Family Reunion

It seems like everyone always has stories from family reunions.  Until this last week, I had never been to one.  Turns out they’re pretty great.

My immediate and closely extended* family is small.  On my mom’s side I have two first cousins, two aunts, two uncles, and two grandparents, all of whom I love dearly.  For my mom however, she has quite a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, and the tree just keeps extending and branching the farther you go back.  So it was pretty cool to meet all those people whom I had only ever heard about in stories or whose existence I didn’t know about at all**.

I love Alaska; I love everything about it there.  Growing up in Alaska has been a wonderful experience, and although I do not have a plan for my life at present I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself back there 5 or 10 years from now.  I do not however, love being so far away from family.  I get to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins about every other year, which is fantastic considering the distance between us.  As for the rest of the family, my parents’ aunts and uncles, my second cousins, and everyone else who is in the family by some relation or another, most of them I’ve never met.  Of the 50 some people who showed up this weekend, I only knew 8 prior to the reunion.

My family tree***
(I'm somewhere over on the left)

*Oxymoron? (closely extended… as to mean my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and first cousins)

**I have a cousin named Emily who is only a couple years older than me!

***I also love how it keeps growing every year!

Oh, Hello Watermelon

So there’s this fruit called watermelon that they have in most areas of our country, and then there’s this stuff they call watermelon that they have in Alaska.  And let me tell you, as a self-appointed watermelon connoisseur, they are NOT the same thing.  So one of the many enjoyments of visiting the east coast, in addition to visiting family, hot weather (not sure if this counts as an “enjoyment” when it’s over 100 degrees…), sweet corn, and thunderstorms, is watermelon. 

I really like food.  And the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree for this one.  My mom loves food, and consequently, my granddad LOVES food.  This is all fantastic in my opinion.  Freshly caught Chesapeake Bay blue crab, homemade vanilla ice cream with fresh peach sauce, sweet corn only done right if butter is dripping from your elbows as my granddad says, and of course, watermelon.

Hike Alaska

This is my new favorite book…

Hiking Alaska

Summer (and heck also Winter) memories from my childhood revolve around being drug up mountains, across ravines, around lakes, and over rivers all throughout Alaska.  Every weekend despite my protests of how we always got lost (true, even today), how it was too cold (true, even today), and how I was tired (not so true today) my mom would make me go anyway.  Well, I guess something in that parenting method worked, because even though all my memories involve miserable Emily, today I am ready to go.  In the last couple weeks, I have hiked nine out of ten days. 

Friday: Bird Ridge

Saturday: Twin Peaks (sorta)

Monday: Hatcher’s Pass/Thunderbird Falls

Tuesday: The Butte

Wednesday: Lazy

Thursday: Red Shirt Lake in

Friday: Red Shirt Lake out

Saturday: Pioneer Peak

Sunday: Flattop

It was a GREAT nine days, and it is shaping up to be the BEST summer ever