Ice, Ice Baby

It's been so, so, so cold here lately. Like, cruel to make the kids go outside unless necessary cold. 30 minutes to get everyone dressed before we leave cold. But Saturday it got above 10 so we put everyone in the car to go see the ice in the Turnagain Arm. It was pretty neat to watch the chunks and slush moving with the tide. It's so pretty here, it's hard to stay indoors even when tempting frost nip!

Pudding Party

Grams and Poppy sent the girls matching hats and pudding and requested pictures. So here we go! I wish I were better at indoor photos but they're pretty cute kids even when they're yellow.

Christmas 2013

So we gave in and bought a fake tree. Any bad feelings quickly dissipated when all the needles stayed on the tree, there were no watering issues, plus it's made of recycled plastic and we didn't have to kill a tree. And since we went faux we went all out and got a black tree. It's pretty with white lights. Andrew also put lights up outside in subzero temperatures and we got to enjoy seeing them twinkle in the snow. We're still enjoying them twinkling in the snow and probably will until after the New Year. Heheh.

The girls tried to wait up for a glimpse of Santa. We made them a sleeping bag bed in the second living room and they tried so hard to keep their little eyes open. I'm surprised Arlie was able to sleep through Andi's taking over the bed. They didn't spy Santa but they were up early to open presents. When the sun doesn't come up until 10:15, early feels very early. As you can tell from the above photo, Kit wasn't really enthusiastic about the hour we got up but forgot her annoyance when she opened a few presents of her own.

What My Phone Has Seen

 Anchorage Museum, gingerbread village at the Captain Cook Hotel, and snowy weather, and cute kids.

Colony Christmas 2013

We drove through heavy snow today to celebrate the Christmas season in Palmer and their Colony Christmas. There's a bunch of activities, games, sleigh rides, crafts, and it ends with a lighted parade and fireworks. It was a lot of fun but I'm not sure if this was the first year or what but a lot of businesses seemed unprepared for the amount of people that showed up. The girls were able to participate in only one craft - frosting cookies - because it was the only one that had supplies left! And we went to a restaurant where there one poor waitress and cook manning the entire joint. There was a lot of talk of being better prepared next year, both by businesses and us.

Now to the stuff that went really, really right. There were lots of amazing crafts and food at the craft fairs. There are some very talented people living here! And the lighted parade was really fun. There were some creative floats and even a giant Radio Flyer wagon someone had turned into a car. There was a woman driving one of the trucks in the parade and I said to myself, "Huh. That woman is a dead ringer for Sarah Palin." A few seconds later it occurred to me that if I were to ever have a real Sarah Palin sighting, this would be the right neck of the woods for it.

And the firework show. I had a feeling it would be pretty awesome as BP was sponsoring it but it exceeded my expectations. We were so in the middle of the action we had ashes raining down on us along with snow. Embers were hitting tree branches and sending sparks flying all around. It was spectacular. I'm making it sound like all the fun was in the avoiding catching fire but it was just that the fireworks were THAT huge.

If we live in Alaska next year, we'll definitely be going back. The parade and fireworks made me feel that Christmas magic for the first time this season. I think Arlie and Andi will be demanding Christmas fireworks every year now. Heh.

Thunder Bird Falls

No matter how long we end up in Alaska, I will always be grateful for this chance to live here and experience the beauty. It's really amazing. We have a long list of things we want to see and do and we're not letting a little snow and subzero temperatures get in the way of us checking them out.

A few weekends ago we went to Thunder Bird Falls near Chugiak. It was less than 10 degrees, so a little warmer than it had been. Still cold enough to freeze the inside of your nose with each inhale though. Andrew and I got nice and warmed up pulling the girls in sleds. The guide we were using said that the trail only had a 100 foot change in elevation so it was great for the family. I suppose it probably did only equal 100 feet but it wasn't exactly what I was picturing. It was more like, go up 80 feet, go down 40 feet. go up 60 feet, go down 90 feet. It was good workout for sure!

Here's Thunder Bird Falls. With the snow and ice it kind of ended up being the Where's Waldo of waterfalls but still pretty:

I look forward to going back next summer to see the difference.

 You know it just wouldn't feel right anymore if Andi wanted to participate in a family picture. Our whole album is going to be full of ones like these:

Halloween 2013

Back in September I asked the girls what they would like to be for Halloween because I wanted to have time to make the costumes. Arlie wanted to be "Hello Kitty" and Andi decided she wanted to be a "thunderstorm". OooooK then!

Sometime during October Arlie wanted to change her costume up a bit, to be a Hello Kitty witch. That was actually a little easier since I already had some things on hand to complete it, more than if we were doing regular Hello Kitty. I even had the right colors of felt to make a cute little pumpkin shirt:

But Andi was steadfast in her desire to be a thunderstorm. She told anyone who would listen that was going to be her costume. I ordered an adult's tulle skirt and sewed bead "raindrops" on and made plans for a rainbow hat and little bag full of lightning bolts. Yep, that was definitely the costume she wanted - until 2 days before Halloween. Then she wanted to be a spider. We compromised and she went as a "spider cloud". I spent 2 days cutting off a million beads and searching for those little plastic spiders. I can't figure out if they are so unpopular in Alaska that stores don't carry them, or if they're SO popular there was no way I was going to find them a few days before Halloween. Luckily Andrew remembered that he had a bag of awful rubber spiders and I sewed those on. Whew! Crisis averted! Until the day of Halloween. Then she wouldn't leave the house until it was a Spider Cloud Princess costume. Oh boy. Cue the furious running around the house looking for something to make a crown out of. Thank you, paperboard and tinfoil!

So I present to you the very adorable Spider Cloud Princess and Hello Kitty Witch:

We went trick-or-treating through our neighborhood and they had a blast! Arlie was so excited to see her friends trick-or-treating as well and we got to see some really fun, creative costumes despite the freezing temperatures.

Williams Reindeer Farm

We went to Williams Reindeer Farm in Palmer for some fall fun this weekend. I apologize in advance for the photos - I was off my game that day (SO COLD) and forgot that people should have faces, and those faces should never be directly facing towards or away from sun. Heheh.

It is so pretty here. Like, insanely picturesque. I spend most of the time while we're driving craning my neck to see it all. Or hollering at my iPhone because it's not taking the picture like I want it to.

There were lots of fun activities at the farm and we were so lucky to have some sunshine!

The girls got their faces painted for the very first time - Andi a spider, and Arlie a butterfly.

There were inflatable horse races made extra hilarious by the fact that the girls' legs didn't reach the ground. Good thing daddy and a volunteer were there to help them out and make sure their horses reached the finish line.

Don't forget the tractor ride, this one made unique by the fact that we were driving past reindeer. I'll have to check into what kind of Christmas activities they have. I mean, it'd kind of make sense, right?

There was also the largest, most elaborate hay maze I've ever been in. Ever. It started getting ridiculous. Andrew was the only one tall enough to look over the enormous hay bales which was helpful but it also meant we had a crowd of short people nipping at our heels as they didn't have that advantage. It sounds so funny now but  at the time I was getting irritated at how often my heels were stepped on or kicked - they must have been truly afraid they were going to be lost in the maze forever.

There's no such thing as a pumpkin patch here in Alaska. At least not one that I was able to find. This farm bought pumpkins from Washington to strew about a field. Bonus points for their efforts to bring the pumpkin patch feel to Alaska!

My pumpkins.

Lunch Time

Our friend Alix captured this little moment for me months ago but I had forgotten about it until I was clearing out the camera.

It's really sweet to have this photo because I don't think I have any other ones of me feeding the girls. Kit was the most memorable because if she could she'd hold my hand and sling a leg up over me. I couldn't tell if she was trying to get closer or trap her food source.

Kit(chen) Table

Girdwood

Both the drive and town of Girdwood were beautiful. Anchorage has such a beautiful fall (although all, and I mean all, of the leaves are gone now after a serious windstorm). I forgot my camera which means all we had were our phones and I seriously kicked myself the entire time. It was so pretty! We don't really need an excuse to go back and visit Girdwood and the Alyeska Resort but getting it properly on film would be one. And to go back on a day where the clouds were a little higher and we could see the hanging glaciers - maybe a summer trip? In the middle of the "night"? :)

From My Phone

 Time to unload the phone! Random photos from July-October including the road trip, Alaska State Fair, slumber party makeovers, and some new milestones (first lost tooth and pulling up to stand).