ALRIGHT ALREADY, we get the point! We love winter in Alaska as much as the next family, but come on! At the end of April we were hammered with a record late-season snowfall, and just as it had been steadily warm, too. Malcolm decided Mother Nature was on vacation, and Old Man Winter and Santa Claus hijacked the show in her absence. It seemed as good an explanation as anything we could come up with. Thankfully, however, it's finally all behind us now. Spring is most definitely here, and we've started getting busy with all our usual trips, chores and assorted family outings. This time of year in Alaska is magical, and we always do our best to make the most of it.It's something of a miracle we've survived as well as we have this year, considering the recent superfund site that was our bombed-out home. Once the renovations were complete, we received a "notification of non-renewal" from Safeco, our insurer. We had discovered the hard way that two claims, back to back, landed us on CLUE, a national insurance blacklist database managed by ChoicePoint, the outfit that can't seem to keep its confidential customer information, um, confidential. Alaska law requires a homeowners policy with every mortgage, yet we were faced with losing our coverage in a matter of weeks. And thanks to CLUE, no other insurer wanted to pick us up. We did eventually find a new carrier, though, and life is back on track. In fact, we were somehow able to save money on both our homeowners and auto policies (and with no geckos involved).
The kids are, as always, terrific. Chloe has been loving her new dance class, and goes every Thursday. Angelina Ballerina has likewise become her favorite new show. Malcolm recently started t-ball, and is enjoying every minute of it. Brandon also chaperoned Malcolm's kindergarten field trip to the Alaska Zoo the other day. Both kids are really excited for their new sibling, Blueberry, who is due in just about a month now, around June 17th or 18th. Things are pretty happy-go-lucky these days, despite the recent insurance scare.
Stephanie is at last free of the clutches of her old employer, and with several coworkers has now helped establish a new company, Acacia Personal Care Services. She's happier than ever, and we're very proud of her. She's also feeling great, and has been coasting along this pregnancy. Boy or girl, there's a healthy baby in there, and Mama's doing very well.
Today we took the dogs and had a picnic up near Hatcher Pass. Later in the summer we're planning to camp on the beach in Seward. Brandon hopes to get Malcolm out on the Alaskan Rover, a 54' schooner that sails around Resurrection Bay. We may even buy a (used) new canoe sometime this summer. There's also the Kesugi Trail that Brandon wants to tackle, if there's time between the baby, the kids, the property and (sigh) work.
Oh, almost forgot. We got a new car! Well, new to us. Turns out three car seats don't fit in the back of a Subaru Forester, so we bought a 1998 Chrysler Town & Country. Yes, you read that right - a minivan. However, it's got all-wheel drive and leather and power everything, and has enough room for whatever we choose to lug around. We even managed to sell our Subie on Craigslist in two hours, literally. It may be horribly suburban and dorky, but we love it.
That's it for now. Enjoy the photos! :)
