Equinox marathon day

Max made it back from his Aleutians trip just in time to run the Equinox marathon. Kieran and I resisted a good Saturday sleep-in and pulled ourselves out of bed to meet Rachel and a few other folks in time to see Max cross Goldstream road. Kieran wasn't quite sure what to think of things at this point, but he sure got into the spirit of cheering on the runners a little later in the race. He was all grins after he really woke up and was more than pleased to put his newly perfected clapping skills to good use!

George showed up after watching Michael at the start - she doesn't let kiddo number two slow her down in the least...even when kiddo number one refuses to use his own legs :)

Rachel aptly named this "camp marathon". We had a bit of a wait at the second cheering location. Plenty of time for a much needed diaper change on the hood of the car (burrr) and a chat with other onlookers.

Here comes Pappa! Max had a great race with a time about on par with previous attempts. His post-race form showed evidence of a bit more wear and tear, however. He barely made it up the stairs on his hands and knees before collapsing in the jacuzzi for a long, hot soak. I should have taken a picture of the stair crawl to inspire a bit more training for next year's race!

Caroline and Ashley kept each other going - and laughing, I think.

Kieran thought this was a pretty exciting day. At our final stop he waited for daddy to show up and give him a nice cold, wet kiss before he drifted off to dreamland in his little backpack.

Later that day the boys went bowling and the girls gathered at our house to help Ellie celebrate her last months as a mother of one - and Cashell's last months of her time being her own. Kieran sure isn't going to have a shortage of buddies to play with in the near future!

Ta Da! Yummy AND nutritious! Thanks Marla :)

On Sunday we woke up to a few inches of early snow. Kieran was delighted with the change in scenery around the house and couldn't wait to get out to investigate. After chewing on a few snowballs I made for him for breakfast we suited him up in his winter gear and plopped him on the deck.

He was able to do some up-close investigating before he decided that his hands weren't happy to be covered in snow. Maybe next time he'll let us put his little hands in mittens! His first achy-cold finger experience hasn't soured him for the outdoors. Evey time we open the deck door to let cats in or out he makes a break for it, hoping that he can just sneak out on Rufus' tail.

I'm starting to see a resemblance here...go, go, go, go, go, snooze.

The Palin phenomenon

Since Sarah Palin was thrust into the national spotlight I think every Alaskan has probably lost track of how many times we've been asked by curious "outside" friends and family "What do you think of her?" and "What do you think of her nomination?". The consensus among friends around the university, women and men, is that she made a decent governor (only party because the one she replaced was so abysmal) and that in the last 2 weeks she's become almost unrecognizable as the Sarah Palin we knew as governor. I marvel at the mysterious process that transformed a small-state governor into a sound-bite uttering national politician in just a week...it must be intense! How she managed that while caring for an infant is beyond me. Anyway, there was a rally in Anchorage recently that expressed similar opinions via homemade signs (but there are, of course, plenty of Alaskan's who think her nomination rivals sliced bread). These were emailed to me, ironically, by friends living in the lower 48.


It sure is eye-opening to watch what happens when the political machine moves in and takes over in a small, out of the way state! Nice to see that the locals can still make themselves heard over all the spin. As much as I'd like to see a woman in the white house, I can't take Sarah Palin V.P. seriously, and frankly, I find listening to her tough talk about foreign policy a little creepy. That said, I must acknowledge that a McCain/Palin win could be the best thing to ever happen to Saturday Night Live.

While Max is away...

Max is enjoying a pretty unique opportunity to visit one of the recently erupted volcanic islands out on the Aleutian chain. His job is to get as close as possible to the business end of the volcano and hang around there for as long as it takes to set up one of his GPS sites. Hmm, on second thought maybe I shouldn't have agreed so quickly to this. So far so good, it seems. He sent this photo earlier in the week. What a wild landscape! I'm sure he'll have plenty more to share when he gets home. In the meantime, Kieran and I have kept ourselves busy...


We joined Rachel for some late-season raspberry picking at the farm down the hill. All the rain and cooler temps in August made for some beautiful and very late berries! You can see from the picture that Rachel only has eyes for Kieran ;)

We took our berries to Carrie and Duff's house over the weekend. Carrie and Thea hosted a scrumptious brunch of eggs bennie and Rachel made raspberry crepes. Mmm.

The kiddos enjoyed a playdate. Kieran had a great time playing with Thea's toys while she was swinging away. Nothing's better than a pile of toys you've never played with before!

This one was pretty exciting. Kieran's checking out his ride.

It took a few of us to figure out how to start it. I hope Kieran wasn't too disappointed to discover that even when "started" it doesn't move. Oh well, it played some nice music and the dash board sure lit up!

Kieran even had a chance to visit with his old Bumbo. What a fun morning!

Early September

After all the rain that fell during August we've been treated to one of those wonderfully sunny, dry, crisp, and beautifully colorful autumns that we wish for every year but rarely get. The smell of fall leaves is in the air and there are still a few cranes calling in the distance. How nice to spend time outside with Kieran - on the deck, on walks, at outdoor potluck dinners - before winter sets in!


The birches reached peak yellow over the weekend. This one was a little early (showoff).


Kieran worked on some colors of his own last week - eg. marinara red. Here we have the requisite spaghetti dinner pictures. It was his first noodle experience - you can see that it was a delightful one :)


Num num num num...


We finally got around to installing Kieran's jumpy seat since he grew out of/lost interest in his crazy jumperoo. We don't have trim around our doors which meant we had to drill into the ceiling to hang it. Since we weren't restricted to a doorway, and a hole in the new ceiling is a hole in the new ceiling, no matter where it is, we decided the best spot would be in the very middle and busiest area of the downstairs. We weren't wrong. Kieran loves hanging around right in the middle of all the action while producing lots and lots of jumping action of his own!


He still has those super cute dimples :)


We had an impromptu deck party over the weekend to celebrate another gorgeous Saturday and Max's and Jeremy's birthdays. It was a good test of the half-built deck's strength - nice job Duff! Max mentioned afterwards that he needs to get used to social events that more resemble daycare than parties.


Happy birthday boys.


Kieran shared his favorite seat with his favorite ladies. Lola knew exactly what to do and relished being the center of attention and in the center of the party (Sue says Lola's swing is off in a corner where she definitely feels a bit ignored). Kieran looks as if he's keeping a close eye on her - "Not too rough on my swing there missy!"


Now that's a happy baby!


Little Julia tried it out too. She did some lovely ballet turns but it'll be another few weeks before she's really able to get this thing rockin'.


We had friends Caroline and Pat at our place for a few days while they got settled into Fairbanks. It's been lots of fun having them around and getting caught up on what they've been doing over the past year or two. We're happy to have a couple of old friends move up here, if only temporarily, after losing so many to other Fairbanks friends to more southerly AK locales and the lower 48.


Max spent his weekend days playing with this little toy. We had some erosion issues that needed attention and a few holes to drill for the rest of the deck, a wood shed, and (sigh) a future sauna.


Auntie Rachel, babysitter extraordinaire, watched Kieran for us while Max and I drilled lots of holes in the yard. She's got the touch - Kieran took his longest nap at home in months while she was with him. I'm thinking of asking her to move in with us ;)


Pat came to the rescue to help Max finish backfilling the support tubes in the holes before dark and before Max had to catch a flight to Dutch Harbor that night. Thanks Pat! Max was even able to get a couple of hours of sleep after finishing the last few holes by headlamp.


On our way home last night Kieran and I were surprised by a small family of moose taking a little siesta in our excavation pit. This was as close as I dared to get with Kieran on my back which was probably a little closer than this mom wanted to see us. We've noticed more moose activity in our woods this fall than last. Bushka and Grandaddy, the cow and calf we saw so regularly when you were with us are doing fine. Last spotted them just at the edge of our yard below the house early Friday morning.


That's what we've been up to. Thanks for stopping by. We'll see you next time!

August wrap up

August is wrapping up - seems like it just began! - and the seasons are changing so it might be a good idea to get one last summer posting in while we can. It's been a fun month with trips, crawling and a wedding and Kieran just keeps getting happier, bigger, and cuter (if that's possible). He's doing lots of exploring now that he's mobile. This day he found his way out to the deck with Rufus. In fact, Rufus spends so much time near Kieran that it can be hard to get a picture with just Kieran!


Kieran checks out the back yard from up high. Now that the temperatures are dropping we've had to find the winter gear again. Some of it still fits. Thanks again to Sarah for his great hat! Looks like we'll get another season out of it :)


Kieran and Rufus hanging out upstairs before bed.


Max did a few trips this month both for work and for fun. Here's a work trip (looks like fun). The colors were really showing up in the high country by mid-month. This is off the Steese Hwy. near 12 mile summit.


Same place. Beautiful! [Max - Typical rolling tundra of the Yukon-Tanana uplands.]


Self potrait. What a terrible job Max has. [The grimace was due to a recent 10km fun run.]


The boat finally made it down to Valdez. Jeremy and Max loaded up the fishing gear and headed south for silver salmon fun. They ended up with more fun than salmon, but fun's good too.
"The run was either late or weak. The cost of fuel made the whole trip a questionable proposition, but at least we ate some really good halibut fish and chips!"



Looks like they got a up a little too early for Jeremy. Maybe Max should have been driving the boat? [nothing to hit out there]


They stopped by Shoup Bay to check out the kittiwake colony and the glacier. The kittiwakes were looking good but they were apparently dealing with some pretty strong predation pressure this year. Max's old boss only counted 500 chicks out of approx 7,000 nests.


Nice to see that the glacier is still there. [In fact, the terminus appears to have stabilized on a berm of moraine gravel and advanced a little into the water from last year's position.]


There was another trip to Valdez, this time for work (again, looks awful). Max helped friend and coworker Julie (in the picture below) with some remote GPS sites in the Chugach and St. Elias range for a day. They found lots of snow and countless magnificent views.


I'm not sure this is a parking spot. [This wonderous flower covered knoll, east of the Seward Glacier, and surrounded by ice was dubbed "Shangri-La" and is a haven for the elusive yeti.]

Mount Owen from Shangri-la.


[On the way back we flew over the Sheridan Glacier, between Cordova and the Copper River.]



At the end of the month we drove to Anchorage for the wedding of Ann and Dustin. They chose an absolutely beautiful and perfect spot on a beach off the ski trails at the edge of Kincaid Park. The weather couldn't have been better - dramatic clouds, views of mountains, ever changing light, and just a hint of a breeze. Kieran enjoyed hanging out with the beautiful bride.


The ceremony.


Exploring the beach flowers.


And spending some fun time with Auntie Shiway. This was a wonderful reunion of a terrific group of friends that we surely wouldn't want to have missed! Ann and Dustin, it was a beautiful day. We know that a beautiful life together will follow.


Just a couple of messy feeding shots here. Kieran likes to make sure I don't accidentally leave any food behind. This might be genetic.


Happy little guy! Thanks Bushka and Grandaddy for Kieran's new warm sweatshirt and pants! We put this on right away - fits just perfectly and is just right when the house is a little chilly. You can see here that Kieran is very pleased with his new outfit :)