Owen Turns 8!

Happy Monkey Birthday Owen!!  (Thanks, Mom, for the candles).

As all mothers, grandmothers, people in general seem to say, "Hard to believe it's been ___ # of years since ______ was born..."  Oh and while I'm remembering and before I forget, it's hard to believe it's been 12 years since Alex was born.  You are so grown up --Happy Birthday Alex!
8 Years ago today, we collected my belongings and headed home from the hospital with Kolin and newborn Owen to start the rest of our life as a family.  Winter was making its last gasp with thick wet flakes falling on the greening grass.  One of the residents the other day was talking about "match day" 2010 and the impact it had on her life.  "Match Day" is the day that medical students find out where they're going to residency.  I was remembering that "Match Day" 2006, for me, was about recovering from childbirth in my hospital bed and figuring out how to take care of a baby--while my classmates opened their envelopes and toasted each other in a room on the other side of the building.  Having chosen to defer the match in favor of figuring out motherhood for a year, my match day, 2007, consisted of an email notifying me that I had been accepted to my first choice residency.  How different things are for different people.  Anyway, enough contemplation.
 We had Owen's 8th birthday party.  As is typical here, we invited 15 people, no one RSVP's and 9 kids showed up.  Kolin thought he was going to be out moose hunting on the Yukon, so rather than organize a involved, crafty party, I decided to try to throw a mellow party.  Owen wanted to have a "monkey party," so we got some monkey movies and pizza, and I made a monkey birthday cake (thanks MarthaStuart.com).
That was the plan.  What ended up happening... noisy kids running around, monkey movie started, pizza came late, movie got boring, kids started throwing monkeys off the stairs (inspired no doubt by past parachute and paper airplane parties), streamers turned into confetti (All streamers), mom makes emergency craft (monkey masks) for bored little girls not into throwing monkeys off stairs, monkey cake, presents, go home, mom takes a bath and goes to bed, dad goes to work to prep classes, kids watch more monkey movies.  What I learned?  The obvious, mellow parties are not for 8 year old boys, but one can always dream.  What else I learned?  How to make a decent monkey cake.

Blowing out the Candles

And before I leave, a weather update.  As you can see in this picture, the sunlight is growing intense.  The sun is now setting at 9PM.  But although long days have returned, our cold winter continues.  It is currently 21 degrees below, several feet of snow rest on the ground, and realistically we still have over a month to go before break-up (aka spring thaw).  Enjoy those crocuses and daffodils!

The BIG Suprise

Owen and Spence at Waikiki Beach

Our cold snap at 30 below ended up lasting over 5 weeks, so our planned visit to Hawaii for a medical conference could not have gotten here soon enough.
Hawaii is a popular destination for Alaskans, Alaska Airlines even has a direct flight between Anchorage and Honolulu.  We went once before, pre-Wyatt, and we left the kids with G-Ma and Papa in Washington.  They decompensated after several days, so we decided that if we ever went again, we would bring the whole family along.

Spencer in his "wet suit"

The boys have been begging to go to Disney and Hawaii, so we decided to tell them we were going to Washington to visit G-Ma and Papa.  I wanted to see how long it would take them to realize where were were really going.
Friday morning, bright and early, Owen, Spencer, Wyatt and I hit the skies.  Kolin stayed behind for one more week of teaching, to meet up with us later.  About 4 hours into our second flight, Owen finally said, "We're going to Hawaii aren't we?"  Not sure what the final clue was.  Endless repeating of "Honolulu" by the flight crew didn't do it, nor did the Hawaii coloring book, the Hawaii fruit punch, or the paperwork I had to fill out on the importation of vegetation/livestock.  In the end, I think it was the fact that we've flown to Seattle on nearly every flight to/from Alaska, and this flight was just taking too long.

Banyan at the Honolulu Zoo

We arrived in Honolulu a couple hours later during the evening of the same day (I think our first flight from Alaska that did not involve a "red eye").  We had a hard time making it through the open-air airport, because Owen needed to stop and look at every tropical tree and plant he saw.  Our taxi to the hotel was reminiscent of Nome taxi, duct tape and broken seatbelts.  The elderly driver leaned forward and peered over the steering wheel as he drove.  He acted confused about the location of our hotel, making me wonder if I had been scammed, but somehow found it anyway.  We stayed at the EWA hotel which had its pluses and minuses, the pluses being perfect for a mother traveling with three small children - free continental breakfast and a 5 minute walk to the Honolulu Zoo and Waikiki beach.
After a restful night, we hit the beach and the zoo.
The Honolulu Zoo was zoo-ish as expected.  It was not too big, so we were able to see most of it by early afternoon.  The boys enjoyed it immensely, except for  "Africa" which they found to be "too hot."  One thing the Zoo failed to instill in me was a love of peacocks.

Peacock food thief at the Honolulu Zoo

Peacocks and other birds swarmed the outdoor eating areas.  When we arrived at the cafe, I scolded Owen for chasing the birds, but by the end I was shooing them more than anyone.  Wyatt had a hard time eating his meal because of the aggressive birds.
After another trip to the beach and dinner a tiki-inspired grill, we went back to the hotel to wait for G-Ma.  G-ma arrived shortly after 8PM.  2 out of 3 boys fell asleep waiting for her to arrive.

Spencer Hiding in Back

The next day we headed to the beach again, posed with tropical birds and headed back to the airport on our way to Kauai.  More to follow.

To Counter Your Global Warming Fears

For all of you that are worried about the imminent collapse of the ice shelves and destruction of the human planet by warming, rest assured, there are at least some places in this world, Bethel being one of them, that are experiencing record-breaking low temperatures (low of -32 today). I'm about at the end of my limit with over two weeks of temperatures like these.
The one thing I feel truely blessed about though is our nice warm house. Although our car won't start and it's too cold to send the boys outside to play, I am thankful that our pipes aren't freezing and our house is tight and warm. All over town, I hear tales of woe about frozen pipes. You see, when you sewer tank is located outside your house (most houses in Bethel don't have piped water/sewer) and your house is on stilts/has no basement (basements help keep ground floor pipes warm) freeze-ups in this type of weather are common. Per Kolin's school email, the sewer pipes at the high school are frozen and it is yet to be determined whether there will be school tomorrow on account of it, or when there will be school. If the sewer pipes do get thawed, school is still not a certainty. Wind chills are hovering around 44 below; if they get much colder, they won't run the school buses and this will also mean no school.
But there is some fun to be had in cold temperatures. Around zero degrees, extension cords keep their shape when moved. This is the cord that we use to plug in our car. These are not action shots.

-28 and Holding

For all of you frustrated by the cold of winter, here's our current weather forecast (from Weather Underground).

Current Tempp: -28 F:  Partly sunny. Areas of blowing snow in the morning. Highs 20 below to 25 below. Northwest wind 10 to 20 mph. Wind chills 40 below to 55 below in the morning.

And for a little historical data.  Over the last week.  The average daily low temp was 28 below, the average daily high was 19 below and the average temp was 24 below.  The highest temp was 8 below and the lowest temp, 32 below.

Lest you think I'm complaining, we a re quite cozy in out dome, though stepping outside is another matter.  The hoar frost that came over a week ago is still here making the looks of the landscape fantastical.  Kolin was unable to start the car on Dec 29th after it had sat for 2 days, despite being on a timer that periodically warms the engine block and battery. 
On the 31st, we ran the car several times throughout the day so it would start for the New Year's fireworks display.  Hopped in the car at 8PM with our parkas and snowpants and enjoyed the display from the car.  In past years, we watched the festivities outside at the Cultural Center, but now with a 1 year old in tow, we thought better of it.

Being from New England, I think of fireworks as a 4th of July activity, but since there is perpetual daylight during the summer here, fireworks are largely reserved for New Year's Eve and the K300 sled dog race.  Unfortunately, the outside temp makes it not quite as pleasurable as summer-time fireworks in places with sunsets.

And just for some added levity.  The camera display mysteriously broke.  The perpetrator left some evidence behind on the memory card.  And with photos left behind like this, I can't quite bring myself to be angry.

Happy New Year!

No Xmas card again this year-- so here at least is a family portrait from Keplers.  I always thought of willows as brush, but they're actually taller in reality and could almost pass for trees.
This year has been a good one.
Spencer is enjoying kindergarten and is taking to counting, reading short words, and even seems to have a knack for the Yup'ik language.
Owen is as energetic and creative as ever.  He has taken a break from drawing dragons, and is focusing more on planets these days, though he still delights in making "creature noises" despite our best efforts.  He is fascinated by the dicoveries of the Kepler telescope and can tell you about various Kepler planets and the "habitable zone."  He is reading the "Droon" series and is about to finish up his 3rd chapter book.
Wyatt is 17 months and is transitioning from toddling around the house to running.  He's not one for words, but likes to nod when you as him "yes/no" questions.
Kolin is enjoying a break from nightly prep work for his classes.  Work for me is going well as usual.  I am taking a week off to spend more time with the family.  Love to all!
Oh, I almost forgot.  We got a new puppy.  He was rescued from the AC (grocery store) parking lot by some dentists.  He is of a Kuskokwim pedigree, which means he is a short-legged creature mixed with husky.  He is a delight-- friendly, mellow (for a pup), and good with kids.  He's about the same size as Duncan, but probably has a little more growing to do.  He and Duncan are great companion; they spend much of their time playing around the house.  We have named him "Bentley"-- "Bent" for his long, bent tail, and "Bentley" because it has a little more class.
Oh and in case you were interested, it is currently 29 below zero and sunny.

November 3rd: The New Addition

While the boys and I were capsizing sailboats in New England this summer, Kolin was hard at work on our new addition.  Here's a picture of it from the outside, inside pictures to follow.  The porch will be a project for this coming summer, but this photo gives you the idea. 
As it was, the entryway room to our dome was a 14 x 14 foot space that contained our washer-dryer, our pantry shelves, a freezer and a lot of unused space.  Our dining area was our kitchen counter, which was quite irritating for the adults in the family who had to eat with their legs folded up.  Our "living room" area, if you could call it that, consisted of an Ikea love seat angled towards the wood stove with a small wall-mounted TV beside it.  After a lot of scheeming and countless hours of finegaling while the kids and I were back east (praise Kolin), we now have a new entryway (front-right) coming off the front right corner of our old entryway.  The washer-dryer is now under the stairs, a dining room table sits where the love seat used to, 2 sofas and shelving occupy our old entryway room, and we have an arctic entry that holds our freezers, pantry shelves and outdoor gear.  Our little home now seems so much bigger.

Almost Halloween

It has been a busy week with 2 Halloween carnivals, 2 Halloween parties, and 2 Halloween costumes to for the events.
Owen decided to go as "Chooper," a character from his imaginary "Galaxy of Mexucon." Chooper is half boy half dragon. The people who owned our house before us left some tent poles behind. We had been using them to make bed tents to keep out the summer, midnight sun, but one of them snapped, and as time would dictate, midnight sun is no longer an issue. Owen figured out how to make some wings out of them with masking tape and cardboard. I helped him finish the costume on my day off this week, by completing the second wing and covering the wings with colored paper (red on the back). Surprise, Surprise, Spencer decided to go as an Active Life Explorer (a treasure hunter). His costume was of course easy, because he wears it every day anyway.Wyatt's last minute costume is called "Commercialism" by Kolin of course. Don't worry, we will still be celebrating Christmas this year. Which, as an aside, if anyone wants to blow the bank and visit Bethel, we will be here with some time to spare, and are planning on adding some walls upstairs to create an office/guest room as well as separate rooms for the boys-- our next scheme to make our house seem bigger and be quieter.
Kolin is not big into costumes, but as adviser of the student council, found himself as a target in the dunk tank at the BRHS Carnival. We all took throws. Owen and Spencer had special rules and dunked their dad without much difficulty. I was not as lucky with my throws.
In other news, I got the skin cancer on my lower eye lid removed and to the best of my knowledge, I am no longer harboring malignant cells on my face. Despite the location, I managed to get away unmaimed. Kolin says he can't even see the scar, and being that he is not terribly observant, I believe him.

Goodbye Leaky Roof

Shortly after we signed the contract on this house a little over 3 years ago, but before we had actually moved to Bethel, we received a phone call from the the sellers.  There was some stammering and then a confession that a leak that they thought was fixed wasn't.  The culprit, the chimney stove pipe.
After moving in and gathering visual data on the situation, the Kolin realized that the stove pipe had been installed upside down-- a fact that was given away by a large red arrow sticker that said "this end up" and was pointing down.  In a place where repairs and installations are generally not done by professionals, errors like this are are fairly common.  So Kolin figured that the stovepipe was leaking because instead of shedding condensate outwards as it was supposed to, it was instead guiding it inwards, so that when the weather was just right, the
dripping began.  One might think this repair would be easy, just flip the stove pipe, but the fact that the stovepipe was deeply imbedded in a foam roof and a rubber liner, made things frustrating.
The fact that the inside project had to be completed in the upper reaches of a geodesic dome didn't make things any easier.  After contemplating the situation through several drippy springs and falls, a remedy was concocted and the acrobatic repairs were completed.  As in any house in Bethel, there were some surprises along the way.  Kolin found some "recycled" stove pipe imbedded in the roof that was not exactly structurally sound (I think he said he could see through it).  It's all behind now and we are drip free!  Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Kids watching TV.

Stovepipe from the inside.

Finished product

Kotlik, or as Spencer insists, "Potluck:

September marked my first village trip since Wyatt was born. It also marked Wyatt's first (and only) village trip.  Village trips are bitter sweet for me.  I love to see where my patients come from and I LOVE meeting the health aids I work with by telephone every day, but when I leave, the boys tend to decompensate.  It's a huge stress for our family.
Taking Wyatt was a strategic move.  I was hoping it would decrease Kolin and the boys' stress level as well as reduce the hassle of pumping milk for 4 days straight.  I called ahead of time and had one of my favorite healthaids find a babysitter for Wyatt while I worked.  There are only a few people I would trust to find me a babysitter, and she's one of them.
So we packed up our stuff and headed out to Kotlik in a spacious Cessna Caravan.  A fellow physician, Grace, came along as an orientation to the village clinics.
Kotlik is a village of about 600 people on the Kotlik River, part of the Kuskokwim River Delta.  I had actually been there twice, but had never seen anything but darkness-- both trips were middle of the night medivacs to pick up women in preterm labor, both of whom made it out of Kotlik without delivering preemies in the remote clinic.
Kotlik is village that is literally built in the middle of a swamp on the edge of the river.  There are no roads because there is no solid ground, and there are no cars because there are no roads.  It is the first village that I have been to that has no cars or trucks, not even one.  Instead of roads, there is a large boardwalk that runs through the town.  People walk on it and drive their 4-wheelers on it to get around town. I am told that it is a recent addition to the village and that it is built on pilings that are so deep they will not go out of level.  Before this fancy boardwalk, there were smaller boardwalks, which are still there and look quite treacherous to drive your 4-wheeler on.

Fancy new boardwalk with old one on the side.

The clinic is one of the newer clinics in the YK Delta and is spacious with several exam rooms, a dental room, and a bunkroom.

Kotlik and the airport "van"  (a 4-wheeler and home-made trailer-cab with seats)

I got out just a little bit while we were there.  The first night we walked across town around 9 to retrieve the pack n play that I had left at the babysitters.  (Wyatt was very disturbed by the change in scenery and was extremely difficult to pacify during the night-time hours--I could not get him to sleep in the bed--hence the late trip to retrieve the crib-- I will not be bringing him along again).  On the way back we stopped at the community hall.  Loud drumming drew us in and inside we found Yup'ik dancing within.  The dancers ranged from toddlers to elders, from teachers to travelers and locals.  It was a really warm atmosphere.

Phyllis, one of my favorite healthaids on our way back from the home visit

One of the more memorable things we did was boat across the river to see a patient who lived on the other side, and was essentially home-bound due to illness.  We had to climb through another boat to get to the boat were taking, and it just so happened that there was a moose head in the boat we had to climb climb through.  We passed other people working on their moose as we walked to the rivers edge.  I knew the patient we were seeing well, but it was so nice to see where he lived and how he lived.  As an aside, at another of the houses we visited, there were old mattresses nailed to the walls as insulation, quite resourceful I thought.  Necessity is the mother of invention, or something like that.

Kotlik from the river

Although Kotlik has its problems like anyplace else, I was quite impressed with many of the people I met.  The people seem to be fighting to keep their culture, subsistance diet, health, and values more than some of the other villages I have been to.
With that said, the airplane that picked us up unloaded cargo consisting almost exclusively of energy drinks and soda for the local store.  Hopefully the trend I noticed amongst my patients at the clinic will spread to the younger generation.

Our ride home

 

Fall tundra colors beyond some hills

Not sure what this round patch was on the window, but the tundra looked brighter through it.

The Moose Hunting Trip

Chris in the Green boat

Somehow we ended up with two boats in our yard this summer.  One of them is half ours, and the other one isn't ours at all.  Chris and Kolin took the boat that's not ours (for sale actually if anyone's interested) and headed out during the short moose hunting season.  While moose were a common sight when we lived in the bustling city of Anchorage, moose in this area of the Kuskokwim are quite elusive.
Kolin's family went through 4 moose a year growing up; the everpresent moose on the table means that he craves it intensly, always feeling a great moose deficiency in his diet.
With that said, no moose were to be had on this trip.  As far as I can tell, the trip was cut short largely because of a severe caffeine deprivation headache.  Kolin brought the coffee, but the pot to boil the water somehow didn't make it into the boat-- only to be found 2 months later in the back of Chris' minivan.  Moose or no moose, there were certainly beautiful sights to be seen.

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