Happy Birthday Robin!!!

Robin was away this week 'working' on a snow machine trip on the North Fork of the Fortymile River. Alas, he was absent on his birthday. He arrived home a day early, late Saturday night. The girls were surprised to see him Easter morning. Today we will celebrate Easter and his birthday. Happy 41st Birthday! Any one notice the glasses???? Yep, he needs them for computer work.

Pigs or No Pigs

Who could object to a lovely pair of PJ's with pink pigs? Ev vehemently objects. Ev has hated these PJ's since the day we got them yelling "NO PIGS NO PIGS!" whenever we suggested she wear them. Even the fact that Meg gave them too her had no effect (and Meg usually always has a beneficial influence). After a few months of the pigs laying dormant in the drawer I just thought I'd give them away to a pig appreciating preschooler.

Then one evening.....

Oh how the worm turns!

Baba is still #1

Evie's little lamb named Baba gives her great comfort. Here is the classic Evie/Baba interaction; thumb sucking and stroking the inside of Baba's soft small ear.

A sleeping Ev during a recent trip to Anchorage. Baba has a protective stance on top of her head. FYI sleep also requires pink bunny and cookie monster.

It's Good When....

You know it is a good ski lesson when most of the class decided to lay down and rest. V-stepping up those hills can be exhausting. Hannah is in the forefround in the pink and white hat. She looks comfortable.

Sledding

March is Fairbanks best kept secret; lots of snow, daylight and mild temps so we can play outside. UAF's sledding hill is close enough for a quick trip to sled and tucker out the kids.

After all, if you want to sled down you have to climb up.

Hannah is sledding with a good buddy. We have known this girl for five years and it is second nature to have her around.

Evelyn is hoping for a ride up the hill. But I don make her walk part of the way.

Yukon Quest

Hannah's class followed the Yukon Quest dog race very closely. Each child adopted a musher and tracked them from the start at Whitehorse to the finish line in Fairbanks. Hannah's musher is Becca Moore, a rookie from Willow, AK. As the race progressed Hannah kept us all up to date on the 29 mushers. As more and more mushers scratched, Robin and I started to worry; Becca was in the back of the pack and a rookie. Would she complete the race?

YES!!!!! Becca completed the race today at 10:13 am in second to last place! Out of 29 mushers 11 scratched, but not Becca; she kept on going.

Looks like her lead dog is willing to keep on going after completing a 1000 mile race.

After officially checking in Becca heads off to unhook, feed and water the dogs. She departed from the last checkpoint at 12:48 am so I am sure she is looking forward to sleeping in a bed.

Robin gets the credit of taking the picture above of Iris Wood Sutton coming into the finish line (10:41). Iris gets the red lantern.

Hannah gets a thrill by taking a picture with Colleen Robertia who completed the race in 12th place on 2/26. The mushers become minor celebrities to Hannah's class so Hannah was excited to meet one, especially "a girl". We met Colleen and her family at the finish line. That's what happens when you wait for two hours at the finish line; you meet some nice people. We actually got to the finish line at 7 am found out that no one knew when Becca was going to come in and decided to have breakfast. After eating, we waited and played in the snow for two hours. The new snow made the time go by fast for the kids since we had a sled.

Ice is Nice

A wee bit too cold for junior nordics last Sunday so Hannah, a friend and I went to the Big Dipper instead. Quite a few junior nordic kids were there ice skating during the indoor recreational ice time. Hannah and I decided we need to learn how to skate backwards so we practiced, practiced, practiced.