Winter's Last Act

Strange as it may sound, one actually sees a lot of "Summer Sucks" stickers in Alaska. Of course, Summer in Alaska truly is an extraordinary thing to behold, but to enjoy living here year round, you simply have to love Winter, warts and all. A license plate we saw today (on the way to the Iditarod, naturally) read H8SUMR. We don't share quite those sentiments, but we do enjoy Winter along with everyone else, and this season has been no exception. It's also been a very snowy few months, and we've taken every opportunity to play in the white stuff. But Spring beckons, and break-up will soon be upon us. The Nenana Ice Classic has been accepting entries for a couple weeks now, which is sort of like Alaska's version of Punxsutawney Phil - one way or another, Winter's days are growing short.

Today was another late Winter milestone, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Though the race officially starts in Anchorage, it only does so as a photo op (though it would be funny to see sled dogs racing up the Glenn Highway). The Iditarod restarts in Willow, about an hour north of us (until recently, the restart took place here in Wasilla, and the Iditarod's headquarters are based here - the move was the result of increased development and a quickly warming Alaska). The drive up was packed with visitors, and after we were directed to park in a huge new lot, we got on our gear, loaded the kids in the sled (which Brandon happily towed around), and set off with the rest of the crowd to Willow Lake, where several thousand people (and not a few excited dogs) were gathered on the snow and ice. In the Summer, the lake is a popular floatplane harbor. Today, however, it was teeming with tourists, locals, kids, dogs, snowmachines, four-wheelers, vendors, broadcast trucks, two helicopters and even a motorized hang glider on skis. There were folks tending camp fires directly on the ice, cooking their lunches. Many wore absurdly large fur hats, and Carhartts' and bunny boots were everywhere. We absolutely loved it, and will definitely make it an annual tradition from now on.

In other news, Malcolm has absolutely taken off at school. He's an Advanced Reader in his class, has joined the chess club and recently participated in the school science fair (the only one in his class to do so). He's convinced he's going to be a paleontologist someday, and so chose "Dinosaur Dig" as the theme for his project. When the judging was finished, he'd won first place at his table, and the science teacher confided that if a fair were held just for the younger kids like Malcolm, his would've won overall. Needless to say, he was very proud of himself (as are we). He starts little league before long, which is also exciting.

Everyone else is terrific. Chloe continues to love dancing, and has grown up so quickly these past several months. It's hard to believe she'll be turning 5 and entering kindergarten this August. Calvin is great, and is getting bigger every day. Still no teeth yet, but we expect to see a full set suddenly pop out any time. He seems to have decided to skip crawling altogether, and is far more interested in trying to walk.

Stephanie and Brandon are also doing well, though our lives aren't nearly as exciting as the kids'. We can hardly compete with the science fair, little league, dance class or the overall cuteness of babies, but we're not complaining. In fact, we recently finalized our first true family vacation - a trip to Disneyworld, set for the end of May. It's pretty pedestrian as far as getaways go, but that's the point. No worries or risks, other than which ride to go on first and how many frozen lemonades to buy. The kids are thrilled, naturally. In two years we hope to drive an RV across Canada, down through New England, and onto New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Two years later, we'll be ready for Australia. We want to expose the kids to the world at large, and let them experience other cultures and places. That's the plan, at least. We'll have to see what real life has in store for us. :)

Take care,

-The Tuckers

ps. A very special Happy First Birthday to our nephew and cousin, Jack! Happy Birthday, Jack! We love you!