In Homer with Nora

Our trip to Homer has been a fun one. The ferry ride was very smooth-the only hitch was that the intercom didn't work in our cabin. So the ferry arrived, and Nora and I slept and slept and slept. And Cathy and Mike waited, and waited, and waited on the dock. They talked to the ferry people and finally someone came and knocked on our door. I woke up, looked out the window to see that we had arrived. Nora was very excited and we scampered off the ferry at 3:30AM. I believe the ferry had been docked about 1/2 hour before we departed it.. (Sidenote...Patrick says there is a storm on the way-so we may be looking at 20-22 foot seas on the return trip--arghhh....hopefully this storm bypasses our crossing back over to Kodiak)

On the first day, Nora was quite tired and she would say, "Lets go home. See Stuey..."--espcecially at nap and bed time. Now she is quite acclimated and she went down to bed easily tonight.
The mornings begin with Nora opening a door on the wooden advent calender Cathy and Mike have-inside is a treat of trail mix with M&M's with nuts. The advent calender is followed by a breakfast of fruits loops or Apple Jacks-cereals which Nora never gets at home--another big treat! We took Nora to the library-checked out some good books and Madeline's 1st Christmas video-another big hit especially since Patrick reads the Madeline book to Nora at home and she is already familiar with the characters.

Today we went to the local production of The Nutcracker-and this was Nora's first auditorium performance. We stayed for 1 hour of it--up until the intermission. Nora enjoyed watching all the action on the stage and she even danced in the aisle for a few moments at one point.

It really is fun to travel with Nora and see all of the new things that she is excited about. Cathys car--she loves riding in it. She loves pushing the button for the garage door to go up and down. She likes having her routines even when travelling. And she has been helpful in picking up and cleaning up after we do an activity. From reading the blog and talking to Patrick, it sounds like things are going well with he and Stuey and likewise with Nora and I.

Zoya

My 9 1/2 hour adventure

I know my adventure was 9 1/2 hours long because that's how long I left Stuie with the babysitter. We left the house at 7:50 AM, kayak on the back of the truck, and I dropped Stu off in the pre dawn dark at the babysitter's house. I picked him up 9 and one half hours later in the gloaming of the evening. In between I had my adventure.

Most of my adventure consisted of driving and then paddling the kayak, seemingly forever. I drove over the pass and got to Anton Larsen Bay at dawn and started to paddle. And I paddled and paddled - about 6 miles in all (each way). I am not in paddling shape either - my shoulders killed and both hands developed blisters. But as I paddled I thought about how much better boat travel is than walking. Whenever I got close to shore I realized how quickly I was moving - at the pace of a quick jog! It was only when I looked up at distant landmarks and they moved forward ever so slowly forward that I cursed my floating wheelchair and wished for something propelled by fossil fuels.

But eventually I did get off of the 'road system' and into an area where I could legally hunt deer. Then it was just a question of finding a deer. I did not see anything for about two and a half hours and I must admit I was getting a little discouraged. Then I walked around the bend and there were deer everywhere. A big three point, obviously in rut, a doe and fawn, and a lone deer without antlers. I opted for the lone deer and it turned out to be a button buck. The big 3 just stood skylined on the ridge and watched me for about an hour while I worked on the button buck. Almost as if he wanted to tempt me into shooting something my family would not eat - 'look I got huge antlers - harvest me!' I stayed away from the rutty meat - Zoya, Stu and Nora will be thankful.

The coolest thing about the kayak ride home was that Anton Larsen Bay had developed skim ice while i was away for the day. I had to lean way back to get the bow of the kayak to ride up on the ice and sheer it. Awesome noise. Crrrrunch. Picked Stu up at the babysitter and my adventure was over. Then I had baby at home feeding adventure, but that is another story.

Photos: Top: on the way home in my kayak - Kizhuyak Bay is glassed off. Second: Cottonwood trees silhouetted against Sheratin Mountain. Bottom: Sheratin Bay and Mountain panoramic.

Patrick

Home alone with Stu and dogs

Yesterday Zoya and Nora took the ferry to Homer to visit with Grandma, and its just been Stuie, the dogs and me holding down the fort (along with a lot of help from babysitters). It's funny but I've gotten to know Stuie a lot better without Nora and Zoya around. Lots of one on one time, and I've been reading to him a lot more. If Nora was around she would not be happy with that! It has made me realize that Stuie has missed out on some things because he did come along number 2. I still carry Nora for walks in the backpack - but if I try and take Stuie, and Nora is around. ... .. It just would not fly (some serious screaming). Stuie does not seem to mind - he's very laid back. I think he'll be the diplomat of the family. I bet most family diplomats are the second or third born.

In the last few days we have had a serious pineapple express hit Kodiak - rain and warm temperatures. All the snow has melted away down low. But as you can see from the top photo of the summit of Pyramid - we have not lost much snow up high. But in the meantime, the cross country skiing is done. Tomorrow I plan on taking advantage of the ice free roads to take my kayak over to Anton Larsen Bay and go deer hunting. It'll be an hour and a half paddle to get off of the 'road system' and to where I can legally take a deer. Lots of work and it is not very likely that I'll return with a deer. But at least I'll get to go kayaking. And yes I do appreciate good babysitters! I know I'll be coming home to a happy Stuie. Patrick

Photos: Top is the summit of Pyramid appearing during a surprising break in the gloom, wind and rain on a recent quick ski trip (not surprisingly - nobody else seems to be skiing). Bottom - eagles hanging out in the trees near the outlet to Buskin Lake. Lots of silvers spawning in the river below, and the eagles are just waiting for them to die.

Quality Mommy-Daughter, Father-son time

Tomorrow Nora and I leave on the ferry to Homer to see Cathy and Mike. When I tell Nora about it this week, she smiles with glee and says, "Thank you, Mamma. I love you" accompanied by a big hug. I don't know that she has any idea about the ferry ride or what its about but I think it all represents a special outing/trip for her. The ferry ride is a 9 hour ride on the Kennicott and the weather forecast is good-PHEW. The big storm that was just here has worked its way out of the Kodiak archipealago system. It'll be good to see Cathy and Mike-it has been over a year since I've been there.

I"m really looking forward to having some mommy daughter time and I think it will be good for Patrick to have a little 1:1 Stuey time. As of late, Stuey's stubborn streak has been shining through...and he tests Patrick's patience. Patrick's saying when he gets frusturated with Stuey is "Clam it, clownie." Its a pretty funny saying, actually and I find myself laughing when Patrick says it to Stuey. Helps bring humor to the moment.

Work has been awesome and busy. I LOVE my clinic and things are going smoothly. This week I worked some long hours and went to sleep way early last night out of exhaustion. Felt great to do, however, because I actually got 8+ hours of sleep. Halleluiah!! Stuey was a 5:15 wake up call this morning. Arghhh...he wakes between 5 and 6 AM. He is our morning child and Nora is the night owl in the family.

Zoya

Pictures:

A friend made Nora and Stuey these hat/scarf sets. SO CUTE! The kids loved them.
Bottom photo--Stuey and Hannah had fun with the washable markers. Word on the street is that Stuey drew on Hannah's face too--although we didn't get a photo of it!

"You Happy Mommy? You Happy?" Nora phrase of the month

Thankfully, Nora word of the week has progressed to Nora phrase of the month.

Lately Nora will spontaneously ask, "You happy, Mommy? You happy?" Her eyes look at me inquisitively-studying my face- and she spits the words out from behind her binky. She started asking this about a month ago, sort of out of the blue. Often she'll ask it if I'm visibly happy, dancing to music or laughing, or if I"m visibly NOT happy-raising my voice to her or Stuey. She seems to know the answer but likes to know where I stand. If I reply, "Yes, I'm happy Nora." She'll respond with "Oooookkkkaaaayyyy." And if I reply "No, I'm not really happy" she'll ask a few minutes later, to see if my status has changed.

Zoya

Life without kids

When Zoya and were looking through the pictures of Thanksgivings past we noticed that we spent Thanksgiving 2004 in South Africa. This was our last vacation without kids. Shortly afterwards Zoya became pregnant and life was never quite the same again. Not worse just totally different. We've evolved to a new period in our lives.

Photos: Top - view from the porch of our rondoval (thatched hut) at Oliphants Campground, Kruger National park. Second - penguins at Simonstown at the Cape. Third - Camps Bay where we stayed while at the Cape. Bottom - Zoya, Philip and Charlie cooking a braivleis breakfast at a Kruger Campground (Zoya got to meet all Patrick's old friends from when he lived and worked in South Africa in 1989/1990).

Fashion Statements and Good Times

On Thanksgiving, there were some serious fashion statements made on behalf of the 4 and under crowd.

Matt and Katie's daugther won the award for having the most adorable Hanna Andersson dress...sent to her by her grandmother.
Stuey sported the leave-room-for-dessert look, as he wore a button down classic white shirt and grey sweatpants. Nothing like an expandable waistline on Thanksgiving Day!
Nora wore an outfit that brought significant laughter-she picked it out herself. My sister Bonnie made her a kuspuk (an eskimo style shirt) for Christmas two years ago. At that time Nora wore it as a dress. As Nora has grown, she thinks it is STILL a dress, however. This was problematic last night-as I got ready with skirt and tights, she went to the closet and pulled out her kuspuk. I was thrilled to see her so excited to put it on. And I said, "Great! Lets pick out some pants to go with it!"
Nora replied, "No. Tights." She raced over to the sock drawer and pulled out a pair of tights. So she wore a shirt and tights. Too cute.

In the bottom photo, Christina Ball and her daughter Stella are on the left. She, Jason, Stella and Gavin came for a few minutes before dinner, which was so fun. Stuey had a hard time sharing his trucks with 2 year old Gavin, so there were a few tears shed but I was so glad they came by for a few minutes before heading to dinner. Jason is a wildlife trooper and Patrick and him had lots to talk about with regards to hunting and fishing in Kodiak. Within a few minutes of Jason coming in the door, Patrick and him were over by the computer looking at photos of elks, deer and other furry creatures.

For the 9th year in a row, I haven't had to cook the turkey. Pretty amazing. I've actually never been in charge of a turkey. i've been blessed by Patrick always cooking it (with Gregg's assistance in the early years...). I rather enjoy just doing the stuffing and maybe another side dish. The turkey is too much pressure. And I must say-Patrick gets it RIGHT ON. Perfectly moist. Perfectly cooked. IN the past 2 years we've discovered brining is the KEY for a moist turkey. YUM YUM YUM.

Zoya

Thanksgiving Dinner

What a feast! We had Mike, Roxanne, Cece, Matt, Katie, Matt and Katie's kids and Mary Jane over Thanksgiving dinner. Prime rib and Turkey. Lots of gravy, stuffing, green beans (cooked 2 ways), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pies, port, wine and beer - even champagne. So much food, but we did a number on it. And now comes he best part of Thanksgiving - the leftovers! Everyone appreciated a Kodiak Thanksgiving without lots of travel. Nice to get together with the 'Kodiak Family'. Patrick

Occupied No Shooting

This morning I was browsing through Don Clark's old photographs of Kodiak, and found this one of an old WWII spotlight bunker out at Sequel Point in 1958. He took the picture while he was in the US Army and did a survey of the condition of WWII installations out Chiniak way. I've looked at the photo a number of times, and I think I even posted it on the blog a year or two ago. But this morning I noticed a detail that entirely changed how I view the image. If you look carefully you'll notice that someone has written 'Occupied No Shooting' on the door to the bunker.

Wow! People were living in the Bunkers and a lot of people were shooting at the bunkers. I guess not a whole hell of a lot has changed in 50 years. Fewer people living in bunkers, but people are still shooting the hell out of them. I wonder, was the resident of that bunker smart or brave? Patrick

Thanksgiving Times, Gregg with a 'Stash', and entries from Patrick's Journal

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and tonight Patrick and I had fun looking at old Thanksgiving photos. The best one is Gregg with a mustache--his "old days" look!

Since meeting Patrick in 1999 we have spent many Thanksgivings here on the island with friends and several off island with family--down in Arizona, South Africa or out East (last year). Patrick and I really prefer to not travel during the holidays-too many hiccups with holiday travel as well as family expectations. Plus, we always find that dinner with good friends here is a great joy. Full of good food and laughter.

The photo on the top is in 2000-my first Thanksgiving with Patrick. Gregg was awesome with cooking the turkey and I really don't remember too much more about that dinner or who came over.

But A-ha!! When all else fails, go to the journal. Patrick has kept a daily journal since 1975. Watch out what you say or do in Da Saltonstall house-it could be permanently documented...

Excerpt from November 23rd, 2000 Thanksgiving journal entry
"....Eric, Kim and Rebecca came over to my place. Lots of booze and cheese. The turkey came out perfect. Gregg showed with pies and helped with the gravey. Steve and Sharon. Huge meal. I had way too much to drink. Rick and Melia came back here and we looked at old books....I finally trapsied over to Zoya's house at 2:00 AM...."

So with a little prompting from the journal-the details from prior Thanksgivings come back. Heres more:

2001 Thanksgiving
Excerpt from Patrick's journal....(Ella was in town visiting from Anchorage and we had Eric W. and friends from Larsen Bay in town for dinner.)

"....Then Ella and Zoya went off to Termination point on a hike with Hans T. I stayed behind to bake the turkey and watch football. Drink beers. Eric and co. arrived early and dug into the wine. Talked big bucks with the Larsen Bay crowd. We were all hammmered by the time Zoya and Ella got back. I thought the turkey was excellent and very moist but others found it "RAW". Fairly drunken affair, but fun for all. Eric, Kim and I finished up cigars and listened to CD's. I then inhaled the cigar. Bad idea. Ella passed out."

Patrick and I laughed as we read these entries and realized how little we remembered from these nights. Patrick says, "I was a pig in the old days...with how I acted." At times we think our lives haven't changed much since having kids, but after reading these journal entries, I realize how much our lives HAVE changed.

Zoya

Photos:
Gregg and I in 2000...me "stalking" the turkey skin after it came out of the oven.
2001-Eric Waltenbaugh, Scooby and the Larsen Bay gang. Ella in background.
2006 Alisa Abookire with the wine stash.
2006 Melissa, Patty, Mike and Katie.
(Melissa, Patty, John, Fisher, Mike and Alisa are all gone from the island now. We miss them.)

Pyramid Snow Report

I have not been up Pyramid for a while - too busy cross country skiing down low - so Today when I skinned up I was pleasantly surprised by how much snow we now have on the mountain. It's getting deep up there. And the skiing conditions are excellent. 3 to 4 inches of powder on top of a hard (but not icy) base.

Driving past 'Deadman's' curve I looked out over Chiniak Bay and noticed how hard the wind was blowing. I got a little worried I'd be blown off of the mountain. But no - it seems with the wind out of the West Northwest (like today) that the climb up from the parking lot is in a wind shadow. It was quite pleasant and warm in the sun. The powder in the 'snowboarder bowl' was not windpacked. Great skiing!

Photos: Karen and Jeremy head up for a snowshoe on the mountain. They were impressed by how warm and sunny it was on the mountain. Bottom 2 - scenics of the powder in the 'snowboarder bowl'. Patrick

November Light in Kodiak

Here are some pictures that I could not resist posting. The light changes so quickly in November. The top photo is of our front lawn after we took our family Christmas card photos. Lots of tracks in the snow. I guess we took our Christmas card photo pretty early in the morning! The sun is coming up over the horizon at around 10 AM these days, but it is light out far earlier. I think we took our family Christmas card photos about a half hour before the sun came up (around 9:30 AM). I took the bottom photo after Zoya and I had taken the Christmas card photos and left the kiddos in the capable hands of Lucy the babysitter. We went XC skiing on the lake in the foreground. This photo was taken around 10:15 AM just after the sun had come up. And yes I know - we did skedaddle after the Christmas photos and got to the lake pretty darn quick. But hey, bringing up kids and staying sane is all about time management. Patrick

Snowtime

Winter is in full force, Patrick is in snow heaven and the kids are at an age where they can truly enjoy the snow. When Stuey was younger (last winter), he was at a harder age to do outdoor things with. Barely mobile and not an age to have many outdoor adventures. Now at almost 2 he loves the snow.

Patrick and I have been scheming of starting a little toddler ski group-next winter perhaps. It would be for kids 4 and over--we could have people with small kids get some used skis at Play it Again Sports in Anchorage. On the weekends we could meet at various cross country ski spots. After seeing Nora on skis, we realized how fun it will be to get a little group of kid cross country skiiers together. Patrick has hopes of forming Kodiak's first Cross Country Ski team by the time Nora is in high school.
We'll have to keep our fingers crossed that Nora even enjoys cross country skiing! :)

Zoya

'Extra Blue' Ski Conditions

'Extra Blue' is a type of kicker wax for cross country skiis. It's the wax I use when there is powder on the ground and the temperature is in the 20's. Basically when the skiing is perfect. Not too cold and not too warm or mushy either - and no ice! 'Extra Blue' is slang for ideal conditions amongst the cross country ski cognoscenti.

Today in Kodiak we woke up to 'extra blue' conditions. Overnight it snowed 3-4 inches (we now have almost a foot on the ground), cleared off, and stayed cold. Gregg, Zoya and I went out to Lake Catherine and went for a cross country ski. After a few laps of the lake we struck off into the woods on the old military roads. All the spruce boughs bent over the trail with their load of snow. Great Skiing.

Photos: Top - Gregg and Zoya on Lake Catherine. Bottom - another view of the same canyon and mountain bowl that I took yesterday (I also took and posted the same photo 2 years ago). Different day - different light; always beautiful. Patrick

Tracks in the Snow

Today during my cross country ski I saw lots of tracks but very few animals. I saw where a land otter had slithered along, sliding on the downhills and bounding where the trail sloped up. I saw where deer had used my ski trail from yesterday as a deer highway. Snowshoe hare seemed concentrated in certain areas and they had created well used paths across the trail. Fox tracks criss-crossed here there and everywhere looking for food. I saw chickadee, magpie, raven and even eagle tracks. I saw my ski tracks from yesterday, and right on top of them I saw bear tracks. But the only animals I saw were some sad, spawned out silver salmon in the outlet to Lake Catherine, ravens, eagles waiting for the bears to free up some fish scraps out on the lake ice, and one snow shoe hare hightailing it away through the alders. Still and silent with not a breath of wind, and lots of stories to read in the snow. Patrick

Abercrombie Snow

Walking the dogs in the park - note Jake in the distance, Roxy is looking right at him. The snow contrasts nicely with the spruce trees and salmonberry bushes. Yesterday we got about 5 inches of new snow out at the airport and today I went for a classic cross country ski with my wooden Bonnas out at Swampy Acres - beautiful. Extra Blue for wax - with the wooden skiis, a truly classic day.

I thought I was following someone's snowed in snowshoe tracks until it became clear that it was actually the tracks of a bear tromping through the snow. Claw marks in the snow and a proclivity for spawned out salmon are a sure give away. How cool is that? Today a bear broke trail for me!

Then I took the doggies for a walk in Abercrombie. Not much snow made it through the trees, but the light was beautiful. Sun setting on the tree tops, dark tree trunks, green boughs, and white snow down below. I love this time of year. Patrick

Kodiak 1869

These watercolors of Kodiak were painted by Vincent Colyer who visited in 1869 while working for the equivalent of today's BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). The United States had just purchased Alaska and was trying to determine just what it had purchased. Vincent Colyer was part of one the early government inventory expeditions exploring Alaska at that time. While working for the government he also visited and painted Apache Indian reservations in Arizona. The originals of the watercolors posted here are at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Vincent Colyer went on to become a curator of art at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

Pictured here: top a view of town from Blisky (near) Island; middle a view from near where the high school is today out towards Barometer and Old Womens Mountains - no airport or Coast Guard Base out there back then (also note census numbers giving the population of various native villages on Kodiak scribbled on right); bottom Kodiak's Russian Orthodox church - this building was in the same spot as today's church. Over the years the church at that spot has been rebuilt a number of times. The most recent building dates to around 1944 after the prior building burnt down in 1943. Patrick

A "Wow" moment in Safeway

Tonight I had the most interesting experience at Safeway.

As I strolled through the aisles, I walked by a couple who had a little boy on the dads shoulder. Several times we passed each other and finally in the dairy section, the boy said, "Hi" and I said hi back. He looked like Stuey's age, so I asked the parents how old he was.

The mom replied, "21 months".

I said, "Oh, wow! Thats how old my son is! When was your son born?"

She said, "February 9th."

I said, "Oh, wow! Mine was born February 8th."

We talked for a few more seconds about our little guys then she said, "Wait, Was your son the one who had to be sent to Anchorage? I saw him when he was in the nursery."

I said "Yes, he was."

She asked, "Is he oK? did everything turn out ok? I remember the weather was bad and your flight had to turn back."

I reassured her that, yes, Stuey was just fine and he was as big and healthy as her son. She had such a look of relief on her face as I told her. She told me that she thought about him a lot since that time and wondered how he was.

It makes me realize how everyones experiences in this world are so connected. Its not like my experience with Stuey the hours and days after he was born was just him, our family and our friends. It was more far reaching than that. And so many experiences in life are like that.

And who ever would've guessed that tonight in Safeway I would have met a complete stranger who had thought about Stuey for almost two years?

So cool.

Zoya

Toys and Other Pieces of Plastic Junk

Lately I've been feeling like my family's house is one of those beaches where they do the marine debris clean ups every year only to have it loaded up again with trash the next year. I think I spend over a 1/2 hour every day just cleaning up plastic toys and putting them back into bins. Then the kiddos dump the bins and scatter the toys all about and I clean them up again - I'm a modern day Sisyphus. I don't think I'd mind if they actually played with the toys, but all they seem to do is scatter them and move on. They do have a few favorites - Stuey likes his cars and I try to keep these out - but for the most part they just throw them about, and I step on them in the middle of the night.

It has me hating plastic toys - and all you friends and relatives out there reading this - DO NOT send our kids plastic toys for Christmas (especially those toys with multiple plastic parts that immediately get separated from each other). I actually think my kids prefer playing with real pots and pans, rolling pins, cell phones than toys, and really, do we need cheap plastic toys? Where do they all end up? I have this horror that they all end up in that great spinning mass of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that supposedly is twice the size of North America (see Isiik's post from around a month ago - I don't know how to do those hot links but here's a try http://isiik.blogspot.com/2008/09/great-pacific-garbage-patch.html). Either that or in our landfill. Can we really afford to have them end up in either place?

Not sure if this is exactly related, but the other thing that depresses me is discarded toys. Did you ever read the 'Velveteen Rabbit'? I hate it when Nora or Stu tire of a toy and stop playing with it. It makes me very sad. I think of the toy as a discarded pet. So to see all these toys that were never really loved in the first place, and almost immediately discarded .. ... .. Well you get my point. But it has me thinking of the Puppy Farms that supply vet stores.

Personally - I think we should ban plastic toys or at least tax the hell out of them. It might actually clean up the floor of our house, and I don't think our kids would ever miss them. Patrick

Post script: Friends and Relatives - send us your old cell phones for Christmas! They love real phones!

Sleepless nights for Nora

As I write this, the house is quiet--the bedroom to the kids door is open and I am so glad that Nora was able to go to sleep easily the second night in a row. For about a week she has suffered from a bit of insomnia and I believe a large part of it was because she was scared of her room.

She and Stuey share a room, and there was one night light in there--but still too many shadows and dark corners for Nora's liking. We'd put Stuey to bed at the standard 7:30 PM time but Nora would remain awake until 9:30 or 10:00. Sometimes saying "mommy. mommy." Sometimes walking around her room. Sometimes just laying in her bed moving her arms. As she cried out "mommy-mommy" I asked her what was wrong and she said, "scared room." She pointed to a few dark corners she was scared of--which prompted me to make a trip for nightlights.

3 nightlights later, the room is illuminated to her liking. And a white noise machine which is on loan from a friend plays cricket/night time noises. Reminds me of the sounds I'd hear when I'd visit my grandmother during the summers in New Rochelle, NY. Kinda cool!!

I guess I didn't think it was possible to be afraid of the dark with Stuey in the room, but considering how hard Stuey sleeps, he probably isn't much help to her in her moments of fear. With her speech delay, I know very little about the true depth of what she is scared about. And perhaps thats the best. No sense on needing to know more details or having her spend lots of time rehashing it. Its time to light up her room and move on.

The insomnia was bothersome because it was really affecting her behavior and mood. Her attention was short and she was just not real pleasant to be around. Very trying, to say the least.
Today, after a full nights sleep, she was FUN to be around. We had lots of laughing moments and she had fun at Cecilia and Mikes house playing with Cece. It was a good day. Now the moon shines brightly in the sky and Nora sleeps soundly.

Zoya

Pictures

Roxann reading to Stuey, Nora and Cece.
Nora being silly-poking his face after their walk together this afternoon. I'm amazed Patrick can still carry her on his back!!
Nora looking out of the plastic playhouse outside last week one cold evening.