Daddy was fishing for sockeye on the Russian River on the Kenai Peninsula (brought home 5 that day). The musk ox are raised for their (amazingly soft and warm and strong and expensive) undercoat wool fibers, called qiviut, which they shed every spring. Musk ox domestication is a fairly new thing. There are only 3 farms in the world, this one the largest with 83 animals. They're pioneering the domestication and husbandry process. It's a beautiful farm with very healthy-looking animals and pastures. The musk ox do all the lawn mowing in between rotationally grazed paddocks.

Feeding fireweed to yearling females

First time in the tower that Uncle Mike built. She approves.