4th of July in Juneau

It's a little hokey and a lot politicized but the Juneau parade is our favorite family event. Tradition rules us on this day. You'll always find us in the same spot, bags ready for candy waiting. This year was no different.

Hiking up Perserverance Trail. Ever had one of those, I can't believe we live here moments..well this was one of them. I love taking Mason & Max up this trail. OK so the incredibly steep drop offs were a little nerve racking, especially since Mason was in perpetual wildly running motion..but we made it. I love that this is our backyard!

Sunday at the beach

About a week ago we took a trip out to Sunshine Cove..beautiful day in Juneau...here are some pics.

Easter Morning at The Gallanos House

Both Max and Mason were up at dawn to see what the Easter Bunny brought. This year admittedly James and I, aka Easter Bunny team, were pretty lame. I was sort of hoping we could postpone Easter until next weekend but I think the kids knew it was this weekend. We are trying to reduce the number of holidays that we support a mythical creature who comes in the night and leaves candy. We decided last year that we were going to eliminate the tooth fairy off our list. The tooth fairy is clearly too much. We have Santa, the Easter Bunny and recently we added a mischievous leprechaun that needs a graham cracker house to leave treats in. The tooth fairy was just too big a commitment. Think two kids 24 teeth. That's almost 48 trips in the middle of the night for a year!

Anyway, we did hide plastic eggs. The kids found them, ate all the candy and left me wondering if they even knew what Easter was about. I myself am not really sure how to draw the connection between eggs, bunnies and candy so I thought I would ask them. Here is their answer:

Yesterday Mason went to a workshop at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, hosted by Kazu Kibuishi a graphic novelist who wrote "The Amulet" and other graphic novels. Mason was the youngest artist in the audience of mostly boys ranging in age from 8-18. It was great to see so many intent artists in one place. I think it was a great opportunity for Mason to start to connect his drawings to a story line. It was the first time he experimented with panels for his illustrations. It was also amazingly helpful for me as a mother to see how typical and normal the representations of, warfare, guns, death were in all the drawings. For awhile I was trying to steer Mason into drawing more "happy" pictures. "Please Mas, how about a nice picture of the ocean or birds". He usually appeases me but the requested pictures don't have nearly as much detail and intent. Mr. Kibuishi is clearly a normal well adjusted human and he draws tanks...so I say go for it Mason, draw what interests you.

I am also really excited to bring home a copy of the Amulet, seeing the artist and understanding how the pulling the story together goes was really interesting for Mason. Mason's comprehension and story interest is out pacing his reading level and graphic novels are a great way for him to stay interested in reading and writing.

Mason's Illustration Friday "Multiple"

This is a picture of a newsman telling people about a small man who is jumping off a 560 mile up cliff. And the man that is telling the people has multiple eyes. With multiple eyes he can watch a bunch of things. The man who jumped off the cliff is watching the replay. He has multiple injuries.-Mason (age 7)

This is a blanket of snow covering the street and buildings and snowflakes.- Mason

This is Mason's (age 7) entry for Illustration Friday. The category was Tales and Legends. Mason chose Jack and the Beanstalk. He is calling it "Beanstalk. Max (age 5) has so far chosen not to submit this week...we will keep you posted though

This is my picture of Juggling- Max

Illustration Friday Mason's "Juggling"

This is my picture and I did the juggling picture this week.