camping at trail river

Two weekends ago my family went camping to Trail River campgrounds, which is my favorite spot out of all the places we've been camping. And it is for obvious reasons. I will never get over how beautiful Alaska is, and I love being near the water in the sun just soaking up all the creation around me.





my cute parents




We actually went with our church, hence all the random children in the photos. Kids are probably my favorite people to photograph. They are just so carefree and happy and more than willing to do crazy things like jump in a freezing lake. I love capturing their joy and just being around them.




I hope you have a great day!

russian river creatives

As promised, here are some more "creative" photos from my first camping trip of the summer.








Hope you have a great day!

coca cola girl

shirt: old navy // shorts: thrifted // shoes: target

Just a quick little post featuring my outfit from day two of our latest camping trip. My little sister snapped these photos of me during lunch. It was seriously the nicest weekend in the world to go camping. Last year it was cold and rainy, but this year the sun was shining, there were hardly any mosquitos, there was a freezing lake to cool off in (in five second intervals, but still) ... I even got sunburned! I can't wait to share with you guys more photos from this trip, because I am pretty sure this is now officially my favorite camping spot.

p.s. don't forget to enter my firmoo giveaway!

camping at the russian river

You can follow all of my camping adventures on instagram by following the tag #hardcoreparkours2013




"The Russian River is a 13-mile-long (21 km) river on the Kenai Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows northward from Upper Russian Lake in the Kenai Mountains through Lower Russian Lake, draining into the Kenai River at the town of Cooper Landing. The native Denaina people called this river Chunuk'tnu.

Like the Kenai, the Russian River is famous for its fishing, especially for salmon. There are two runs of sockeye salmon each year, in mid-June and mid-July, and a run of silver salmon in August." (from Wikipedia)




Last weekend my family went camping at the Russian River. Regardless of potential creepers, I want to share the specific places we go camping this year for you all who are curious about Alaska. The Russian River is definitely one of the prettiest campgrounds we've been to (but then again, they're all really pretty). Surprisingly there weren't many people on this memorial day weekend, which was just fine for us. When the salmon come in though, the area is swarming with people and animals looking to catch a fish. Salmon is a major market here in Alaska, so there are always commercial and noncommercial fishermen around. My parents love to fish, and always after their excursions the house smells of smoking salmon about to be canned or cooked. Mmm, love me some Salmon! The Russian river is one of the major rivers where people fish.

One of my most favorite things about camping in general has got to be the food. There's just something about cooking eggs, bacon, and bread over a fire and turning it into a sandwich that makes the taste unlike any other. And of course camping isn't complete without hamburgers, hotdogs, and smores.

This weekend in particular, the weather was so nice and warm. Of course the temperatures dropped down to about 30 degrees at night, and it's in moments like that that I'm glad I have my dad's military sleeping bag. That thing keeps me toasty. The Russian River is pretty inland, so the temperatures are more mild than campgrounds near the ocean. There are mountains on both sides so there's minimal wind, which is always nice. All around Alaska there are tons of hiking spots, so on the full day that we were there, we hiked to the falls, which I will share a photo of tomorrow in the "creative pictures" part of this camping weekend.




My dad, my mom, myself, William, Nicholas, Moriah.





Speaking of camping, that's where I am right now! (Thank goodness for scheduled posts, haha). I'm guessing every weekend will end up being a camping weekend on the blog, so hopefully you guys enjoyed it!

Have a fantastic day. :)

Alaskan Summertime

Welcome to a beautiful summer day in Alaska, where locals are coming out of their caves to bask in the great weather. Shorts are coming out, sunscreen is being slathered on, and everyone is excited to get their tan on. This summer we are breaking records in Anchorage, with the longest winter ever recorded. If that doesn't sing Alaskan summer like tunes on the beach, then I don't know what will. So grab a Coca-cola, roll up your beach towel, and head on up to Alaska, land of the midnight sun!

(Just a fun little photo. Yes, my toes were cold. But I figured since we are literally breaking records over here, I should take advantage of it. But now Alaska has no more excuses to dump snow on us. Cease the nonsense!)

the world is infinite

day 194








Yes, it is July in Alaska, but it seems like we traveled to a different world today. Just an hour outside the city there are glaciers and driving wind and rain (at least today there was) and I felt like we were on a different continent. The cold and rain and wind actually added to the fun as it made for a real adventure.







We sledded down the glacier and tried to stand against the wind, but it was so much fun we hardly noticed the rain soaking through our jeans. After about forty five minutes in the kids were ready to go, so we hiked back out and stayed in the comfort of a warm car.







Thankfully my friend is coming up so we may have to come back to this spot. It was truly an adventure.

fourth of july celebration

Our fourth of July celebration greeted us with fifty degree weather, overcast skies, and a light wind, but we didn't let that stop us from celebrating. There were a couple extra kids running around but we kept them all busy with badminton and the trampoline.













I had started the evening wearing this ensemble, then switched to a fun variation of that same outfit, but then finally gave up and just put a sweatshirt over everything. At least I was warm and toasty!












I never can think up enough commentary for giant photo posts like this, but I always love giving a little break to make the massive post a little more bearable ... but the truth is, the photos really speak for themselves. (And trust me, you should be glad I cut down the nearly 200 photos from the party to only 41.)












(Obligatory photo break here) Hahaha I'm funny. But really, it was a super fun day, despite the cold weather. Yummy food, fun people, what more can you ask for?












I hope you all had a fun time celebrating as well and have a great day today!

p.s. my family is going on a little vacation this weekend, but I have a couple posts lined up so the only thing you'll be missing are 365 photos.