These Little Piggys - by Michael

Sea Shells - by Annika

Last week I checked out three books from the library about shells. I have not finished one but I have learned a lot about shells. Here are some of the ones I learned about. Bubble shells are large and light brown, sometimes striped with white. A queen conch is a little bigger then a football and are a pretty pink and light brown. Sundials are the size of Gabe's palm, shaped like a cinnamon roll with the colors of white, brown and black. I bought a shell here at a local shop. I think it is in the bonnet family.

Snails live in most sea shells. I have eaten snail once... it was an abalone. Abalone Tony caught them when we were in Bodega Bay. It was very good and it taste like chicken.

Tourist for a Day - by Adelaide

One day every year the tour companies give free or discounted tours to the locals. Some of the tours include the Ketchikan Duck Tour, The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, Snorkel Alaska and Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary Tour.

Putting on a good face after missing the tour.

At first we thought we were going on a Duck Tour at 1 p.m. with a family we had met at the yacht club. We found out later we had misunderstood, it was to be a rainforest bus tour! Then since the family we were to go with had car trouble we were going to go on the tour without them.

Forty minutes left before the tour mom wanted to get an errand done, so we went to Whale Park while she did. We ate most of our lunch there, then had to rush to the spot where the tour was going to leave from. Right when we got there a bus started to pull out. We went up to the second bus (for a different tour) and the driver tried to radio it to come back, but they could not reach of them. So we sat down and finished the rest of our lunch. Mom said we could go to the Discovery Center instead then take a bus for rollerskating. We could then go back to the Lumberjack show that evening.

When we got to the Discovery Center they had a scavenger hunt for us to do and if you finished it you would get a prize! It was so fun that time went flying past and before we knew it it was time to go. We rushed to catch the bus and right when we reached the sidewalk the bus came around corner. We left rollerskating early so that we would not miss the Lumberjack show. 

Pole climbing event, our team won!

All you had to do to get into show was take some canned food donations! The doors of the show opened at 5 p.m. and the show started at 6 p.m. We did not know if there would be seats if we waited until then and we didn't want to miss it. It was almost full so we quickly found seats. Mom bought some popcorn while for we waited. The show was great! There were two, two member teams contesting against each other. The audience was split up into sides to cheer them on. We were the Dawson Creek Camp & the other side was the Spruce Mill Camp. We won the first two events then Spruce Mill won the next. One of the events was an axe throwing competition and when they missed they had to sing, “I'm a Little Teapot”! The Lumberjack show was the best we all enjoyed it! 

Log rolling, Dawson Creek lost.

Rollerskating at the Rec. Center – by Annika

Katie, Michael & Zoe

The day after we got here we went rollerskating with our new friends. The Rec. Center has three sessions every Saturday on their gym floor. It was our first time rollerskating. It was fun except you would have to get used to falling down a lot before you got the hang of it. It took me and the others three times going there before we got it. We go faster with a lot less falling now. Mom and Daddy are doing good; even Gabe and Michael went out skating on practice skates. Gabe took off and Mom had to go after him. Caleb won a prize for the dancing contest. I tried to do it but I did a horrible job at it.

The Trip So Far - by the Adelaide & Annika

 
The very morning we were going to leave for Alaska, we found out that a rope was tangled in the propeller! When Dad got his wet suit on and was in the water he also found that we were sitting on the bottom of the marina! So, between both of those we had a late start.

When we got onto the bar we went down the river a bit so we could put up the sails. When we were in ocean we were in full sail, the sea was about three to four feet. We all went out and played on the fore deck eating crackers and cheese. Dad let Adelaide go up the mast to the first spreader so that she could untangle the flags. Then it started to rain so we all went inside. The second day was more rough and Mama and Daddy decided that we should go in to Neah Bay for more fuel. Today we are heading back out. We will write more at next stop... 

Surprise from the Office - by Annika

Yesterday mom and dad said the office wanted to see us. We thought that it was  normal because we usually visit them. We were surprised when they pulled the presents from the bag (mom and dad knew about it the surprise). They were sweatshirts printed with Port of Ilwaco. Mine was pink and the other ones were  everyone's favorite color. We tried them on to see if they fit, then we took a picture. Michael was taking a nap back at the boat, so he wasn't there.

Swimming-by Adelaide

The first time we went to the dunes bible camp swimming pool, Anna was at  grandpa and grandma's for the week. Dad and mom went with us and we all were very excited . We took the 10:15 am bus, we got there at 11:15 am. The diving board was broken the first few weeks, so while it was getting repaired Caleb and I dived off the wall. We got rings we threw in, diving nine feet to the bottom. It was really fun! Once the diving board was back in we jumped off it all the time. The 10:15 am bus started getting tiring for Mom because Monday we all had to wait out side until it opened. So we changed it to 11:45 am. We did not have so much time in the pool (35 minutes instead of an hour) but we were able to go there more times a week.

Once Anna was back she was very excited about going. When we got there she was in the pool in no time at all. The boy's are still getting used to the water, Micheal likes it I think, Gabe I am not so sure about. I think my favorite thing to do is dive and get rings from the bottom. Today we are not going because we have a lot of work to do. Tomorrow I hope we go!

(written quite awhile ago but wanted to post anyway)