A Magical Alaska Moment
Today, Garrett and I were reminiscing about something that happened to us about a year ago. It’s such a delightful little story, I thought I would share.
As you know, we love living near the ocean. Every once in awhile, we trade in a beach walk for a walk on the docks. Certain times a year provide certain types of entertainment, both in the water and along the docks. And the thing about the harbor near where we live is that there are almost always harbor seals around.
So this particular day about a year ago was much like today – cold and gray. Not long after we stepped onto the dock a harbor seal popped up out of the water not even 20 feet out from us. Harbor seals are curious creatures, and this one sniffed the air between us, watching us with its big black eyes. “Hi there!” Garrett piped up. It slid back into the water.
We walked a few more paces, talking excitedly about how close the seal was when it popped up again, exactly parallel from us, not 20 feet out. “Well hello again,” Garrett said with delight. We chatted at it for a bit before it sank into the water. The process repeated itself again, and we marveled at how funny and curious this seal was. Finally, Garrett said (and I’m not making this up), “You got any friends? Go find them and bring them here.”
At this point we came across a working boat moored along the dock. Working boats are entertaining – there’s lots of buoys and nets and gear to look at and talk about. As we slowly made our way to the bow, we heard a soft exhale of air and sure enough, there was our seal again, this time only about 10 feet away. Before we could greet it, a volley of soft exhales reached our ears and dark heads began popping up all over the place. In addition to our new friend, there were 12 more seals in the water out in front of us. I know because they stayed up long enough for me to count them…twice.
Our new friend was the last to sink back into the water. Did I imagine the knowing look in it’s eyes? We walked all the way down to the end of the dock and back without a single visit from any of the seals. They seemed to have vanished. Curious creatures. And a wonderful memory.
Cake Pops!
I gave up my facebook addiction for pinterest. If you haven’t browsed pinterest.com, I suggest you make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, eliminate distractions and settle in for a little bit. Even if you’re not a crafty person, the site is so full of variety you’re bound to be inspired in some way. And recently, I was inspired to make cake pops.
Cake pops are an alternative to birthday cake or cupcakes or whatever you might make for the sweet treat at an event. Garrett happened to be looking over my shoulder when I discovered cake pops and that became his birthday request. You can google cake pops (or better yet, search “cake pops” on pinterest.com) and get a wide range of instructions on how to make them. I used the recipe from the blog: Veronica’s Cornucopia with some modifications, represented here.
Fair warning: you can’t just whip these adorable things together. This is a two day, process, and I estimated that it took me about three hours total across those two days.
Ingredients:
1 box cake mix, any flavor. I used super moist Duncan Hines milk chocolate
1 container frosting, any flavor. I used chocolate whipped frosting, and I didn’t need to use very much of it…maybe 1/3 of the container. If you make your own homemade frosting, that would work too.
1 – 24 ounce package of almond bark/candy coating (white or chocolate). I used chocolate.
Sprinkles (optional, but fun)
Lollipop sticks, 3×4 cello (treat) bags, ribbon, and a square of styrofoam – in Juneau, I got all of these things from Joann’s Fabrics
Bake the cake according to directions and cool completely. You need to crumble the cake into small pieces. I followed Veronica’s recommendations to use a food processor, breaking the cake up into chunks and processing it into fine crumbs. Place the crumbs in a bowl, roll up your sleeves and using your hands, mix the cake crumbs with frosting (start with 1/3 of the container and add more if you think you need it). You want the cake crumbs to stick together so you can roll balls. The balls should be the consistency of truffles centers.
Roll mixture into one inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. You should get about 40-50 balls from your cake mixture. Cover and place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator, ideally overnight but at the very least, an hour. Do not freeze the cake balls.
When you’re ready, melt the almond bark/candy coating as directed. I transferred my melted candy coating into a small crock pot to keep it warm, and I highly recommend you do this if you have the resources. Remove your cake balls from the refrigerator.
Dip a lollipop stick into the candy coating, and then insert the stick into a cake ball, pushing it at least 1/2 way in (or a bit more) to the ball. This is really something you have to do by touch. Put the cake ball back on the cookie sheet with the lollipop sticking out of it, and continue with the rest.
Next, carefully dip your cake pop into the candy coating to cover the entire ball, twisting and tapping the stick gently to remove excess candy coating. I found that the candy coating coverage doesn’t have to be perfect, and in fact the “pop” looks more realistic if it’s not necessarily perfect. Sprinkle with sprinkles and insert the stick into the Styrofoam block to harden.
Unfinished pops at the top of the shot, waiting to be dipped in the small crockpot full of chocolate. Finished cake pops, stuck into Styrofoam, waiting to be bagged up.
Once your cake pops have hardened (it only takes minutes), slide the cello (treat) bags over top and secure with ribbon. I threw all of my finished cake pops into a bowl and transported them to Garrett’s beach party. With the candy coating, they weathered the trip well.
How did they go over? Amazing! It’s not just the novelty of them…they are delicious!
February Book Review
February was a long month, and not just because it’s a leap year. It seems like ages ago that I sat down to write my January book review, but it’s only been 30 days. Time is funny, that way.
I spent the first three weeks of February reading a tough book. It was tough on so many levels. We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver is a fictional story of an almost-16-year-old boy who goes on a school shooting rampage one Thursday. That alone is a nightmare of a subject. Kevin’s mother is the narrator, and she tells the story of what happened that one Thursday by reflecting on the last 16 years of her life, starting with her extreme initial reluctance to get pregnant in the first place. Naturally, she wonders how this reluctance influenced the pregnancy, her marriage, parenting and her son. Tough issues. The story unfolds, post rampage, through a series of letters that she’s writing to her husband, which proved to be a hard way to follow the story. And to top it all off, I should have read this book with a dictionary at hand. The author paints a picture of the mother’s character by using lots and lots of big words. It’s effective, but frustrating. I’m not usually afraid of learning new words when I read books, but I’m pretty sure if the author could have found a bigger word for “the,” she would have used it. All these things combined made it the kind of book I found hard to pick up and read, and equally hard to put down and walk away from. Did I like it? Yes. No. Do I recommend it? Yes. No. Not a very helpful review, is it?
I knew I needed to move on to something lighter, but the library called. Catching Fire, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins was in. I wasted no time reading it. While I was reading The Hunger Games, a stranger on the street told me that the second and third books weren’t as good as the first. I disagree. Catching Fire follows the memorable main character Katniss Everdeen into the start of a revolution. While book one was very emotional, this second book was very clever. I look forward to the final book, on hold at the library and hopefully coming soon to a monthly book review!
The final book of February was my book club choice: Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I really enjoyed it. I saw the movie quite some time ago and can’t remember if they match up at all. But the book was light and delicious – I ate a lot of chocolate the week I read this book!
I also wanted to mention that Garrett and I are reading books together. I don’t generally review them, but I wanted to make note of two series that we are really enjoying. The first is called Ivy & Bean. Annie Barrows is the author, and if her name sounds familiar it’s because she was co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The only other books she has written are the Ivy & Bean series. Ivy and Bean are two second grade girls, neighbors, initially reluctant to form a friendship. It doesn’t take long in their small neighborhood to realize that they have loads in common, become fast friends and get into all sorts of adventures. Garrett thinks they are brilliant, even if they are girls. 
And to balance the “girly” series, we’ve started the Diary of a Wimpy kid series as well. Book one is done and we’re on to book 2, but Garrett enjoyed book one so much he’s reading it again, on his own time, before bed in the evening and in the mornings if he wakes up early. My once reluctant reader has discovered the magic.
To those of you who have sent some recent book recommendations, thank you! Keep ‘em coming! Email me at lori@alaskafamily.net.
Off the Groom
For the first time this winter season, Garrett and Dave went downhill skiing last Saturday. It was one of those picture perfect days, and the guys returned from the mountain happy and exhausted.
Dave: We went into the West Bowl today.
Me: Great! (I can barely stand up cross country skiing, so this meant nothing to me).
Dave, lightly: You know, off the groom.
Me: Wait a minute, you took our son back-country skiing today??!!
Dave, not looking me in the eye: I wouldn’t call it back-country skiing.
Me: Just how do you define “off the groom??”
With his back to me, he chuckled. “Check out the pictures we got,” he replied. He knows how to distract me with shiny, pretty things.
It’s not like they went where no man has gone before. But when I heard him sharing details of their traverse across the West Bowl with a friend, I had to plug my ears and sing “La la la!” I have to remind myself that they had a great time and no one got hurt. A friend made a really good point today – at least Garrett went with his dad, who was able to show him how to do something like this safely. “Won’t be long now before he’s up there by himself, trying this stuff,” she warned. So very, very true. And they did get some mighty great pictures!
Father & son quality time.
Picture perfect day!
Headed into the West Bowl. Lean left!
The view.
Look at those trees! (Double click on photo to enlarge)
Saturday Creek Cabin
Last year, Dave and I rented remote cabins in Juneau to celebrate our birthdays. Garrett wanted in on that action, so we rented the Saturday Creek Cabin for an overnight this week to celebrate his 8th birthday.
Saturday Creek Cabin
Saturday Creek Cabin is a fairly new public use cabin located at Eagle Beach State Recreation Area about 15 miles from our home. You can drive to this cabin, which is perfect for a birthday in February. The cabin has a main floor area with a large table, a “kitchen” cabinet and sleeping platform along the back wall that easily sleeps four. There’s a beautiful upper loft that easily sleeps 6-8. The cabin is fueled by an oil stove, which gave Dave a little bit of trouble, but once fired up kept us toasty warm and dry.
Shooting down from the loft
The cabin sits right on the banks of Saturday Creek, which separates Eagle Beach from the Boy Scout Beach trail. We got there at high tide, which pushed the river up very high and proved to be entertaining. The river was filled with big ice chunks, river otters and seals. Garrett declared us “adventurers!” and we spent most of the daylight hours playing along the river.
Plotting our next adventure.
Heart-shaped ice on the shore.
Hanging 10 Juneau style.
The biggest adventure we had was dinner. Dave made homemade tortilla soup at the house, and after warming it for dinner at the cabin, accidentally spilled the entire pot of soup. The dogs enjoyed it and were an immense help in cleaning up (it wasn’t as if I had packed the truck with cleaning supplies). Thankfully, the soup was a last minute add-on to the main meal, and we had enough food for the evening.
Cedar & Autumn, our good girls.
While we humans had a lot of fun, I think that our old girls really enjoyed our little outing. Cedar and Autumn are both 11+ now, and cannot hike to the remote cabins with us any longer. This was a grand adventure for them, and they nap contentedly at my feet as I put together this summary. Dave, on the other hand, is making another batch of homemade tortilla soup!
Morning views.
Eight is GR8T!
Today, 2/19/12, was Garrett’s 8th birthday. Eight! How did that happen? He seems so old, but really he’s still a little boy. But there’s nothing little about him. At this rate, he’ll be as tall as me by the time he’s 12. No matter how old or tall, he’ll always be our baby. Below are some pictures from the last couple of days of celebration. Enjoy!
Dave & I joined Garrett and his buddies for lunch on the Friday before his birthday.
Garrett, serving birthday cupcakes to his classmates at his classroom birthday party.
Birthday breakfast!
We. Lucked. Out. I plan an outdoor birthday party in February, and we get a beautiful day at the beach.
This was all we really saw of Garrett and his friends at his party. As it should be!
There was just enough of a breeze that we couldn't keep the candles lit. So all the kids "imagined" burning candles and Garrett blew them out.
Happy 8th Birthday, Garrett!
A Little Faith
As a family, we recently attended “Scout Sunday” at a church nearby our home. This church sponsors our Cub Scout Pack and dedicates a service a year to connecting the Scouts with the members. We use their space and resources on a regular basis, and for that we are very grateful. We don’t regularly attend church, and Garrett’s been curious about what a church service is like. We thought that attending this service was a good opportunity for Garrett, and for us to share our appreciation to the church for their support.
It was a lovely service. We knew lots of people in the congregation. As the service let out we got to chatting with friends. Another Scout leader approached and asked us to move into the main gathering hall, as the Governor of our great state had attended the service and had agreed to pose for pictures with the Scouts. Our Governor shook Garrett’s hand, clowned around with the boys and personally thanked the Scout leaders present (including Dave) for the time, dedication and leadership. It was all very exciting.
But this story isn’t about religion or our brush with fame. It’s about my purse, which I had left on the floor of the church, at my feet, under the pew in front of me. I realized I didn’t have it with me approximately 10 minutes after the service ended, after pictures with the Gov. When I went back to get it, it was gone.
If you’ve ever lost a purse or a wallet, you know the drill. You’re embarrassed and maybe a little panicked, but mostly trying to problem solve. There were lots of people still milling around, so a friend of mine and I started asking around, and people mobilized for us. The main church was searched, storage spaces, nooks and crannies, you name it. No purse.
I waited over 24 hours to cancel my cards, watching my accounts online to see if there was any activity, which their wasn’t. I just couldn’t believe that someone would steal my purse…at church. I waited over 48 hours to start replacing things. I waited for that call – the “oh-my-gosh-I’m-so-sorry-I-didn’t-realize-I-had-your-purse” call. It didn’t come.
But another call did. Wednesday night, my purse was found in the entry-way of the church. It was completely in tact. It don’t believe it had just been sitting there for the last three days. I searched the church pretty thoroughly twice on Sunday, and the staff did a search on Monday morning. I can only guess that someone did find it in their home or their car, tangled in jackets or other bags, and embarrassed, returned it quietly to be “found.”
No matter the circumstances, I’m grateful to have it back. Sure, canceling and replacing things was a hassle, but peace of mind overshadows those inconveniences. Naturally, in our small community, word got out pretty quickly about what happened. I know a lot of people were pretty disheartened to hear the story. I’m grateful to the person who returned my purse, and pleased to share the happy ending…to restore a little faith.
January Book Review
Wow! Mix a little vacation with some excellent books and walla – I read six books in January!!! I can’t remember the last time I read so many books. Honestly, I did do other things this month, like go to work and cook dinners and stuff. But I will admit I got less sleep, staying up later than usual to read, read, read. I will state now that I recommend each an every book below, wholeheartedly!
The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morten is a mystery spanning four generations and about 100 years. In addition to many fascinating characters, it features a secret garden that one can only reach through a garden maze. Both are marvelous physical representations of the story itself. The Forgotten Garden is a fat book, and while I almost never complain about fat books, I can assure you that each time I started to feel a little tired with this long story, there was a twist that completely sucked me back in. A great vacation read!
I started Sarah’s Key on the first flight home from our vacation in San Diego. I finished it about 12 hours later. Reading this book was a long time in coming. I started hearing about it from friends last summer, and one of my book club friends chose it months in advance of her assigned month. It’s been sitting on my shelf, calling to me. And it was worth the wait. Many books about WWII are deeply moving and disturbing, and this work of historical fiction is both. My only criticism is that I had a hard time relating to the modern day main character, and often found her personal issues petty and distracting. I suppose that’s the case when you compare many of our modern day “tragedies” to those that took place in WWII.
The Likeness, by Tana French is the second in a series of books focused on the fictional Dublin Ireland Murder Squad. Her first, In the Woods, was a gripping read…a bit like a roller coasters ride out of control. I’m not a fan of roller coasters and generally not a fan of crime novels, but am loving this new author. The Likeness did not disappoint. Tana French writes with a fast, smart pace, and I find myself tense and edgy when I read her books. But they are SO worth reading.
While wandering the Seattle airport on the way home from vacation, I came across the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua. It’s a nonfictional book about an American born, Chinese woman who chooses to raise her half Chinese, half Jewish children the “Chinese way.” I was intrigued. Other than some vague, stereotypical cultural concepts, I didn’t have the foggiest idea about the Chinese way. The author fully discloses that she uses the term “Chinese mother” loosely. “I recently met a supersuccessful white guy from South Dakota…and after comparing notes we decided that his working-class father had definitely been a Chinese mother.” Part cultural influences, part personal quirks, Amy Chua bluntly shares many examples of the choices she made on how to raise her two daughters. And I mean, blunty. I think I said, “Oh my God” out loud, about a hundred times while reading this book. As a “Western” mother, I found her parenting style shocking. But she got me thinking, especially about the concept of having high expectations for our children. It’s a short, jaw dropping read. This would be great in a book club setting with a bunch of parents. I’ll bet it would generate some interesting conversation.
Still Alice, by Lisa Genova, is a fictional story of 50 year old Alice Howland, Harvard professor and highly respected psychologist in linguistics. She begins to experience some memory issues that she chalks up to menopause…until she can’t figure out how to get home from a jog in her neighborhood one day. After several months and a couple of doctor’s appointments, it’s confirmed that she has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. This story follows Alice’s steady and dramatic decline for the next year and a half. It’s a powerful book, made even more powerful when you learn that the author has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and cared for her vibrant and active grandmother after she was diagnosed and eventually succumbed to Alzheimer’s. A very moving story, and perhaps difficult to read if you have genuine concerns about memory issues in someone you care for.
And finally, I gobbled up The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Several people had recommended it to me, and I had the hardest time finding it in town. I got it on loan from the library with a restricted loan time (2 weeks instead of a month) because it’s “such a popular item.” I tried to buy it first at our local bookstore, and the poor guy at the register sighed when I asked him where to find a copy. “We can’t keep them in stock.” Let me tell you, there’s a reason for that. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is unforgettable. This is the first in a trilogy of books. Now I have to go in search of the second one!
And then the month of January ended! And there’s a whole stack of books and a whole new month ahead. What are you reading in this new year? Any must-reads on your bookshelf?? Share please! lori@alaskafamily.net.
What??? It’s still winter!
Taking a vacation in the heart of winter is such a blessing. But returning to the cold, dark, snow is a bit of a shock to the system. Especially when there are still several months of winter left. Note to self: vacation in late February/early March next time.
We’ve gotten about two feet (or more) of snow in the last week. This after a wicked cold snap of temperatures at 25 below zero with wind chill. I’m not complaining – we could be Valdez or Cordova – two Alaskan communities struggling with record breaking, life threatening snow fall this winter. Check out some pictures from Cordova at this link: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/09/2254598/reader-photos-cordova-snow.html#id=2258123&view=large_view
And check out some of our pictures from recent outdoor adventures, back at home.
Smiles at the Glacier
Here we are!
Getting the runs on the sledding hill ready before the friends arrive.
Our "Dicken's Pole" complete with snowy hats.
This is what Dave looked like every morning this week.
Vacation-isms
Garrett and I worked together to keep a travel journal this past vacation to San Diego. Almost every day I had him write a few sentences about what we did and what he thought. I added a note here and there, and we rounded it out with drawings, postcards and pictures. In the back, I kept a separate log of some of his funnier moments. And here they are.
Everyone we saw had some sort of comment about how Garrett looked like Dave and/or I. He heard a lot about his height. One evening during dinner, he leaned over to me and said, “Mom, I have Dad’s legs. What do I have of you?” Feeling a little sassy, I replied, “My sparkling personality.” He slowly sat back, looked at me thoughtfully and said, “Right. Of course.”
We visited friends, and Garrett got to play with an 8 year old girl and a 10 year old boy. The kids threw on their swimsuits and jumped into the hot tub to play. When they got out, they wandered into the house soaking wet, needing to dry off and change. We mothers trailed behind the kids, and as they got to the bedrooms, my friend directed her kids into one room and Garrett into another, saying to Garrett, “Why don’t you have to go into that room to change so you don’t have to see any of my kids bits and pieces.” She said it off-handedly, and I didn’t even really pay much attention until Garrett said to me, “I’ve already seen her bits and pieces,” referring to the 8 year old girl. “How’s that?” I asked, as lightly as I could. “Have you been in her room, Mom?” Garrett asked. “She’s got a TON of stuff.”
While visiting Dave’s mom’s house, Garrett, Dave and I all shared one room. Garrett had a blow-up bed on the floor next to our bed – next to the side that Dave slept on. For the first time ever, Garrett had a hard time adjusting to a new place. He was so anxious that he woke me up twice in the middle of the night that first night, walking around the bed in the dark bedroom to stand above me and wake me up. On the second night, he asked me to change sides of the bed so he didn’t have to walk so far if he woke up. “Wake up your Dad – he’s right there!” was my response. Garrett’s comeback: “But Dad doesn’t know everything like you do.”
And finally, Garrett thoroughly enjoyed the fact that his Grandma has cable television, and because we were on vacation, we let him watch a lot more TV than we normally do. As we drove to the airport on the day we were scheduled to fly home, June sighed and said, “Oh, the house is going to be so quiet without you all.” Garrett piped up from the backseat. “Grandma, just turn on Cartoon Network. That will help.”
Goofing around at Lake Murray, San Diego.