Christmas

I had a splendid Christmas!!! We all got a bunch of presents and we had a great dinner. I got a lot of things but the biggest present was a Canon camera. My old one was acting funny. I have been taking tons of pictures and learning about all the different settings! I would have put a bunch more pictures on here but the internet is acting really slow.

Here is my new camera. My pride and joy!!!

We put a bow on Coby but she hated it. I think she was embarrassed!!

Here is Saylor's biggest present!

A Hectic Day

Today has been hectic!! Last night Niko got some quills again. So this morning Dewy and me went looking for the porcupine but we didn't see a thing. Then at about noon Cinder came home with tons of quills all over her face and feet. After we got them all out I counted them and there was 65 quills!! There was one tip of a quill under her tong which we couldn't get because there isn't enough of it to grab on to. So we are hoping it won't get infected. Dewy went to look for the porcupine after Cinder got into it. A couple hours later Dewy came over and he had the tail of the porcupine!! He said he found it by a hole that was probably the porcupines home. He also found a bunch of meat chunks. After I took the picutes below I came back and Coby had 3 quills in the roof of her mouth and one in her tong. I have no idea how she got them because since Cinder got all those quills I hooked Copy up so she wouldn't get it.

This is the tail and also a flap of skin. It looks like Cinder just bit it off and that would explain the 65 quills she got!

This is a close up of the hole. If you look hard enough you can so some quills around the edges.

This is the hole that Dewy found the tail and a pile of quills and hair.

This is a picture of a quill we took out of Niko.

Porcupine Disaster

The last couple of weeks there has been a lot of excitement... of all kinds. For some reason about this time of year the porcupines always come out and start trouble. Just about a week ago (the 10th) we were kinda wondering where the dogs were and just then Coby came to the door with a bunch of porcupine quills in her nose and mouth. We brought her in and let her calm down and then dad came over on his crutches and took out a bunch out except the ones in her mouth, (after only a couple quills she was getting pretty mad with him and tried to bite him). He let her calm down a bit again and then called Kevin Johnson over to help us get the quills out. After a bit of difficulty we got all of them, but right when we got the last one out of Coby, Niko came to the door and his whole mouth and nose were covered with quills. We brought him in and he started scratching wildly at his mouth and jumping up and down and trying to lick us and it looked as if he was asking for help. We tied him up in a towel and Kevin J. sat on him so he would stay still we got 2 but Niko was too strong and wriggled out from under Kevin's legs. Then Dad and Kevin had to tie up Nikos legs with duct tape so he couldn’t stand but he ripped the duct tape off his front feet. In the end we only got out 11 quills and there were still a lot in his mouth and down his throat. It was obvious that we couldn’t get any more out of him. Dad and Kevin J. finally gave up on Niko because he was too riled up. Dad called Art in town and told him that Kevin, Niko and I were going into the vet the next day to get Niko fixed up. Early the next morning we went to town and when we got to Knudson cove we tied up at the dock but when we got out Niko started to freak out! He has never ever been to town except for the 2 days he was there when he was just a puppy (8 weeks old). He was super scared when Art drove up in my dad’s car, which is a big black truck. Niko jumped back and started growling and barking at it. I felt soo bad for Niko because I know that being in town was such a shock to him. We finally got to the vet and there were 3 very nice ladies there and they were very gentle with him. They gave him a shot that made him go to sleep and they took out all the quills; there was even one in his tonsil. They took out 14 quills,so including the 11 we took out he had 25 quills in his mouth and on his nose. They gave him another shot to wake him up. He was pretty sleepy the rest of the day but he was good as ever the next day. After the vet Kevin J., Niko and me got on the boat and went back home.

Okay, the paragraph above I actually typed a week ago. Now Kevin J. is gone but Dewy Smith (also a employee who has been working here for a long time) got here yesterday. Since the vet episode he has gotten into the porcupine 3 more times. The 3rd time was tonight.... Dewy  saw him by his house and brought him to our house. He had 7 in his mouth and 3 on his lips. We had to put him on the leash then hold him up tight then Dewy put a hammer handle in his mouth to prop it open while mom pulled the quills out with pliers. Most of them were in his mouth. Me and Dewy are going to look for the porcupine tomorrow so we can shoot it and get rid of it so it won't keep hurting the dogs. In the mean time though Niko is going to have to be on the chain outside till we find the porcupine.

I can't wait till Christmas!!!!! Theres only 5 more days!!!

Dads Accident

Thanksgiving was great for me and my family! We had an amazing dinner and my personal favorites were turkey of course and cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole with marsh mellows on top! We watched football and played card games.
I know I'm keeping you in suspense because of the title so I'll just tell you what happened.

A couple days ago when Art and his friend Donny came out with the groceries my dad was walking down the board walk (it had snowed then rained then froze all the day before so it was extremely slippery) and he was walking down a steep part covered in ice that leads down under the lodge. His left foot slipped and his right foot caught him but his weight shifted and his ankle buckled underneath and while falling he heard a pop in his right ankle. All we know is either he broke his ankle or he just got a super bad sprain. I hope its just a sprain. His ankle is very swelled up and he can't put any weight on it at all. Its so swelled up that when he got a brace for his ankle it didn't fit. He has to go around the house on crutches and  even then just moving around hurts him. He's doing a lot better though each day.

Since he got hurt my and mom have learned so much about the lodge! We know how to turn on and off the generator and and the drain the water pipes when it gets to cold. Also how to pump fuel into the generator tank (which we did today). We've been taking care of the lodge all day, everyday since dad got hurt and I haven't been able to do very much school. So I'm a little behind but mom says that if I work hard then maybe I'll catch up later. My dad called up Kevin Johnson (a guy who has worked here before). He came out here today and is going to cut some wood for us because we are getting low. And anything that needs to be done while he's here, he has to leave on Monday or Tuesday so he can get back on the barge he is working on.

Previously at Yes Bay Lodge

I can't believe how long its been since I've posted!! A lot has happened so I will go over what has happened since I posted last.

My trip to Denver 3 weeks ago was a blast! I got to go shopping and spend time with my grandma and play with my little cousin Reese who has grown soo much since I saw her last! I also got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle but not much because they went for a trip for their anniversity (acually thats the whole reason we went up there, to babysit Reese). Reese was great exept for her naptime and bedtime, I think thats when she really noticed that her mom and dad weren't there. The last full day we babysat her she kinda just lost it, actually looking back it was pretty funny but it really wasn't. She would point and something and just say "No", its her new favorite word!! I'd try to read her a book, she'd say "No". I'd try to feed her yogert (her favorite food) she'd say... I think you can guess. Then as the day progressed her would start to walk up to random things like a chare and just say "No", and then she would touch the rug and she would say "No". But really all in all I had an amazing time there.

For the past week its been a cicle of Snow, Freeze, Rain, Snow..... The bad thing about it is its extreamly cold, when it gets above 32 digress it feels like a heatwave! Then again it great packing snow! Me and Saylor built a couple snowmen and we took the inertoob and slide down the lodge stares and it was epic!!!

 We couldn't find any rock so we used sticks for the eyes and mouth and then mom said it was a chines snowman!!

Hear no evil...

See no evil...

Speak no evil...
Its me behind the snoman lol

Since we have been getting low on our wood supply yesterday we went logging and we got a really nice log that was just inside our bay. My dad showed my mom how to drive the AJ (a pretty big boat) and so we set off to the log with one of our skiffs tied up behind us. First we went and got a burl which is round ball of wood and when you cut it open there is a bunch of swirls and ours is big enough to make a coffee table! So after we got that we put some buoys on it and let it go so we would have room to tow the log. When we got the log me and dad took the skiff to the log and mom and saylor stayed on the AJ. Dad sawed off the bottom of the log off while standing on it, and I told him he was crazy becuase after the bottom of the log was sawed off he would fall in water!! But he didn't (bummer I was actually looking forward to seeing him swimming back to the boat soaking head to toe) lol!! So then my dad tells me to get in the skiff by myself and ride out and then drive the the burl back to him after he yanked the log off the beach. So this would be no problem except for the fact that I haven't driven a skiff for like 3 years. So I drive a little ways out and watch dad pull the log off the beach and all the while I'm shaking uncontrolably because I'm so nervous that I'm going to mess up and sink or get stuck or something. Then plans change, my dad just gets the burl because it drifted right next to him. So then when dad tied everything up he signalled over to me to come over and tie up to the AJ so as I'm heading over there he's also moving toward the dock so it was really difficult to catch up. So I gave it the gas and thats when I found out how touchy the motor was! I slammed into the back of the AJ! At least I caught up. Dad got the rope and tied me up and then everything was ok. Through all of this I was the most nervous it felt like in all my life. Now dad keeps joking that he's puting that into the book of all the time I've tried to kill him!

Shrimp

Yesterday we got a load of shrimp.

Trip to Denver

In 5 days  I go up to Denver with my grandma (on Sunday I come go town then the next day we fly up to Denver) to babysit my little cousin , Reese. While my Aunt and Uncle go on a vacation for their anniversary. I'll be gone for 8 days..... and I can't wait!!!! The first couple days I'm there my Uncle will be on a business trip so it'll just be us girls!! I looked up the weather to see what it is going to be like there and the first couple days it will be mid 60s and then just around 55. I can't wait to see Reese, she is just a little bundle of cuteness!!

The Long Ago Visit of the Kings

Our friends the Kings came to the lodge earlier this year for a little visit! This was a while ago and I was going to post it a lot sooner but I couldn't find the pictures on my moms computer.

Charlie fishing

Brock caught a nice pink!

Saylor being a dog digging a hole to China

Charlie and Me trying out the water, Noah didn't want to get wet ;)

Mr. & Mrs. King sitting in the beautiful sun which is now just a memory.

Niko standing watch

Happy Times

Shrimp Pot Incident

My dad got a shrimp puller and rigged it up on his boat and for the last couple days we've been pulling shrimp pots. Three days ago I was helping my dad with the shrimp puller when the rope all of a sudden started twisting up around it self and my finger got stuck in between. It cut the circulation of from my finger and it felt like it was going to break. My dad had to cut the rope to get it free.  Afterward my finger was still numb but it regained feeling pretty quick. Now its just the joint that hurts.

Its been really windy that last couple days, one night it got up to around 70 mph! This morning it was beautiful and calm but right now there is actually thunder and a couple flashes of lighting!! Thats really rare for Ketchikan or let me rephrase that.... Yes Bay Lodge.
On the 27th (day after tomorrow) we'll be coming to town for a week!!

Today Nicky and Ryan left for Maui :(, Nicky was saying that she'd send my a post card for Maui, while I'm shoveling snow, lol.

Here are some pictures of seals basking in the sun...

Humpback Whales

A couple days ago Mom, Saylor and Me were kayaking in the back bay when we saw some humpback whales surface! It looked like a mama and a baby, so we paddled closer to get a better look. We followed them all over the bay, and I don't think I ever paddled so fast in my life, (I'm still a bit sore).

My Adventures Since 4th of July

 I can't believe I haven't posted since 4th of July!! Well I guess I should fill in the gap.

Me and my mom took our kayak and paddled to the back bay and found a sign that said there was a trail that linked onto the main McDonald trail that starts at the lodge. We'd heard from other crew members that there was no trail at all, but me and my mom went anyway just for the fun of it. Guess what... they were wrong there was a very very old trail that was marked by markers but the markers didn't start until you got passed a big hill. So if you were standing on the beach you wouldn't be able to see it. We followed the markers for a while in super thick brush, but eventually we came to a muskeg, while we were walking through the muskeg we saw bear foot prints and also the skunk cabbage roots had been dug up eaten  there were deer foot prints too. At the end of the valley the markers went on for a minute more then there were no more markers to follow! So we had to turn back. :(

 muskeg valley

The beginning of the trail

Some weird plant we found

Red soft moss

The stream next to the trail

Hike To the Hot Springs

About a month ago my cousins the Axelsons came and picked me up from the Lodge and we went for a hike to the hot springs in Bailey Bay!! The first part of the hike wasn't hard because it was pretty manicured. Also because when you came to the half way point there was a canoe you can take the rest of the way to the hot springs. Carrie, Me, Paul and Emma took the canoe going up to the springs and had a great time trying to figure out how to get up the narrow and shallow streams!! I have done this hike once before and also to the canoe a year ago, so I thought I remembered which stream to take, I was soo wrong (I forgot to mention that there was 2 streams to pick from). First we took the small stream that only took us half the was there, so then we took the second stream which was wider but even more shallow and we kept getting stuck on sand bars, again and again and again..... finally we got out of our exasperating situation though we were all laughing the whole time we were stuck. We thought that we'd be in the hot springs by the time the others got there but because it took us soo long to figure out that we couldn't use the streams the group was already past us! Some FAST canoe ride! Anyway the springs were amazing and to be somewhat dare-devilish Emma and I after soaking in the hot springs went and jumped into the foot deep freezing creek then got back into the hot springs. It felt great but at the same time Horrible!! After a while we had to head back and this time almost everyone who had hiked all the way took the canoe going back. I had an awesome time and I know everyone else did to!!

I would have posted a bunch of pictures but I can't find any of the hike!! There are too many files, to many pictures, to many..... everything!!!!!


Oh! I just remembered, I am getting my very own....Computer!!!  I finally saved up enough money to get one! I asked my homeschool program if they would pay for a mac book Air or at least half of it but the wouldn't. So I decided on getting a Dell... one second...Ok, a Dell 14.0" Laptop PC, (Its funny, I don't even know the name of my own computer, hehehehe) I can't wait till it gets here, it should arrive on Friday along with the backpack I bought for my computer! All this buying, if I keep on like this I'll be broke before I know it!!

Independence Day Pictures

Ok! Here are the photos from the 4th of July!!

Sparkler Fight!!

Cinder decided that she was moving into the office because she didn't like all the fireworks outside!

Jim, one of the guides here took these pictures.