One Big Giant Catch Up . . . . And House Pics!

Wow what a long break from blog world I've had. I think, I THINK, that I am finally at the point of settlement where I can get back to more regular blogs. The boxes are unpacked and we are now only tripping over random artwork and pictures that still need to find homes on our bare walls. We finished our Christmas travels and are now back in our frozen nest.

So here I sit trying to figure out how to summarize it all for you without turning it into a 3 hour read. I think I'll start with a few notes I've made for myself about traveling to and from Alaska with my younglings. 

Dear Aims-

*Scheduling a midnight flight is asinine. Don't fool yourself into believing that the girls will sleep because the moment you get them all settled with their blankets and lovies, the flight attendants will turn on the inflight movie. And yes, it will be an animated movie. And yes, the only travelers on the plane who will be interested in said movie will be your two children. (note: remember to practice your best "Are you kidding me?" face. You'll need it when they shut the movies off and your children FINALLY fall asleep only to be woken up 20 minutes later by the flight attendant who is insistent they be sitting upright and fully buckled even though the plane won't land for another 25 minutes.) Yep.

*When you are stupid enough to schedule a midnight flight, for heaven's sake DON'T forget to pack the DVD player's battery pack. You just might need that thing on the second or third leg of the trip.

*Remember to pack a thermometer because Claire will no doubt spend half of her holiday running a 103 temp. I'm just sayin'.

*Expect a most miserable flight home because you and Sarah will no doubt have contracted Claire's cooties and will now be the ones suffering with fever.

*Don't think that just because you've landed in Anchorage that all the travel woes are complete. Be prepared for a van with a dead battery and at least an hour and a half's worth of trouble to replace it before you can start your 3 hour drive home.

*Consider long and hard the 22 hours it took to get from door to door before planning your next excursion southward.

Sincerely, 

Aims

Now those are the low lights. I will say that once we got to our destination, we were very, very happy to have traveled. We got to see family and even some of our Houston area friends. We ate at most every restaurant I can think of and even did a little shopping at Target! We were refreshed and it was lovely. 

As for the rest of this post, I'll put up a smattering of pictures of the house for those who have requested to see them. Enjoy!

The front of our little igloo complete with a cute bundled up Sarah!

View from the entry. Please ignore our unhung pictures.

Master bedroom. Can you see the view from our window? Can ya? Can ya?

View of dining room from the top of the stairs.

Our office. 

Kitchen.

Second view of kitchen looking into the breakfast nook. This is where I enjoy my hot tea every morning while watching our friendly moose family. Bliss!

View of our living room (and playroom) from the kitchen. Yes, those walls are painted with an argyle design. And yes, we will be repainting soon!

View #1 of our HUGE playroom.

The other side of the playroom. My girls better never tell me they are bored and have nothing to do!

View from my breakfast nook window. Complete with two of our moose friends.

Ahhhh sunrise.

Well hello little fella.

This, friends, is a baby moose. They get about twice as big as this. This little guy came right up to the window and stared down our dog. These little woodland creatures are quite bold.

See Claire? Even the moose wants to come play in your playroom.