I absolutely cannot get a picture that does them justice, but without a doubt some of my favorite things about our place here in Alaska are the trees in our very own yard.
Beautiful white paper birches covered with a thick layer of crystal ice…
They sparkle and shine from top to bottom…
…as if coated with sugar by some sweet-toothed frost fairy.
It is a blessing to live in such a beautiful, magical setting.
Where every day glitters…
…and every night glows with the promise of more magic to come.
For these blessings and many others we give thanks.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Original post by lapazfarm
Just to show there’s no hard feelings, at least on my side….
We drove the 650 miles (round-trip) south to Wasilla, home-town of our illustrious governor and former vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, just to take this photo in show of our support for all of our republican friends:
See! We can be bi-partisan unifiers!You can too!
Ok, so this photo op wasn’t the sole reason for heading south this weekend, but we did go a few miles out of our way, get out of our toasty-warm car, and stand outside in the freezing cold, windy night just to take this photo. Doesn’t that count for something?
Now, I’ll show you the real reason for our little excursion:
Sight-seeing on a beautiful day. Of course, it’s always a beautiful day in Alaska.
This is Mt. Drum (12,010 ft) one of the beautiful peaks in the Wrangell mountains down near Glennallen. It is part of the Wrangell-Saint […]
Original post by lapazfarm
is just not going to happen around here!LOL! But that doesn’t mean play cannot BE work, or vice versa. With several inches of fresh snow on the ground, the kiddos decided to go out and build themselves some snow caves:
Working up a sweat in 10 degree weather!
JBug go get some snow!
Wall getting higher–progress being made!
JBug! Quit goofing off and get some more snow!
Putting on the final touches…
When did his feet get so big???
One bug-sized cave done!
And one Superboy-sized cave, too! Good work/play kids!
See ya!
Original post by lapazfarm
Ok, maybe not quite, but perhaps a shivering mass of flesh? Take a look at the inside of our freezer:
We were gifted with 50 lbs of moose burger (plus a few assorted steaks and roasts) for only the cost of processing (= cheap!). I am thankful, but a bit daunted.
I know what to do with the steaks and roasts, but what does one do, exactly, with 50 lbs of moose burger????
I realize it can be cooked just like ground beef, and it is very lean and tasty, but my repertoire for ground beef is limited. Lets see…
Spaghetti sauce, lasagna
tacos, burritos, enchiladas,
shepherd’s pie
ummm…help?
Got any good ideas/recipes you’d be willing to share????
Please?????
Original post by lapazfarm
Thursday was animal tracks day here at LaPaz, and we explored them in several different ways.
First off, JBug filled some latex molds of farm animal tracks with plaster of Paris to cast her own replicas:
And Superboy used some high-quality latex casts of actual Alaskan wildlife tracks to make replica tracks in wet plaster. He did wolverine, otter, mountain goat, and wolf:
Both methods produced mixed results, and as far as plaster of Paris goes—what a mess!!! It was fun, but it won’t hurt my feelings if we don’t use it again any time soon.
While we waited for the plaster to dry, we all used some really neat Alaskan animal tracks stamps to fill a page in our nature journals:
Then we went outside to make some tracks of our own:
and see if we could spot some animal tracks in the snow, such as these distinct snowshoe hare tracks:
A very fun day!
Original post by lapazfarm
Yesterday was hair/fur day here at LaPaz. We spent the day examioning pelts of a wide assortment of Alaskan animals.
Here are a bunch of foxes, showing off the variation in coat colors:
These are a summer arctic fox, two red foxes, two winter arctics, and a silver fox.
Here JBug shows off pelts from a lynx, a river otter, and a mink or ermine:
Superboy has here a wolverine, a wolf, and a sea otter:
The wolf was as tall as he is, and the sea otter nearly so. We also examined beaver, muskrat, snowshoe hare, dall sheep, caribou, and moose hides.
Then we looked at the structure of the hairs under our microscope, comparing the hair diameter and pattern of the cuticle among different animals:
Seeing these pelts really gave me some mixed feelings because I am not a fan of hunting for trophies. But then again, the use of animals for their fur has […]
Original post by lapazfarm
(photocredit:Ed)
This was the view from our porch last night. It’s a little blurry because of the wind, but in addition to the gorgeous Northern Lights, can you see the big dipper? I thought that was pretty neat. Ed and I stayed up a couple hours, from 1-3am, just watching the show swirling above our heads and listening to the absolute quiet.
Original post by lapazfarm
I am a little behind in posting, but here are some pics of the kids’ reindeer-related activities from monday:
Labeling a photo with the “parts of a reindeer:”
We watched a slide show and read about the history of reindeer in Alaska. Then Superboy read about how to make Eskimo Ice cream (hint: yuck!) while JBug did her copywork of “Reindeer words.”
Then it was time to have a cup of tea and, inspired by the Skull Alphabet Book, they started sketching the reindeer skull:
They both concentrated and worked so hard to make their pictures accurate…
and detailed…
Here is JBug’s finished product:
And here is Superboy’s:
I am so pleased with both of them!!! All that sketching in our nature journals is really paying off!
Not bad for a monday!
Original post by lapazfarm
Please hold while we turn our school room(aka dining room) into a full-on nature center for a little while.
Inspired by this post from Angela at Three Plus Two, we are doing a temporary remodel. We are surrounded by skulls and pelts and antlers, tracks and scat and hooves…
It is totally wild!
Check back tomorrow for the full story!
Original post by lapazfarm
This picture is in the Denali park slideshow I linked earlier, but I just love it so much I had to give it it’s own post:
We met this gentleman in Denali park. I have no idea who he really is, but we call him Santa of the Wilderness, and JBug was completely mesmerized. He said his son is stationed at Eielson air force base and his grandchildren live in…North Pole, of course!LOL!
(fyi: North Pole is a city just south of us here in Fairbanks)
Original post by lapazfarm
I’ve made a little slideshow of our Denali trip photos.
Here is a preview:
Click on over if you’d like to see more!
(bonus points for movie fans: From where did I get that title?)
Original post by lapazfarm
Forgive my lack of posting. We’ve been here:
And I am left stunned and breathless from the beauty around me. More pics when I recover.
Original post by lapazfarm
Ok, so here is the promised update on Superboy. Be sure to read to the end-there’s some exciting news there!
Most of Superboy’s time is taken up on his choice of studies: the Natural History of Alaska. I think it is a brilliant way for him to incorporate his love of the outdoors with science, geography, and history, and getting to know our new home state!
We found a couple of good resources for this and are enjoying them immensely.
I say “we” because I am learning this stuff right alongside Superboy. Fascinating, it is! We read a bit and then we go and see if we can see it for ourselves.We are racing through the plants section of AK Science Nuggets in order to complete it before all the plants become inaccessible (as in, buried under 4 feet of snow) and then we will move on to other sections. We are really […]
Original post by lapazfarm
Fairbanks is well known for it’s history of gold mining. But there is another kind of gold here in these hills that you may not know about.
Entire mountainsides of stunning golden foliage! WOW! Fall comes to Alaska in a big way! All that yellow is the last hoorah of the birch, aspen, and balsam poplar trees that make up the majority of the forest here. The dark green are the black and white spruce, which provide a stunning contrast to fall’s golden blanket ( and later winter’s white one).
Truly these pictures do not do it justice. Perhaps dh will have some better ones as he also had camera in hand for our little “explore” today.
Of course, Superboy was in his element, climbing through the willow brambles, always asking for “Just a little further, please Mom?”
We all are enjoying these last few golden days, soaking in the glorious color and holding […]
Original post by lapazfarm
Yesterday evening we just took a drive around the Fairbanks area and enjoyed the local scenery while this gorgeous weather still holds. Fall is definitely making an appearance here. Flocks of birds are migrating southward. Berries are beyond ripe and the Fireweed has gone to seed. Mornings are chilly, and the leaves are turning so quickly! It won’t be long before we’ll wake up to our first snow and the long Alaska winter will begin. But for now, everything is golden:
The Alaska range floating in the distance.
Mist settling into the wetlands.
Sunset over Chena Lake.
Original post by lapazfarm
Hello sunshine! The weather in Fairbanks this week has been nothing short of spectacular! Sunny and mild with just a hint of fall in the air. We are getting out daily to enjoy it while it lasts!
One of our stops was to the lovely Botanical Gardens at University of Alaska Fairbanks.
You’ve heard of the giant cabbages grown in Alaska, right? Well…here you go!
Imagine harvesting a row of these giants! The kids and I were definitely impressed!
And the gorgeous red of these highbush cranberries caught my eye!
We walked all around enjoying the vegetable plots, the flowers, the streams, the sunshine and fresh air, the views of Denali…
What is it about eating outdoors that makes even good old PBJ seem like a treat?
Superboy couldn’t resist a snooze in the luxurious carpet of shady grass.
Ahh…another day in paradise!
Original post by lapazfarm
In our family we have a tradition of the birthday boy/girl choosing whatever they want for dinner and whatever kind of cake and ice cream they want for dessert. Well, yesterday was Superboy’s 13th birthday, so he got to choose the night’s menu. So, what does an Alaskan boy request for his special meal???
MOOSE, of course!
So, here was last night’s menu: Roast Moose steaks, mashed potatoes, sourdough rolls and a salad of Alaska-grown greens. And for dessert, Extreme Moose tracks Ice cream (of course!) and this:
Are we detecting a theme here?
And what was on his birthday list?
Water purifyer,Camel back, Flint and steel firestarter, 1 man tent, sleeping mat, SAS Survival Handbook, campstove…
What is this boy planning????
Well, whatever it is….HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPERBOY!!!!
( lets just hope he is around to see his 14th birthday next year!LOL! )
Original post by lapazfarm
What great fortune for us to be able to attend the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics! Far from the spectacle of pomp, parade, and glittering spandex that will soon be taking place in Beijing, these Olympics were casual, warm and inviting, with the joyful, enthusiastic air of a high school track meet.
The night we attended was the final night, and it began with contestants in native dance, which is an important part of the native culture:
Even though I had no idea of the words they sang in their native languages, we could follow along with the story of the dance-stories of whales spotted, seals hunted, kayaks paddled, and spears thrown, nets mended, eagles soaring and lovers embracing. All this and more brought to life with pounding drums, stomping feet, and the beautifully coordinated and highly stylized motions of the traditional dances.
Then it was on to the athletic competitions.
The WEIO events are quite […]
Original post by lapazfarm
Well…we were bored so we spontaneously decided to go ahead and take off for a day trip to Denali National Park, rather than waiting for the weekend. It is only a short 2 hour drive from our house, which is shorter than I thought or I’d have been there several times by now! Ed had to work so he couldn’t come along, but the kids and I really needed to get out of the house. So we did!
Anyway, we left around noon, got there around 2-ish, which was too late to catch the bus we wanted to take into the park (private cars are not allowed to drive very far into Denali Park in order to preserve the wilderness character of the place), so we made reservations for the morning bus and camped out for the night. Luckily we had thrown our tents and sleeping bags in the truck just […]
Original post by lapazfarm
That’s what I get asked the most, so I thought I’d finally put up a blog post and fill you all in.
The weather up here is gorgeous, mostly. It’s been anywhere from 60 to 80 degrees and anywhere in between, but mostly hovering around the low 70’s or so, which I think is ideal.We’ve had sunny days and rainy days, though the sunny have outnumbered the rainy. And considering we’ve got sun for about 20 hours a day, that’s not a bad bargain.
Speaking of sunshine… even though we have officially 4 hours or so between sunset and sunrise, it isn’t actually dark that long. The angle of the sun causes “dark” to be pretty darn light here–but it is getting more dark daily (we are losing about 6.5 minutes of light every day), so that it is just this past week getting actually dark at night for a little while […]
Original post by lapazfarm
Yesterday during my afternoon walk I shouted out excitedly “I found bear poop in the yard!” and EVERYONE in the family came running out of the house to see it.
I think we made the right move coming here.
I’ll spare you the pictures this time.
Original post by lapazfarm
…………………………………………………………………………………
Guess who stopped by my blog today?
Only THE COOLEST HOMESCHOOLERS EVER!!!
Family on Bikes
Check them out and see why I think they are the coolest homeschooling family EVER.
(Go ahead!I’ll wait!)
Did you check them out??? Was I right???? Yes, I thought you’d agree.
Anyway, this ultra-cool family of Mom, Dad, and twin 10yo boys are just about to head off on an amazing 2 and a half year adventure where they will be biking—that’s right, biking—the entire distance from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina (aka the Pan-American Highway!) And the boys will be picking up a Guinness World Record title along the way!! Wow!!!
I heard from Nancy (super-cool biking Mom) that they just may be passing through Fairbanks at about the same time we will be arriving there in late June! So, hopefully if the stars are all aligned properly we will actually be able to see […]
Original post by lapazfarm
Good day today.
Superboy did only one page of math today. He just wasn’t feeling “mathy” and that’s ok by me. I have those days myself!LOL! He did spend the day productively with other things.
He read a couple of chapters of Life of Pi (surprisingly NOT reading comics) and then worked on his superhero drawing.
Then he suddenly realized he has another cross-country trip to plan!!! And it is coming up soon!!! He wants to take a more northerly route this time across (as opposed to the southern route they took last time) because he has entirely new things he wants to see. Out came the road atlas, the highlighter, and his trusty guide:
The Monster Spotter’s Guide to North America
This was an invaluable tool in planning the last epic journey, so he plans on scouring it’s pages for more not-to-be-missed sites. I have to admit, to see him pick it back up […]
Original post by lapazfarm
Lynn at Homeschool2.0 has a post up about a recent question and answer period the DEED (Alaska’s state education department) held concerning the proposed regulations that would affect in-district programs. The bottom line of the reasoning for the proposed regulations is the resemblance to the statewide programs and as a way to establish “equity”. That seems like shoddy reasoning to me.
And there are people who wonder why homeschool advocates want to make a distinction between public schooling at home and homeschooling? Yes, there are those in government who don’t want to complicate their minds with details. They reason like this, “Call them the same thing, regulate them the same way; and now it’s fair.”
Would it really be a stretch of imagination to think Alaska’s DEED could apply the same reasoning to its independent homeschoolers and those who call themselves “public homeschoolers”?
Original post by Annette
Over at Homeschool2.0, Lynn blogs about Frontier Academy’s own legal analysis of Alaska’s proposed regulations. This is worth reading if you have been following this situation of proposed regulations for the statewide and in-district correspondence schools (this includes charter schools or at least some of them). It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.
Original post by Annette
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