Fishin' with Friends

This past weekend found us on the Kenai with our good friends, the DeLongs. They, like us, have three boys and one girl...in that order. We were also married on the same day in the same year. So naturally, we've become friends. ;-) They invited us along to go dipnetting, where they don't camp. I wondered why a camping-loving family would choose to get a room instead of pitching a tent. I soon found out their reason. (We've never dipnetted there before; Jeremy has always gone to Chitna to get our limit of salmon.) Boy was it an experience. I was astounded by the vast amount of people camping out on the beach. There were thousands of tents, vehicles, four wheelers and people lined up on the beach. Both sides of the river were crowded with people out in the water, shoulder to shoulder, trying their luck.

The kids had a great time building sand castles decorated with fish heads while we cheered on the dipnetting dads.

We shared adjoining rooms both nights. The second night, Chris and Karla tried out their new airbed. Here the kids sat, waiting for the evening's entertainment and the big unveiling of the bed...

Thanks, DeLongs, for a fun-filled family weekend!