February 18 & 19, 2012

Saturday morning we woke up and Olivia got have fun with Aunty Natalie. She played funny new games with Olivia's feet. She read stories. She sang new songs about zoos (Olivia's favorite kind of songs). It was the best! After we had a little breakfast and got tidied up, Aunty Natalie picked out a cute ducky outfit for Olivia to wear and we went out on an adventure. First we drove around Fort Wainwright, then we left post and got some lunch to eat up at the University of Alaska. We parked at a look-out point where there is a map of the distant peaks. It was a sunny, clear day so Natalie was able to see the Denali range very well.

After we finished eating we tried to see some musk oxen at LARS (the Large Animal Research Station), but they must have all been hiding in the woods. We'll give it a shot another day.

Next we took a trip to Blueberry Baby and got Olivia a Baltic amber teething necklace (early, but good to have) and our first cloth diaper. After looking at many styles and talking to one of the employees, we chose the Bum Genius All-in-one diaper. It's a one-size-fits-all, with snaps. We picked out a pretty blue one. Since we have so many other disposable diapers at home still, we have the luxury of trying out this brand and style to see if we like it/if it works for Olivia. If not, we haven't invested a ton of money and we can move on to the next type. We washed it when we got home, and will try it out soon!

At home we gave Olivia a bath and stayed in for the rest of the night. We watched some Downton Abbey (which seems guaranteed to put Olivia to sleep) at got to see the Northern Lights!

Sunday morning, Olivia got to spend some time with Aunty Natalie while I tended to the Blazer. It needed to be driven a little bit and I filled up the gas tank. Don't worry, Adam, it's doing fine.

When I got home, Olivia was still sleeping, so I took a shower and got dressed for today's wintry adventures! Everyone was bundled up because we were headed out to Chena Hot Springs. We had all the emergency gear, extra shovels, and a two bags of Olivia gear - we were prepared. Our travels got delayed a bit because we had to go all over town to find an air pump. A light came on the dash saying something was off with the tire pressure. I added some air to the one tire that seemed low, but the light stayed on. We'll go to Toyota tomorrow and have them look at it. AThen we tried to get McDonald's for the road, but they forgot the cheese on Morgan's quarter pounder with cheese, and it took them about 15 minutes to get her a new one.

We had a nice, slow drive out there - I'm still nervous on the hot springs road - but Natalie got to take some pictures. Olivia slept the whole way. When we got to the kennels, we added our extra snow gear and Morgan took Natalie on her first sled ride! The Japanese tourists loved Olivia in her pink snow suit, and took her picture. We looked at all the dogs. Jiff looks great! We got lots of pictures of great dogs who are still available for adoption, if anyone's interested...

After the sled ride, Morgan & I convinced Natalie to take a dip in the natural hot springs. I think she was g;ad that we did. We just sat in the warm pool room and waited - no one under 18 allowed in the springs. Too bad for Olivia!

We went home, had some soup & watched a little tv. It wasn't long until it was bedtime for Olivia & I. Once again the Northern Lights were dancing outside as Olivia & I drifted off to sleep.