Home again home again

I'm so far behind I'm not even sure where to begin. 

Christmas is literally just around the corner so I figure I better update the last month or else everything is really going to be muddled together. 

Our tree is up and there are lots of partially wrapped presents under it.  N is really into unwrapping, he is not so interested in waiting until Christmas morning.  I'm not sure I'm the right person to be enforcing that rule since I wasn't much better.  I was just older and wiser and knew how to rewrap presents a little more than he does.  He just looks at them and say "Uh Oh".    He is covering his tracks though - he throws the wrapping paper and the present in the garbage.  I should be doing a daily inventory to make sure everything is still under the tree at the end of the day.

So we had quite the month.

I think in my previous entry I said that we were going to be travelling through 7 different airports to get to Halifax.  It sounds crazy just saying it - actually doing it was a tad overwhelming.  Add into the mix:
- a two year old (who thankfully was very well behaved)
- a dog (yes Scotia came home with us and travelled on board with us
- and a snowstorm

This was the twin otter we took out of Paulatuk. 

Pretty fancy ; )  Yes, that's the open cockpit you see, we

have different security up here.

This is at the Inuvik airport. 

We spent the night in Inuvik.

This is the morning after the big storm.

Just what we wanted to see....snow.

Sense the sarcasm....

The end result was 8 airports, and an extra five hours added onto a already long day three of which were spent on a tarmac in Montreal after we turned around overtop of the Halifax airport and diverted back, a new flight crew because the original one timed out, two tired parents, a dog who must have had her legs crossed because there were no pee breaks for her and one 2 year who was an absolute champ.

Needless to say, we were happy to finally land in Halifax - thrilled to see N with his Grandparents and almost just as excited to crawl into bed.

Before landing in Halifax we spent a few days in Calgary.  We brought the cold weather with us but that didn't stop us from having a great time. 

We went to the zoo with R's brother:

We rented this little waggon - I'm not sure who used

it more, N or R.  Kids.....

N's favourites were the chimps and the lions.

We went to the huge mall just outside Calgary.  What I had anticipated would be an hour or so visit ended up being an entire day spent at the mall.  We didn't even shop, just looked at everything. 


And we were able to visit R's sisters beautiful new house. Once N his cousin A warmed upto each other they had a blast chasing each other around.  It was fun for us all to watch those two run around the kitchen island.  I'm sure it won't be the last time those two tear around that kitchen island.

After a great couple of days in Calgary we were off to Halifax.  Like I mentioned before it was a longer trip than we had anticipated and we were welcomed by alot of the "white stuff" which we hadn't expected, nor did we necessarily want to see. 

But it was great to be back.  Scotia (dog) always knows exactly where she is as soon as she smells the salt in the air.  She never says a peep on the plane, but as soon as we are waiting for our luggage she's beyond herself.

N who can sometimes play a little shy, went right to his Grandad F.  They toured the airport as we anxiously waited for luggage.  Once we got to my parents house he knew where he was.  He greeted Grammy F and then checked out the rest of the house. 

The next few days were spent be bopping from house to house.  There's so many people to see and so little time. 

N went to his first shed party:

N and his little cousin M had a blast at the Wildlife Park.  Yes they are holding hands.  So sweet!

I met up with an old friend and her boys and N and I went to the park.  N saw the playground and squealed.  Christmas came early for him.  Boy still LOVES to swing.

We also managed to catch a Santa Parade.  It didn't take too long for N to catch onto the whole candy throwing thing.  He had his hands and pockets full pretty quick.  Also - just by chance we happened upon our old neighbours from Yellowknife.  What are the chances of the that?  Not great, but it was neat to see them. 

Some of you will laugh now because you know I use to do this often. 

Where is the perfect spot to stash your keys so you won't lose them?

Ontop of the tire.

Oh yeah, I did it.  This use to be my go to spot to leave my keys.  I use to put them there all the time, it was the perfect spot so I'd never leave them behind.  I didn't use to carry a purse so I always thought they'd fall out of my pocket which I guess must have been what I thought before we took the walk up the road the day before.  The only problem is I forgot I put them there. 

That never use to happen.

Coming in the house to tell R and his Mom, who were also still searching the house for the millionth time, to tell them I found the keys that I had placed on the tire the day before was a tad embarrassing.....

Yes - I think we are a bit crazy.  As if we hadn't done enough flying we did more.  Much more. 

We went to Mexico and had an absolute blast. 

From Mexico we went back to NS for a few days and then we were on our way North again. 

We counted, a total of 8 days travelling.  It was alot, but every stop was well worth it. 

Coming back to Paulatuk was another "only in the North" experience.  We got on the plane and it was COLD.  I'm not even kidding when I say that N was laughing because he could see his breath.  At least he was entertained.  It eventually warmed up, but for awhile there I was pretty thrilled to be tucked in my parka!

Phew - I think I'm finally all caught up.  I know I missed lots but maybe I'll add bits and pieces in on later posts.  I have a picture I need to share of  my neighbours new lawn ornament. 

A frozen seal. 

Really.

Merry Christmas Everyone - from the North Pole!



Yesterday I went for a walk on the Arctic Ocean.  It's not everyday you can do that!

It only seems fitting that it was stinking COLD.  To be exact it was -28 with the windchill.  I know some people say "ahhh, windchill doesn't count"  I'd like those people to come for a walk with me when the wind is coming straight at your face.  It counts.

A friend and I were trudging through the snow and I was talking about going on vacation one time while we were living in Ft. MacPherson (another small Northern town).  Ryan and I had walked into a large Southern grocery store and literally spent an hour just walking around the produce section.  She was telling me about how last year she had gone on a much overdue vacation and her first stop was a hotel that had a fruit platter for guests to pick at.  She said she spotted the most perfect banana.  She described and I could envision it.  To you it looks like a regular banana.  To her it was more than that.  It was a bright yellow, unbruised, never frozen banana.  She said she started crying.  I knew exactly where she was coming from.

Our community has been feeling pretty fortunate the last month or so.  We have a new grocery store manager who is simply wonderful.  You have to remember this is the only grocery store, the only store actually.  He has been bringing in lots of "fresh" fruit and vegetables and believe me, it is not going unnoticed.  Just the other night another lady was giddy telling me about how she picked up spinach at the store.  She also told me that she told the manager to call her if it wasn't selling and she'd buy it all.  There were even mango's there last week.  This is a seriously big deal.  Previous to this manager, I can tell you exactly what fruit and vegetables were available in town.  Iceberg lettuce, cucumber, 4 tomatoes for $9.00, abag of three peppers, potatoes and onions.  That's it.  There was no squash, turnip or sweet potato in town for Thanksgiving nor were there were pumpkins at Halloween.  So spinach and mango are a big deal.  We even have whole pineapple............for $18.00. 

I don't think I've ever talked about our phone numbers up here.  It's another one for the "the truly Northern list".  Essentially all you ever have to remember is 3 numbers.  With 38 house phone numbers in town I'm sure most people know everyone's number.  That is except for whoever has been calling our house in the middle of the night asking for Frank.   Anyhow, everyone has 580-3_ _ _  Super easy for remembering.  Just another example of our peaceful, cell phoneless, quiet life.

All that is about to change later this week though, because vacation is upon us.

Back to the crazy, hectic, world full of traffic, cell phones and texting..................hmmmmm that doesn't exactly sound like vacation does it.

I've never written anything in the past about vacation on facebook or anything like that until it has already happened and I'm back safe and sound at home, totally for safety reasons.  Why tell everybody your NOT home.  No thanks.  But this time it's different.  Everybody in town will already know we are gone, they'll also know somebody else is staying at the house with our two big dogs and I really don't suspect anybody from out of town to come rob us............what are they going to take???? and where are they going to take it????  Nope, not a concern. 

Vacation starts Friday and it will involve travelling through 7 different airports one way, to eventually get to Halifax.   On Friday we travel on a very small plane to Inuvik, NT where we spend the night.  Saturday we go to Yellowknife,  Edmonton and then Calgary.  We'll be spending a few days there with family and friends and taking in some of the local attractions the the Zoo, Banff and a hair dresser.  Yes, I'm excited for the Zoo, and Banff is always breathtaking, but I'm really looking forward to getting my hair done. 

From Calgary we go to Toronto and then onto Halifax where we'll be for about 2 weeks before we head South for some fun in the sun.  Hola, Mexico.  It's crazy to think there could easily be a 60 degree temperature difference between Mexico and Paulatuk.  It'll be nice to be on the warm side for once!  From Mexico we go back to NS for another week and then head North all over again.

As strange as it is, I'm not quite ready for vacation.  Of course I'm looking forward to seeing N with his grandparents again.  The thought of it brings tears to my eyes actually.  But I'm not itching for vacation like I had been in the past.  I haven't had a big countdown going or anything, I don't have our suitcases packed, but I do have about 4 lists going about what to pack, what to do before we go, what our vacation "schedule" is, and another list of cloths that my Mom has waiting for N in NS.  From looking at the list I don't think I need to pack anything for him.  Other than "puppy", if we left Paulatuk without puppy we might have to turn the plane around.

Don't laugh at my lists.  Not only do I love lists but it's a bit of a packing juggling act trying to figure out how much we are actually allowed to pack.  Three different airlines, and all three have different weight restrictions....of course.  The airline leaving Paulatuk has flyers posted around town stating that all passengers need to be dressed in full winter gear or they will not be allowed to board the plane.  Fair enough, it's a small plane and heating is not at the top of the priority list. It can get get cold if your not up front with the pilot with the heat vent blowing right at you.  Thankfully we are able to drop our goose down parkas with friends in Yellowknife.  I LOVE my parka, but I don't want to be hauling that and -50 degree boots across the country. 

As you can see I am still unable to upload pictures but hopefully I'll get a chance while we are in Calgary because I have some great ones.

Beluga teeth



Our very own mini iceburgs

Me standing on the edge of the world...kidding, kind of

This is how I found him one morning

When I busted him he stuffed a bunch up his nose

Sunrise one morning

Remembrance Day

I built a sand castle on the Arctic Ocean

It was -30, everything in our world was frozen

but the sand was still nice and soft

Baking is one of N's favorite activities



That's all for now - everyone please cross your fingers for clear skies on Friday, if we can't make it out on that plane we are hopped.

BACK (hopefully)

So I'm back on line. 

A friend loaned us a computer to use until we can get ours fixed.  We are going to bring it to Calgary with us while we are there to get it running again.  We figure it'll take about the same amount of time to send it out, get it fixed and send it back up.  So that's our plan.  I'm a tad technically challenged but when I heard a jingle coming from inside the computer and realized the there was no prong to plug the battery into anymore....I knew we had a problem.

Anyhow - I am thankful for friends who are willing to loan out a computers. 

R didn't think it was going to such a big deal because we could just use his Ipod.  I know you would get a BIG chuckle out of the story, but R would be much too embarrassed for me to tell it.  Why we now have a new Ipod on order and why the the broken one ended up in the oven.  Let me just say that even if you bake a wet Ipod - it will NOT work.

So it has been much too long.  I have a few great Northern stories and some wonderful pictures but unfortunately I can't add them.  I'll do it once I have our computer back.

So first funny story.

Playschool has quickly become part of our schedule and I'm not sure who is enjoying it more.  N or me.  He is loving seeing the other kids, even if it is just to say "hi" as he scoots past on route to whatever has caught his attention.  He loves dumping the tubs of various building supplies.  He likes to build torches out of some plastic building supplies and carry them as high as he can.  Some of the older kids were doing it one day but had used up all the supplies, but you can be sure it was the first thing he spotted the next time we went.  He built it and marched around just like a little Olympian.  He likes to color, on the paper and especially on the table.  But I am fairly certain his favorite time is "snack" time.   Snack time is actually a full lunch.  We are talking, goose soup, cheese, homemade bread, chicken nuggets, caribou stew.... He like the whole process, washing hands, eating, drinking from a big boy cup (which I'm glad to report has only produced one soaked shirt that was promptly put in the dryer and he was dressed like a carpenter for the rest of the day), and brushing his teeth.  I'm sure the teachers think I don't give him lunch at home.  I do, but on Tuesday and Thursday he gets two lunches.  On every occasion except for one, he has eaten two lunches.  He recently passed on Char chowder, but I happily ate it for him while he chowed down on homemade rolls.

Playschool has turned into a social event for both of us.  At first I was the true version of a helicopter mom.  I totally hovered.  After the first day of him being poked in the eye, he wasn't getting too far out of my sight.  I've relaxed a bit.  I'm more comfortable there and so is he.  Some days I try to sit back and just let him interact with the kids and teachers on his own while I sit at the kids table and color.  I forgot how fun coloring could be.  I'm also a bit embarrassed to say that my first pictures needed some improvement.  It takes a bit of practice to get back into the swing of things.

One day N was doing great so I ventured into the kitchen and started doing the dishes.  The phone started ringing and since I was the closest I answered it.  I felt all professional again.  So in my professional voice I answered "Good Afternoon, Paulatuk Preschool", I was a little startled when the man on the other end said, "Ya, does the preschool have any rabbit fur?"

Good question - being new own the job I handed that call off to one of the real professionals and continued washing my dishes.

Halloween was a big deal here.

The night before the gym was set up as a big haunted house.  We didn't make it but I heard it was pretty impressive.  Halloween day the school held a community event where all the kids and adults could dress up and come to the gym for a big assembly.  All the kids and teachers were dressed up as well as all the younger kids who had not yet started school.  The costumes were impressive.  There were butterfly's, bumblebees, lions, mummies, a soldier, drum dancers, ragedy Ann, shrek, gypsies and our little one eyed monster.

To be honest N was not a fan of his costume.  That is until we got to the school and he saw all the other kids dressed up.  Then he thought it was great fun.  It was a perfect day for trick or treating - it was cold but not impossibly cold - once bundled up it was good.  We went trick or treating where we quickly learnt that knocking is not part of the tradition.  You just walk right in.  I continued knocking partly because I think that was N's favorite part and partly because unlike the rest of the trick or treaters, I didn't know who was behind the door and I'm not sure if they would know me.  We went to about 30 houses and got mostly the regular goods.  Some of the different things we got were a chocolate cupcake, a rice crispy square, popcorn and a tangerine.  I know normally I would have automatically thrown these out.  But since I knew exactly where each item came from.....I chowed down.

On our way to school for the big party! 

We actually just carved our pumpkin this morning.  A bit late, but we did it.  R was out of town for a few days before Halloween and somebody gave him a pumpkin, for FREE.  There were no pumpkins in town and since one of N's favorite books is Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin - R couldn't pass it up.  Not even when Aklak Air charged him $30.00 to fly the pumpkin back with him.  So much for the free pumpkin.  N was pretty excited to see a real pumpkin and immediately ran to get him book to compare the picture to the real thing. 

Here's another funny story - I'm not sure why I'm actually to write this here.  I suppose so I can look back on it in a few years and laugh a little more.

N is now into robbing drawers and cupboards.  Yesterday he was in the drawer that has a mis mash of things.  Potatoe masher, pizza cutter, turkey baster, measuring spoons.  I'm sure you all have that drawer, and thats the one he was in.  He was playing with the turkey baster for a little bit, he was having fun with it.  When he was smaller and had baths in the sink we use to squirt water on him with it.  Good fun.  So yesterday as he was playing with it, he made another grab and came out with the pizza cutter.  Uh No.  So I told him to put it back, which he did surprisingly quickly but then stomped over to me and hit me on the leg with the turkey baster.  Yup - I got hit with the turkey baster.  It still makes me laugh.  I had a tough time making it through his 2 minute time out with out busting into laughter.  I did make it, but he didn't help matters by mimiking my postion by siting there with his arms crossed just like I had mine.  My word that kid is cute.

Winter is definitely upon us.  The bay is frozen.  There are skidoo's, quads and dogs out there at any given time.  It is beautiful.  Obviously I enjoy the open ocean more because that means it's warmer out, but really, the frozen snow covered ocean isn't a bad sight either.  It hasn't been extremely cold.  One day it was -29 with the wind.  I was wishing I wore snow pants that day for our walk, but I haven't made that mistake again.  Other than that one day it has been very bearable.  There is no question it's winter, but from I'm hearing this is nothing compared to what January and February are going to dish out.

Anyhow - that's all for now.  I'll try to figure out how to add some pictures and hopefully get them up.  Wish me luck...

Our computer is on the fritz.  I won't have it again for 3 weeks.

Everything is good up here.  The bay is frozen.  People are snowmobiling on it.

We leave on vacation mid-month, so I'll try to update when I can.

I've never watched ice freeze before.  Who knew it was actually kind of fun?

Friday afternoon N and I were out for our daily walk and we happened to meet up with a teacher friend who was on her way home from school.

We decided to head out for a walk up to the point.  I've never headed up that direction before so I was more than happy to head out.  I've been so nervous about a bear encounter that I've just never trekked up that way before.  So I stuffed my bear bangers in my pocket and off we went.

It was a fun little walk.  On the way up we walked along the shore.   There wasn't any ice yet, but the snow was packed between the rocks pretty good so it  was getting a bit slick.  Thankfully we didn't see any bears - I found out a few days later they were hanging out around the corner up by the airport.  Not too far away, but far enough.  We did see a beluga whale......head.  What was left of it anyway.  You could definitely tell what it was but it was in rough shape.  They have a mouthful of teeth, nothing to scary looking though, I'm sure a beluga and a great white have vastly different teeth.  I had my camera, almost took a picture but then I didn't.  It just didn't seem right.  I don't know what is so different about about a caribou skull and a beluga, but something inside me stopped me from snapping.  Maybe if it was just the skeleton it would be different, but there was still some white skin on it, and it just didn't look anything like the majestic animal they are.

Walking back along the shore we looked out and noticed the water looked like it had diesel fuel on it.  How could that be?  It couldn't be, so we realized that we were actually watching the bay start to freeze up.

I snapped this picture around 5:30 pm.  You can see what kind of looks like diesel fuel spilt on the surface.

I took this picture an hour later.  There is clearly ice there.  1 hour.  CRAZY!

This was the next morning.  It looked like the bay was actually opening up again.  It was short lived.  Every morning there is an opening, it gets larger during the day and the next morning, the opening is smaller. 

I took this picture this morning.  Not too many openings left.  BUT, see that black spot in the picture, it's a seal.  I had to zoom in on my KA proof camera to catch him.  He slipped back into the water not too long after this. 

There have been a few news reports lately about the Arctic Ring Seals.  There is some sort of illness infecting many of them this year.  Reportedly there have been 6 dead ones wash up along our shores and many more in Alaska.  I heard from a local lady in town the a Dept. of Ocean and Fisheries officer was up her last week trying to figure out what was going on.  They found two, one healthy and one sick one.  Whatever they have is causing lesions on there back flippers, in their mouth and they are losing their hair in large patches.  It doesn't sound nice.

So that is my picture story of the ice freezing.  I went out to movie night at the health centre Friday night.  We watched a funny Australian movie "Kenny".  It was about a porta potty "plumber".  I thought it was funny, my Mom likely wouldn't.  Anyway, while I was there everyone was talking about the ice freezing up.  I felt a little relieved I wasn't the only one actually watching the ice freeze.  I don't think I am going too crazy from the isolation up here, but the good news is, if I am going crazy, so is the rest of the town.

On second thought,  I guess that doesn't bring much relief after all. 

Saturday afternoon we headed out to the river.  We were all bundled up, ski pants and all.  Surprisingly enough my feet didn't even freeze.

This is what is left of the campsite by the river.  One of the tent frames is there, but the canvas tent I'm assuming has been packed up for the year.  This is the tent where the goose plucking was going on during the picnic.  The other then was just a tent.  There was no elaborate frame so it is totally gone. 

If you look closely at this picture you can see the bed frame in back, the wood stove and a shelving unit.

N spent quite a bit of time playing with the door.  He thought it was fairly important that the door was closed while he was in the tent.  I guess that way it would be totally secure in there.....the invisible walls would obviously keep Mom and Dad out, as long as the door was closed.

I chuckled when I saw this actually happening, and it still makes me smile.  N had been playing with his Dad so I took off and headed out the tent site.  I looked back and this is what I saw.  N trekking over, full steam ahead.  That kid makes me smile!

It's a TREE

Do you think we should be worried that N saw this "tree" and ran over to it and said "Uh Oh"?    Uh Oh is right.  This giant was definitely out of place.  It made me think of The Lone Cyprus along the California coast.  It's an old tree along the very beautiful and scenic #1 hwy that is now growing on a rock out on it own.  It looks like it was once attached the the the rest of the land but the ocean worked it's wonders and now it's out on its own.  It looks out of place.   It's a marked tourist picture spot.  We have the picture.  Do you think I should mark this one, maybe it will draw the tourists....you know, to see the 3' tree.  

N is quite the nature lover.  He took off on a little nature hike down by the river.  He was actually getting a little far away so I was keeping a close eye on him and was getting ready to start after him.  I turned to talk to R and turned back around and N had taken his mitts off and was pointing to something.

  I walked over to find this:

He found a patch of little flowers.  They looked like a smaller version of the straw flowers I had in my garden in Yellowknife.  He was smelling them.  UM - CUTE!!!

Of course since this was a great find he had to show his Dad.  So back we went with flower in tow. 

Dad had a good sniff and the everything was perfect with the world. 

Our days are definitely getting shorter now.  It seems the days are getting shorter just as quickly as the ice is forming.  Just a few weeks ago I was saying, "it seems like the days are normal length".  Not any more.  The official time for sunrise yesterday was 9:36 and for sunset it was18:27  (6:27).  I say official because as I am currently sitting here typing this at 10:11, I am watching a beautiful sunrise.  It's not light out, but it's not dark either.  It's dusky.  Another 45 minutes or so and I think it might be light. 

This is a picture of the sunset on our ride home. You even got a shot of my finger. I'm quite the photographer hey? 

This was sunrise yesterday.  This was around 9:30.

It looks pretty in this picture - but you know it was way nicer than that. My camera doesn't do it justice. Not a bad view from the kitchen.

N has started to find it really funny to hide.  He started just covering himself in blankets and walking around.  It's pretty funny, and yes he has run into a few walls but he thinks that is pretty funny too.   The dogs don't think this is such a great trick.  It freaks them out.  Morley (English Mastiff) is a bit of a nervous guy to start with so anything that is out of the ordinary is not really welcome in his world.  Athena (Great Dane) just follows him around.  She waits for him to drop the blanket and then tries to lay on it, and Scotia.....well she's just Scotia.  Sometimes she's interested and sometimes she's just too busy for that nonsense.

Monday morning N kicked the hiding up a notch. 

This is where I found him.  I just happened to catch a glimpse of him just like this.  He had stolen puppy from his crib and was happy as a clam tucked inside his nightstand.  He thought it was great fun.  I watched him maneuver himself in there a few times.  It was no easy feat.  When R came home for lunch I told N to show him his new hiding spot.  Sure enough, he tucked himself inside as R watched in disbelief.

It made me laugh, but also caused me a little worry.  That's a pretty good hiding spot.  What would he find next? 

I am happy to report that Tuesday morning he was hiding again.  Behind the curtains in our bedroom.  The curtains covered his head and shoulders, so as I walked in I could see his belly and legs sticking out the bottom.  Oh, and his hand holding the curtain in place.

I like this hiding place much better.

All is perfect with the world again.

Let's take a walk

The past couple of days have been dreamy in Paulatuk.  Winter wonderland dreamy.

The temperature has been hovering right around zero.  There is a blanket of snow covering the ground which actually makes it more picturesque because the thin layer of white is prettier than the brown mud.  I can actually say that I am really enjoying this temperature. 

I use to LOVE the heat.  30 degrees was bliss.  The past few years the hottest I wanted see is 25 but I've decided 22 is my perfect outside temperature in the summer.  It's warm but not sweltering.  You can still do whatever you want during the day and be comfortable and it cools down enough at night so that you can sleep comfortably.

Nothing beats the Fall.  Who doesn't love dressing up in a comfy sweater and heading out for a walk.  Kicking leaves as you walk down the sidewalk or down a path leading to some sight that Mother Nature cast a special spell on all while breathing in the crisp fresh air that only Autumn can provide.

The past few days have kind of been just an extension of Fall.  True enough I bundled N up in his snowsuit for the first time today, but it's not freezing, it's nice.   Yesterday we went out for our walk which normally takes around 45 minutes once it's all said and done.  I measured town the other day too.  Just to see how far I've been walking.  Let's just say I'm not walking any marathons. 

Town is shorter than I thought.  I guessed it was around 2 km.  Nope.  From one end of the road to the other it is 1.2 km.  So it's only a 2.4 km walk.  Before you start snickering to yourself that it takes me 45 minutes to walk 2.4 km I'd just like to remind you that I do have N with me and N likes to walk now too.  He pushes his stroller down the road, chases the Sik Sik's (ground squirrels) and runs after any kid he sees within sight.   Yesterday he literally took off across the street to play with the kids leaving school.  No need to worry about traffic.  Everyone goes slow on our 1.2 km road and 4 wheelers by far out number any trucks on the road anyway.

 

Yesterdays 45 minute walk turned into 2 hours.  It was so nice outside.  It was warm (ish) but soooo foggy.  The crazy thing was that even with all the fog there was still a rainbow.  I just can't get over how many rainbows there are up here. 

We met up with a group of kids on their way home from school and walked awhile with them.  The boys took turns pushing N's empty stroller and sliding down the road on their knees with just there regular pants on.  I'm sure their Mom's will love that.  And you know monkey see monkey do.  N wasn't too far behind them practicing up his sliding skills.  We do have a sled, but I'm not sure he'll want it once he polishes up his new trick.

The kids went their own way once we got the cemetery.  They said they missed their Grandma and were going to go visit her.   Isn't that sweet!  I watched them with a heavy heart as they went into the cemetery and gathered around a white cross.  These kids were 13, 9 & 8 - they were there for awhile because they were still in there when we came back around the loop.

There was a new sight in town yesterday too.

I did a double take when I initially saw him.  But yup.  It really was a grizzly.  Different seasons bring different sights.  July was muktuk, September was Char (fish) hanging and now  this.  

We also walk past this everyday.

Caribou. 

Which reminds me.  Today at playschool one of the kids brought dry meat for a treat.  It's kind of like beef jerky except it's made with caribou.  N tried it out.  He kind of just gummed it but seemed to like it.  He went back to it a few times.  The other kids LOVED it.  I tried it....

On our walk home yesterday we were almost home.  Just coming up to the house when we got buzzed by a plane.  We looked up and it was literally right over top of us.  Remember I said it was really foggy.  Well the plane did 4 loops around before he decided land.  N and watched as he flew over, did a loop, and continued to do that 3 more times.  It was starting to make me really nervous for him, but he landed safe and sound.  N got a kick out of seeing the plane do loops and being so close.  He had a huge grin on his face.  It's the little things. 

It would go well with my plane story if I could also tell you that this was on the plane.

But, it's not.  It's going on tomorrow's plane so it will be at it's destination next week.  Then it'll be official.

On the road again!