Adventures in Alaska: January 2014

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Extra Spring

While the rest of the country was freezing to death, we were enjoying temperatures in the 40s to 50s. All of the snow melted and the ground was DRY in some parts. Clark was a little distraught that our sledding hill is gone. Apparently this is a fluke winter. People who have lived here for 40 years have never seen something like this. But we can't complain! We've enjoyed some extra outdoor time without needing quite as much clothing on.

They were trying to make mud pies, but the dirt was too DRY.

They fill up the pan with dirt and then take it to that white sign to put it in the "oven".

He's trying to get as good as me. If I learned one thing from my childhood, it was how to use a Razor!

Pretending to be a jaguar

Right before he "pounced" across the grass and literally bit Isaac who was supposed to be a deer. Only moderately creepy. No more National Geographic kid books for him...

Alaska ain't so bad if it would do this every year!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Alaska Winter Firsts

When winter hit we were told it's only a matter of time until our car gets stuck in the snow. Even AWD/4WD ones. I still thought it was just the dumbos that actually get stuck though. Well, my pride got the better of me and I have now become a dumbo.

I was 5 minutes EARLY in getting to my visiting teaching appointment. I had never met the lady before. My GPS was telling me the route and I started driving down a "road" that had some tire tracks in it. About halfway down the "road", I could see a fallen tree. The "smart me" knew that I couldn't drive over that. So I started to back up. I got stuck in the snow. While I was trying to get unstuck, I gunned it and ended up hitting a huge pile of snow behind me. Then I really got stuck.

After calling the lady I was supposed to be visiting and crying on the phone to her (great first conversation), I called Geico and they sent out a tow truck to pull me out. Almost 2 hours later, we made it back home having accomplished nothing. It is times like these that I have NO REGRETS for our rear entertainment system in the van.

The "road" my GPS was telling me to go down....I hate our GPS.

The van was stuck on top of an old, crusty chunk of snow.

My bumper popped off. :(

On a happy note, I took the van to a dealership in town to get a quote for fixing the bumper. They fixed it within 3 minutes and said it was no charge. This is the same dealership that has already fixed something for me free of charge. They have definitely won my business for all of our other car needs.

We also built our first REAL snowman. We built a few tiny ones in Ohio, but this was the real deal. Unfortunately the weather got warm really quickly after we built him and he melted away. Isaac was a little distraught.

"Ice skating" on the driveway

When Dad throws a snowball and it hits your face...

Monday, January 27, 2014

Clark's 4!

I have decided that I really love age 4. Clark can communicate clearly, get his own food and drinks, clean up messes, help unload the dishwasher, take himself to the bathroom, wash his own hands, and put on his own clothes. I love the independence. I can reason with him (assuming he's not tired). We can have fun with each other doing things I actually like to do too (like riding the Razor scooter). It's just been fun! I can't imagine our family without Clark. Let's be honest - the whole house revolves around him. :)

While we were in California, we had a party for him. I know he LOVED the attention. We had pizza and cake/ice cream and opened presents. No decorations. No games. No party prizes. But he was on cloud 9 because people were paying attention to him.

Birthday Princess?

Since we were staying in LA, my dad was able to come to Clark's party.

Human basketball hoop

Secrets with Papa

Enjoying the gluten free/dairy free cake. Mmm :)

On his real birthday, it took some convincing that he wasn't already 4 and we still needed to celebrate. We started off the day by going to a life insurance office (because I'm a good parent like that). Clark thought the activity was great though. There were toys in the office and he hopped up on the insurance salesman's lap and built a puzzle with him. Then I took him to a bakery where he made friends with a table full of women. He invited them all over for cake and ice cream that night (including his future school principal). Then we went to Target and he invited all of the workers over for his party too. As they were walking away, he yelled, "Goodbye to all you mothers!" I just love how friendly he is. It's funny that he comes from 2 introverted parents. We ended the day with ice cream cones dipped in Oreos (his choice).

Massive birthday cinnamon roll. They let him pick a birthday treat on his way out the door too. He could choose anything in the case and he chose the discounted "day old" pastries. Gotta train him better.

Morning present from Mommy - awesome toy!

He wanted chips and cheese for his birthday dinner. So I convinced him to make it a little more upscale with grilled ham and cheese with salad.

Hands, hands everywhere! I was trying to hold up a #4 but Clark can't take a picture without jazz hands.

Chris found out Clark liked these knights at the toy store so he went back to get them. They were a hit!

Clark has never seen Ninja Turtles, but he saw this hideous shirt at Target and desperately wanted it. Good thing it was $3 on clearance.

Isaac has a rice milk ice cream bar. Totally disgusting. Chris and I both gagged. He devoured it and asked for more. Poor kid doesn't know what he's missing!

Happy birthday, Clarkster!! We love you tons!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Sunny California

After the wedding we spent a week in the LA area with the Rosenvall clan. We went to 2 different beaches (Laguna and Corona del Mar), a train museum, Knotts Berry Farm, did a kid's nativity that lasted 3 minutes, and hung out eating too much candy and bread with yummy olive oil dipping sauce. Here's some pictures of the highlights: