July 31, 2012

Happy Birthday Quinn!

Quinn turned 7 years old in August... wow 7!  He had a small Ninjago themed party with some friends at Bouncing Bears, an indoor play area.










May 22, 2012

Easter 2012

Well I've had some techical difficulties lately, as my computer's screen burnt out on me and I had to send my laptop to the Apple store for some repairs and we've had to move a few times, and life is in general crazy around here.

On the Saturday before Easter we had a snow storm, it is Alaska right?  So many egg hunts were scheduled to be outside but we opted for a few indoor ones.  First we headed to the Museum of Natural History.  This is a small but great museum in Anchorage.  They sponsored a different kind of egg hunt.  Throughout the museum the workers hid numbered eggs 1-26 and each family had a clip board and had to find all eggs and cross them off their list.  Once you found all 26 eggs you brought it back up to the front desk and you received a bag of candy and a shark's tooth (way, cool).  Some of the eggs were part of the dinosaur display or birds nests on display.  They even had activities for the kids to stop and try themselves.  Quinn tried his hand at being a king penguin and walked around while keeping his baby egg on his feet.  The kids even got to sit on a woolly mammoth wearing bunny ears.  It was so great to be able to touch all of the real stuffed animals.  We were amazed at how soft the fur was on the bears and wolves.

Next we stopped at the shoppette on base for an egg hunt.  Luck for us only one other family with 2 kids showed up.  So all 4 kiddos made out like crazy.... each got to find a basketful of eggs filled with candy and won prizes including stuffed animals and magic wands.  After this we headed home for lunch.  About an hour later, we got a call and Quinn had won a coloring contest and we needed to pick up an Easter basket filled with more goodies.












Lastly we went to a local vendors sale at the local convention center.  We bought some yummy homemade apple butter.


Easter day was a quiet one spent at home.   







April 02, 2012

Our First True Alaskan Adventure

On Saturday, Neal's work had a function, put on by the squadron's "Honorary Commander".   The gathering took place at his lake-side cabin outside of Willow, Alaska.  You can only reach the cabin by float plane or snow-mobile. 


Waiting for our ride.
So we got up early and packed up all of our layers (not having all of our stuff; the kids thought it was so funny that they had to wear pajamas as a thermal underwear layer) and drove one and half hours north to Willow.  Then we had to wait for snow mobiles to pick us up from the parking lot of the Nancy Lake state park.  From there, it was a 11 miles snow mobile ride through beautiful wooded trails and over 2 frozen lakes to arrive at the cabin.


Still waiting...
Finally our chariot arrived and the kids were so excited to ride in the "family pod".  Quinn thought it looked like something out of Star Wars.  They said it was "super fun but super bumpy" and "hot, hot".





The day was spent eating, sledding and playing in the snow.  I don't think Quinn stepped out of the snow for more than 5 minutes to have a quick snack and drink.  He was soaked to the bone by the time we got back to the car.  Good thing we had a change of clothes for everyone.  

View across the lake

View of the lake from behind the cabin




Out House...rustic, right?

Anchorage Museum/Imaginarium Discovery Center and Alaska Zoo

We are trying to see as much and do as much as we can in Alaska, just in case we have to move sooner rather than later.

We visited the Anchorage Museum that includes the Imaginarium Discovery Center for kids.  The kids had a great time touching and doing everything.  The museum also has great displays of the history of Alaska.  I think Neal and I will go back on a day without the kids to really get to explore that part.... the kids didn't want to spend time at the displays because their hands were ready to get back to the Imaginarium. 



The Alaska Zoo is a short ride from the base.    The zoo was packed with snow piles like everywhere else but it was a perfect size for a half day visit before the kids started saying they were getting cold.  It has polar bears, musk oxen, and lots of other local favorites.