The North Pole

What could be more cool than getting to visit Santa and Mrs. Clause during their summer off? North of Anchorage is Fairbanks. Just beside Fairbanks, is the North Pole. We went there two summers ago and visited Santa's house.

It was a lot of fun. The kids got to meet and talk with the Clauses in person. Santa does a lot of traveling (obviously), so he knows a lot about different locations. We had a nice conversation about Florida (we had just moved from there) as well as other places that we have lived. Don't worry, we put in a good word with the Big Guy for our friends and family, too. These reindeer were back in Anchorage, but I couldn't resist putting these pictures in here. Look how much the kids have grown! These were taken right after we moved to Anchorage 3 summers ago. Time has gone by so fast! Here is Brandon tyring to convince me that we need one of these as a pet. I have to admit, they are much better behaved than Tink. I can't see one of these tearing down my Christmas tree and ripping open gifts. It might be something to consider. I just have to talk Santa into taking a cat as a trade in.

Santa's Reindeer

What do Santa's reindeer do in the off season, you may wonder. Well, lucky for you, those of us in Alaska know the secret. They hang out, eat lots of fresh green grass, and visit with the locals. Life is good for a reindeer. These pics are from a visit to the reindeer farm last summer.

I'm sure you are familiar with Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and the gang. Now you know what a baby reindeer looks like.

They are so cute. The younger ones have a light brown, fuzzy coat. It's their winter coat. As they get a little older and the weather gets warmer, they shed that coat and a sleek, darker brown one emerges. I'm sure it makes them more aerodynamic. It's all about the winter flight, you know.

They love to eat treats, too. The kids gave them some goodies as they passed on their Christmas wish lists to these fellas. I'm sure Santa got the message.

Did you know that all of Santa's reindeer are female? Both female and male reindeer grow antlers during the summer. Male reindeer lose their antlers in November and early December. Female reindeer don't lose their antlers until after they give birth in the Spring.

I hope this helps you get into the holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Entertaining Web Site

http://producten.hema.nl/

I love this web site. I'd gotten the link to it in an e-mail before, but I recently visited it again. It's a real Dutch web site, and very entertaining. It's my understanding that they won a big award for their "presentation". Just remember to turn on you volume before you go to it, or you'll miss half the fun. (Just don't turn it up full blast, or you'll jump out of your chair in the end.)

Thoughts For The Day

Bob decided that his new diet might be working a little too well. Someone needs a hug.

Does this outfit make my butt look big?

Happy Birthday Brandon

Today is Brandon's 11th Birthday! Wow! I can't believe how fast time is going by! My babies are all grown up.

Brandon was thrilled with all of his Birthday presents. A month or so ago, he started Birthday wish list on the fridge. After a week, the list was entirely too long. Then he changed it to a Christmas/Birthday list. He put a check beside the things that he wanted for his Birthday. "Santa can bring everything else," he said. "I don't think so," I said. He reworked the list again.

He did luck out and get the things that he really wanted. Here he is thinking, "Mom had better have stocked up on batteries!" This is going to be fun!

The thing he has been asking for more than anything was a Nerf Long Shot. He was SO EXCITED when he got it.

It is two guns in one, and can shoot around 30-35 feet. It really is pretty cool. He has been shooting things all over the house. The "bullets" are stored in two clips, so they are cat proof (which is a big bonus). The cats ate the foam bullets from the other gun he has. Trust me, that's not something you want to see.

Apparently once you start shooting things with this massive weapon, you also have to start talking like the Terminator. Not only does he shoot you, but he does it with attitude.

Cold Winter Day

It's 8 degrees. It's a dry 8, not a humid one, but no matter how you label it, 8 is cold. Stay in the house, curl up with a blanket, drink hot coffee cold. Did I mention how cold it is? It's cold. The weather station has lots of gadgets to measure how deep the snowfall is. Here at our house, we have The Table. It's our summer table located on the back patio. How much did it snow last night? I don't know, let's go check The Table. The Table never lies or approximates, it just tells it like it is. You can trust The Table. We got a LOT of snow this weekend.

It warmed up into the low 30's over the weekend, too, and we ended up with some great icicles on the front porch. They won't last long. The neighborhood kids like to break them off and sword fight with them. Among other things. One neighborhood kid just likes to eat them. No, it is not my kid.

Russ' poor truck doesn't care much for winter. It ended up partially buried in a snow drift yesterday. We had to dig it out. Did I mention we got a LOT of snow? Did I also mention it's COLD? Anyway, here the truck sits and dreams of summer days in Florida, or California, or Arizona...

The trees always look so great after a heavy snowfall. It reminds me of icing on Christmas cookies. I took this picture on Saturday out at Hillburg. This handsome fellow was hanging out by the lake there and watching for a meal.

Hillburg Is Open!

You know the Christmas season has officially begun when the ski resort on base opens. Now it's time for tubing, skiing, sledding, snowboarding..... We went out there Saturday afternoon and went sledding on the bunny slopes. It was a lot of fun. Jess took some videos and pictures, and I hope to upload them later today. It started snowing Saturday afternoon, and didn't stop until late Sunday. We got around a foot of snow in all. It's very pretty now, but was a bit of a pain to clear off of the sidewalks and driveway (because I sort of forgot we were out of gas for the snow blower). My bad. I had emptied it out and forgot to mention that fact to Russ. Neither one of us wanted to head out last night to get more, so instead, we teamed up with the snow shovels and did it the old fashioned way. Actually, it wasn't that bad, and we got our exercise in. (Russ mostly, I was more of an assistant. :0) )