The Snow has Come

Despite the early teasers of snow, winter took it time getting here. This created some unusual behavior.  Kaya demonstrating living room skiing

 Burning skis as a sacrifice to Ullr urging him to deliver more snow.

 Growing lots of facial hair and waxing skis despite the lack of snow.

 Kids sitting quietly and reading (very unusual in our house)

But finally it's here, cold and snowy.  We have wasted no time getting out into it on our skis and on the dog sleds.  Here is a video of the family's mushing exploits this year.

Hope you all are able to get out and enjoy winter!

Fish Berries and Snow (oh my)

On a recent camping trip to the Denali Highway the kids discovered we didn't bring marshmallows.  Undeterred, they found blue berries and roasted those instead. 

 Picking said blueberries

 

Fishing extravaganza this summer....  

The kids are off to new endeavors- Kaya is starting Preschool (she's more excited than she looks in this photo), and Leo is now an official Cub Scout.

Ben has picked 8 gallons of blueberries, 3 gallons of raspberries, and 1 gallon of cranberries so far this fall.  The bears are hungry now.

After an early season snowfall, the kids (big ones and little ones) are all ready for winter... Bring on the white stuff!

Sunniest Summer Ever

It has been a long while since I've posted.  Alaskans have been enjoying one of the sunniest summers many people can remember and have been too busy to sit and blog.  Here are a number of photos highlighting some of those sunny times.

Leo scooping bugs out of a tributary to the Eagle River.

 Local lakes were warm enough to swim and both kids took advantage.

 We purchased a raft and have been getting out on it every possible chance.

 Leo especially loves getting out in the boat.

 Sunning themselves after a long float.

 The kids hanging out in the sun during this years dip netting adventure.

 Zipline and sprinkler fun.

 Leo and a buddy on the annual backpacking trip to Symphony lake.

 Leo catching his first fish on a flyrod.

 Kaya posing on a hike at Hatcher pass.

 My parents on a recent trip to Idaho.

 And finally, all this sun has made our gardens grow.

Now we are looking forward to berry picking and the eventual return to snow.  There is always something to look forward to in Alaska.

A Late Spring and Project-Palooza

Mid May brought on some fabulous late season powder skiing.

 

And not so fabulous early season dog scootering

 

 Now that the snow is gone, or mostly gone, we have begun the summer projecting.  Here are our new pathways, garden beds, and, off in the distance, fire pit.

 

 We made Leo and a buddy a lemonade stand for National Lemonade Stand Day.

 A visit from Uncle Andy produced a couple of batches of root beer.

 

 The yurt got a new playhouse, swing, and climbing wall.

 Kids of all sorts enjoying the play house given to us by a friend.

And in other news, Leo was eaten by a basking shark.

Hawaii, Spring.....Psyche

The Schneiders lucked out this year and got to bring the whole family to Hawaii for a week.    Kaya was in her element.

 Leo collected coconuts and chased chickens.

Fun time for all.  Thanks Pressman Family!

 Upon returning to Alaska we were blessed with Mostly sunny weather and great skiing and dog sledding conditions.

 

 

 Sleds lined up for the Easter dog sled races at the local mushing trails.

 This is what it looks and sounds like at the start line of a race.

Nothing like a few extra feet of snow in April to extend the snow season:)

Dog Sledding Post

Nicki and Leo had a recent dog sledding adventure and you can hear it here because we convinced Nicki to tell the story in front of a couple hundred people.  Her's is the 5th Story.
Meet our new dog Ushi, the dog in the story who gets tired after a 100 miles.

  

Ushi and the other dogs are tied up behind a cabin that we mushed all of our camping gear into a few weeks ago.

 

We did our annual trip to Willow for the Iditarod restart.  Here's a friend of mine high-fiving Newton Marshall, the only Jamaican musher.

 

 Nicki thoroughly enjoying herself.

Party Central on Willow Lake.  We usually hang around for a couple hours after the last team has left to let traffic die down on the way back to Anchorage.

 Good luck to all the Mushers!!

New Duds and Workshop Progress

 The kids got some new duds from their grand parents.  Kaya is ready to hit the beach and stay afloat.

 

Leo is ready for the dog park.

And I'm a few steps closer to making some puzzles.

 

Though, now that we have some snow, priorities might be sifting a little and the building pace may slow.  Yeah for fluffy white stuff.