My last day in Alaska--at Ward Lake

We spent the day at Ward Lake playing today. It was my last day here and again, the weather cooperated and was really nice. Usually it rains every day here, and it hasn't rained except during the night last night at all since Bliss got here 15 days ago. That is unheard of. I am so glad it has been such good weather while I was here. This is Braden playing on a log. Love those boots!

I added these pics backwards, oh well. This is after Shea fell in.

She was doing so well rolling that log.

You really can't tell how beautiful it is here by a picture. It just doesn't do it justice, but it is amazing!

There is water surrounding this area, and everything is covered in moss. So there is green under, around and above everything. Amazing!

Bliss & I walked around Ward Lake. Its a really nice walk, which we did 8 years ago when we last visited here together. That time everything was flooded because they had gotten so much rain that year. We were actually able to catch a fish with our umbrellas (ha ha) That is a fun story!

You can sort of see the moss that is everywhere in this picture

This is an old, old tree that fell over and the roots are all exposed.

Bliss, Me, Shea and her friend canoeing around the lake. We didn't even tip over!

We lit a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It came in handy after the kids had fallen in the water and were cold. It was cloudy and a little cool, but really a perfect ending to a very fun week!

Braden & I climbed up the mountain a little ways looking for wood for the fire.

A relaxing day...

I love looking at and listening to the eagles, they are everywhere and so beautiful!

We started out the day on another hike to look for berries and bear bread. We picked a lot of blue berries, they are so good!! Bear Bread is a type of fungus (kind of like a mushroom) that grows on the trees. The kids like to paint pictures on it. I'll take a picture of it and add it later.

The cabin we are staying in has a beautiful forest right behind it and I went out this afternoon and took a nap in the hammock. It has been a relaxing day.

We went beach combing at low tide. I have never seen a purple star fish before!

It's not a sandy beach, but good for finding treasures...

Braden coming out of the Clan House at Totem Bite

Inside the clan house they have performances. We sat in there and it smells soooo good! Its all made of cedar.

The view is pretty behind us, and the flowers are called fire weed (they are everywhere)

Bliss, Braden & I went to Saxman Village where there are tons of Totem Poles

Yikes, it has my hand!

A little bit of heaven...

We started off our morning going on a hike. It was another nice morning, just a little cloudy.

We picked some berries along the way. And obviously the bear had been picking from the same area (we saw several piles of his droppings).

We saw this bear and atleast one other up the hill from where we were hiking. Bliss cropped in on this picture (he was really quite a ways away). It made me pretty nervous to see him even at this distance.

Just a view from our hike...

Bliss and I drove to Herrings Cove to see if we could see bear at low tide fishing. No such luck. But we did see this tree full of eagles.

I love looking at all the boats...

We also did a little shopping. This area is called Creek Street. I remembered this from the trip I did here 8 years ago with Bliss and Kristi. One of my favorite memories from the last trip here was, the HOT CHOCOLATE! It is so yummy. I don't know if it is the atmosphere, the weather, or if it is just the best hot chocolate on earth. So, of course, my number one priority for this trip is to get hot chocolate as often as possible! We sat in the New York Cafe and enjoyed it while looking out the window at the boats! These houses used to be brothels in the early 1900s. Now, they are just shops and they look really quaint.

After a yummy salmon dinner (caught yesterday) we went to Ward Creek and tried some trout fishing.

I caught one little tiny fish (which Robert took off the hook and turned loose). Shea didn't understand why we had to let him go, she wanted to keep him as a pet I think. He was pretty cute.