Dino, the Furbearer

Well, Dino's ready for Santa to fill his stocking. The boys helped momma put up the tree and decorations on Friday. Then posed with Dino in their Christmas hats in front of the tree. Grayson still doesn't completely understand it all, but he knows it comes with candy so he's satisfied. Landon on the other hand, has methodically laid out his demands, I mean requests, for the toys he wants.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a full table for Thanksgiving Dinner, with friends Misty and Reid and their daughter Sabrina joining us. Grammy made the Turkey and Pappy carved it. Grayson waited impatiently and was the first to sit down...no surprise. The boys and Pappy built a snowman in the backyard since the temperatures were right at freezing and the snow was easy to clump together. It also made for good snowball fights. The day after, we put up the tree, and Landon put all the ornaments on.

Ski Time

Today was sledding and ski-time for Landon. Both Mommy and Daddy helped him remember his lessons from last year. He picked it back up pretty quick while practicing in the back yard, then x-country ski'd around the block. Landon made Daddy try out the sled down his favorite hill in the back yard while giving him some pointers from the expert. Daddy put the outside Christmas lights up in October before the first snow, so this year we'll have Christmas lights around the outside of the house (if you wait too late, there's no use trying to put them up with snow all over the place). Landon brought home this drawing of the reasons he likes winter in Alaska - it shows him sledding, skiing, building a snowman and drinking hot chocolate! Then, we fried halibut for dinner and watched "Up". Landon and Grayson seemed to - SQUIRREL!!! - like it alot.

Don't touch my food!!

We've discovered that Dino and Grayson have one thing in common.....they can eat all day long. After giving up on keeping a dog pillow outside for Dino without him tearing it up, we put some straw in his doghouse and a big bone to give him something to chew on. He worked on that bone all day before finally collapsing, exhausted, to sleep. That's the same thing Grayson will do if you keep food in his reach!! Our cold temps have broken for now. We're back above zero for the next week or so, but still waiting for the big snow. Only about 4 inches on the ground right now, which is about 2 feet less than we had this time last year.

Sledding

I spent the last few days on a business trip to Camp Smith, in Honolulu, HI. But made it back home in time to spend the daylight hours with Landon sledding outside before it got dark. There was about 4 inches of snow on the ground, and then we had another 2 inches that afternoon....but overall it's been a relatively low-snow year compared to last year. Four inches of snow was all Landon needed to spend literally all day out in the yard with Dino. Grayson had to spend most of the day watching from inside since he can't quite take the cold yet (too much falling down in the snow and getting cold). The temps are back down in the single digits tonight, and we should be heading towards the "below zero dark ages" pretty rapidly now til the winter solstice....we're losing about 5 minutes of daylight each day. It's dark when I get to work, and dark when I leave to go home. All in all though, I'll take the dark/cold over the hot/humid weather of HI any day....I call my trips to HI my "Alaska appreciation trips". Jolene thinks I'm crazy. But I like the cold weather!

First Snow!

Snow came late this year. We woke up to about 4 inches this morning. Grayson and Pappy seized the opportunity to go out and frolick with Dino. Landon missed decided to go out around 7pm but then it was too dark and too cold (13 degrees). Grayson has recovered from the stomach flu. Knock on wood, Daddy and Landon have not gotten it....

Halloween

Landon went as Underdog, and Grayson as a puppy. Dino must have inspired a canine theme. We took the boys to the fairgrounds for some indoor trick or treating at an event with games and things set up for kids. The wind was howling outside, so we didn't brave the outdoor trick or treating. Grayson still got his fill of candy as you can see from the last two pics - he came back and carried the bag right to the table and tried to get us to let him eat it all. The smile he's developed reminds me of the munchkins of the Lollipop Guild from The Wizard of Oz! We added several posts at once, so don't forget to check out the other new ones all under "November".

Happy Birthday Landon

Kinda late with the pictures, but here's Landon's birthday.

How many ptarmigan do you see?

What's the state bird of Alaska? If you answered Moose-quito, then you get partial credit for understanding the size and verocity of Alaska's mosquito population....but the answer is the Willow Ptarmigan. Here's a picture of some closely related rock ptarmigan. They are masters of disguise. This is a picture someone else took of a group of ptarmigan before they changed to white plummage this fall. How many can you find camouflaged against the rocks? I'll give the answer next week.

Trip to Fairbanks

I spent last week in Fairbanks, at a conference hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks to help determine shipping requirements (routes, ship building standards, etc) for the Arctic Ocean in light of the diminished summer ice conditions. The first picture above was taken at the juncture of the Tanana Valley and Alaska Range Mtns. I like it because it looks like a painting to me, but is just a picture of everyday Alaska sights. It was my fourth conference related to the effects of climate change on the Arctic region - I've been impressed by the level of professionalism in the scientific community when it comes to presenting the data without bias. The indigenous population is normally represented, as their way of life is most affected by increased human activity in the Arctic. This time, the Chancellor of UAF hosted an event to showcase Native Alaskan dance. The third pic shows a part of a dance presentation with two Inupiat. The group demonstrated both Yu'pik and Inupiaq dance - both from the North and Northwest Alaska Eskimo regions. Here in Southcentral Alaska, the Natives were primarily Athabascan, and had a slightly different culture. The bluff we now live on was one of the locations they set up fish camp each fall. They lived in small half-dug-out like structures called Lajats. The remnants of those lajats are still here on the bluff and are an everyday reminder of the unique native history this area has. I enjoyed the trip. The last two pictures are of the UAF campus and caribou/reindeer research facility - I took these for Landon since he insists he wants to go to UAF to study Paleontology. Normally I would shrug that off since he's only 7, but he's stuck to that story for almost 4 years now without budging - so maybe we'd better start believing him! Finally got to see an incredible Northern Lights display the last night I was in Fairbanks - - tried to take a picture and video, but it came out too dark to see. You've got to see it in person to appreciate it. Words can't do it justice.