A Time for Sunscreen

I believe God made hot sunny days for boat outings and picnics, don't you? And that's certainly what we did a week ago when the sun shone brightly and the thermometer on the window was getting much higher then it had all summer.

Quinn's cousins Mat and Brianna (and their three adorable children: Clover, Juniper and little Oakland) were up all the way from Wisconsin to visit us, so we had to make sure they had a wonderful time!

We started our outing by piling everyone into the trusty boat and motoring out to the Sentinel Island Lighthouse - one of my most favorite places in all of Juneau.

A couple years ago we filmed a music video for one of my favorite songs here, and since then we have been back several times to explore the small island and pick blueberries (which are usually very thick there). We had hoped to eat our picnic lunches on the island, but a work crew was finishing maintaining the lighthouse, so we would have to find a picnic spot elsewhere...

But not before climbing up to the top of the lighthouse!

The ruins of the old homestead that I believe burned down many years ago.

Though the outside of the lighthouse is lovely, the inside is my favorite. A winding staircase passing old glass windows that have looked out on so many stormy days. I just love a romantic lighthouse!

Because of the hot day, the top of the lighthouse was very humid. Though the view was nice, we all felt like we needed a break from the heat up there after a while! 

Greta wasn't fond of all the steps leading up to the top (they were her archenemy when she was a puppy), so she stayed down below. Don't feel to sorry for her though, for there were little kids around - and they were just her size! She had plenty of fun chasing them around...

Clover didn't like me taking pictures of her. Whenever she saw me, she did that. Oh well, I guess I just needed to be sneaky!

Yummy thimble berries greeted us on the way back to the beach.

Who cares about danger signs when your four years old? Oak doesn't.

 Finally a good picture of Clover - though after I took it she heard the click of the camera and gave me a mean look. Ha!

By the time we started heading back to the boat, everyone was hot and ready to take a dunk in the ocean. We decided to boat the short distance to the Boy Scout Beach, a nice sandy stretch facing the ocean and mountains beyond. The kids especially were so excited to go swimming! I, however, wasn't sure I wanted to get in...but I did anyway. And oh-my-goodness was it cold!

For Father's Day, mom had gotten dad a paddle board. Everyone was so excited to try it out. Quinn (my pirate husband) paddled Greta and I around the calm beach.

Dad and Quinn also pulled people around knee-boarding and surfing, causing this amazing picture to be taken: Quinn (on the knee board) and Matt (on the paddle board) giving each other a high five as they go by!

Back on the beach we ate our picnic lunches and basked in the sun. I hid under my parasol most of the day so I wouldn't get burned (like Quinn soon would be). And soon the kids decided that they wanted to bury my sister-in-law Laura - who was gracious and said that they could. Of course, I helped as well.Greta wasn't quite sure what we were doing by burying Laura in the sand, she seemed to think that Laura wanted wet, sloppy kisses all over her face and took the opportunity to give her some:

But THEN she realized something was buried in the sand, and she had to inspect. Though, at first she didn't realize that what she was biting was actually Laura!

"No, no Greta! That's Laura you're trying to eat!"

We buried Greta as a punishment. She didn't like it one bit, and instantly came flying out of the sand when we let her go. 

We stayed at the beach for the whole afternoon, taking turns jumping into the freezing cold water and then laying in the sand on the beach. It got so hot that Bri started putting sunscreen on all the kids! She told us, "We haven't needed to put sunscreen on the kids yet in Wisconsin, but visiting Alaska we have to!?" Quinn did put a little sunscreen on after he had gotten pretty red, but the damage of the day had already been done (if you ask him he'll say it was worth it.).

After hours of swimming, it was time for everyone's favorite part: s'mores!

It seemed a bit silly to be building a fire on such a hot day, but the s'mores were worth the heat I think. 

Soon it was time for my little family to head back home. We piled our things into the boat and washed off our sandy feet before putting our sandals back on. Laura, Oak, and Juniper followed along behind the boat for a while as we left, but soon we sped off and it was time to drive home...

...but not before Quinn got this picture of me on our boat ride back, the cool breeze as we sped through the water a happy feeling on my hot skin.

That was the last hot day we had before rain clouded up our weather forecast, but oh, how wonderful a day it was!