June Delights

Ever since the lodge started going I have been super busy!!! The summer solstice came and went but we didn't really celebrate on the 20th because everyone was too tired and also summer solstice is usually on the 21st. So on the 21st at 9:30 pm to celebrate, everyone went down to the dock and all the people that worked at Yes Bay Lodge were going to jump off the dock.... Well everything went as planned everyone, (and I mean EVERYONE went down to the dock, crew and guests) but I found out that all the crew besides one dock hand named Eric had backed out of jumping in. So I thought I would back out too cause I'd be like the only girl, which can really feel intimidating sometimes!! Okay, well my mom was planning on going to bed early that evening but I had convinced her to come down to the dock with me to watch me jump off. When I told her I wasn't going to do it she said "Oh, no no no, you're going in." Mom turned around and yelled at the dishwasher, Brian and said "Brian! Come over here and help me!" My mom grabbed my arms and Brian grabbed my feet and I realized they were going to throw me in! I struggled and got my feet free but Brian picked them right back up then I got my arms free from mom and I started pulling away from Brian. I struggled a little bit more but then I just gave up cause I knew they were going to get me in there eventually. I stopped struggling and expected them to "throw" me in but no. My mom puts my head and arms in the water but Brian holds onto my legs a few seconds more and then pushes my feet in. I basically got dunked in! Anyway right after I went in, a bunch of the guests ran and jumped in (they were all tall, big guys and the dock hand Eric also went in and he is at least 6' 2" and he is like 18 yrs old). I guess since I was the only girl to go in (even though I was thrown in, or dunked) it gave confidence to a couple other girls. Sam the dinner prep and Cassandra the office girl. They striped down to their swim suits and us 3 held hands as we ran and jumped off the end of the dock!! It was awesome!!! I forgot to mention that before everyone jumped in Dewey and Eric (both dock hands) made a boat out of fish boxes and lit it on fire and set it adrift away from the dock. It was wondrous watching it float away into the uncharted waters beyond the mountains of blue sunsets (I made that name up), where lay its watery grave, (yeah, pretty poetic huh...).

My 13th birthday was on June 23rd. Now I'm finally a teenager!! During the morning I helped my mom with house keeping then the whole afternoon my Mom, Saylor, Casandra, Brian and myself soaked in the sun down at the dock. I jumped in 13 times but then I couldn't just stop there because the water just felt soo good. I must have jumped in about around 20 times. It was awesome cause the water really wasn't too cold but also right when you got out the air was warm and you dried of really quick. Me and Cassandra jumped in together a few times but since she is from Wisconsin I guess this Alaskan water is a bit too cold for her taste!! My birthday was awesome but I got a nasty sun burn that is just now fading away

For my birthday I got :

A fly rod w/ a reel and a box of flys,

A fishing lanyard w/ tools to go with it,

Persian rose perfumes (my favorite scent),

A beautiful jewelry box,

$60 iTunes gift card,

A bunch of cute shirts,

A gold cross necklace with a pearl in the middle of the cross,

A forget-me-not figurine,

A raspberry pink sweatshirt,

Carhartt overalls,

A bag of Lindell chocolates,

A book called" Seekers: Spirits In the Stars (which I am 10 pages from being done, awesome book) and a $25 Cabellas gift card!

I had an amazing birthday because I got to spend time with my family, the weather was perfect, my presents were magnificent, and of course...  I'm finally a teenager!!!!

The Beginning of Warm Weather

We now have all the crew here at Yes Bay. Its always a ton of fun meeting all the new people we will be working with!! The last few days have been beautiful, especially yesterday. It was hot and sunny all day and I got a bunch of great pictures! Sadly though, today is rainy and cold. One of those days that remind you that you are in fact very far from any sunny tropical island where you might relax in the sand, watching the waves wash back and forth, back and forth... along the shore. :(

Last summer I did a horrible job of keeping up with my blog and one of my goals for this summer is to post a lot more than last year. So get ready for a ton more pictures!!

This is Tommy, he is obviously a squirrel. He loves to sit up at the tree house and eat our home made bird food!! He acts soo tame, its amazing!! I can get up close to him like literally 5" away and he is perfectly calm. Alright, I don't exactly know that Tommy is a boy but I am just guessing. ;)

Working on my collage creativeness!!

My Niko Baby! Love you boy...

Fishing Big

On Saturday everyone out here went fishing. Dewy, Ryan and Nicky only got a shaker and a rock fish, none of which they could keep. We (Dad, Mom, Saylor, and I) trolled for a couple hours with no luck, then we pulled everything up and moved to a different spot. Almost instantly after we set up the poles up Mom got a bite! Dad ran over to the pole and set the hook then gave it to Mom. Since it took 20 min. for Mom to reel it in we got the impression that it was big. That fish ran like there was no tomorrow (and actually in his case that was true)! We finally got it to the boat and when we all saw it there was a ton of hooping and hollering (you could probably here us from miles around). My dad was screaming the whole time "THIS COULD WIN THE DERBY!!! THIS COULD WIN THE DERBY!!!!" The trouble though, is that we were outside the derby boundaries and we didn't have a ticket. :( :(
We are all starting to slide into summer mode. A couple days ago we got our first crew members out here and tomorrow we will be getting everyone else here. We are working on getting the lodge up to par because June 7th is when our first guests arrive!! We will have a full house all threw June!

My Life Lately

Published Picture

Every once in a while I will send a picture of an animal or landscape to a nature magazine to see if they will use my picture. A couple days ago I got a letter saying that they used one of my pictures I had sent them a while ago. It was a picture of a bright rainbow here in the bay. They put it on the back of their magazine. In case you were wondering the magazine is called Nature Friend.

Dogs Going for a Swim

About a week ago I got a telephoto lens for my camera!!!! I absolutely loooove it! Already I have taken some great pictures with it. Yesterday I finished my math for the summer!!! It feels so good know I don't have to do math till this fall. Right after I finished I convinced my mom to let me burn my math book!! It was awesome watching it burst into flames!!

The last few days have been super sunny but its still a bit chilly here. Yesterday and this morning though have been nothing but ran and the forecast said its supposed to like this during the weekend and all next week. :(

This last Wednesday it was nice and sunny so we decided to throw the dogs in. They hate water but it was for their own good, hahahaha (evil laugh).

Hope you enjoy the pictures....

The new fireplace...

Niko rubbing up against the railing trying to dry off.

The last few weeks

We got back from town about a week ago and Nicky came back with us. We all had a great Easter!! On Easter morning Nicky, Dewey and me went on a hike all the way up to McDonald Lake. We were hopping to catch some trout but had little success. The only sign of life in the river was a trout that Nicky saw jump out of the water. Only Nicky saw it so Dewey and me aren't quit sure it wasn't just another one of her "many" fish stories. We were very hot, sweaty, tired and mostly hungry when we got back but mom made a excellent Easter dinner with ham, asparagus, mashed potatoes, rolls, and deviled eggs! I went to sleep early that day with a beautiful, adventurous day and delicious dinner in my thoughts.

The fire place is basically done Dewey and dad are just putting back up the boards on the back and making sure all the electrical cords are in the right places. Yesterday they put in the cement behind the fireplace to seal it into the wall.

On Sunday we went kayaking for Saylor's birthday. Nicky came with us in her own kayak and we all had a blast. The dogs followed us on the shore for a while but then they disappeared. When we got back they weren't at the dock to greet us. There was no sight of Niko or Coby till about 2-3 hours after we got back from kayaking. Guess what kept them from coming. Coby was the first one we saw, she came up to us with her head hanging low. When she looked up at us we saw that she had about 7 or 8 porcupine quills in her lip,gums, and chin. I took her collier and as Nicky and Saylor followed me up to the house Niko have up the board walk from the woods. At first we couldn't see if he had any or not but since Coby had some I had complete faith that Niko had quills to. I was right. He only had 3 though but since Niko is too strong for anyone hold him down while someone else takes out the quills he is always a challenge. We took them both of them up to the house and started with Coby. Dad rapped a towel around her eyes and legs and sat on her to hold her down. I held the leash on the other side of the closed door so she stay in one spot. Mom got the pliers and started taking the quills out and all the while Coby is howling, growling, and snapping at the pliers. There was one in her chin and when mom took it out it started bleeding but stopped when Coby drank some water. After that on in her chin it looked like we got them all out. So it was Niko's turn. The whole time we were working on Coby he was whining and pacing back and forth, knowing he was next. Right when we put him inside and dad started putting the towel around his eyes Niko started thrashing all about, yanking a pulling at the leash I was holding and howling at the top of his lungs! There was no way on earth we were going to take the quills out that way. He only had a total of 3 quills, 2 in his mouth and 1 in his chin which was barely hanging on. Niko ran out the door and went up into the woods behind our house. I didn't see him again till about 2 hours later, he was sitting in a bunch of bushes hiding from us. I got him and brought him home and just let him lay down in the living room. I am guessing that while he was gone he scratched out the quill on his chin which was just barely hanging on. Later that day I came up to him and started just scratching behind his ears and his neck and got Niko all relaxed. All the while I had the pliers behind my back and when he closed his eyes because it felt so good I grabbed the quill that was sticking out of his mouth and yanked at it hard. Niko jerked up and ran away from me but I think I got the whole thing out. Dad got the other one out during that evening. The next day I was checking Cobys mouth and I saw one more at the roof of her mouth. Mom got the pliers and I just stroked Cobys head then mom yanked the quill right out. And that was the end of that. A couple nights ago I had a dream that the dogs had gotten into the porcupine again and their faces were covered with quills. That was very unpleasant, I could even categorize that dream as a night mare.

Saylors birthday was on April 15. She turned six and she's proud of it. Saylor already had a party in town but that was just so all her friends could come because we weren't going to be able to be in town for her actual birthday. So this time it was for real. For her birthday cake she had a cheese cake and it tasted soooo good.

Here are some pictures....

Niko being a sweetie

Frustrated she can't blow out the trick candles.

Yummm

This picture speaks for its self...