Weirdos At The Park

The twins are away this week for the rural part of the rural exchange program. I heard from Taryn, she is doing fine. She ate some kind of fish egg salad. She was not impressed, but I give her points for trying. John has not made contact. This is no surprise.

Anyway, we took the twinkies on a walk around the university here in Anchorage. We saw that there was a lake that had a few geo caches around it, so it was a perfect adventure. The boys love going out “treasure hunting.” It also gets all of us out of the house which greatly reduces the risk of homicides.

We set off with our GPS and our boots, it is still pretty muddy here. Shortly after we began walking we realized that the place was teeming with unleashed dogs. We did not bring our stupid dog. I’m not a fan of people who let their dogs run off leash. I find it annoying when they run up to me or my children and scare or otherwise annoy us. There is also the risk that an off-leash dog will spook a moose, causing big problems. (I’m not crazy, one did this a couple of weeks ago and the moose kicked a little kid getting off of the school bus!) The dogs all seemed friendly though, so today was not so bad.

Pretty soon Dallas noticed a sign which said that this path was actually a designated “off-leash” area. Like I said, we did not bring the stupid dog. Not having a dog made us look kind of weird. It’s like when you see the random creep at the playground and you ask where his kid is and he says, “I don’t have one.”

We’re d0gaphiles.

The dogs kept running up to Reese & Jackson both; scaring and delighting them. Apparently there is a rule that I was not aware of prior to this walk. The smaller and more harmless looking the dog, the more one should scream and cry. Good times.

I tried to keep the troops moving by handing out a little treat. Before we left I grabbed two fun size snickers and put them in my pocket. When the twinkies started to run out of gas I said, “do you want a treat?” I unwrapped and handed them the little candy bars, fully expecting a big hug and a #1 Mom pin.

Instead, Reese ran to the edge of the lake and threw his candy. It landed a few feet in on top of the ice. I asked him why he did that and he said, “it’s for the dogs.”

There were a few dogs playing on the ice ON THE OTHER SIDE of the lake. They did not notice his chocolate. He was crestfallen. I told him the candy wasn’t for the dogs, it was for him. To this he asked, “well can I have it?”

“No, it’s in the lake.”

Tears.

Pouting.

Stomping.

So much for #1 Mom. As it turns out, in his little brain the word ‘treat’ is meant only for dogs. I was instructed to use the word ‘snack’ in the future. Thanks for the grammar lesson kiddo.

Tasty Tuesday

So we’re going with Tasty Tuesday then? Sounds great.

Tonight we did a pretty traditional meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. A little comfort food for my hungry mob. Of course, I don’t make anything exactly as the recipe says, so here are the meatloaf ingredients.

Pretty standard, except for the parmesan cheese. I love it. I add it to everything. Go ahead, put a half a cup or so in your meatloaf, you won’t regret it. I use breadcrumbs not crackers. Cracker meatloaf is icky.

You’ll also need this.

That’s right we are making moose meatloaf! So, come to Alaska. Get a hunting license. Shoot one. And continue with the rest of the recipe.

You could use hamburger. But that’s kind of wussing out if you asked me.

Incidentally, this moose (not the one in the picture, the one in the bowl) was shot by one of the 14-year-old girls who came to stay with us for the exchange program. That’s how we roll up here.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I make the best mashed potatoes in the world. The trick is skipping the milk. That’s right, put the jug away and use sour cream instead. None of that fat free crap either. Also, ick.

Just have some red wine with dinner to cancel out the cholesterol.

That’s about 6 potatoes, 16 oz. of sour cream, a stick of butter, and salt and pepper. Worth. Every. Calorie.

The green beans were from a can, cooked with a little lemon and Goya brand Adobo. I made brown gravy from a packet. I can’t make gravy. I’ve tried and it is always a gloppy mess.

Everyone was happy tonight. Anyone who has kids knows that making all of them happy is nearly impossible. Yay, me! I rock.

I realize John is not smiling in the picture. But his plate is clean, so I’m taking the win.

 

Saturday Photos

We’re breaking up.

Not you and me silly! We are Best. Friends. Forever.

Here in Alaska the snow and ice are breaking up. Alaskans call it “break up” – they’re creative like that. It makes everything a gross mess for a few weeks, but it is also a sign that spring is right around the corner.

We also have 14 hours of sunlight now. It’s swell.

Here are some signs of break up.

This is the sled we lost in December. Oops.

That is my backyard. Grody.

Another sure sign of spring is damage to trees. The moose do it when they rub off the velvet as their antlers come in. My friend Autumn told me it has nerve endings or something that irritates them. Feel free to Google that, there is a good chance I have my facts wrong.

Speaking of moose, my AWESOME friend Heather sent us a book today. She rocks.

I love these books, especially this super-sized edition. Thanks Aunty Heather for the excellent surprise! You’re the best & we love you!

One thing you should know, the book is a little misleading. If you actually give a moose a muffin…it’s going to stomp this snot out of you. Just an FYI for when you visit the tundra.

See, I’m here for you. That’s why we are BFF’s.

Moose!

This guy is hanging out in my backyard right now!