Running and Jumping House

Finding an Anchorage tot-time substitute has been rough. For five bucks, this place comes pretty close...

Airport House Mission B

Boodah, enjoying a moment of sunshine in the front yard. After the success of Saturday's airport house mission, and catching a fleeting glimpse of the sun, we decided to head down to the end of the runway and watch the 747s take off.

As soon as we were 5 minutes from the house we descended into a pea green soup thick fog, which even better, was accompanied by icy roads. We thought it might be better at the airport house, but unfortunately it wasn't. And as fate would have it, our trusty Ford Focus got a flat tire. That, plus the ice, led to some tricky backing down of a hill. Hill being a strong term. You'd be hard put to even notice a grade, but it was so icy that forward was not happening. Fortunately, a moose wandered by to keep us entertained while Boppa changed the flat. Of course, Boodah slept through it all.

We did enjoy the sound of jets taking off, but we certainly couldn't see them. The happy end of the story is the free upgrade we got when we turned it in. We are back to the mega SUV. I have to admit, I do love driving the large vehicles. They are so sexy. Thank you, Enterprise! Thank you, declining gas prices!

We wrapped up the day with a viewing of Step-Brothers at Uncle Regan's. Some good lines in there. Not quite appropriate for the cousins, so we felt bad about that. But, you can't win them all. And Saturday morning was fun, as we got to read this article on the first folks to try tow-in surfing in Yakutat. These pictures are fairly amazing. And these. Maybe they'll come out to Unalaska next.

Airport House

We explored the Anchorage Aviation Museum on Saturday. Did we mention that Boodah loves airplanes? And the "airport house"?

Boodah flying! (Don't tell him about the wing shortage.)


Captain Momma and First Mate Boodah in the 727 cockpit.

Bethel Reunion in Anchorage

We met some of our dear Bethel friends at the Moose's Tooth, which is probably Anchorage's coolest pizza place. Unfortunately, that coolness translates into long waits for a table on Saturday nights, especially when a toddler is involved. Boodah did great once Natalie taught him the trick of showing off his belly! Boodah learned the lesson well, and entertained everybody in the place. Considering that we were in the restaurant for 3+ hours, he did awesome.

Boodah and Natalie:

In any event, it was fun to talk about the good old times of Bethel, as well as Bethel's latest scandal. There's always something scandalous going down in the Delta. Bethel should have its own reality TV show. It'd be worth watching!

Peter and Sally.

Family photos, courtesy of Peter G. (Peter is an awesome photographer. Actually, all the photos are courtesy of Peter. Except for the one of Peter, which Natalie took.)

City Livin'

Chocolate dipping desert frenzy at our big city home sweet home:












Our big city shepard sweet Ella puppy shepard:


When we tell Ella to sit, Boodah also sits. It's pretty funny to us.



Boodah takes it very seriously. He also likes to tell Ella what to do. (Ella, eat this one. Etc.)

Our big city winter weary rental Ford Focus:

We're upgrading to 4wd soon, now that the major storm has passed. If you think this car might not do well in snow, you're right! Big surprise! But it forces us to drive extra cautiously, without the veneer of invincibility that comes from renting a huge dodge truck like we did on days 1 and 2.

Incidentally, Alyeska got over 200 inches of new snow in the last week. As Dean the Marine would say, sick. Boppa enjoyed one of those days, with Kevin and Sean up from SF and Seattle. Of course, no pictures were taken. But it was deep and fun and perma-grin was involved.

In our first days in town, we've managed not to take many pictures. The socializing in the big city is great... hanging with Aunt Nami, Uncle Regan, Cousins Musashi and Arashi, Wade, friends from the lower 48 and Kenai (our friend Alex from law school days braved the blizzard to drive up for a visit)... long lost Bethel friends... that aspect of the big city has been great!

Of course, we are kind of weenies when it comes to traffic. 20 minutes in a car just to get to work? Yikes! Holiday shopping frenzy? Somebody shot to death downtown? All just elements of life in the fast lane. Anchorage! And a celebrity governor to boot. Yes, we are living the dream here in town.

We have to admit to missing Dutch Harbor a little bit. After all, it was 43 degrees warmer there today!

New Temporary Home Sweet Big City Home

We are here! We have internets! Fast ones!