Little to they know kind of day lies ahead of them… should I wake them up?
Receiving the news that they will be going on a half day halibut charter: Getting under way: Aren’t they handsome? Zach’s catch: The crews catch: Master filleter: (Is there such as word?) Beautiful scenery: Arriving back to port: Receiving their catch… alread filleted and ready to cook! Two proud fishermen! They both caught their limit of two halibut each. Meanwhile, back at camp, we take the girls into the town of Homer for a little shopping: Time for an alaskan lunch! Jade opted for a regular hotdog while Jay and Jasmine enjoy a reindeer sausage: Ran into grandma and grandpa:
Today is a day to remember forever. The kids, recently joined by their two cousins who flew in to be with us for 2 weeks, will be telling this story to their kids and grandkids for years to come….Unfortunately, due to the surprise moments, the camera was either far from our mind, out of our reach, or the moments just past too quickly. However, despite the pictures we missed, we can certainly tell you a tale to remember! (We have a few pics for you to enjoy!)
Our equipment:
Our waders:
An unexpected 2.3 mile hike:
Hiking with waders turned down:
Resting about 1.3 miles:
Finally made it to our fishing hole:
Zach, Jacob and Jay across the river:
A grizzly upstream fishing for salmon:
A black bear that came a few yards from us.. Jay and another man had to throw rocks to get him away:
After 2 hours of fishing, Jacob brings in the first catch:
And the second catch:
Zach catches several, loses them, and falls in the water… here he is drying out his
waders:
Zach become the net man… Jacob hooks em, Zach nets em:
I failed to get our own picture, but in the end, we had 6 salmon, so I found a picture of 6 salmon caught from the russian river:
Another picture that is not ours, but found on the internet of a bear on a trail. We saw a grizzly bigger than this one on the hike back:
The fate of the fish:
While the kids slept in, Jay and I went out on our own fishing excursion…. and well, the pictures says it all!
After a thrilling 8 minute struggle and waders full of water we pulled
in a 20 pound King! Lisa gets credit for netting the fish and coaching Jay to relax the line and stay calm: Back at the RV – A beauty! The fun part: Dinner tonight!
That fish took us 4 days fishing and 10 hours~
It also cost us about $800 is fishing licenses and fishing gear – divide that by our 20 pound catch and we made out at only $40.00 per pound! ~smile~
We made it to Alaska, and to our destination city, Anchorage! ~smile~ If you have been watching our 4 month trip, then you know we started from San Diego on May 15th, and took a beautiful ride up the Alaskan Highway and visited amazing places!
It has been fun sharing pictures and videos with you along the way! I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have enjoyed sharing them. There is a link on the bottom left of this page called: Follow Lisa’s Trail, where you will find my travel posts.
There was one video in particular that I posted on June 5th with my children practicing piano in the RV. Jacob, who is 15, surprised me and expressed to me that he wanted to learn a particular song called Dark Horse by David Lanz. This piece of music is beyond Jacob’s music reading ability so I was pleased he chose to challenge himself. Here is a video of it being performed by David Lanz:
Jacob’s Choice: Dark Horse performed by composer David Lanz:
Now, the other side of the story is that my daughter, Jasmine, who is 11 is extremely competitive and can’t stand letting Jacob accomplish something better than her, so she also chose to learn a song by David Lanz. Her song, Cristofori’s Dream, is also beyond her current music reading ability.
Jasmine’s Choice: Cristofori’s Dream by David Lanz:
Well, as the story goes… like any other story of being excited about learning something new… the excitement wore off as more interesting activities took place of practice, and the songs gradually became more challenging.
We all know that kids don’t like it when parents try to encourage them… they interpret my encouragement as telling them they “have to practice.” “Do I have to?” is what I hear over and over.
So, I had this brilliant idea to ask you for help! I spoke with my children and they both sincerely want to learn their songs… and you can play a big part in helping them!
First, take a look at their first week with their songs:
Jacob and Jasmine’s First Week with their song choices: (Week of June 5th)
How can you help?
Just leave two comments below, one for Jacob and one for Jasmine. Keep in mind their ages, 11 and 15. Feel free to include advice about goal setting, reaching beyond their comfort zone, and listening to “mommy”. This advice from you will give them a reason to continue practicing. In fact, they agreed to let me video them every 2-3 weeks for you to watch their progress. A little pressure goes a long way! ~smile~
It is my hope that this will encourage you to choose a song that inspires you, make it a goal to accomplish it, and that it’s perfectly OK to go beyond your current abilities! ~smile~
This is going to fun for you, for me, and for them!
P.S. So you know, they are both capable of playing these songs with some encouragement.
P.S.S. Please post your comments below rather than in an email, and please refrain from requiring a response. These are for my children to read.
