Eagle River Nature Center

One of Andrew's coworkers had to back out of a reservation for the public use cabin at Eagle River Nature Center and asked if we would like to use it instead. Yes. Yes, we would (reservations are hard to get!)

The cabin is about a mile and a half hike into the park and the only thing provided is firewood. So you have to bring in the rest of your necessities. It's almost like backcountry camping except you have a nice, warm cabin to come back to when you're done exploring for the day.

Here's photos from the hike in:

And once we got to the cabin Andrew made a fire to start heating it up.

Then we went exploring. There's a spring-fed pond next to the cabin that you get your freshwater from while you're camping.

I had a bit of an obsession with the bubbles trapped in the ice.

And then it was back to the cabin to warm up and just hang out with each other.

Andi and Kit played hide and seek with the tub. They were giggling and screaming so loud!

I ventured out at sunset to take pictures while Andrew tried unsuccessfully to get the girls to go to bed. We're already having problems at home getting them to go to sleep on time when it's still light out (sunset is currently 8:30) so it was really a battle in a one-room cabin!

Did I mention I had a wee obsession with the trapped bubbles?

And then the next morning at sunrise while Andrew made eggs and bacon (the girls needed no prompting to get up when the sun did) I went back out and took photos. Alaska is so beautiful. I get overwhelmed sometimes standing in the middle of such beauty. I feel so grateful to have a camera that I'm able to capture it with. Kind of. Photos really are no substitute for the real thing but I try.

Iditarod 2014

Warning: I had a hard time editing down photos.

The starting line. This was when I really realized I was at the Iditarod - somewhere I never thought I'd be!

Kit in her winter finery.

We got there early, to secure both a parking spot and a good place right up against the fence. The girls kept themselves busy while we waited making "Mount McKinleys" and snow angels. They've definitely adjusted to living in Alaska!

Are you ready for some happy dogs?

Have you ever been so excited to run that you tasted your own eyeball? Didn't think so.

The camaraderie and excitement was infectious. There were a few countries represented in this year's Iditarod: Norway, New Zealand, Canada, and surprisingly,

Jamaica!

This was so cool. Arlie had been learning about dog racing and the Iditarod in school and she was excited to see it in person. She and her friend waved at every dog and oohed and aahed over all the dog booties (the shoes, not the dog's booty). We ate reindeer dogs and tried not to get run over by snow mobiles. It wasn't too cold and ended up being a really fun day!