.

.
Life is like a salad...

a real mixture of moments

all tossed together,

.

from solitary moments...

.

to quiet moments with friends...

. and not so quiet moments...

.

to moments of exploration...
. (Who ever knew that

FISH had moment making
magic?)
. to the anticipation of
new teeth moments...
.
and hugs between
best buddies moments...
.and then even more sister snuggle momevts...
. then there are the
"we're hiding"
moments...
.

and the

"Daddy I've got Mummy's camera"

moments...

.

and, of course, the

"Like it or not,

it's your turn Mummy!"

moments..

.

.

And each of the moments that

make up this family

are perfect

& precious

.

& ours!

.

.

.

.

.

Canadian

Tiger

Swallowtails

are everywhere!

.

.

And the beautiful creatures keep

finding their way into my greenhouse!

I do my best to catch and release them...

. .
Adelaide loves to see them
before they fly away
.
Daddy goes for the
up close & personal farewells
.
while Sarah decides that
she likes this thing on
Mummy's hand quite a bit
and rather
NOT AT ALL
on her!
.
Seems to me,
the closer look you get
the more interesting they get!
Apparently these delightful creatures
only live for 10 to 14 days
in their adult butterfly form...
Such a short time to enjoy them,
don't you think?
.
And as they age,
their wings become
tattered and worn.
hummm....not unlike ours!
.
Time to rescue another one ...
.
And while Swallowtails are
gracefully lilting about
happily fluttering from flower to flower,
this rare & delightful species

takes time to
flutter about our soil pile
as only a
beautiful little
Yukon Butterfly
can.
.
.

.

.

The First FitzGerald Family

Camping Trip!

.

.

Not more than a kilometer down the road

Adelaide asked, "Are we there yet"?

How is it that ALL kids ask the

SAME questions?

.

Then, when Sarah asked

"Were are we were going camping?",

Adelaide answered,

"Down the Haines Road!"

Note to self:

Never assume they don't hear

what you are talking about...
.

.

Every time our little monkey saw water

she asked us to stop so she could throw rocks in!

Daddy found a great little spot to stop.

There were no rock on that sandy beach but,

thankfully,

the sticks seems to do just fine :)

.

Further along,

the Willow Ptarmigan were

entertaining to say the least!

They have, by far, the funniest

call I have ever heard!

.

With Adelaide still raring to go

and Sarah sound asleep

we made it to the pass

and found a flat spot to park the camper

.

It was after midnight & still, the sun hung on,

along with this little one's excitement about

her first camping trip!

I didn't think we EVER get her to sleep!!

.

Well into the wee hours of the morning,

with tummies full of Grandee's banana Bread

(carefully reproduced by me, aka: Mummy)

& we are off to bed!
.

.

With such a late night behind us,

it amazes me how

we all woke up in fine form!
.


.
But then again...
wouldn't YOU be eager to get out of bed to
play in the June SNOW!!
.
.

.
Especially the PINK June snow?
.
& not to mention the
colourful little rocks
that were happily waiting to be chosen,
and that we
NEVER seem to be able to resist!!
;)
Adelaide created this piece of rock art all by her self!
.
.
& then there were the slightly larger ones
that both girls chose to pack for our garden :)
I LOVE my Mighty Munchkins!!
.
Along the hike we came across a friendly
Semipalmated Plover.
What a cute little fellow!
Silly me, I mistook him for a Killdeer
Who was to know that this plover only has one strip
& the Killdeer has two?
I'll not forget now :)
.
We couldn't get close enough to this river
to throw rocks into it...
The snow was just
too deep & dangerous
with the river running under it!
But it really was beautiful
and worth the hike to get to it!
.
With our pants soaked from snow
and our arms tired from hauling rocks
it was time for a PB&J lunch
and a bit of quiet time...
then,
we hit the road home...
.
Does anyone else find the names, of these
two little alpine lakes, to be as
endearing as I do?
.
An number of Arctic Terns were diving
on one of the Twin Lakes.
There was a Pacific Loon amongst them,
and a mating pair of Trumpeter Swans
just down the road!
.
With our new found feathered friends
behind us
and a truck full of beautiful rocks
we finally return home from a...
.
fun filled,
nature enriched
and,
especially cozy
family camping trip
:)
.
.

Mum: "Who wants to go camping next weekend?"

Adelaide: "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

Sarah: "I'm thinking...is there Banana Bread?"

.

.

.

.

Yukon wild flowers are the best

:)

.

.
And this is just the beginning....
.

I wanted a garden...

.

I thought of a few raised beds...

I thought of a simple form of a greenhouse...

I suggested using some old logs that were lying around...

But I married a carpenter

and he happens to love me immeasurably:)

So began the birth of

my Greenhouse!

.

Adelaide collected the joins for the roof trusses

.

and because every fine carpenter need a helping hand,

she found her hammer!

.

and Sarah supervised the entire project

.

actually, they both did ;)

.

and they both got their hands dirty too...

Let's hope they hone their skills

in time for us to build our new home !

.

Daddy got to do the high stuff

The girls are still a bit young for climbing ladders

(not that they would necessarily agree with me on that one)

.

Wow...

Things really started to take shape :)

.

And at 7 a.m.

what a yummy place to curl up with

a hot cup'a'java

and a snugly toddler

to welcome the morning...

.

.

and to Skype Aunt 'Reen !

.

But, remembering that this was not intended to be

a "java hut"...

and with the growing season well underway...

it was time to call in the

Mighty-Machines

You can't have a greenhouse

if you can't plant things!

So...

It was time to bring in the soil!

.

I've never seen two little girls

turn into such dirt mugs

so quickly!
.

So it was time to turn our new little coffee nook into

a proper greenhouse !

.

Yunic had a blast hanging out with me
while Sean started bringing in the dirt!
.

He just hunkered down

with a contented look about himself...
So much so that,

I'm thinking he could be my new watering buddy!

.

Veggies?

They are NOT

but what a great place

to keep my new Hostas

until I feel safe enough to put them in the ground!
Actually...

I'm not sure I will EVER feel that safe in the Yukon

considering this past winter killed off all that I had!

To lose a Hosta is a horrible thing...

.

.

Well there she is

in all her glory

My

Greenhouse

!!

.

Wow...

I have the greatest Hubby

&

truly,

the most amazing kids

.

Time to watch our dinner grow!!

.

.