Is Summer Over?

  I think we've had two weeks of nice (sunny and above 65 degrees) this summer!  It has been raining constantly and the Chena River is almost at flood stage.  Everybody is grumpy and depressed. Some friends who live by the Tanana River have to boat to their cars, because the road is out. The weather forecast is probably 4 more days of rain.  Well...what do you expect?  The Tanana Valley Fair starts tonight and it's tradition for it to be rainy!!!  (Above picture credits go to Stephen Wall and Joe Miller.)

Joe has 4 more days at home this three week stint.  It has flown by.  He's tackled (in my opinion) a very ambitious  project of remodeling the main bathroom.  The bathtub, sink and vanity in this room was older than the house, so I guess it was time to go for it.   We had to rip out the laundry room wall to get the new bathtub in, so Joe decided to finish up the laundry room too (paint and flooring).  He's all ready for painting and I'm thrilled!  I didn't think he would get this far!  Re-model jobs are such a pain!  The house is trashed, but it is worth it. 

Last night the rain stopped for a few hours and the sun came out.  I rode my bike out to Chena Lakes and it was so beautiful.  Saw several beaver and an eagle.  I was looking for raspberries to pick.  I was hoping to get some this year and I would love to find some blueberries too.  If there's anybody out there who knows where they are, I would be so grateful to know!!  And where's my girlfriends who are willing to go berry picking??

The end of June, we took the three older grandchildren camping overnight.  It was great fun.  Ella and I slept in the tent.  Well, Ella slept.  I layed awake listening to the party people in the nearby campsites until three a.m.  Joe, Justin and Aidan slept in the box truck.  I call it the red-neck R.V.  I'll have to post a picture of it sometime.  It's pretty handy...has a couple of old mattresses in it with plenty of room for hauling a four wheeler and some coolers!

Aaron and Emily brought the kids out and we met some old friends from Kenai there. We all pigged out on junk food and, of course, had to have s'mores.  Nathan and Max showed up for the food.  We rode our bikes all over the lake area and the next morning took the kids swimming.