Up she goes

Video Clip - She is only 9 months old.  We are officially scared.

Ice Pops, Sledding, & Snowballs

With temperatures much warmer today (in the low 20s) compared to yesterday's Frostbite Footrace (single digits) in downtown Anchorage, we headed over to the sledding hill for some fun.

Who knew our house icicles...

 ... would make some delicious ice pops?

 We all parked ourselves at the top of the sledding hill today and took turns speeding down the hill and seeing who could go the furthest.  Most often, it was Daddy & Abby in the black sled who took the trophy... but Thomas gave them a good run for their money.

 Someone is finally starting to warm up to the idea of playing in the snow.  If Abby had her way, she would never put her snowsuit or snow gloves on.  Period.  She would rather be anywhere OTHER than the snow.  That is until recently.  She is finally starting to come around.

 Who knew the meat sled would get so much sledding action with the kids?

 My little happy camper just watching all the action.

 What started as a sledding adventure quickly turned to snowball making...

 ... and lots of snowball throwing!

 Marilyn and I stayed out of the way and just laughed

 More flying snowballs

 With the boys behind her throwing snowballs, Abby leans towards us and tells us how much fun she is having. 

A little of everything

Found a few pictures from the last two weeks or so... a little of everything.  Enjoy.

Spinning, Sliding & Skidding

Video Clips -

On our way home today from the sledding hill, the girls were treated to a little spinning, slidding and skidding... compliments of Daddy... and they loved every minute of it.

Fur Rendezvous 2012

This weekend marks the beginning of a 10 day winter festival, the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, so we headed downtown, with the temperature hanging in the single digits, to watch Brian run the 5K Frostbite Footrace.  Did I mention it was a little chilly this morning?  It makes last February's Pensacola Bridge-to-Bridge 15K Run look warm.  Thankfully, it is a clear & beautiful Saturday morning which made the elements slightly better to endure.

The festival is built around the celebration of when miners and trappers would come to town to resupply and sell their goods and do a little celebrating.  The "Rondy" captures the history and character of the region while giving Alaskans relief from months of cabin fever.  Where else can you run with the reindeer, participate in an organized snowball fight and watch world-class dog mushing events, all in a city's downtown?

Our running hero

 My little spectators

 So here is where I should tell you that this definitely was no ordinary footrace..it also has a costume fun run included.  May I also mention that it seemed like every other person wore a costume and really got into the spirit of "Rondy"... whatever that means, right?  I've attached several pictures of some of the crazy costumes that people wore this morning - many of which were super heroes.  Guess who was super excited about that?

 Cheering for her Daddy

 Not sure if this guy was aware that it was 5 degrees at the start of the race?

 Thomas was a little taken back by this GIRL who was dressed like Batman.

I tried to explain that its an equal opportunity world... but he could care less.

 I'm pretty sure this guy is wearing Superman underoos.

Notice also he ran this race in rain boots?

 Wizard of Oz folks

 Polar Bear... one of Abby's favorites

 C-R-A-Z-Y.  Period.

 There are a lot of layers with these two little kiddos to keep them warm.

 At first I didn't know what these were - until I looked closer and read their sign:

"Everyone Loves Whales"

 Two of the 101 Dalmatians

 A family of airplanes

 This man ran the entire footrace with his son in the hiking carrier.

Wow.  I'm impressed.

This was by far the most over-the-top costumes I saw - a father & son zombies.  Just weird!
I guess there just isn't any boundaries with what you can dress up as.  I'd love to see what all these folks do for Halloween.

While I was so busy looking at all the costumes and thinking I was looking for Brian wearing his red race shirt... he zoomed right by us at the finishing line and all I could get was this last minute picture.  I'll just call him our "Hooded Hero"!  Go Daddy!

This group certainly was creative and I have to give them huge kudos for their efforts.

They are all supporting the efforts to cure cancer... ALL forms of cancer.  Pretty cool, huh?  We especially like the 2 ladies behind the ribbons who are walking with the over sized bra/boobs. 

Way to fight for the TaTas!

Another favorite of Abby's - Elmo!

As we walked back to the car following the end of the race, we saw this string of horse drawn carriages headed to the Rondy Grand Parade that was starting just moments later.

After arriving home, and defrosting thoroughly, I got this cutie-cute picture of Marilyn just sitting around with her happy self as I took all of her cold weather gear off.  Even sub-freezing temperatures don't bother this little girl.

Friday Night Leftovers (trips & visitors edition)

• I'm excited because after being in Alaska for 6.5 months (4 of which have been snow covered), we are planning our first family trip out of Alaska for next month and to a destination that is far warmer, drier and filled with family.  California or Bust!
• Compliments of the US military, we will be attempting to fly Space-A down to Travis AFB which is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from my aunt(s), uncle(s) and cousins!  If you aren't familiar with Space Available Flight, better known as Space-A or military hops, it is a unique privilege provided to service members, retirees and their families. Under the Space-A program, eligible passengers can fill unused seats on DoD-owned or controlled aircraft once all the space-required (duty) passengers and cargo have been accommodated.  Which means that we get to fly on a C-17 or similar military plane.  Oh did I mention... for FREE!
• On a related note, our summer guests list is filling up, most have booked airline tickets, and (hopefully) all are anxious to visit the Northern Frontier & the Hecks.  I know we are just as happy to have the summertime filled with loved ones up here with us.
• As of now... summer guests visiting = 44 days
• As of now... summer guests visiting = 7 loved ones
• Daylight hours report for summertime visits... 18-19 hours of straight sunlight... and then there is twilight where it just seems like the sun is up but it is actually the middle of the night.
• Weather report for summertime visits... averages are low of 39 degrees & high of 65 degrees.
• I can't wait for people to experience what we have already been lucky enough to since we arrived in August.
• In other news, last night after the kids went to bed, the Mama & baby moose who visited our backyard yesterday returned to rest in the snow & nibble on some tree brances MUCH closer than they did earlier in the day when the kids & I were watching.  Unbelievably cool.