Skiing anyone?

Owen is skiing now. He has gone twice and he loves it! He asks everyday when he can go again. He only knows how to turn one way, but he is just happy to be out there with his sisters this year and not left at home.

Halloween!

 

Halloween is always a little different in Alaska. Usually costumes are bought a little (or a lot) larger than normal to accommodate parkas and snowpants. The temperature is a little lower (-6F this year...a new record low for us) and most of the houses a little more spread out (there's lots of land up here in Alaska). Carved pumpkins also last weeks as they freeze overnight after being placed outside and will really keep until spring if the temperature stays low enough although I wouldn't recommend eating it at that point.

The part that is the same is the free candy. The little packaged concentrated sweetness fills young hearts with excitement here like anywhere. Our kids look forward to the day certainly for weeks and they may have even brought it up in September this year. Dressing up is also fun, but really I think it pales in comparison to the sugar goodness.

Carol makes fantastic costumes which cannot be equaled. This year she was out of town for a bit (see NY post) and is trying to get a big program together at church, so the dress up for '08 was the box store version. I think there's a video in a previous post, but Beth went as Cleopatra, Isabel as a bride (changed Halloween night to Belle) and Owen as a knight (changed Halloween night to en elephant).

It was quite cold this year. Our previous Halloween record was -2F three years ago and this year it was lower. We made it down to -6F and I was pretty darn chilly, but the kids kept warm and probably gone for another hour of door-to-door. It did take a good half hour to get them all bundled up appropriately, but it does make for much happier kidlings.

The take from the trick-or-treating was actually much larger than I would have thought this year. We went to a decent number of houses, but from the amount of candy the kids brought home, it looked like 500! I think the houses were doing more handfuls of give outs than single pieces. The kids loved it, but it will mean a much longer on the sugar titration before the stash runs out.

Overall it was a great Halloween and I'm sure the kids are already looking forward to the next one. There's a small video posted below. Enjoy!

New York City

I think Tom must be the best husband and father in the entire world.  There are so many little things he does all the time that let the kids and I know he loves us.  In addition to the little things, Tom decided to surprise me with a big thing.  He knows how much I love and miss my sisters, so he planned a trip for us to go to New York.  He surprised me a couple of days before I left.  I met JoAnn and DawnAnn in the airport and we took a cab into the city.   We went shopping on canal street where DawnAnn, in spite  of mom and dad's very specific orders not to "Obamasize" us, did just that.  But mom and dad, you needn't despair too much, because we did get some "fair and balanced" time in later!  That night we went to "A Tale of Two Cities".  It was great play.  The next day we walked around town a bit and took a rickshaw ride through central park.   Yes, all three of us!  You should have seen the three of us squeezing into that thing.  Needless to say, our driver was very fit.   After that we met Boosh at Penn station.  That night we went to see "Spamalot", at the end of which Joey caught the bridal bouquet.  We all had a good laugh.  The next day we went back to canal street for a little more shopping (purses anyone!). 

That night, I had us all go to the MESA Grille for dinner as I am a bit of a Food Network junkie.   It was delicious!  We saw another play that night called "Avenue Q" (another good laugh).  The next day went to the MoMA.  There was a special Van Gogh exhibit that was amazing to see.  It is a very cool museum.  After that, we walked around 5th ave. and then we went to lunch at Serendipity.  It was another delicious meal with fabulous desserts.  After lunch we decided to walk off some of the calories on the Brooklyn Bridge, which ended up being a highlight.   

We took the subway over to Brooklyn and walked back to the city.  The weather was perfect and it was so fun to see the New York skyline.  That night we saw "Wicked" to the delight of us all.   It was a great musical and I would highly recommend it to anyone.  Lots of fun. 

Thank you to DawnAnn, Katherine, JoAnn, and to Tom for making it happen.  The only thing that would have made it better is if Mary could have joined us!  We missed you Mares.  We also missed Diana and Amalia.  Thanks also to Mom, Tom, Matt, Steve, and Chad who took care of the kids and everything else that has to get done at home.  You are truly the very best!!!  

Princess Buttercup

So we did the Halloween costume thing this weekend. The best costumes the kids have ever had were ones Carol made. She made them last year (witch and cat) and a few years ago (Cinderella and Snow White). They are amazing.

Carol was actually away for a bit this weekend, so my solution to the costume thing was to drive past the fabric store on my way to Walmart. Our choices up here are basically Old Navy (only had costumes for really young kids), Fred Meyer and Walmart. Walmart had the best selection, so Sam Walton got our dollar (he definitely needs a few more). The girls had both initially decided on High School Musical costumes, but they were a little flimsy. I showed them a few other outfits and Beth finally decided on Cleopatra and Isabel decided to be a bride. Owen wanted to be a knight complete with sword and battle axe.

The day after the costume adventure, the kids wanted to put on a play. I had a Prince Charming outfit I got for Christmas a couple of years ago and Beth somehow talked me in to putting it on. It's actually pretty fun to dress up with them and for those of you with daughters, I do recommend a prince outfit of some kind...very useful on many occasions.

Anyway, the play was a success and Beth somehow talked me in to videoing it and so I thought I'd post it here for your entertainment. Look out Broadway!

In The Tub

I like this picture. I have fond memories of long, playful baths with my siblings.

Time for a Brother?

Owen does not like to be left out.  Since he has two sisters, that means dressing up!  His current favorite is  the Ariel costume.  I hope he won't need too much therapy when he is older.  

 

Hannah's Cabin Birthday Weekend

            

Beth and I were invited to spend the weekend at our friend's cabin to help celebrate their oldest daughter's birthday.  We had a fun time.  We left on Friday afternoon and got there in the evening.   David and Alton went early and warmed up the cabin and had dinner waiting for us (yeah for the boys!!!).  The next day brought snow in the morning.  By mid-morning it had cleared up and we were able to go on a hike to Beaver Pond.  We got to see the industrious workings of the beavers and stand right on top of their lodges.

              

When I asked Beth about the trip when we got home she said her favorite parts were catching the two fish we ate for dinner on Saturday night and snuggling with the Denton's dog Ruka.      

 

Thank you to the Dentons who shared their wonderful cabin with us.  We had a great time!

Sushi and Truckin'

I got to go down to Utah last week to help with some family stuff (moving estate stuff from my grandpa's house). My mom and dad have been tackling most of it, but it all kind of came to a head and so the kids got to come pitch in a little. It was kind of a whirlwind event and I wasn't in Utah for long, but it was great to see everyone. Most of the time was actually spend driving across the country with my dad and brother to help him get stuff back to North Carolina. Utah time was spent moving all day (8AM ebelskiver breakfast to midnight peach pie dessert with lots of boxes in between) followed by a 7AM departure in a 26 ft Penske truck bound for the East Coast. I did get a little sushi in for lunch which has for me become a Utah necessity. We usually go to Takashi downtown. The “magic dragon” roll is amazing. It was sad to see my grandparents house so empty, but it was an amazing memory lane trip to go through all their stuff again. My sister and her adorable daughter were also there and family time is  gold no matter how hectic.  I wish we had more time with them and my mom (or that they could have come on the road trip with us, but unfortunately they were headed in the opposite direction with their own truck).

The road trip was the quickest I had ever been on. It should have been the longest given that we literally were on the road for 16-18 hours for the two days with no radio/music and a bench seat for the three of us (middle guy had a huge parking break to fight with). The radio/music thing was by choice as somehow we found a way to talk all day long. Politics was a frequent topic with occasional sports and religion mixed in. We did some Subway, some Wendy's and lots of chocolate covered raisins. The scenery was mostly flatlands but we actually had some dramatic clouds the first day going through Wyoming and Nebraska (see photo at top of post). We spent the night somewhere on the Nebraska/Iowa border after unfortunately driving too far past Omaha.  It was around  midnight, so we had to stop, but the accommodations were a little tough.

The second day was mostly rainy and gray. We did Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.  My brother had us timed to make sure we moved along which really was helpful as I never realized how much time it takes to stop even to fill up and get a quick drink. We had a hard time getting lunch and a fill up in under 45 minutes (it seems like we should be able to do it in 15).

The end of the trip for me was in Columbus, Ohio. I had to fly back to work so I had to leave my brother and dad to finish the trip. Carol and I moved from Columbus to Alaska and have many a happy memory in the buckeye state. We drove by our old house and stayed in our old neighborhood. I hadn't been back there since moving and it was really nice to see again.

I made it back to Alaska tired, but happy...lots of miles, raw fish and good memories.

Denali Camping

Praise to the intern that came up with the Junior Ranger program at Denali National Park! Carol and the kids and I went down to Denali National Park a couple of weeks ago for a little campout. Fall colors had arrived (somehow I'm still surprised by this up here when the leaves turn at the end of August) so we thought the park might be nice.

We headed down on Saturday after piano and dropped by the Wilderness Access Center at the park to see about bus rides. There was a bus at 2PM to the new visitors center so we signed up. Basically there is no access into the park except on the bus system. The road is a pretty well maintained dirt road and the bus system works pretty well. They do take a while to get back into the park, however. An 80 mile trip takes about 6 hours (12 round trip). We were going about 60 miles in for an 8 hour round trip adventure. We hoped the kids would do okay and for the most part they did.

Before heading out, we went by the visitors center to pick up the Junior Ranger pack. This is a great program where any kid for free can sign up to be a Junior Ranger and get a fully stocked backpack with compass, binoculars, magnifying glass, books on plants and an activity book. It is a great program. The activity book is also very well done and has the kids ask rangers questions and write the response, identify animals they see on the trip, etc. I'm sure it was the brain child of some intern and whoever that may be, I would just like to personally thank them for a great program. At the end, the kids turn in their workbooks and have a swearing in ceremony with one of the real park rangers. They get a pin on badge and lots of great memories. The video of the ceremony is here:

The bus ride was next on the agenda (the kids kind of did the Junior Ranger thing throughout the whole day). We left with food in hand for 8 hours (no food/water provided), the activity stuff from the Junior Ranger pack and some extra stuff we brought from home. The kids actually did very well for most of the trip. We had a few meltdowns, but really they did quite well. We saw a moose, a bear, lots of ptarmigan and some sheep. One of the bears actually walked right around the bus and then sauntered off and played in the road. It was great. Usually at Denali the bear viewing is at quite a distance, so this was a real treat.

We almost made it to the visitor's center, but we actually decided to jump ship and come back one stop early (you can basically get off the bus at anytime and hike or catch a ride back on one of the other buses). Denali (Mt. McKinley) was visible and “out” for our drive down to the park, but as we were going in on the bus, it clouded up. We probably would have pushed on if there was any chance of seeing it, but once it clouds up, it takes a while to clear. I've been into the park 4 times and I've really only had a clear shot once. It is beautiful when it's out, it's just hard to predict when that will happen.

After getting back to camp, we set up our new 7 man Kelty tent. It's not quite as easy as our Sierra Designs 3 man which I personally think is the greatest tent made (easy to set up, great rain fly, very sturdy). It is very roomy inside, however and Carol and I can both almost stand up inside.

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows by the fire and then went to bed. The night was fairly uneventful. I didn't put the rainfly on which is always an invitation for disaster, but fortunately it didn't rain. My sleeping pad didn't work, so I was tossing and turning quite a bit, but it was still a great time. The kids slept fine and Carol did battle with Owen a little, but we all managed a little shut eye.

Here's another video if you're up for a little Hammond overdose:

Back to School

This is kind of a strange year for me as far as having the kids back in school as Owen started preschool and I now have 3 hours every  morning to myself.  I have always heard people say that those 3 hours go by really fast, and it is true.  I have tried to be productive and accomplish something before I pick him up, but it seems like I barely have time to shower and get to the store, or stick a load of laundry in before I have to leave to get him.  He enjoys school a lot and so that makes the transition into having my baby gone in the mornings a little easier.  Beth and Isabel are really loving school as well.  Beth is still in Paul's class and Isabel is now in Lyn's class.  Both of them have already been on three field trips, two to Creamer's field (a bird conservatory), and one to Calypso farm.  We also had a fun picnic and camp out with all the families from Chinook.  The kids had a great time with their friends.  They did surprisingly well in the tent,  although Tom didn't have such a great night as he was stuck with a faulty sleeping pad (sorry Tom!).  I skipped out on the camping out part and took Owen home to get some rest in a real bed.  The activity was a  great success and the only scars from the event were some monster mosquito bites!  Izzie got one right on the eye and it looked like she had been punched in the face.  It took about week for her to look back to her beautiful self.