Looks like we really fell off the wagon around here.  What it seems happens is that I started work and now it's mid January and we have some catching up to do.  Before our new addition arrives here are some updates on the progress of our first son.

Halloween was a hit. A confusing idea for a two year old.

The magician had quite a time.

The three of us visited Montana for Thanksgiving.  Lots of family and food was had, good times.  Milo celebrated his second birthday and cooked his own cake, a new love of mixers was born.

Christmas was a good time.  Cutting a Christmas tree at Grandma's house, our best so far I think.  Lots of Christmas cooking baking, visiting the Gingerbread village at the Captain Cook, ice sculptures and tuba Christmas concert.

Milo's new love of cooking earned him a mini kitchen and lots of wooden food to cut up for Christmas.  This keeps him very busy.

And in three weeks we will meet our star's sibling.  

Milo and I left Seth here in Anchorage to hold down the fort and we headed to Idaho.  It was in the high 90s even into the 100s.  Milo learned how to garden with his Grandparents and do a lot of wading in the pool.  Than we headed to Oregon for a beautiful family wedding and drove off to Flathead Lake to visits good friends.

Watermelon lemonade at the Moscow's farmers market

Boating at Flathead

Swimming with Grandma and Calli

In La Grand, Oregon for Molly's wedding

It's been spring, than it's been summer, now it feel a lot like fall.  I know, "it's only August Bonnie!". Well, August in Anchorage is usually rainy and the day it turned August 1st we had our first hard rain and it has only let up briefly.

We went to the cabin, than to Idaho, than Montana on Flathead Lake, than back to the cabin! Wew, I was thrown off on days, I woke-up every morning not knowing where I was, it actually wasn't that bad.  Never a dull moment.  Really, only now that we are home am I feeling not so great, hmmm. We'll chalk that up to the new addition due in Febuary, that was something else that transpired this summer, a sibling for 'ol Milo.

Finished!

We had beautiful weather at the cabin.  Actually, all of Southcentral Alaska was hit with the best summer since 2004, we hit the 80s! It was hard to know what to do with ourselvs, so there was lots of beaching, wading and nudey time for Milo!

Fur Rondy and Iditarod

Looks like I've been a bit negligent on the blog.  Keeping up with this and my school one is endless.  The school one is great these days though, check it out if you have time.

kincaidartroom.blogspot.com

It was Fur Rondy last week, really busy.  Parties, fireworks, dog sled races on the streets downtown, snow sculptures, parades, oh man.  Milo learned how to cheer on the dogs, he seemed to really enjoy that.

Milo and Ginger enjoying each other in a snowstorm

Jay teaching Milo how to cheer on the dogs

Seth and I took Milo on a back country ski that was very short as he threw a huge fit on the way up.  But it was a beautiful day, we did get out and saw some sunny mountains.

A momentous occasion also occurred, Seth cut Milo's hairs.  A bit more than his Grandma cut, it seemed to be shorter than we thought when it dried.  The sucker helped, there was hell to pay when we were done and the sucker had to go.

Sucker cut!


And lastly Milo's big moment.  We were playing at a playground yesterday when a photographer from the Anchorage Daily News asked if he could do a little photo shoot with us.  We played along, I'll add any I find in the newspaper. When the Iditarod is over I'm sure we'll be in there somewhere.  In the meantime, "Go Ally!"

Youth Art Month

We hung the Youth Art Month Show in the museum week before last.  It was fun, 3 days of just being an artist and getting to be very picky, it is practically rewarded when hanging a show.  In the end it looked O.K, I don't care for the museums new "look" and the space they have put us in, every year I swear it will be my last and every year I end up back there.

Committee members adding the final details during a photo shoot.

     Hawaii was a blast.  The plane rides were bearable but not my favorite part, although it's hard to complain when Milo sat on Seth's lap the whole time, 9 hours one day!! Milo had some much needed Dad time and Dad had some serious Milo time.  After three days on our own we met up with 9 of the Van Hemert's and the boys had a great time together.  Both Milo and Cormac took to waking at the crack of dawn, as early as 5 some days.  The Dads took the boys out in the morning to see turtles, explore beaches and watch whales jump.  There was quite a bit of sand eating, swimming, wonderful food, pools, hikes and time with great friends.  I already miss the warm air, walking out on our beautiful lawn and the SUN!!

     Now it's back to the routine, work and snow.  We had some icy days back here in Anchorage, school was canceled and it has hard to enjoy outside with so much ice.  Thankfully it snowed a little and the sun has come out, it's a beautiful sunrise as I write.  Milo and Cormac are growing so much, interacting and playing games together, really wonderful.  Milo is eating on his own now, he uses a spoon quite a bit although putting a tarp around his high chair would be wise.

A rare morning that Mom and Milo enjoying the sunrise.

Sand surfing

Seth pulled the boys around on the beach and they were quite the attraction, like little celebrties.

We are off to Toddle Time, where Milo runs amuk with other little ones in a big padded room with new toys! We'll meet up with Seth and complete some much needed errands.

It finally started to snow and it hasn't stopped. 4 inches last night, 4-10 expected today!!! While we wait to head outside the boys kept themselves busy.

The Christmas branch is up and decorated, Milo likes to stare at it and the beauty is he can't touch it.

Christmas Branch

Cheap sleigh ride

Milo is a fool for the snow.  He'd be allowed to play at the playground if he'd just quit licking things!

Sledding on the 'baby' hill

M-maw an G-maw were in town recently.  The Granny Nannies watched Milo while Seth and I worked.  Milo was showered with love and enjoyed every minute.  We took a tour of the museum and took the giant bubble blower out of the a spin. It was so great having them here, we are like Kings and Queens, and it was cold! Cold! Negative temps, when it finally warmed up to the teens it felt tropical.

There was a birthday around here on the 30th of November and this little bean turned 1! He felt terrible that day and may have done more cuddling than I have seen in a long time. Mom and Larry were up for the occasion and they were great.  We had a nice visit even if it was freezing the whole time!

Mom and Aunt Diane made a beautiful ice cream cake, a caterpillar design so cute! And so tasty! Here are a few shots of the night.

Cheesing on his new cow cart

Awake from a power nap and ready for cake

It's nap time around this house and someone is talking to himself instead of sleeping.

Seems like Halloween was just last week, wrong.  Mom comes next week because it is Thanksgiving.  It seems like once school starts things just don't stop.

Milo and I went to Toddle Time at the Rec Center and than brought Seth some lunch, big afternoon.

Here are a few pics of Kidoween at Ashley and Scott's house.  There were 9 babies, we lined them all up on the couch and Milo started to cry, than they are started to cry.  The picture is not as cute with all the Mom's but at least there were no tears.  Rocket Man was uneasy in his costume, but once he stripped it off he was able to grab food off people's plates, run away with beer cans and in general, party really hard.

Pensive stare courtesy: Rocket Man

Rocket Man and his German counterpart

Seth is back from his trip to the cabin.  It looks cold but beautiful ah?

Wiring, insulation and almost all the siding done

State seeks comment on Kachemak Bay heli-skiing

Alaska Dispatch | Oct 22, 2012

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Alaska's Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is soliciting input from the general public in regard to "multiple" applications it has received seeking permission to operate commercial helicopter skiing operations in Kachemak Bay State Park and Kachemak Bay State Wilderness Park.

If Seth was in town he would be kicking himself.  Seth loves to talk about his backcountry lodge at Kachemak Bay, looks like someone is planning on setting up a service, maybe they just need a place to operate out of.  Maybe they need a nice cabin on a island? We don't use it in the winter and if you flew to it, all the smoother.  Seth and Pat and Josiah finished the wiring, insulating and are now putting up interior siding and adding the secret children's loft.

Chicken day

Today was a big day and it is only 3:30.  The boys are on the same schedule so they need everything at the same time, yikes. As usual though, I type now while they are asleep.

We went to lunch with Grandma Rose than naps for the wee ones.  A photographer from my favorite online newspaper came over for a photo shoot of the chickens, really clear beautiful day so I hope those turn out well. Than a walk with baby Olivia, our soon to be new neighbor than a date to Lucky Wishbone for Anchorage's finest fried chicken and over to see Aunt Bonnie's new apartment.

The chicken pictures came on a fortuitous day.  There have been warnings on the radio for walkers and runner on DeArmoun road to be careful today, someone wounded a brown bear in their chicken coop and now it is on the lamb.  Just today there was a terribly sad picture of dead brown bear hanging in the air suspended from a forklift, it was in someone's chicken coop as well.  It all reminds me that our chickens will be the bears free dinner around here, I know where they rank on the food chain and I'd never consider killing a bear for those useless ladies.  There is an incredible picture at Grandma's of her next to a bear she shot at the homestead when the kids were all young, those were different times and chances are Grandpa was gone and she ran a hog farm and watched after 5 young kids so times they were different.  Grandma is more of a ''do no harm' gal these days, she was trying to live trap a fox who was after her chickens and just kept trapping the feral barn cats. Since our chickens rarely lay an egg and mostly just eat dog food from Ginger's bowl and poop in the arctic entry they have earned the status of zilch around here.

Here are a few of the photographers picture's of winter setting in on Turnagain Arm, he's pretty incredible ah?

Just a few pics of what we have been up to.  

Literacy time

They feed themselves?

The bluff at Kincaid

Last weekend we hiked along the bluff at Kincaid Park.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and the pictures were great.  Milo lost a glove, I imagine the glove situation this winter will be dismal as he sheds them like a snake.

Back to watching the boys.  The two weeks I work things are so busy and the two weeks off I make soup, jam, bread, go on runs and 'air the boys' daily.  It is really peaceful, today they are both napping and snow is quietly falling, I hate to really put the sap on but there is hot cider sitting on the table too and lentil soup cooking away, ah if I was ever cool that last paragraph really sealed that those days are goooone.

The boys are both getting so big and capable, yesterday at lunch they both ate in high chairs and fed themselves, although I think Ginger gets the majority of lunch off the floor.

Seth is busy finishing up jobs and packing up for a trip to the cabin, he leaves for 8 days with Pat and hopefully is joined by Josiah which means a lot will get done.  Our arctic entry is full of wires and new tools.  If they don't leave soon all the snack food I found for them will quickly disappear.

Chickens are finally laying eggs, maybe because this cold weather has them inside more often and less wondering around.

I hope your fall is going well and you have found some time to relax too.