strawberry shortcake

mmmmm, strawberry festival. Maybe I'll make some strawberry shortcake. Just have to figure out how to make the biscuits. I know I can use bisquick, but if I'm gonna make them, I may as well learn the real way. I looked for buttermilk biscuits in the bakery section with no luck the other day. grrrr! I also couldn't find whole milk ricotta! My choices were low fat or skim. Give Me The FAT! I looked for greek yogurt the other day, but I should have known not to bother! AHHH! I'm going to have to start keeping a running list of things I can't find so that when I head to Kenai for errands I can check out the stores there. It's too far to drive for yogurt, but if I'm there anyways. . .

Fireworks

Tyler LOVED the fireworks last year. I'm sure he'll love them even more this year! Lilly on the other hand will probably be a grouch and will fight sleep and i'll be stuck home with her... Joy oh joy.

Yeah, it makes you rethink your own aunts and uncles and the role they've played in your life. Veeeeeery interesting. I feel like Tyler and Lilly's 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th) Mother, it's a shame they'll find out I'm crazy someday. Wow, I just can't wait for the days when I have no idea what to buy them for Christmas presents. Our aunts and uncles did well with presents, but I just think of Lorrahn drawing a blank while trying to figure out what to get everyone every year and figure they all must have been doing something similar around Christmas time. meh.

We'll just have to do cool things their parents don't do, like take them to sporting events and scuba diving.

I have no idea what the typical Dane looks like. He's just a normal guy. Not supermodel spectacular, not on the other end of the scale either. Here, I found you a picture of a 'typical' danish couple. haha!

I think this is the first year that I've ever been away from the Swamp for 3rd of July. Craziness! It'll be interesting to see Tyler's reaction to the fireworks now that he's a bit older.

crazy old aunts

i was thinking about the post where you say its better to be around when they're young. It so is because when they get older we just turn into "yeah thats my aunt." They wont ever realize how much we truly love these little kids and how much they actually enjoyed us. They'll still like us but it will never be the same. hmmmm.

i'm doing nothing for the 4th. prob gonna invite people over for the third.

what the hell does a typical dane look like?

3rd

Yes, send a pic if you get one.

Typical 3rd festivities. Parade & Strawberry festival tomorrow. Cookout and Fireworks on the 3rd. Going to Maine the 4th through the 9th. Yeah!

what's going on for the 3rd?

sorry, no pictures. I asked him to send me some pictures from their summit attempt, so maybe there will be one in there. If not, too bad! He looks like a typical Dane, okay?

So what else is new? Any big plans for the 3rd? I just realized it's almost the 4th - I should make some plans or something. I am going to a lumber yard today, so maybe I'll get invited to a cookout or something. Ha!

maybe...

you never know, maybe you'll travel there for a couple months then?!?! and you're right, can't miss too much of the little kid stage. once they get to be 10ish they won't be nearly as interesting... you've got to get another picture of him, you know, satisfy my curiousity... facebook??

move?!

Somehow I just don't think it's a good idea to move to Austria for someone I knew only 2 days! Plus, I'd really hate to be away from those children of yours while they're so young. It's different when kids are older. Meh, I'm hoping to visit Europe sometime next year, so if I do that'll probably be one of my stops. Unfortunately that's the only picture I have - it's pretty damned cool, though, isn't it?

Tara's Husband

Okay, well, you could at least give us a better picture. And of course there is the option to move to Austria! At least we'd have a fantastic place to travel to!!!

My Hubby

Just thought I'd let everyone (by everyone, I mean you two, because you're the only non-deadbeat family members on here. In fact, I probably wouldn't post this otherwise) know that I found a husband. Yes, that's right, the girl who wants nothing to do with relationships, nevermind marriage, found a husband. I've never come across another person more suited to me. Similar philosophies on life and genuine interest in eachother. Here's a picture of him (look closely, you'll find two specks on there that are people. This is from when he climbed a mountain alpine-style using an ascent route nobody had ever attempted):Unfortunately, he lives in Austria. Back to the drawing board. . .

wow, the kitchen looks so good. That's actually really close to one of the colors I was looking at a while back. I see you moved the fridge. I'll bet you found some good stuff behind that sucker?!

okay, i want to come over and see the kitchen! looks good.

Gas...

I heard a really good conversation/debate on the radio about gas prices etc.
People are waiting for it to go down... and think drilling off the california coast will reduce the price when in fact it'll probably stay where it is and this is why...
We (USA) used to be the only big super player (buyer) of oil/gas for the market... BUT recently China and India have started to become big players in the oil/gas industry.... so basically the demand is going up because their populations are so freakin HUGE and the supply is just about the same.
Drilling off the california coast will take time... oil wont be available for years.. AND when we do get it we'll most likely sell it off because thats the kind of country we are.
On the same note.... Saudi Arabia is freaking out about the fact that alternative sources may become more popular because of how expensive gas/oil is getting that they are trying to produce more. bleh.
Thats my input.

bye bye mint choc chip.

Mark and I painted the kitchen.... FINALLY!
It's called Winter Lake. This is only the first coat but you get the picture.
I think it came out nice. Let me know what you think Bone.....

yeah, I read an article about corn a while back and the major problem is that they haven't figured out how to use the entire corn plant yet - the cellulose stalk doesn't break down easily so it takes more input energy than output to make it into fuel. If they could figure that out then it would be an option because we wouldn't be robbing usable supplies from other areas, we'd just be using the parts that get tossed anyways. I was reading about China's consumption of meat and how it's going to drive the market through the roof and I've been meaning to post about it. That would be another hit for the corn industry.

Gas up in Anchorage was comparable to home, it's the Kenai Peninsula that's ridiculous for prices. The only thing that's cheap here is salmon!

more gas

funny that gas is that much more expensive where you are given the fact that if they drilled alaska for oil the prices would plummet... eh, i'm not really sure where i stand on that one. i think we all just need to stop bitching (not us three, but the world) and pay the prices. big deal, gas costs $4/gallon. milk costs just about the same, maybe a little less... oh yeah, and the E85 option in my opinion is not an option because it just drives prices of everything else up.

Gas prices

we're up to 4.60 here for gas, higher in some places. gross!

Gas is $4/gallon.

I cooked most of the food. Lorrahn brought a salad. Phyllis brought appetizers.

No cheese plate.

- E

SpidahRific

The little canon one is the one I'm not using. I got a video camera that I could use on the road that would take better video than the canon. It takes better pictures, too, so I've been only using that one.

I think when I killed off the majority of the spiders I led the way for the massive spiders to take over the area. Either that or I somehow bred superspiders with the poison cocktail that I sprayed everywhere. Either way, I keep seeing these huge spiders crawling around on the ground near (and one inside) my cabin. you know, the really big/fat ones that make a big mess when you squash them. It's pretty grody. I threw a rock at one to kill it and spider parts went flying in one direction and the rest of him, along with a big splatter, was left on the rock. Quite disgusting, but I was proud of my aim.

Sagan's head looks bigger, too. I really think he might have grown.

How was the Bartlett party, by the way? Who cooked? Let me guess, Erica cooked the majority of it and Lorrahn brought over a cheese tray? MMM, cheese tray. Send some of that cheese this way! I've had to cut my cheese consumption here because it's really expensive and I like the good stuff, which is a bit pricey to begin with. Everything is expensive here. How much is gas at home?

he looks huge because he blends in with the black clothes. he's still pretty slim. long and lean.
i think it was three something we put on the back but who knows. i called peony's hydrangeas. my brain stopped working.
i might stick with no cable and just use erica when i really need to watch something.
what camera aren't you using? you bought a new one too?

holla.

p.s. i'm a spider killing machine as well. :)

Three sisters

Let me know if you don't buy a camera because I'll mail you mine with no problem. It's sitting in a box, unused. Sagan looks huge in that picture. They've definitely grown. I miss the Buffins.

I'm not sure what Papa's got going with blogger. Maybe I'll email him and see if I can figure it out. I sent him an invitation to this blog, too, but in the true bartlett tradition he hasn't joined. You're all BUMS!! We should just start calling it the Three Sisters blog. Remember how we used to mark the back of greeting cards we made? Was it "three sisters" with three little stick figures? something like that.

It's just Victor... The ghost that is!

Leah, there's a whole bunch of stuff on clearance at Staples, including camera's. Good ones for a good discount. Take a look if you really want to buy one.

olive schmolive.

gross....i dislike kalamata olives... all olives actually. Homefries sound delicious. yum.

We did not take pictures on sunday but papa told me he is attempting to blog. He somehow cant figure out how to start. He got himself all signed up etc but cant make it work.


Sagan sleeps in your closet on top of a laundry basket full of what i assume to be old clothes you were going to go through or something. i searched high and low for him the other night because i was worried he snuck out when amy left... but alas i found him in his newest bed... he was burried in the clothes. ------------------------------------------------------>

i think its time for me to buy a new camera as well... the whole charger situation is annoying and i'm done trying to figure it out.

Thank you for having us over Erk, it was delicious and a pleasure to see the family sit and interact. :)

I'm mad you said Ghost... now i may not wanna babysit. i'm a weiner!

OOOOH! Party time!

Is today the Bartlett Shin-dig? Are you going to preach the gospel of the Bartlett Salute blog? Take some pictures to put up. Maybe even a group picture to put as the main picture of the blog. You can photoshop my picture in, no problem. I have the perfect picture. Ian will like it, too:

Phew...

The house is clean and all the food is ready.

I love spuds

yeah, I had quite a time packing them, too. No worries sending them when you do. just remember to put the post office receipt in the package somehow. You'll have to fill out an annoying customs form. for the amt of money just put $100 or something. doesn't matter. The whole thing was definitely a learning experience.

I just got an email from Phyllis saying that Papa might blog about Italy. not sure if she meant here or elsewhere, but either way, woooo another convert!

oooh, I'm excited for a Tyler original. Maybe my phone will behave better with the wall charger. we'll see. no rush, really, it's not like I get service here anyways. You can't rush Tyler's masterpiece!

I'd like to let Leah know that I just made homefries and she should try to make them at home. normal homefries, but chop up some kalamata olives into small pieces (about 4-5 olives per good sized serving, which is about one large potato or two medium/small) and toss them in a few minutes before the potatoes are done so they get slightly cooked. Lay off the salt a little, too, because the olives have most of the salt you need. really good. Good with a little fresh dill or some other spices you like.

Cell Phone & Wedding

The wedding is tomorrow, she may be using my camera. Although she didn't say she needed it, so we will see...

I have your charger, I told Tard i'd mail it to you because we will have a package for you at some point in the near future from Tyler. I'm working on getting him to paint something for you rather than just a piece of paper...

I will be mailing your paintings tomorrow, yes, I'm a slacker... I put it all together today, it was quite the project and then I missed the post office. So, it will go out tomorrow!

I (still) hate cell phones.

The Wizard of Oz is a good movie to watch over and over. Probably better than Dumbo. . .

Those dates are perfect. Lindsey and her clan will be in the 13th-20th, so depending on guests here at the cabins I could probably pick you up from the airport and we can all head up to Denali then. On our way down I can drop them at the airport and we can head to the cabins where we can take a glacier tour. woooo! The tickets for those dates are actually cheaper than most other times right now I think, too.

High heels sounds like fun. What is the date of the wedding again?

I could actually send you my camera if you want. I have two here and barely use my little canon. It's been sitting untouched for some time so it wouldn't make a difference to me. Maybe we could trade. . . my cell phone charger for the camera. . .hahaha. Actually wait on the charger, though, because I think it's time for a new phone. Mine is acting awfully funny recently. It won't really hold a charge, plus all that other stupid stuff it did in the first place. Also, mine doesn't get service here while other people with the same carrier all do. I hate looking for new phones. Such a process for me because I have to research every stinkin thing.

nothing at all

bone i am waiting on the OK to come august 17 or 18th. hopefully i'll make it... and can afford it!
Gas is entirely way too expensive right now and i drive a lot so i'm hurting.

Life is boring for me.

i will be in Mimi's wedding this weekend. yay! erk sewed up my heels so they wont fall off because i have entirely way too skinny feet. thank you.

hmmm. i'll post some pictures once my camera works again :( sad face.

Wizard of Oz

Come out, come out, wherever you are and meet the young lady, who fell from a star.
She fell from the sky, she fell very far and Kansas, she says, is the name of the star.
Kansas, she says, is the name of the star. She brings you good news. Or haven't you heard? When she fell out of Kansas a miracle occurred.
It really was no miracle. What happened was just this. The wind began to switch - the house to pitch and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then the Witch - to satisfy an itch went flying on her broomstick, thumbing for a hitch. And oh, what happened then was rich.*The house began to pitch. The kitchen took a slitch. It landed on the Wicked Witch in the middle of a ditch, Which was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch.

YES, we watch this quite often in our house, and I loved it to begin with!!!

How is everyone?

aww, you guys are gonna miss meeee!

Yeah, I'm disappointed at the Bartletts here. When you're looking at a blog at the top is a bar where you click "next blog" to browse other random blogs. I came across one where a family set up something similar. . . except they used it! You know, pictures and stories of what's new in their lives. I've got a feeling this won't catch on.

How's life everyone? Maybe you'll have some updates for me after the shin-dig.

Today I went down to Homer, AK, which is a pretty cool place. I saw a LOT of eagles. Probably 15-20 total and one of them was in a nest. Pretty cool. The scenery is AMAZING down there because you can see all of the active southcentral Alaska volcanoes - I'll upload pictures later. Frenchy's cousins are in town so we went out to lunch with them. I got a side of chowder with my meal and it was the thickest chowder I've ever seen. My spoon could actually stand up in it. I commented on it and her cousin said to me, "that's how it's supposed to be." I just looked at his Texas mug and said, "I'm from Boston." The chowder was still good, though. We didn't do as much walking around as I would have liked because they were having trouble keeping up (they were. . . large. I felt like a true Bartlett with my disdain for that fact. we're such asses.). I'll be back, though, because I really liked it there. Plus that's were the best halibut charters go out of and I definitely want to do that before I leave.

Also, I'm not sure where that comes from, Erica. I'm sure it's a million places, too, but I can't place a one of 'em!

Come Out Come Out Wherever You Are

Okay, 10 point to the person that can tell me where that line is from... I'm sure it's from a few things, but I have one in mind.

So the point of the title is come on Bartletts, post something here. It's a good place to have a dialog with the family that we never really get to talk to or see!

The shindig is planned. All Bartletts will be at my house this Sunday (Father's Day), minus Tara of course! Hope everyone is okay with a simple food day, i'm just not up for cooking all that much...

OK

Yes, Tyler LOVED the swings! The slide is even better. I can see him hanging out in the little house alot.

Okay, so a visit. I don't think that is possible with Lilly & Tyler... I really would love to come out, but I know Bry can't handle both kids for an extended period of time. Or I guess I should say he could handle it but it would be alot. And of course there's the fact that i'm still breastfeeding. I guess I could take Lilly and leave Tyler, but then i'm stuck with Lilly and that's no fun. If you stay longer than the summer i'll plan something!

eh, I didn't really mean move here. Just a visit. Though, they are in need of good quality contractors here. . .

Did Tyler love the swings?

weather

i dont think i'd be able to get bry to move there... and well i couldnt care less about the great outdoors, so prob not the place for me! maybe the southern coast of maine is my ideal home???

Dream Bar

I just read Erica's latest post about the swing set/hot weather. I think you should just come to Alaska to cure your overheating issues. It's been in the 60s everyday here, which I'm pretty sure is ideal for you. You're one of those weirdos that's hot when it's 75 and beautiful out. I'm hoping it warms up a bit as it gets further into the summer.
come one, come all. come to Alaska!

on a side note, I just glanced over at the alarm clock next to me. It's a pretty old Sony with fake wood panel things on the sides, very old school. The funny thing is that its model name is "dream machine," which is stupid, and instead of saying snooze on the snooze button it says "dream bar," which is even more stupid.

HA HA FUNNY FUNNY

Hilarious picture of Tyler on my Blog. Take a look...

I'm working on a video for you Tara. Lilly claps!! I LOVE IT!!! She wasn't in the mood for it today, but i'll get it!

it's a small world afterall

just invited Lala. I thought I didn't have her email address, but it turns out I had it the whole time. Good ol' gmail had it in there for me. I'm obsessed with how awesome gmail is. It's rather sad.

The small world connections are endless here. The other day a plumber was here and his wife is from MA. I also was at the kenai tourism office and the guy there said he knew someone from Boston that works at the Peninsula Clarion (local paper) - that's extra weird because I know someone from manchester that knows someone who works for the the Clarion. same person? maybe. The guy at the tourism office is named James Brown. best name ever. I asked him if his parents did it on purpose, because I'm a jerk like that, and it turns out it's a 3rd generation family name. What's even stranger is that I got a ride from town to the cabins from one of our neighbors (by neighbor, I mean he probably lives a half mile away) and his name was Don Hensley. Not quite the eagles singer, but close enough for me to remember the name forever.

broken stove?

I don't know what you're apologizing to me for. . . How did you manage that one?

At least that glass got what it deserved.

Stove

It's just a stove! It can be replaced. Glad you called the glass a jerk, that makes it funny!!!

anger

i have to apologize for breaking the stove, tara. It was an accident. Don't worry i threw that glasa (that broke it) across the room and shattered it afterwards! Jerk glass!