Dog Mushing in Alaska

A couple of weeks ago we had an opportunity to take the kids on a dog mushing field trip with a few other homeschooling families. We spent probably 4 hours with all of the dogs and everyone went home with smiles on our faces. A few family members wanted to add a couple of more dogs to our family... and of course Mom is the big party pooper on that concept. One puppy is enough for me! Every kid (including Beckett) had a chance to drive the sled with a team of dogs. For the kids the owner only put 4 dogs on a team so that they wouldn't be too fast or too strong for the kids to slow them down. Ava got a fresh team of dogs that went so fast around a corner that she dumped the sled in the deep snow. Afterwards she said she wanted to fall into the snow with them again! For all of the PETA fans out there...this is not abusive. From the moment we harnessed them to the sleds, all they wanted to do was RUN and PULL! Petting the pups before they took off. While the kids were waiting, they hooked themselves to the harnesses and pulled a sled full of kids around. Jordan is in the front in red, Ava and Brady are sitting in the sled.

Charlie getting a quick lesson in how to handle the dogs and the sled. Beckett and Ava are sitting in the front of the sled.

And he's off!

Jordan giving me a ride!

Ava's turn!

Brady driving with Ava and Beckett in the sled.

Me with Beckett and my friends' children.

Jordan is NINE!

Jordan turned NINE this past week! What a joy he is to have as our son! He's bright, caring, and can hold conversations and comprehend information nearly as well as many of the adults I know. It's crazy fun to play board games with him because he's beyond the years of Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. (Sorry Milton Bradley... but this Mom is so over Candyland. Thankfully, I have a Mommy-in-the-making who loves to play Candyland with her 3 year old brother!)

We celebrated his birthday at home on the 8th and today we held his friend party tonight. (More about that later.) For his birthday we got him a new mountain bike. For those of you that know use well... you know that we ride bikes all summer long and we don't just ride up and down the street. Last year his hand-me-down bike from a friend hit the road and for his birthday he received an upgrade to a decent bike. I was tired of adjusting his chain constantly or dealing with skipping gears every mile that we went. Last year I carried tools in my backpack on every ride. Hopefully those days are gone with his new ride.

We topped of his birthday by taking the whole family to a hockey game in town. For the 4 boys in the family, the highlight of the game was definitely the fist fight between two players.

SNOWSHOEING

We took advantage of a beautiful day and went snowshoeing today. You can tell that break-up will be here soon because the sun is shining longer and the temperatures are consistently in the late-teens during the day. While we were snowshoeing today, the temperature was 22 degrees. Our bodies have acclimated because it felt HOT.

We were sitting on a snow-covered wooden bench.
On a bridge..."Dead" with a smile on her face!

Trail blazer!

Taking a rest.

Brady's pole pushed perfectly through the snow.

Brady

Beckett continued to say, "Daddy, take a picture of ME!"

Which way should we go???

Resting on a snow-covered bench.

Brave Girl!

About a month ago, Ava decided she was brave enough to get her ears pierced. We walked by the piercing place and I asked her if she wanted her ears pierced? Something I have been asking her for at least two years. Usually the answer I received was, "NO WAY!!!!" This time she said, "Maybe." Then she decided to do it. She did a great job as they pierced one ear at a time and she never shed a tear. Usually she can be a drama queen so I was a bit apprehensive when they said that they would only do one ear at a time.

She was able to pick out these earrings. First earrings have come along way since the plain studs they used when I was little.

Thai Coconut Curry Chicken

Guess who's back? Guess who else is back in the kitchen? I've had to impress him with my culinary skills because Brady ratted me out! On Charlie's first night back home, I made shrimp and pasta primavera and Brady said, "FINALLY, a real dinner!" I guess my five year old doesn't consider cereal, salad, or pizza real dinners.

A Fairbanks Blizzard

Did you know that snow weighs about 17 pounds per cubic foot? I figure that I shoveled enough snow today that I probably won't need to work out for the next week!

The Fairbanks area got around 10-18 inches of snow yesterday and last night. I really don't know how much was dumped on mi casa but I know that I shoveled for almost 2 hours and didn't get the driveway clear. Two awesome friends came by with a 4-wheeler plow and took care of the rest for me.

Jordan and Ava playing in our street with their sleds. They were trying to push against the wind gusts of up to 30 mph.

Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race

We took a detour from regular homeschool geography and history to learn about the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race. Every year the Yukon Quest is held in February and it is the same length as the Iditarod, 1000 miles. This year it started in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada and ends in Fairbanks. They alternate the start and finish each year. Next year it will start in Fairbanks.

We watched a couple of documentary films on mushing (dog sledding) and then we've been tracking the mushers online for the last 10 days. This year's winner is Dallas Seavey, the 23 year old rookie and son of Mitch Seavey an Iditarod winner.

The Yukon Quest trail runs on the Chena River. We can see the Chena River from our house, but we missed Dallas coming through at around 10pm last night. Today we ventured down to the river bank in negative 20 degree temps to try to catch a musher coming through. Apparently we missed her by about 15 minutes.

We tried again at about 5:45 pm and we caught the sixth place finisher, Alan Moore on the river. Our kids were stoked to finally see one. They shouted and hollered to him from the bank and he waved to them. They were most excited to see that all of the puppies have booties on!

These mushers and dogs are amazing. 1000 miles by dogsled in below freezing temps. There are 3 more racers out there that probably won't arrive in Fairbanks until late- Thursday night or Friday. My kids are hooked and can't wait to see some more!