This is a true Alaskan winter. I doubt it's an extreme one, but after several mild ones this feels tough. Perhaps this would have been a better year to have planned a Hawaiian getaway.

The days are getting longer and a handful of summer plans are coming together; we are planning for the snow to melt and feel ourselves now being pulled towards it. Henry is registered for a week of camp at the science center. As a family, we've reserved a public use cabin for a single night in July with the plan of introducing Piper to some Alaskan camping.



The biggest summer plan is Henry's cub scout camp. While Camp Gorsuch was always on our radar for this summer, the happy surprise last week was confirmation that a Tiger Scout like Henry is able to stay overnight given that his guardian (me) camps with him. It's an exception to a rule restricting overnight camping to older scouts. Henry is very excited about it, and I'm very excited to head to a place where I get to turn off my phone and PC for a week.



Piper is now registered for pre-school this coming fall, so potty training has a firm goal. Piper does a great job of not having accidents, assuming she's not wearing pants. When the pants are on, the message received is that you are welcome to let it rip. It makes sense in its own way, but it remains our largest impediment.