Happenings

This past week was very busy for us. I figured the best way to blog about it is with pictures. First, we took a day and had lunch with Daddy at his office.

It is amazing how the same foods we eat at home suddenly become the most tasty food EVER when you put them in a new environment. The girls have been asking to eat at Daddy's work almost every day since.

While we were there, Daddy took his girls to meet the office "pet".

This is "Stew". He lives in the woods surrounding Michael's office. Stew is well fed by all the employees so he comes often for visits. Our girls loved getting to be so up close and personal and this sweet rabbit was happy to oblige.

Over the weekend, we traveled to Anchorage for Furrondy. This is a big annual event that started back when the fur traders would travel to Anchorage to sell their goods. While the fur traders are still a part of this event, it is now full of many other activities for family fun. 

First up were the dog sled rides.

Then came the carnival rides.

Just a quick stop to hug a bear.

And what major event would be complete without pony rides? 

The last item on our agenda was the Reindeer Run. Michael signed up for this event mainly so he could say he did it. He is becoming more and more Alaskan by the day. And who can blame him? I mean, who wouldn't want to be chased down a snowy road by a group of crazy, agitated reindeer?

Sadly, I don't have any great pictures of the actual run because about 5 minutes after Michael left us to go line up to run, both girls decided to melt down on me. I was doing my best to balance Sarah on one hip (since we forgot to bring our stroller) while holding a camera in the other arm while at the same time trying to convince Claire that she didn't need me to hold her. They were both crying uncontrollably and there was nothing I could do to console them. I really had no clue what their problem was. But after 15 minutes of non-stop crying (the race still hadn't started) I finally gave up and took the girls off where they could both sit in my lap. Turns out, they were both just really cold and tired of being outside. Once we got back to the car, I took off their boots and discovered just how cold their feet actually were. I felt so bad for them. 

After it was all said and done, I asked Claire to tell me her favorite part of the weekend. Her answer? Eating Smores at the hotel, and eating McDonalds for dinner and sleeping in the same bed as Sarah. Oh, and watching TV in her bed at the hotel. 

I reminded her about the dog sled rides, pony rides, carnival rides, etc. To which she said, "Yeah, those were good too. But I REALLY liked being in our hotel room." 

So for our next trip, I guess we will forgo all the costly events and simply hunker down in the hotel with Smores making supplies. A fun time for all!