In the past year we have embraced long weekend getaways and mini-vacations. It is exhausting to fly in and out of Alaska for these quick trips, but I have yet to regret a single excursion. I guess we are still playing catchup from all the travel we missed during Covid? I especially love when our long weekends overlap with family visits. This year I got … Continue reading Girly Getaways
Today she drove away. Not for good, thankfully. She was off to soccer practice, followed by an 8-hour shift at work. She’s a busy kid, between sports, babysitting, her job at Subway, and hanging out at the horse barn. Throw in a knee surgery and weekly physical therapy appointments, and let’s just say this girl’s shiny new driver’s license brings as much freedom for her … Continue reading Sweet Sixteen
Our family has many special memories in Hawaii, so we were thrilled when my sister announced she was getting married on Maui. Even better: the wedding would take place in February, which guaranteed a respite from another dark, frigid Alaskan winter. We would wake up in snowy Anchorage, and a mere six hours later land on the shores of a tropical paradise. Getting there wasn’t … Continue reading Just Mauied
Ahhhh, holidays. The time of year we happily trade the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a different kind of crazy. It’s magical madness: a season where the refrigerator is always full and the mailbox is never empty. We silence our alarm clocks and turn on the Christmas music. We shop, wrap, decorate, bake, host, visit. Santa makes his naughty and nice list, while … Continue reading Holiday Highlights
A few years ago we got passports for the kids, but our first international family vacation was cancelled due to Covid. We had grand plans to visit a friend in Switzerland, followed by a few weeks in Spain and France. Instead, we stayed home… just like everyone else on the planet. It turned into a long Alaskan winter, especially with no escape for a year … Continue reading Nuestras Vacaciones Familiares
This girl. Due to Covid, she finished 8th grade online and spent the first three quarters of her freshman year on Zoom. When students were given the option to return to in-person school during 4th quarter, there was never a doubt that she’d go back. The kid is busy. Every day she packs three bags and a lunch: one for schoolwork, a second for soccer, … Continue reading Maggie 15.0
I still remember the last “real” staff meeting we had at school. It was the day before spring break of 2020, and nearly 100 of us gathered in the library. Together. Our principal told us to take home our laptops “just in case” this whole Covid thing exploded like some health experts feared. There were varying levels of concern, but not a single one of … Continue reading One Weird Year
This is (hopefully) the final in a trilogy of posts about the time our little boy told a giant lie: Post 1: Or Not to Bee (Grade 2) Post 2: Watching Your Child’s Dream Come True (Grade 5) Post 3: Sam’s Side of the Story (Grade 11) Last year Sam’s English teacher invited the Story Works Alaska crew into her classroom for a writing and … Continue reading Sam’s Side of the Story
These days I’m never sure whether I’m moving forward, backward, or sideways… which made January’s palindrome days sadly validating: February gets me as well: Groundhog day is the perfect way to acknowledge pandemic weeks that blur together in an endless loop. In our house, mornings always start with the miserable task of waking our teenagers. It’s shockingly difficult. Apparently the only thing teens hate more … Continue reading It’s LITERALLY Groundhog Day
Every year it baffles me how weeks of shopping, cooking, planning, and scheming explode in a few short hours. On Christmas morning our living room transforms from a tidy, shiny, idyllic paradise into something reminiscent of a war zone. New socks, hoodies, books, and gadgets lay strewn in haphazard piles. Rogue pieces of scotch tape stick to our new slippers as we wander about, stuffing … Continue reading It’s a Wrap
Profoundly Ordinary 