The second hike we did after moving to Alaska was Thunder Bird Falls. In April of 2017 we climbed the ice covered paths to the viewing deck overlooking the falls. At this time we were unaware of what microspikes are. We slipped and slid with Jasper strapped to my husbands back. It would have been so much easier with microspikes!
Jasper’s first Easter egg hunt was last year, in 2017, a few short months after we moved to Alaska. A church in our town puts on an egg drop for the local children. This means that a helicopter flies over a field next to the high school in town, and drops tons of eggs all over while everyone watches. Then the children are set free to go collect the eggs like a normal Easter egg hunt. Children have to be four before they can participate in the actual egg drop hunt, so Jasper was and still is too young to participate. However, that year he was able to have fun at the toddler egg search, and we all enjoyed watching the helicopter drop more than 30,000 eggs!
We live in America. So like many people here, we are a little bit of everything. I have a tiny bit of Irish in my Ancestry, in addition to Polish, French, German, Slavic, English, Scottish… My family has been in this country for quite a long time, I could go on and on. However, you don’t need to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Of course there is a certain crowd that celebrates with lots of drunken antics. That’s fine for them, but we start the day with the “traditional” kid St. Patrick’s day breakfast, Lucky Charms and green milk!
Being a former daycare teacher, I love to do themes! I think teaching with themes helps your child to explore the world in different way than they normally would. Yes, we paint a lot, but under this theme we are painting on snow! Sometimes I let Jasper help me with recipes, but now we are incorporating snow into a recipe! Below is everything we did under the winter “theme” this year!
Are you looking for some cute t-shirt designs? What about some twinning shirts so you can match your little one? Hop on over to Foxy Mountain and check out their gear!
The first time we visited Eklutna Lake was in the summer of 2017. With Jasper strapped to my back, I approached a lake that was a good distance from the path. Some areas of the bank were dry and cracked. I had never seen mud cracked in patterns like that
I keep reading about how its freezing back home in Illinois. While the lower 48 are locked in subzero temperatures, we reached the 40s in Anchorage earlier this week. It was absolutely horrible. In my limited experience, I have come to find that warm days during Alaska’s winters don’t mean lighter jackets and outdoor activities, as it does back home.
We love to do themed projects at our house! When I ask Jasper if he wants to do a project, he is always super excited. I am so glad he loves to learn!
I have a degree in education. However, I graduated from college around the time many school were losing funding and letting teachers go. For this reason, I spent a few years at a daycare as their lead School Age teacher.
In the Fall of 2016 we learned that we would be moving our little family 3700 miles from Southern Illinois to Anchorage, Alaska! I was both excited and scared. I had lived in the same small town my entire life, as had my father, and his father, and his father… and his father. However, I was ready for a change!
My husband had to report for his new job in less than a month. He moved to Alaska at the beginning of December, 2016. My son, Jasper and I packed up everything we owned, and followed in January of 2017.
