Snow Tunnel

Wes and Sam made the coolest snow tunnel in the snow burm across the street.  They dug and dug until they finally had "their headquarters."  The boys have played in it almost every day since.

 

October

October came and went as did my apparent ability to blog so here's a wrap up of our month in

 pictures.

 

Sam had wanted a mowhawk for a long time so I finally let him get one.  He LOVED it. 

 

For Halloween Max was Iron Spider (half Iron Man, half Spider Man), Sam was Snake Eyes from GI Joe and Bo was Steve from Minecraft but never really actually wore the costume so he was just Bo.

Max, Sam & Bo

 

We took the kids to the latest Children's Museum Without Walls event where they decided stacking cups was a lot of fun so we continued the fun at home.

Bo

Bo got glassses.  He can see 20/30 with both eyes but his right eye is really weak (20/70). The eye doctor is optimistic that it will strenghthen up with the help of glasses.  Fingers crossed.  No one wants a lazy eye.

 

We had many sledding playdates with Devon & Aaron. 

 

Max & Me

Aaron & Sam

 

Grandpa & Sam

Me & Becky

Brigitte Is Snow Much Fun!

Can I just say, Brigitte is AWESOME!

Today when I came home from running errands I opened the garage door to go inside and then heard some giggling down in the woods. I turned around and sure enough, out popped 2 little snow rats and their fearless leader. All bundled up, covered in snow and smiles from ear to ear.

Brigitte grew up in Alaska and loves being outside. She understands the weather and embraces it; something I am still struggling with after 9 years of living up here. To her, the snow and cold is an exciting change and opens up new wintery things to do while I am completely opposite and see it as an end to summer.

Goodbye bike riding and playing outside for hours. Goodbye soccer games in the front yard and sidewalk chalk roads on the driveway. Hello play-doh, toys everywhere and forts, forts, forts. Hello daily trips to Fred Meyer and hello cooped up energy.

So why? Why can't I think more like Brigitte? Why can't this Texan think like an Alaskan? It sure would be nice. I know the boys would love it. I know it would help the winter go by faster. And I know it would help keep the house cleaner.
But until then, until I learn to love the cold, until I fully appreciate the wonders of winter, thank goodness the boys have "Aunt Brigitte"

A Brrrrrr-ific Sunrise

One-Liners

Driving a Train

Sledding in the front yard

More than just a box Paper, what paper?

Digging Out

We came home from vacation this weekend to over a foot of snow, and while Bo loved playing outside in the sun everyday in Austin, he begged to go outside and help Wes shovel the deck last night. They always have so much fun out there and then come inside and warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.

House Of Snot

Sam is full of snot again. Poor guy. He's been running fever for 24 hours and has tons of green snot coming out of his nose at all times. He's a mess and thanks to the wonderful socialized health care of the US Army, there are NO appointments available yesterday, today or tomorrow. What's that all about?!?

I thought he might have an ear infection so I decided to take him to Urgent Care last night but once again, thanks to the wonderful inner workings of the US Army, the waiting room was packed. Standing room only. All infants and kids. (Can't someone see the pediatric unit needs a complete overhaul here? Hello!) So when the triage lady told me it was a 4-6 hour wait, we turned around and came home. That's ridiculous. I'm sorry but the last thing I wanted to do was sit there for hours upon hours. Besides, I think I got sick just walking in there. Hepatitis maybe. Or gangrene. Can you even catch gangrene? I don't know but I think I just did.

And to make it all worse, Sam HATES, and I mean HATES to have his nose wiped. The mere site of a tissue makes him cry. So I have tried to become the stealth wiper. Coming in from all angles when he least expects it. Over the top, around the corner, with tissues, with fingers (I'm desperate), with washcloths, with burp rags, you name it, I've wiped with it. Although 9 times out of 10 I just end up smearing it all over his cheeks rather than really wiping it up. Not good. And then in his attempts to evade the apparently not-so-stealth wiper, he ends up burying his face into my chest and smearing the snot all over my shirt. If only you could see me now. Me and my skid-marked snotty tee. Yumm. I am quite the site, let me tell you.

And so we are home, waiting it out. The snot and the cold. It is really cold here today. Our thermometer has been hovering around -20F and it's supposed to keep getting colder this weekend. Ugh. Thank goodness we are getting out of here in 2 weeks. Warm weather here we come.

Boos & Yays Of Today

1. Sam had a doctor's appointment today and there's no sign of the ear infection he developed in Texas. - YAY!

2. It is still stupid-cold outside. The marquee on Ft. Wainwright said -43 this morning on our way to the doctor. - BOO!

3. Bo despises the cold and hates snow suits. He threw a hysterical fit in the car today when I tried to put it on him. I lost. - BOO!

4. Went to the liquor store to buy beer and when I grabbed a case of Alaskan Amber, an entire case of Sierra Nevada slid off the shelf and busted all over the floor. - BOO!

5. Knocked my entire cup of Apple Chai off the table at Starbucks and it busted all over the floor. - BOO!

6. Super nice lady at Starbucks made me a new one. - YAY!

7. Sam only woke up once last night. - SUPER YAY!

8. Found a babysitter to watch the kids on a regular basis 1-2 days a week for a few hours and on the weekends as needed. She starts this Saturday. - A TRILLION YAYS!!

9. Have 4.5 weeks to wean Sam before leaving him with Grandma & Grandpa for a week while Wes and I go to Cancun. - BOO!

10. Going to Cancun in 4.5 weeks. - YAY!

Chena Hot Springs

Last Thursday, Tracy, Tom, Bo, Sam and I drove up to Chena Hot Springs for the afternoon. It was really cold (8 degrees) but a beautiful sunny day.

It's a weird time of year as far as tourist activities are concerned because it's definitely not summer and there's not enough snow yet for snow adventures so we basically just toured the Ice Museum and had lunch.

The Museum used to be called an Ice Hotel but the Borough Fire Department shut it down because it didn't have fire alarms and a sprinkler system. Hello. Stupid! If there ever was a fire the whole damn thing would be a sprinkler system and you sure wouldn't have to worry about finding the closest emergency exit; the fire would do that for you.

So now they call it an Ice Museum and thanks to their lawyers finding a loop hole, you can now rent out an "Art Gallery Room" for $600/night instead of a "Hotel Room." But Museum or Hotel, it is still freakin cold in there and not a place I would ever want to spend the night. That's just crazy!

Ice Harvested for Ice Sculptures

Carved Ice Martini Glasses

Inside the Ice Museum

Ice Potty

Cheers! Appletini anyone?

In Front of the "Fire Place"

Bo Feeding Bert or Ernie

Sam Watching From His Cocoon

Warming Up In The Lodge

Playing Outside

It snowed all day today so after dinner we decided to bundle up and go play outside. It was 9 degrees when we went out so it required some layers.

Poor Tracy (16 wks pregnant) was worn out after only putting on her ski pants and boots. There's a reason she lives in Texas.

Wes and Bo plowed the driveway while Tracy, Tom, Sam & I played. We first tried sledding in the yard but that didn't really work so we ended up sledding down the driveway and into the street.

It was fun to get out but the sledding wasn't great. We need a bigger and better hill. Hopefully we can hit the hills up at UAF on Friday and do some serious sledding.