It's in the 40s this week, so our meager amount of snow is melting away. Even though our winter will still last 6 months as usual, it will end up being much mellower than the Midwest. It's really put a dent in our sledding, though it's been an excellent ice skating year. We've had enough bitter cold to make plenty of ice, we've just had little snow to cover it up.

Preschool had a mustache day for reasons I still do not understand. I do know that everyone seemed to love it, which is more than enough justification for me. I'm behind any plan that makes the kids this happy.





I spend a great deal of time these days sitting on the floor either building Lego trucks or wooden trains, and Piper is never more happy than when she's right in the middle of whatever is going on. The picture below captures our usual setup. If I can keep the Legos out of her reach while snapping them together, we can sit like this for hours. She even dozes off at times.





Even Henry is hungry for more snow!

Our winter continues be less than brutal, and our daylight happily increases every day.  We'll make it to summer before we know it. We've been to a few Alaska Aces games this January and the ice at Cheney Lake has been calling Henry's name a fair amount. Becky and I never stop enjoying  having a well maintained frozen lake 2 blocks from our home.

Henry gets a little better on his skates each time, but most importantly his confidence keeps increasing. After 30 minutes of skating he'll usually put his boots back on and climb around in the snow while I skate a bit longer near him. Once one of the hockey nets is available we inevitably descend into our hockey game.

Henry holds his small stick, stares down the puck as it is lined up flush with the blade, and then pushes it towards the goalie (Daddy), where it slides into the goal as I stand unmoving. I will announce that I blocked his shot if he shoots directly at my stationary foot. That is rare though. He usually lines it up just fine for the five hole.

 "You scored, Henry."

"You have to fall down, Daddy. The goalie always has to fall down."

At this point I move my phone and keys to the top of the goal and slide down to the ice for each goal he shoots my way.

He is all smiles as I flop from the right to the left."We are playing for the championship cup!"

In all fairness, Henry is happy to flop around when I slide pucks his way as well. He loves taking his turn in the net.






Thanks to Encyclopedia Brown and Scooby-Doo books, everything we find outside is a clue. I don't know what the mystery is, but the sticks, leaves, and old pucks are all keys to it.




We've had the opportunity to see the northern lights here in Anchorage lately, which is a treat. It's also a treat to be able to do so with the temps above zero. Standing outside at 2am at -10 is not too fun.




Piper is completely fascinated by her big brother. She smiles endlessly as he runs around, tells her stories, shares toys, and leans in for hugs. He's a very loving brother to her, and it's clear she feels it. Life is pretty good for us.

Henry checked the Santa Tracker app on my phone more than a few times before tenderly setting out the milk and cookies. Bedtime is never that difficult, but my was it silky smooth on Christmas Eve. The morning went as anticipated, Henry had a great time tearing open his gifts and also took joy in helping Piper open hers, and soon we were awash in paper and requests for Daddy to build the Legos. Unlike last year, Henry came up for air and had something to eat, which was wise. A long day of stimulation and playing was ahead.



Piper was a great sport as well, allowing more than a few pictures in her holiday dress before descending into tears at being propped up. Henry had a great time playing with Bella out at Randy and Kelly's, ate a well rounded Christmas dinner, and then promptly fell asleep on the ride home, clutching a cement mixer.

 The prime rib was buttery tender and the company as jovial and welcoming as always. Busy lives keep getting in the way of seeing all these good people more often.



Full set of Christmas photos here.

Christmas along with Grandpa Barnes' visit adds up to a busy holiday season that we are finally recovering from. Grandpa had a few projects to handle out in Chugiak, though mostly he just enjoyed visiting with everyone, particularly Piper.

Over the course of their first few meetings they just plane wore each other out.




Applebees means apple juice and coffee for these two. When all of us were together, Henry reached for Grandpa's hand far more often than Mom or Dad's. For 2 weeks he was Grandpa's guy without a doubt. I know he really loved bunking in the same room as Grandpa.

Daddy was still useful though, as I have the dexterity to build up Lego sets.




Plenty of Christmas pictures here.

The Alaska Railroad offers a Holiday Train each December. I understand they've been doing this for years, though like most things of this sort, I had no idea until I was chasing around my own preschooler. I was told it's pricey, sells out quickly, and is a blast. All of that is completely correct.

Henry had been doing very well in school and there is no denying how bananas he is about trains, so this was an excellent event for us. Becky and Piper took a pass, but will certainly be around in the coming years.

They offered a morning train and an afternoon train. We chose the morning one as it didn't collide directly with nap time. The picture below was taken just before departure. Yes, 10 am in December is almost sunrise!



The train rumbled along Turnagain Arm, stopping to watch Dall Sheep along the way. We finally ground to a halt in the speck of a town called Indian.

Henry wanted to know what happened, so I gave him an answer. "The engine ran out of gas."

"Will a tanker be coming to fill it up?"

"Yep. Exactly."

We soon lurched back towards Anchorage and Henry resumed gazing intently towards the ocean, mountains, and highway.

Kids all over the train had shades of meltdowns at different times. Not Hank. He requested a snack now and again, but largely spent his time quietly absorbing it all. He didn't even touch the coloring book they handed out.




Full set of photos here.

St Nick's day seems to be a regional event, though one that was certainly strong in Chicago. I suspect attending St Nick's elementary school may have helped as well.

Everybody I knew left out their shoes in early December in order to receive a teaser gift if you will -- it was always something small but exciting. St. Nick visited Anchorage and left a small plastic ball for Piper and a Thomas Christmas train for Henry. He was also kind enough to leave a Christmas book for both kids. As you can see, it was very exciting.


Henry was more than happy to offer Piper some help in opening her gift. I'm sure his helpfulness will be utilized on the 25th.



Henry is getting exceptionally pumped for Christmas and Santa this year. He enjoyed it last year, and thankfully the anticipation has only grown. 

We'll turn on the Norad Santa tracker tonight and enjoy dinner with Grandpa Barnes. Henry should come shooting out of a cannon around 6 am on the 25th.

Henry's Christmas concert was earlier today and it went very well. He doesn't seem to care much for singing (even around the house when Mommy or Daddy sings), but he did an excellent job of standing politely with his classmates.







In the last video you get to see Henry showing off his tummy. Charming!