Birthday! Kindergarten! State Fair! Moose!

August seemed busier than usual for us, though that may just be the general end of summer rush that hangs in the Alaskan air. Anglers are out in force, snagging as many of the remaining king and silver salmon as possible before the end of the season (Malcolm and Brandon only managed to get out twice, and with no luck, but plenty of fun). The tourists, few as they are this year, are doing their last bit of sightseeing. And all us locals are gearing up for cold days ahead; in our case, we're readying the house for winter, and Brandon is still preparing as much firewood as the days will allow. We've squeezed out a year's worth of outdoor playtime from the summer, and it's been great. But though the dog days may still be cooking those Outside, temperatures in the 50s have already settled in around here, and snow is now only a month away.

School starts in August up here - perhaps abother reason why life has seemed so hectic lately. Malcolm entered 2nd grade, and for the first time, Chloe herself was ushered into the bright lights of elementary school. Her first day of kindergarten came about a week after Malcolm went back. The two are just down the hall from each other, and now ride the bus together most mornings. It's pretty heady stuff for our little Ladybug, who also turned 5 mere days ago. But she's quickly taken to it, and is apparently one of the few kids in her class who can already read.

Calvin is a maniac. He stomps and stumbles around the house, laughing, talking and generally cracking us all up. We can't wait to get him out in the snow this winter and see him play in the white stuff. He recently gobbled a handful of mushrooms that had sprouted in his preschool's yard that morning, sending the teachers and us into panic mode and prompting several conversations with poison control. Calvin just characteristically laughed, no doubt amused at everyone's frantic reactions.

Of course, we once again took in the Alaska State Fair, home to fried cheese curds, pork chops on sticks, a terrific lumberjack show and the world's biggest cabbages. It's Americana and Alaskana rolled into one big fun day, fried. On a stick.

Oh, and the moose? She stopped by the other day for a drink from our kiddie pool before it was put away. She was kind enough to pose for several photos, then no doubt helped herself to some of our raspberries before moving on. Sometimes our property feels more like a moose salad bar than anything else.

Enjoy the pictures!

♥, the Tuckers