Fur Rondy

Here in the state of Alaska, they have a festival that originally celebrated the trappers bringing in their furs at the end of winter to sell, and now also celebrates the beginning of the Iditarod sled dog race. As any sensible person knows, you should always hold outdoor festivals at the end of February/beginning of March in Alaska when the temp. is below zero. Makes perfect sense. Also made perfect sense for us to go. We started out at the Pioneers club pancake breakfast. It's like a Lions/Kiwanis/Elks lodge, but you have to be a resident of the state for at least 30 years to join. My favorite was when Avery cried because his paper place mat blew off the table (a ceiling fan was directly overhead) and one of the ladies threw it away and then walked off. She didn't mention she was going to get another one. When she got back she told him "If you drop this one you don't get another one." Whatever biddy, he didn't drop it! Sheesh, pioneers! Next onto the outdoor carnival.

Notice how happy Noah looks. The day began with him having a meltdown over having to put on his snow pants and boots before we left the house. Then he had one at the pancake breakfast over having to put the hat on. By the time we parked at the carnival and I had to put his coat and mittens on (third meltdown, same parent) I had a meltdown (very grown-up of me) and Rich had to take over.

Avery on the other hand, whatever. No worries.

And ready to go. We have no pictures from the carnival because we couldn't get them to ride anything. We stood on the merry-go-round, watched a train and almost got on but then had to get our tickets back, and walked around a lot. Nothing worth documenting :)

These are of the dog races through downtown. Pretty cool. I remember thinking that they didn't seem to go very fast. Two weeks later when I did it myself, I had a different opinion!

The boys watching a team go by.

We didn't plan it, but we ended up at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, so we stopped in for a snack, heat, and to regroup. Like our rosy cheeks? It wasn't the outing I imagined when we left the house, but it was our first winter outdoor outing, so I'm glad we went.