Popsicles have been the favored snack for the last couple of days. The fruit kind from Dreyers sure are yummy!!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Dragons love Popsicles!
This spring has given us gorgeous day after gorgeous day and we have gotten out to enjoy all of them. One of our sweet neighbors dropped off a bag of dress-up costumes and toys that her girls had outgrown. The monsters had a great time going through it and there have been sightings of pirates, giraffes and dragons every day since :)
Popsicles have been the favored snack for the last couple of days. The fruit kind from Dreyers sure are yummy!!
Popsicles have been the favored snack for the last couple of days. The fruit kind from Dreyers sure are yummy!!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Do you see the mushing man?
One of the best Rhondy events ever - the Kids Dog Mushing!!!
Some wonderful Cantwell folks help with this event for the kids. Little guys (3-6 this year) choose a single dog to pull their sled and slightly older kids (7-11) choose two dogs to pull their sled. Then the rookies get to go for a practice run with the sled hooked to the snowmachine. In the actual event the dog is hooked to a kid size sled and encouraged to run by a musher leaning off of the back of a sled that is hooked to the snowmachine.
Slater could hardly wait to go and traveled the runway on the snowmachine sled several times, with all of the other kids. Slater drew a quiet dog that spent it's time lounging under the truck and looking mellow (this made mama happy). But that is not the dog that wound up sprinting him down the strip (thanks to Slater's fearlessness the day before) when his dog didn't want to run they grabbed "Tank" to tow Slater. He fell at the turn around, but was encouraged to get back on and made the ride back with another kid. I was glad to know that he was undaunted by the fall and talked for the rest of the day about the "fun dog race with the kids."
Here he is waiting his turn to take a trip down the runway behind his own dog.
Here he is taking a practice run behind the snowmachine. He was so EXCITED!! We were cracking up at how casual he was about the whole thing, while he was on his practice run he would lift one hand and wave at the people he passed.
Ready to begin his run.
Trapper - the original dog he drew. He didn't want to run after the snowmachine and turned around, so they got Slater another dog ...
Tank - 82 pounds of running fun! Slater was thrilled and mom was a little nervous.
Here is a 30 second clip of Slater coming back in from his trip down the runway. He fell at the curve and then I am not sure what happened, but one of the older girls rode back with him (Thanks Rachel). Unfortunately didn't get a photo of him heading out and this one just doesn't do justice to the speed of the dog.
Some wonderful Cantwell folks help with this event for the kids. Little guys (3-6 this year) choose a single dog to pull their sled and slightly older kids (7-11) choose two dogs to pull their sled. Then the rookies get to go for a practice run with the sled hooked to the snowmachine. In the actual event the dog is hooked to a kid size sled and encouraged to run by a musher leaning off of the back of a sled that is hooked to the snowmachine.
Slater could hardly wait to go and traveled the runway on the snowmachine sled several times, with all of the other kids. Slater drew a quiet dog that spent it's time lounging under the truck and looking mellow (this made mama happy). But that is not the dog that wound up sprinting him down the strip (thanks to Slater's fearlessness the day before) when his dog didn't want to run they grabbed "Tank" to tow Slater. He fell at the turn around, but was encouraged to get back on and made the ride back with another kid. I was glad to know that he was undaunted by the fall and talked for the rest of the day about the "fun dog race with the kids."
Here he is waiting his turn to take a trip down the runway behind his own dog.
Here he is taking a practice run behind the snowmachine. He was so EXCITED!! We were cracking up at how casual he was about the whole thing, while he was on his practice run he would lift one hand and wave at the people he passed.
Ready to begin his run.
Trapper - the original dog he drew. He didn't want to run after the snowmachine and turned around, so they got Slater another dog ...
Tank - 82 pounds of running fun! Slater was thrilled and mom was a little nervous.
Here is a 30 second clip of Slater coming back in from his trip down the runway. He fell at the curve and then I am not sure what happened, but one of the older girls rode back with him (Thanks Rachel). Unfortunately didn't get a photo of him heading out and this one just doesn't do justice to the speed of the dog.
Ski-jour race
Piper and I participated in a 3 mile ski-jour race last weekend. The whole family came down to send us off. Wade was behind the camera, Slater was dog-handling and Grandma was toddler-handling. We came in third (out of 3), but had a great time. Mostly I think that it means Piper and I need to get out and spend more time together on the trails.
Smore me!
Do you remember your first Smore? Trying to get the gooey marshmallow off of the stick and on to the graham cracker without dropping the square of chocolate. How many marshmallows did you drop in the fire? Did you like the sticky mess, the melted chocolate, or the crunchy cracker best? How much does the way you eat it tell others about your personality?
Just like many other things, roasting Smores in Alaska can be a little different. At our "spring" temperatures the chocolate doesn't exactly melt (even after it comes in contact with the roasted marshmallow), gloves are not the best way to transfer sticky food, but it sure was a hoot with the kids. Just love the way that doing things with your kids brings back the many joys of your own childhood.
A double mallow stick and the toasty fire that dad cooked up.
Hmmmm, that looks sticky! Dad you had better hold it for me.
Just like sandwiches and Oreos he peeled it apart and ate the center.
Grandma's really are the best teachers! The distributors of love, food and silliness. About 50% of the time that we get in the car one of the kids asks if we are going to see Grandma. There are a lot of days that this makes me sad, since they only have one grandma. They have both seen pictures of Grandma Peggy and call her by name, but I know that she would have loved them in the same fierce, spoiling, and adoring way that their other grandma does.
Just like many other things, roasting Smores in Alaska can be a little different. At our "spring" temperatures the chocolate doesn't exactly melt (even after it comes in contact with the roasted marshmallow), gloves are not the best way to transfer sticky food, but it sure was a hoot with the kids. Just love the way that doing things with your kids brings back the many joys of your own childhood.
A double mallow stick and the toasty fire that dad cooked up.
Hmmmm, that looks sticky! Dad you had better hold it for me.
Just like sandwiches and Oreos he peeled it apart and ate the center.
Grandma's really are the best teachers! The distributors of love, food and silliness. About 50% of the time that we get in the car one of the kids asks if we are going to see Grandma. There are a lot of days that this makes me sad, since they only have one grandma. They have both seen pictures of Grandma Peggy and call her by name, but I know that she would have loved them in the same fierce, spoiling, and adoring way that their other grandma does.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sassy before two???
Today we heard it for the first time.
"NO, I do it"
Independence is arriving and I think it might be hard on the parents.
"NO, I do it"
Independence is arriving and I think it might be hard on the parents.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Cabin Camping - Chena River Style
Spring Break!! As teachers we will enjoy this week of the year for the rest of our lives (unlike some other grown-ups who can only look back and fondly remember school and college days). This year we spent two nights of our break at the Chena River Cabin out near the Hot Springs with our good friends the Powells. We skied, snowmachined, hit the Hot Springs and played in the great outdoors. We didn't remember to take our camera along for much of it, but here are a few photos from the times that we did remember to grab it.
My favorite image that was captured on camera. While my friend and I enjoyed an hour or two of skiing (kid-free) the boys had all the kids outside - sledding, playing and digging a snowcave. Slater did his fair share of work and loved this little cave.
Cabin dwelling babes. These two had a great time playing, running, jumping, talking and yelling at each other. We were constantly pulling them off of the ladders (one of which we couldn't detach due to stripped out screws), off of each other and out from under dogs and other kids.
Our party going girl!
Our little friend and his cake at his party in the woods! All the kids had a great time and dug into the cake.
The scrumptious shrimp boil that we had for dinner the second night. There are potatoes, carrots, corn on the cob, shrimp and kielbasa sausage. We ate and ate and ate ... yum!!
The cabin was 20X24, had a L-shaped kitchen, a barrel stove, 3 double bed platforms, 3 single bed platforms, 3 dangerous ladders and a huge table with benches.
My DH and me! It is very rare to have a picture of both of us.
My favorite image that was captured on camera. While my friend and I enjoyed an hour or two of skiing (kid-free) the boys had all the kids outside - sledding, playing and digging a snowcave. Slater did his fair share of work and loved this little cave.
Cabin dwelling babes. These two had a great time playing, running, jumping, talking and yelling at each other. We were constantly pulling them off of the ladders (one of which we couldn't detach due to stripped out screws), off of each other and out from under dogs and other kids.
Our party going girl!
Our little friend and his cake at his party in the woods! All the kids had a great time and dug into the cake.
The scrumptious shrimp boil that we had for dinner the second night. There are potatoes, carrots, corn on the cob, shrimp and kielbasa sausage. We ate and ate and ate ... yum!!
The cabin was 20X24, had a L-shaped kitchen, a barrel stove, 3 double bed platforms, 3 single bed platforms, 3 dangerous ladders and a huge table with benches.
My DH and me! It is very rare to have a picture of both of us.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Expressions
Just sweetness! "Little sister"
The look of concern, frustration, concentration? Anyway I love it!
"Spider-Pooh" Seems like a reasonable name, so why does it make mom laugh so hard every time I say it?
A visit from our friends :)
Jess-a-Claire is what Jade calls this pair of friends. It is so nice to have friends with kids nearly the same age as our own.
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