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.

Empty Yurts and New stuff

We are officially out of the yurt. Before we left we were treated to a northern lights display that could easily be seen from our loft out the top dome. Pretty cool.

Kaya rocking the curls and construction princess look amid the chaos of packing.

The empty yurt.

Not to worry, our yurt adventure is not over as we will be moving it to our new place this summer.
Here is a picture of Nicki going out for a late night mushing run in some really cold weather.

Here is a photo of our new place.

We love the wood interior. It is actually arranged a lot like the yurt. The master bedroom is a loft over the kitchen and looking out over the living area.

A photo taken from across the valley really shows the barn shape of the house.

A few more new things: Leo has found a new love for drawing. We can't get him to stop.

And, not even a week into moving into the new place, Nicki has a new dog.

Meet Quill, named after a run in with a porcupine. She is already proving to be a great puller as well as being super nice dog.

Lots of Snow

There has been a lot of snow and cold temps in Alaska lately. Leo continues his apparent imperviousness to cold by taking a nap outside at sub zero temperatures.

Lots of snow on the yurt.

The snow is piling up on the railings.

Our lamp post hads a big fluffy hat.

The dogs had to be dug out of their houses.

But, the kids were ready for it.