It's raining it's pouring the old man is snoring. He's really snoring. It's been down pouring since we got here last night and it poured all day long. We got up and headed out to Ward Lake to a BBQ with their church. It's beautiful. The kids thought it was the best ever because they had donuts, chips, hot dogs, watermelon, cherries and cookies. Isaak of course immediately started playing with some kids his age. Chloe and Lydia frolicked around in the woods and played horseshoes. It stopped raining for maybe 10 minutes, but other than that it picked right back up. I was sure they were going to cancel the BBQ, but again the kids seemed indifferent to all the rain. Some of them were even kayaking. I was too busy freezing! The hike around the lake is 1.5 miles and we saw a beaver den sans beaver. We walked around the Lake and it was like being submerged in the rain forest. Well it's not like being submerged in a rain forest. We were in a rain forest called the Tongass National Forest which is the largest rain forest in the United States boasting 17 million acres in Alaska. Trees growing in all different directions and growing out of rocks. Salmon berries and blueberries blooming and ready to eat all along the trail. It was raining while we hiked, but because of all the trees and the thick foliage we walked around without getting soaked or even wet.
An interesting piece of history resides at Ward Lake. During WWII the Japanese invaded Alaska and took control of two of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Japan was hoping to close the door between America and Asia. Instead over the next 15 months intense fighting emerged as did a terrible atrocity. The US government came into the Aleutians and forced all the Aleuts out of their towns and relocated them into Interment camps along the southern part of Alaska. One of those internment camps was located in Ward Cove on the shores of Ward Lake. The 163 Aleutians arrived and found that they didn't have enough space for them so most of them slept on the floor or in tents until they could build more cabins. They had one latrine to serve everyone that lived there. The internment camp in Ketchikan was actually one of the best because the Aleutians could catch a bus into town for work or other necessities though medical help was difficult to attain. The Americans alongside the Canadians won back the Islands in the Aleutians within 15 months, but the Aleutians were held in internment camps until after the wars end in 1945.
Afterwards Teana suggested the Library since it was raining so hard. So we went over and WOW!! Seriously WOW!! Its gigantic. The view is comforting and cozy. It was raining so the clouds out the window of the reading nook were soft and wispy weaving all around the mountains. The children's section was a kids paradise. We spent four hours there. FOUR HOURS!! Our only mishap is that Cory fell asleep in one of the chairs in the kids area and a Librarian came over and woke him up and said, "Sir we strongly discourage sleeping in the Library." Poor guy-too bad the librarian didn't know how much he deserved that nap. We had to drag the kids away screaming for more. They had an obstacle course, fan making, butterfly painting, snacks--really? and toys. Awesome wooden toys. It was a perfect day. We had Salmon, Brussel Sprouts and Rice for dinner. Yum. Everyone had so much fun playing back at the house.
Side note: It was raining the entire time we were at Ward Lake so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked nor do my pictures do any justice whatsoever to how beautiful it is. My phone doesn't do well in poor lighting. At all. I wish I would've thought to use Cory's phone, but he left it in the car.
An interesting piece of history resides at Ward Lake. During WWII the Japanese invaded Alaska and took control of two of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Japan was hoping to close the door between America and Asia. Instead over the next 15 months intense fighting emerged as did a terrible atrocity. The US government came into the Aleutians and forced all the Aleuts out of their towns and relocated them into Interment camps along the southern part of Alaska. One of those internment camps was located in Ward Cove on the shores of Ward Lake. The 163 Aleutians arrived and found that they didn't have enough space for them so most of them slept on the floor or in tents until they could build more cabins. They had one latrine to serve everyone that lived there. The internment camp in Ketchikan was actually one of the best because the Aleutians could catch a bus into town for work or other necessities though medical help was difficult to attain. The Americans alongside the Canadians won back the Islands in the Aleutians within 15 months, but the Aleutians were held in internment camps until after the wars end in 1945.
Afterwards Teana suggested the Library since it was raining so hard. So we went over and WOW!! Seriously WOW!! Its gigantic. The view is comforting and cozy. It was raining so the clouds out the window of the reading nook were soft and wispy weaving all around the mountains. The children's section was a kids paradise. We spent four hours there. FOUR HOURS!! Our only mishap is that Cory fell asleep in one of the chairs in the kids area and a Librarian came over and woke him up and said, "Sir we strongly discourage sleeping in the Library." Poor guy-too bad the librarian didn't know how much he deserved that nap. We had to drag the kids away screaming for more. They had an obstacle course, fan making, butterfly painting, snacks--really? and toys. Awesome wooden toys. It was a perfect day. We had Salmon, Brussel Sprouts and Rice for dinner. Yum. Everyone had so much fun playing back at the house.
Side note: It was raining the entire time we were at Ward Lake so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked nor do my pictures do any justice whatsoever to how beautiful it is. My phone doesn't do well in poor lighting. At all. I wish I would've thought to use Cory's phone, but he left it in the car.
How cool is it that the water fountain is from a well?
Salmon Berries. Our new favorite berry
The water looked like root beer because of the rain. Apparently it usually runs clear
Oh the toys. I got to eat a lot of pretend birthday cake in this scenario
Chloe spent almost 45 minutes coloring every inch of her butterfly before spraying it with water. Hers ran together beautifully. She was so proud of it.
Zelly quickly scribbled blue and pink all over her butterfly so she could eat some fishy crackers, grapes, tortilla chips, cheese and juice. She even sprayed the butterfly herself which means that it was so wet and had to dry for ten minutes.
I was mesmerized by this tree. It was in the kids section which is in the back of the library and sectioned off by some doors, which I loved. The tree is made up entirely of different kinds of fabrics and was so beautiful. If I made up a land my trees would definitely look like that.
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