Gravel Pads and Permits

The big job this past weekend was to get the gravel pad that makes up the foundation of the yurt laid.  The first step we did was to lay down landscaping fabric.

 

The fabric does 2 things.  I keeps weeds from popping up under the yurt and it keeps gravel from sinking down into the ground and disappearing forever.  The plywood you see in the photo was used to make a path for the skid steer to drive on without tearing the fabric.
Our gravel arrived and made a great play place for awhile.

 

 Leo helped move the gravel around.

 And here is the pad.

 We had enough gravel left over to re gravel the driveway and make a path from the house to the yurt

All the permits are now in order so we can start building as soon as time allows.  Let's hope we get it done before the snow flies.

A New Yurt begins

 We've been working hard all summer long and are finally making steps towards putting up the yurt.  The permitting process took a lot of time and work, but we are just about done.  While figuring out the paper work we were able to tackle some construction tasks.  The land has been mowed, stumps removed, yurt staked out, and trenches dug for electricity and gas (we have decided not to plumb it.)  Here is what it looks like now.  Not much to look at, I know.

The railroad ties are at about 16 feet off of the center stake of the yurt and held in place with re bar going through them and into the ground.  We will be filling the space inside of the ring with landscape fabric (to keep weed growth down) and about 6 inches of gravel as a pad for the pier blocks the yurt will be sitting on.
Here is the trencher I rented to help me dig our utility lines

.

It had a mechanical failure about 10 minutes into the dig and I hand dug the rest of the 60 feet worth of 18 inch deep trenches.  I'm really glad I did, (after the fact) because I unearthed a few treasures.  Both the pickle jar the old soda can were found about 6 inches down.  The pickle jar still had pickles in it.  The can screams 1970's.

 

While the last place the yurt was set up was beautiful, it was also pretty exposed.  The exterior wood of the door frame had quite a number done to it by the wind, sun, rain, and ice.  We've lucked out with some really nice weather here lately, so I took advantage and refinished the doors.

 

 Next projects: laying the gravel pad and building the deck.

In some non-yurt related news, the first blue berry harvest is in:

 Leo has decided to fly away.

 And, despite a 3 day stint in the hospital after poking a hole in herself, Kaya is up and running with new butterfly clothes.

Spencer Glacier

Spencer Glacier has been on our to do list for awhile.  There are no roads in so, in order to get to it you need to take the train which makes a whistle stop about a mile down stream from the glacier.  Here are Kaya and Leo enjoying the view from the train.

 

 After a buggy walk through the woods, you end up at the lake at the terminus of the glacier.  There are huge bits of ice floating around and some smaller ones too that the kids were able to play with.

Did I mention it was buggy?  With the aid of Oma and Opa power, we packed in all of our gear and spent the night.  Out in the open it wasn't bad but once you got into the trees the bugs were pretty ferocious.  Here is Kaya in full anti-mosquito gear.  By the next morning, that eye on the right was just about swollen shut from a mosquito bite.

 Here is a view of the glacier from camp.  We hiked out to it on the left side.

 Here is the whole family out on the glacier.

 

Cool blue ice.

The seagulls really liked perching on top of this ice chunk out in the lake.  It was the tallest one out there.

 Leo and I have been getting into rocket launching.  We made our own launch pad and ignition switch.  Here is Leo watching as one of the random kids watching gets a turn at the controls.

Good times.

Good Times

It has been a great summer so far.  We started it off with Leo graduating from Preschool.

Summer hiking with friends.

Making Bug traps in the front yard

Selling Hot Coco

Kaya has started a fashion school.  Yes, those are Tinkerbel undies on her head.

Nicki and I got to canoe down Eagle River together.

And, I was given a great ski outing for fathers day.

 

The Yurt Comes Down

First a few spring pictures.  Nicki finally got the long awaited scooter and is dryland mushing every chance she gets.

 Hiking season has begun.  We had a good number of families join us on our trip out to the secret gravel bar.  Sunshine, rock skipping, dirt digging, and fun conversation abounded.

 Now the yurt.  It's gone.  Here are a few photos of the process for taking it down.  The wall fabric came down first,

 then the top cover,

 then the rafters and center ring,

 then the lattice walls and door frames,

 then the internal walls,

 and last the deck.

 Now the whole thing is packed into the garage of the new house, hopefully waiting to be built again sometime late summer.  Extra credit:   Can you find the skylight in the photo below?

Taking the yurt down only took us a day.  We had almost a dozen people helping us so many jobs could be tackled at once.  Thanks every one for your time and energy.  It would not have been the fast, fun project it was without you.

 A recent trip to the Eagle River nature Center yielded excellent moose watching opportunities.

Later on a moose followed us to where 2 swans were swimming around.  I like this shot because they are all facing the same way and are all heads down.

 

 This is the westerly view off of our deck, and its true, we do have a view of Denali.  Until the leaves grow in on the trees I suppose.

We had a mostly sunny day and Leo decided it was time to break out the sprinkler.  Yes that is snow still lingering in our yard.

 Fort building has been a big to do lately.

 And Kaya is as bummed as the adults in the family about the disappearing snow.  She is taking the term rock skis to a whole new level.

In yurt news: It's coming down next weekend!   Hopefully it will be back up again by the end of summer.

Family news: We have another dog. The current doggy-o-tally-meter reading is at 4 doggies. Meet the newest member, Cinder.

Nicki has been out mushing about 3 times a week lately and was able to be volunteer dog handler for Iditarod. Doggypalooza around here. I even got the chance to go on my first solo mushing trip. Holy excitement. It's not skiing but it is the next best thing.
Speaking of skiing, 2 other stay at home dads and I got to go on a 20 mile ski trip going from Knik Arm to Turnigan Arm.

We also got to ski one of the mountains that we can see from our deck here at the new house. It's that point in the middle, covered in white, between the 2 trees.

Life has also been busy inside the house. I've been digging the permanent space and been making some fun changes. I turned a closet into a play house.

Put in a swing.

And made a train/lego/marker board table.

The kids have found a new love for following along with yoga videos. I don't think they are watching the same video.