Monday, March 18, 2024

Day at the Museum of Anchorage

I recently had the pleasure of being invited on a field trip with some of our High School classes Life Skills students and we got to spend a bit at the Anchorage Museum!  It was amazing!  So much fun and I learned a lot of things about a lot of things!  If thats a thing?
Yes!  We took a yellow school bus on a crappy road day with an amazing bus driver who made the trip seem easy and one of the kids just wanted to "nap" on the bus - he slept the whole way there!  

But then he was ready for the interactive Museum Experience!
First thing in the door was a giant interactive kinetic and hydraulic display that had all kinds of ball bearings, marbles, gears and other stuff that kept the kids and the grown ups enthralled! 

These kids are some of my favorites at the school - they are always joyous and the spread it everywhere!  One of them always tells me that Im "Legendary"!  He also believes that he is Legendary!  I love that about him and it always makes me smile - no matter what!

One of all of our favorite sections what the Comic Con section with an amazing library like reading area that was all animated/cartoon books and the kids could grab a book and Chill!

The Murals on the walls were done by local cartoon artists - I was not able to get the names of the mural makers, but the kids sure enjoyed finding the artifacts hidden in plain sight in the murals.

They also got to draw cartoons in part of the exhibit in the Comicon area - tons of different styles and lots of colors to use - you can trace something or make up your own characters! So Fun!


This part is also a fun and interactive section where you scan a QR code with your phone or the ipads provided and when you focus your device on the orange frames the picture that comes up on the device is all in color and tells you the story about that page of the comic.  Mind Blown on that one!

Then there is the Snapping Turtle - (thats Mr Brandt the teacher in this picture) but the turtle is a medium sized guy who loved the kids but the grown ups not so much!  He would go right to the spot where any kids were standing and swim and show off right in front of them!

You can see him swimming right in front of these two - He is an intersting addition to the Museum and kind of a "one of these things is not like the others" display!  It sounds like maybe someone had him as a pet as a baby turtle and then he grew into a big snapping turtle and this was his best option for great care?  I learned from this display that this type of snapping turtle can live up to 50 years!

There was even inspiration for us quilters there in the Alaska Native/Eskimo display - how beautiful is this regalia?  I could not resist taking a picture of it as I have quilt dreams of it now!  We couldnt take a lot of pictures in this section of the Museum due to the "No Flash" rule and that the lights are kept very low in this part - many of the artifacts can be damaged by the light - even from flash cameras!  

The elevator even has a marvelous mural on it!  Everywhere we went there was art and wondrous things to see and do!  We only had a couple of hours there so we did not get to even see and do everything but I give two thumbs up to this "Legendary" experience!  If you havn't been to the Museum please make plans to go - you will not be sorry!  If you are not local here in Alaska Check out the link here to the Museum - or check your area for a museum that is close to you - I know Seward has a great one also!  

Blessed Be and may all your adventures and field trips be Legendary!

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Naughty Ike Steals a Shoe!

 I think all of you have heard of Naughty Ike by now - the Valentines gift gone slightly awry from 2022?  The two year old who acts like it?  Yes thats him!

He is a 130 pound wonder of love and no idea of his own size or how much he weighs!  What does he know?  He knows that he likes the remote controls and my Sanita hand painted shoes with the beautiful Dragonfly Dragon Rye's on them that I sourced off of Marketplace and paid extra to have them shipped because at the time, I didnt have time to drive to Anchorage (or the energy) during the busy time of both my jobs!

This is them - in all their splendor at moms house showing them off to her!  She was proud of me that I actually got something for myself - although pre owned - that made my heart happy!

Mom came out withour her shoes on even - luckily it was warm out that day!

I love these shoes! Should I say I loved them!

They went with everything - they were my special "dress up" shoes!  I wore them when I needed to feel good going to places that might be hard for me!  They were so comfortable and easy to slip on and off, and they never made my feet stinky either!  They were all day walkers!
And now.......Ike strikes again!

Hubby thought they might be repairable but he chewed them all the way down to the metal in the sole and then he chewed them some more!
Here I am at a wedding - wearing the shoes!  The special shoes so even if I was looking down - those Dragonflies would be flying all around!
He got both of them - I kept them in the bedroom with the door shut and he got the door open and got these shoes!  Not the crappy ones that are rubber but hurt and make your feet stink which these ones never did!


Here they are on the counter and you can tell who did it!  Brix was NOT involved in the shoe stealing!  He wants to bolt away!  Ike knows - and he does look remorseful!  I asked "Did you eat my shoes?"

If Brix could point..... you know who he would be pointing at!  But MoMMMM.....It was an accident!  Accidental shoe eating?  Pretty sure it wasnt!  
The very next day he ran out onto the lake and made a spectacle of himself with some fishermen who were just trying to enjoy the day!  Luckily - once again it was some of our nice neighbors - Ike was just saying a barky hello and Brix just showed up to chill and fish with the nice lady who had some shrimp for bait!  I got my steps in but not how I planned and I was so mad!

Here he is - under my desk where he really doesnt fit anymore and where he ends up unplugging my mouse most days if I let him get under there!  He was trying to make up and snuggle me cuz he knew I was very salty towards him!

I will be glad when the "twos" are over!  I never even had this much trouble with the boys when they were two!  We had a few things they would do, but the people boys were never shoe wreckers - at least not mine!  I know this too shall pass and I am practicing patience and learning new "coping skills"!

May you have great shoes to make memories in, nice neighbors to help get your dogs home, and a few baby gates to keep them out of the rooms!

Blessed Be!


Tuesday, February 27, 2024

A BIrthday Good Thing for your 31

 Today you would be 31 years old.  31 years old at 8:15 pm.  It is a beautiful sunny day today finally, after all the crazy storms we have had it is nice to have your day be so beautiful.

The friends of the dead have come out in force to support us and have called, messaged, and sent hugs from near and far - some even coming right to us to try to hug a cactus today!  We have had notes given with love and support to help us keep going, and to try to give us a little love and remind of that the love stays, as we manage the day.

Today I am doing a good thing to honor you and to give a dear friend a good thing too, some who loves you and whom you love.  It required me to leave the house today and to go out into the world and be present with people and especially this friend who will be travelling soon to have cancer treatment.  I know you will be with us today and I know you will have her in your angel wings as she travels for this hard thing.  This is the first birthday since you died that I have left the house I think, and it was exhausting but good.

Today I delivered this quilt to my dear friend Dana - the only thing I can do to make her life a little easier as she goes to have cancer treatment out of state.  We had lunch together and visited and talked about all of our kids and some of the hard things we are both dealing with right now......

We remembered you and we laughed and cried a little, and right there in the restaurant, she prayed with me and for me and for us and I for her.  
I thanked her for giving me her time today, your birthday, and one of my hardest days of the year, and she said she was honored to spend the time with me and to have the gift that was made with love and magic, and a little bit of angel too.

Blessed be - do good things both large and small, and if you are a believer in any higher power, throw up some prayers for my Dana and her family, for me and my family, and for all of us struggling right now with the world, and always, always love your people!

We March!

Monday, February 12, 2024

Naughty Ike Makes A Friend!!!

 This week Naughty Ike turned two!  And he really is two!!!  Any of you who have had a two year old even as a baby sitting candidate knows the terrors of two!

The snow has been really deep, and the weather has been cold lately - and both my boys have to go poop where no one can see them - most of the time even cars going by!  Especially Brix - our older dog who was trained at a young age to not poop in the yard - but if the snow is touching his butt all bets are off and you can expect a pacing event until he just can't not go anymore!

So when a neighbor made a few runs to the lake on a snowmachine, and Reed and the Hubby had made a few runs earlier in the Winter, it made for a trail right to the neighbors in a roundabout way through the dark woods between our properties!  Ike just thought it was the best thing ever!  SO every time the neighbor started his truck and we were outside, Ike would run over and give him a huge barking helloo!  Yeah - laugh it up - damn dog kids!


Luckily we have nice (dog people) neighbors and his wife came over to meet this Naughty dog who kept coming to their house!  "Your dogs are always so good and they never come to our house -I thought you must have got a new dog!"  I had to say - he's not new - he's just two!


Then we laughed and laughed because we both know!


Blessed Be and may the worst of your two year old problems be just Ike naughty!