Trick or Treat in the Heat

Here in Alaska, pretty much every holiday is celebrated differently than California. Alaskan Christmas is probably an upgrade, but Alaskan Halloween? Downgrade. I feel like the kids really miss out on the Halloween experience when their costumes are covered in winter gear and it's freezing and/or snowing out.

Remember this from last year?

Not. Fun. So this year we participated in an event called Trick or Treat in the Heat. It began as a neighborhood event for a terminally ill 5-year-old boy who wanted to trick-or-treat one last time, so his neighborhood held their trick-or-treating early. It continues now, 8 years later, as a fundraiser for Make a Wish Foundation and Ronald McDonald House, while giving Alaska kids the opportunity to do some trick-or-treating in the "heat."

We had a great time! Kenley dressed up like a cat, Parker is Zane from Ninjago, and Claire was Sleeping Beauty, though she thought she was a pink cat (?).

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS night and amazingly beautiful neighborhood. So glad we did it.

All the kids getting ready to go.

 

 Two little Ninjago Ninjas excited to get going.

 Two pretty kitties.

 Carter hugging Parker in terror because of a cackling pumpkin on the chair.

 Investigating their haul so far...

 Love this pic!!!!!!

 Sleeping Beauty hiking back to the car. Now that is the way to do Halloween in Alaska. Can you get any more beautiful than that?

Lil' Windstorm

We had a huge windstorm last night! James called me at the gym at about 10pm to tell me that a tree had fallen through our cable line. I hurried home and we spent the next few hours watching the trees blow sideways in the wind, and we watched a 35-ft. birch fall in our front yard. The news said today that almost 60,000 homes ended up without power, and winds were clocked at 60mph in the city and over 100 mph on the hillside. We still have about 10,000 without power tonight.

Here's what the birch looked like in the morning. Luckily it fell onto some other trees and didn't block the road.

 This was the view of the birch from our side yard.... So glad it fell away from the house.

 Our family members across the street had one of their largest trees fall too, through their fence and blocking their driveway.

 The top of this tree fell down and knocked out our cable and internet. It was fixed by the next day though! Way to go, internet company! We also had two more trees on this side of the yard fall onto the neighbor's house/deck, but no damage there either. We were very lucky!

Everywhere we went today there was damage. I'm not sure we drove more than 30 seconds without seeing a tree down in all the driving we did today. They were EVERYWHERE.

 

We are so thankful we are safe! Scary thing to fall asleep to winds like that!

First Day of School

After getting out of school on May 17th, the kids FINALLY went back on August 29th. Alaskans really, really love their summer vacation! Kenley could not WAIT to get back to school and begin 1st grade. Parker was a little more hesitant about starting Kindergarten. But the week before he started, we went in for some assessments and a classroom visit, and we met his teacher, and I think that set his mind at ease.

The day began and ended with some really sweet moments. On the way to school, Kenley worried out loud that people might tease her because of her outfit. Parker pipes up, "No, Kenley! You look beautiful wearing those clothes!" :) Then at night right as the kids were getting ready to go to bed, my grandpa stopped by just to see how their first day went. Love that guy.

They were so cute! My little fake twins!

State Fair

This year at the fair was quite an adventure! Both kids entered the Kids Cookie Contest, and it poured rain the entire time we were there!

Kenley ended up winning 3rd place in the contest. Parker was such a good sport and was totally happy for her.

 The kids showing off their entries...

 Enjoying the fair in the rain!

 Watching the baby chicks hatch in the incubator.

 The funniest part of the fair came right at the end. As we were leaving, they started with some fireworks. We figured they wouldn't last long, so we stopped in the parking area to watch. It was pouring rain by this point but we watched for a while. Well, the fireworks just kept going and going and going. We didn't go to our car because we kept thinking we had to be at the "Grand Finale." Well, THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES later the show was finally over. And we were SOAKED. And our kids had the hugest smiles imaginable. It's all about making memories...

Claire's Fishie Party

For Claire's birthday, she desperately wanted a "fishie" party. We had so much fun doing a fish cake, cookies, and pizza and playing fishing games. It made her day - she was sooooooo happy with her party!