A Beautiful Alaskan Summer

As usual, a lot has been happening lately. Brandon and Stephanie are still canvassing for better-paying jobs, though Stephanie will likely receive a significant raise and stay on with her current employer. Chloe and Malcolm continue to grow at an astonishing rate, and through it all we're enjoying the Alaskan summer as much as possible.

The animals have been coming out. We told you about the bear who sat next to Brandon during his lunchbreak, and the dead moose (two of them), who hindered his coming and going from work on the same day. More recently, Brandon was nearly killed when what at first looked like a large dog decided to scurry across the highway as Brandon was doing about 70 mph. The large dog became a large black bear, and some last-minute swerving was all that avoided a very nasty collision. The bear was easily twice the size of Brandon, and a crash at that speed would've killed them both. And last week while camping (check out the pictures of us at the lake, complete with seaplanes taking off and landing), we listened to the wolves howl for ten minutes around 2:00 in the morning. It was a haunting reminder of the wilderness surrounding us. Yesterday, we found a fat little frog in the front yard and brought him inside for a while. That's him on Malcolm's shoulder.

The house is finally finished being painted. Well, the exterior is, at least. We won't win any awards for a job well done, but it beats Smurf blue any day. And check out the treehouse. Completely hand-built, even the hand-knotted rope ladder. It's a little goofy looking, but Malcolm and Chloe love it, which is all that matters. It needs more roof and a couple new walls. We'll spray it with sealant when it's finished.

Upcoming projects include the carport and more interior painting. Until then, however, we're just enjoying being here. We take every opportunity we can to get out, explore, play, go for walks - Malcolm is riding his first bike! He looks awesome in his Sesame Street helmet and pads. So, just your typical happy little family in Alaska. We'll be welcoming lots of guests beginning next week, including Stephanie's parents Barbara and Joe, Brandon's brother Ryan and Brandon's high school friends Maureen and Chris. Only Chris has been to the Great White North, when he visited last year.

We hope all is well with everyone down there. Stay cool...we'll try to send you some of our 70-degree weather!

Love always,

Chloe, Malcolm, Stephanie and Brandon

The Downside of Wildlife

Moose may be majestic, but they can also create some nasty traffic snarls when dead on the only highway into Anchorage. Brandon was 20 minutes late to work the other day as a result. In Alaska, of all places, why are people not used to giant dead animals on the road? It was stop-and-go traffic for 15 miles. Oy vey.

The punchline came at the end of the day, when Brandon was again stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to get back home. The reason? You guessed it. Different moose, same scenario. And naturally, this one (like the one before) was on Brandon's side of the highway. Perfect.

But days like today put it all in perspective. At home, brilliant Alaskan sun shining, not a sound or nuisance or care in the world. More exterior painting, the beginnings of a low rock wall, Chloe and Malcolm having the times of their lives. No bears or moose today, but a perfect Sunday of being together as a family, in our own little corner of scenic Alaska.

We'll post pictures of the house soon when the painting's finished, plus the yard, treehouse, etc.

No bears this year?

We mentioned in lastnight's update that we haven't seen any bears so far this year. That changed today at lunch for Brandon, who shared a seat and a fortune cookie with a 6'-tall black bear at a nearby park. Brandon noticed him just behind the Saab, about a car length away, in some grass and flowers. He was just hanging out, being a bear - rolling around, eating various things. The two shared a quiet lunch together for a few minutes, till a couple drove into the parking lot and let their dogs out. Brandon gently opened the car door, stood on the sill and pointed out the large meat-eating mammal sitting nearby. The hikers didn't see anything until the bear apparently caught wind of the dogs and stood up. The hikers were shocked, to say the least. In the end, the bear took off a couple minutes later. No word on whether he enjoyed the fortune cookie.

Brandon also saw another bald eagle driving to work this morning. Is it any wonder why we moved here?

We love and miss you all.

At Last! Time to Blog Again!

Our humblest apologies. As usual, many of you have been kind enough to show your love and concern for us by gently ridiculing Brandon for not updating the blog. And, as usual, our collective life hasn't exactly allowed for the time it takes to do so. That, and Brandon's really lazy.

That being said, we've seen a lot of changes up here since our last entry: we moved, started a new school, started a new job, got another car, bought fish and have stayed busy playing, working, improving our new home and just being a family. And Stephanie turned a year older, once again reaching palindrome status. In case you forgot, our new address is 3000 Escondido Ave, Wasilla, AK 99654. Our new phone number is 907-357-2877. Our email addresses have not changed.

The house: it was Smurf blue, but that's changing to a very respectable cream color. Brandon risked life and limb to paint the exterior, by balancing on the end of a 16' ladder, which in turn was perched on the roof of the Scout. Not exactly smart, but the only way to get the job done - it's a two story house. Stephanie has been papering and taping the interior, and Brandon's been following behind with the Wagner when he's not outside. The treehouse is mostly finished, sporting a slide, ramp, "rock" wall, rope ladder and firefighter's pole, plus most of a roof. What was once a dirt and weed patch is now a soft, green lawn. Even the vegetables from our garden have begun appearing at dinner.

Chloe and Malcolm are terrific. They love their new school, and surprisingly, took to it the first day. Steph has moved offices, but stayed with the same company. She now works 5 minutes from home and the kids. Brandon still drives to Anchorage every day, about 45 minutes, but does so in the new Saab he bought. Well, it was new in 1986. But hey, it's got a sunroof, cost $700 and says SAAB on it. It makes him happy. And since there's no airbag, the kids get to ride in the front.

Apparently Simon and Jolly weren't enough, so we bought three fish and two frogs. They eat very little and don't sleep on the couch, which is more than we can say for the dog. Let's see, other wildlife... We had some birds nesting near the house, caught a big frog next to the treehouse, picked up a leech while swimming at Wasilla Lake and greeted a moose in our driveway. He walked past about 4 feet in front of Brandon. Simon wanted to hang out with him, but he wasn't having it and trotted off into the woods. We haven't seen any bears this year, but since we live in the forest now, that's probably a good thing.

We went for a drive and a picnic along the Matanuska River valley today, and shot a few pictures. The glacier that feeds the river is bright and massive. On our hike before lunch we scared a ptarmigan out of a bush. That's like a grouse or a pheasant. He looked tasty. Malcolm found a fuzzy black caterpillar and named him Charlie. All of Malcolm's bug friends are named Charlie.

Hopefully it won't be another two months till our next entry. It seems we're too busy living in Alaska to talk about living in Alaska. Next month is the state fair. And Tuckerfest. We're going to do a lot more camping before summer's out. We're also considering buying a small boat. Malcolm has really been into fishing lately. Chloe turns two on August 31. By the time Halloween rolls around, we'll be back in winter mode and loving all that comes with it. Till then, it's 20 hours of sunlight, days in the mid-70s and agonizingly short weekends. Gotta go!