Snow Day

Hey Everyone,

We got about 7 inches (as of now - it is still falling) of the white fluffy stuff. As we looked out the window Karen and I knew that today was the perfect day to introduce Matthew to sledding because the flakes were so big (the flakes are usually larger at warmer temps). So we bundled them up (I say we, but Karen did most of that - thanks babe), headed out the door to play in the snow. Rachel loved it! She ran around and started throwing snow balls, that weren't actually snow balls since the snow wasn't wet enough to compact it. But we have about a 10 - 15 degree slope that allows for a decent sledding hill for youngsters.

So check out the video below of the fun, and check out the pics HERE!

Took a Shot (Sorry about the Pun)

From Blog Heads

Well, as you may all know - I love photography; as a hobby at least. After seeing so many wonderful photo shoots by a friend of mine at Kara Pennington Photography, I got inspired. So, I sought out to do a no-kidding photo shoot of my two willing loving children.

Rachel

I took her to 4 or 5 different places in Wasilla, trying to show off the natural beauty of the land and her adorable smiles. She was very excited about the shoot, every time I'd ask her if she wanted me to take pictures she'd say, "Yeth (she has a lisp right now - it's really cute.)" Then we'd stop and look at all of our pics on the camera.

We went to a playground at a local school and took some shots of her - but unfortunately - she fell off the slide, as you can see I got a mid-air shot of her scary ride. She was completely fine - but it scared her enough to have her scream in my arms, so photo shoot was over.

See Rachel's Shoot Here!

Matthew

We took an easier approach with him since 1 year old toddlers aren't too crazy about sittin' still. We picked a decent afternoon and sat him on a log in the front yard dirt. He was thrilled to play with the leaves and of course, being my son - was not camera shy.

See Matthew's Shoot Here!

Let me know what you think -

--
Greg

Sea Life Center

Another weekend was cloudy, which this summer equals gorgeous day; so, we took the opportunity to go with the Gross family to the Seward Sea Life Center. This isn't a mere jump across the pond, it's 190 miles each way - and takes about 3 hours to travel. We left at about 10 AM and the kids were done driving at about 11 AM - they finally fell asleep at about 12 PM and we showed up at the center at 1. All of you parents out there know what happened, we had to wake our young lings up from their much needed naps. So, Rachel was crabby and Matthew was a ticking time bomb.

Now on to the center, once we got in there - Rachel was just enamored by the fish. We must of stood at that first exhibit with simple silver fish in it for about 10 - 15 minutes (kind of made me laugh to myself).

Then we moved on to the little pool that has little touchable living creatures in it. Rachel was not too keen on touching them, and since she was already cranky - I didn't make her touch them.

We then went out and met Steve - is that the Sea Lion's name - no but I have now named him Steve. Rachel loved him - she got a kick out of watching him go under the water and then come back up and then go back down (could have been there all day).

Rachel went into this cave and I instantly thought, "OH - RACHEL - PHOTO OP!" That wasn't too smart - she was not in the mood to be cooperative at all - as you can see.

We then went to the next exhibit where there are rare water birds that go crazy, and splash which of course Rachel loved.

Then we saw the Sea Lions from underneath and Matthew thought he was watching TV (we could have left him there and he would of loved it.) So, I got the worker there to let us have Matthew up close with the big Lion since he liked him so much.

Finally, we saw the birds from below - I know that that sounds boring, but there are some birds here that go swimming. The funniest part about it is Rachel's shoes had lights on them, and one certain bird - loved the lights, and kept on pecking at them. Downright hilarious.

All in all it was a good trip, and we saw some great nature along the way - as well as some great nature scenes and settings.

Love you all - and miss you all.

--
Greg

View all 37 images from this album HERE!