Time Flies When You're...

READING HARRY POTTER. That's it. That's my big excuse for not writing any posts (I'm glancing awkwardly at the ground, shifting my weight, grimacing guiltily) for five months. Super lame, right? You'd think I could carve out a few minutes every month to record a few happenings of note for Alaska...

(No snow on the ground by Easter!)

(Morel mushroom madness after last year's big fire!)

or for our family...

(Coach J leads the club soccer team through another successful season!)

(Indigo and her BFF Sophia bring the house down as jazz performers after graduating from Kindergarten!)

Maybe upload a few pictures with cool wildlife...

(Nudibranch found tidepooling in Homer!)

(The elusive fresh water SUP shark outside McCarthy!)

Share some videos of us doing Alaska-y stuff... (You likely need to be on actual blogsite to view)

And just generally confirm our status as not having been mauled by a bear.

(Although this was a close one... Team Brevard, Reitz, Roof and Leslie made a narrow escape!)

(Still alive, outside of Seward!)

(Still alive, backpacking outside Kennicott!)

And I've thought about the blog a lot - really I have! But each time the day settled down, and Indigo crawled into bed, I'd be faced with a choice: hop on the machine for some blogging, or cuddle with Indigo and read Harry Potter. Now I realize that J is perfectly capable of reading to Indigo instead of me, and he does, but then I miss it! And yes, I've read the series several times before, but my memory is terrible and it's a new thrill each time Harry suspects Snape or escapes out from under Mrs. Norris' nose. And it's no small coincidence that just last week we wrapped up Book 7. And that each night since we've watched one of the movies. And it's a minor miracle that despite having half of The Goblet of Fire sitting unwatched on Amazon Instant Video, I've got the Blogger tab open instead. So you're welcome. (J and Indigo will tell you that I'm absolutely terrible at apologies - it usually takes me a good day after the fact to come around and actually mutter the words, "I'm sorry." So, if you aren't irreparably offended already, I'll probably come around in a bit...)

Indigo's version of Harry, who, as a humble fellow, accepts full blame for the lack of bloggery.

SAVVY. Now another non-magical reason for my hiatus is this: we've actually figured out a few things after being up here for 3 years.

For one thing, we've accumulated the proper gear - at least some of the proper gear. Our household possessions remain minimal but, oh my, our garage needs an addition.

A smattering of gear, outside McCarthy

This is how we get it where it needs to go...

Inflatable "toys" at Spencer Glacier

Who needs crampons when...

... yak tracks work great for crevasse jumping! (Root Glacier)

Dry suits are key when you're in 35 degree water!

And we know where to go. We frequent the Manitoba yurts like we go to church there (J would argue we do... his "Skisus" tshirt says it all!), and more and more places get tossed into the "That place was cool! Let's go back!" pile.

Rock-hounding on the Glenn Hwy

Fossil finds! I spy ancient tree needles...

Rocks found while attempting to gold pan - clearly we found no gold...

Good old Manitoba cabin jam

Manitoba aurora

Indeed.

The old Tern Lake intersection we've driven by a hundred times... now a play spot!

Same Tern Lake intersection, now known to be sweet access to some goods!

J hits Thompson Pass on his annual "second Spring Break"

Team Roof explores Taylor Pass near Turnagain

And we've got a few more friends to adventure with us. Not a ton, and I'll be honest here and say that we hang out with more religious conservatives than Skisus-shirt wearing people maybe should.. but despite some differences we've found a fun common ground  - we all like to explore and play up here! And then of course we've wrangled a few of you from the Lower 48 into coming up too...

New friends...

and old!

HAVING FUN. So barring any unforeseen circumstances, Team Leslie anticipates more tales of merrymaking in this fine state. Our contracts are signed for another year with the school district, Indigo is excited to rock first grade, Ziggy doesn't even flinch when a moose walks by the window, and Ice Cream Newton just got her money's worth, literally, put into her with a variety of fresh parts, ensuring, we hope, her continued run on these wild roads. Speaking of, Sunday we load Ice Cream onto the ferry for a week on Kodiak Island, and the salmon should be running up the Kenai when we return. J got an official vacuum sealer for Father's Day so we're ready to up our catch and load the freezer. The Alaska Adventure lives on!

Fun!

Kennicott River with ONE MILE HIGH ice fall in the background left, and rainbow on right!

I spy J and Indigo!

P.S. I'm sorry I've been a terrible blog poster - I'll try to do better - thanks for understanding!

P.P.S. As some of you know, J's 40th Birthday is coming up on July 14th... feel free to pop him some bday lovin', if you haven't already (smile).