Crazy Daizy

When you live in Alaska you have to go ice skating.  Monkey has been asking to go since we moved up here, so last Saturday we took her to the ice rink on post.  She was so excited, all bundled up in her coat, hat, and mittens, and ready to go in her tiny skates.  I did not skate, I can not ice skate on a good day, and I could see the disaster if I tried it while pregnant.  Hubby, however, can ice skate, so I left them to it.  I sat on the bench, watched them go around the rink, and tried to take some pictures.  She even let go of her daddy and the wall and tried to do it by herself.  Of course, she fell a couple of times, would come and tell me, and then hit the ice for some more skate time.  We were there almost two hours, she and hubby were pretty worn out when we left.  They both had a good time, it was all she talked about the rest of the day.  Now, she wants us to buy her some ice skates!

How cool is it that we live ten minutes away from Santa?    How many people can say that they have visited Santa at his house?  We are three of those lucky folks!  Today we made that ten minute drive to North Pole to visit the Jolly Elf on his own turf.  Monkey had been looking forward to this trip for days and was ecstatic this morning because the day had finally arrived!  The town is so cute the streetlights look like candy canes, it’s a Christmas lovers dream!  Letters from children from all over the world lined the walls of the building.  We found Santa and Mrs. Claus, who was busily knitting a sweater.  Monkey sat in his lap and went over her Christmas wish list.  We went outside to see four of Santa’s reindeer.  Monkey thought they were so cute with their “anklers”. She started crying, screaming really, because her hands were freezing.  Hubby and I had tried and tried to get the gloves on, but she wanted no part of them.  We went back into Santa’s house and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate at Santa’s Coffee Cache.  Once we were all warmed up we decided to do a little shopping.  The Christmas Shop had everything you could want to decorate for the season.  We ended up buying some ornaments for our family and ourselves and we bought a t-shirt for Monkey.  We all had a good time and created some wonderful memories! 

Little Mermaid

I wondered how in the world Halloween worked in this frozen place and now I know! Friday night we took Monkey to a Halloween carnival. I changed her into her costume at the building because it was SO cold. I tried to convince her it was a good idea to wear her shirt under her costume, but then I decided I’d pick my battle, we were inside anyway. She played some games and won some candy then she painted a small pumpkin. When we got ready to leave I put her jeans back on her and won the shoe battle, though it wasn’t easy. There was trick or treating at the PX too, so we went there. My Hubby assumed that it would be just getting candy at the door, but it was so much cooler than that. We received a map and took Monkey all through the PX and the surrounding mall. I was so proud of her for actually saying “Trick or Treat” and “Thank You”. Once she was done we got a slice of pizza and then headed home. I thought this idea was pretty cool, I mean it’s safe and it’s warm! It was brutally cold Friday night, the temperature in the negatives, and I assumed that people would not have their children out there, but I was wrong. Monkey saw this and decided she needed to be out there too, so Hubby took her to a few houses while I sat in the truck. Then we came home, parked the car, and went to three of our neighbors houses. Monkey then decided she was done, she was freezing, it was time to come home. On the way home, Monkey walked ahead of Hubby and Hubby walked ahead of me. Now, I’m pretty clumsy on a good day, but add ice to the mix and it’s done. I’d been so careful all night, but halfway home, boom, down I went. All I can say is OUCH! Apparently there is something to wearing the snow boots! I’ve learned a valuable and painful lesson about that!

 Halloween: It’s Tougher in Alaska!

Alaska in the fall.  Where are the beautiful fall colored leaves?  Buried I guess under this beautiful blanket of white!  I took these pics of Monkey last night while she and her daddy were playing in the snow.  She was having so much fun making snowballs and sledding!  I’m glad we found a new use for the sled we bought to sled down the sand dunes in White Sands!