Brr its cold!

It is so so so frigging cold up here now! A lot of leaves have fallen off the trees before they even had a chance to turn yellow. The biggest shock---SNOW!! Well technically hail, and it did not stick, but it was white, and fell from the sky yesterday. Oh my gosh it is so frigging cold. I can not believe it! I think the high was like 42 yesterday. It is sunny and blue skies today, but still very cold. Good thing we stocked up on Chloe's winter gear this weekend, everything will probably sell out now that it is winter temps! Anyway all this talk of the cold reminded me of this funny video we made of Chloe. We did not teach her the sign for cold...they taught it to her at daycare, and we were shocked into laughter when she did it out of the blue! Always surprising us!

Chompers

Chloe is nearly 16 months old and I finally got a picture of all 4 teeth! She smiles all of the time, but I finally caught her sitting still, for this exact moment at least!

Enjoying our dinner

I think you can see that Chloe enjoyed her dinner tonight! Spaghetti with sides of beets and peas. Yum!

Even more fun than making a mess was cleaning it up!

Now she is off to sleep, and I am off to clean up the massive mess that was dinner time and bath time! Another day in the life :)

Best Weekend Ever!!!

So this weekend we had quite an adventure. We went out for a day trip to Byron Glacier, not even an hour South of Anchorage. It was amazing super sunny weather, and nice just to be outside in September enjoying the fall air! And it was spectacularly beautiful there to top it off. I had seen glaciers before from afar but this was my first time actually touching one, it was also Chloe's first glacier experience.

Hiking in to the glacier Andrew had baby duty.

Exploring

finding the perfect rock to plunk into the water, was the highlight and mission of her trip.

Look Mom! Double fisted!

Chloe is seriously strong. She carried around rocks that were so big I didn't even think she could lift them!

Of course we also played in the snow!

Chloe recently learned the sign for cold, and did it when she touched the ice. Not only does she do the sign but her whole body shakes when she does it! So funny!

Andrew got a little more adventure with his hike up on the icy snow pack. We thought we would err on the side of caution and keep Chloe off the steep slippery stuff, although gosh it looked amazing up there. That tiny speck up there is Andrew.

Again notice how tiny Andrew is compared to the icy snow pack!
After Andrew hiked all the way over there he realized he had to get back, and the only way (or maybe the shortest way) was through the icy cold glacier fed stream.
Brr. He made it. Feet intact, all toes accounted for.

I had baby duty the way back. Good for my (aspiring) buns of steel.

Enjoying the hike back. The trail paralleled the glacier fed stream most of the way so we heard gurgling water, along with the breeze through the trees. Also the crunching of crispy fall leaves underfoot added to the serene sound scape.
I will close with my favorite picture. I mean really, does it get better than this? Amazing.

Rock On Some More!!!

Inspired by her music time with Dad, Chloe can't get enough of the guitar room!!! (aka the guest room). She just loves it in there!Who me?
Trying to grab her pick from me. This was the only way I could get her to slow down enough for a pic!
playing the electric guitar. You should hear her latest rif!
I had to get a picture of her rockin' little outfit too. I would put it on her every day if I could.
Jumping on the bed. I guess this photo shoot is over!
She is such an active little munchkin! She never slows down, never walks anywhere (always runs-no joke), talks all of the time, laughs A LOT and loves to give us hugs and kisses. It is pretty awesome getting to live with such a happy girl. We are still hoping that she will start sleeping through the night though. It happens on occasion, but more often than not I am up two or three times a night. Ouch. Maybe it will get better when she isn't teething anymore---what is that like two more years???? Oh well, it s still awesome tired or not!

Rock On!

Andrew loves to play the guitar, and he has been spending a lot of musical time lately with Chloe. It is pretty darn adorable to see them together, but especially when he is singing to her. So cute! (I used to play the guitar too, but haven't picked one up for years, maybe it is time I started back up again).

Learning to strum.
Oops, accidentally (on purpose) dropped the pick into the guitar. repeat. repeat. repeat. This was a fun game for her.
More strumming, and singing too!
Her giggles are the best.
Taking a moment to listen to daddy play.
Tuning up the guitar. What a great little helper.

This may be my favorite picture. Chloe was trying to squeeze the strings so hard she made this hilarious expression. She makes this face when she squeezes anything really really hard. For example when she "juices" any fruit with her bare hands, instead of eating it. :)

I also love this peaceful moment.

Life is good. We are back home, safe and sound, and finally back in the swing of things after our labor day week vacation. (pics to come later--editing all those pictures takes so much time!) Just enjoying the Alaskan sunshine for now, and not spending much time inside. It is the last sun we are likely to see up here for a really long time, and I don't want to squander a minute of it!