Booms and Bombs and Bushes

ETHER SUNDAY. No, it's not a typo. I meant to say "ether," as in the colorless gas... You see our neighbors here in Alaska invited us to celebrate Ether Sunday on their property. It's traditionally on the Sunday following the more well known and far less violent Easter Sunday, and the culture is for folks to shoot at containers of gas with guns to create mammoth explosions. Sooo...     Yup. That's pretty much the full explanation. Here's the really crazy part: First, this sounds somewhat reasonable and expected to us. Second, we went to it. What follows is a quick video of one of the gun-shots-followed-by-BOOM moments. As usual, you'll need to go to the blogger site version of the Alaska Adventure to see the goods. Take a moment and do that to get your Alaska groove on. Oh my.

BOMBER TRAVERSE. There seems to be a theme going here... So the Bomber Traverse actually has little to do with explosions and a lot to do with "getting away from it all" and experiencing some incredible wilderness and beauty. J Leslie, the king of taking two Spring breaks despite the fact that Alaska schools only officially take one, managed to escape for a week of ski mountaineering and touring in the Talkeetnas north of Anchorage. If you live somewhere spectacular, take advantage - beauty fuels the soul.

We've said it before but we'll say it again: Gotta get up to get down.

Getting down. Seriously.

The night of the full lunar eclipse. What a place to be...

Out for a sunny "stroll."

Did I mention that beauty fuels the soul?

PAY FOR THE PAYLOAD. Like last Spring, Team Leslie is preparing for a full Summer of adventure (we've got to live up to the blog name, right?). And with Alaska adventure-planning comes learning new vocabulary; like "payload" and "on floats" and "bush trip." As in "The Dehavilland Beaver on floats has a 1000 pound payload for bush trips." A rough translation of this speak is that a highly maneuverable float plane can handle carrying one thousand pounds of additional weight including passengers and gear, and said passengers need to pay for the cost of the entire flight, not just the normal per-seat fare of a regular air craft, so that we can get ourselves and all our stuff into a remote area of Alaska and land on a small lake, to paddle down a big river in the wilderness. So that pretty much throws off the whole bargain hunting on Expedia or Priceline situation that we're used to... instead we're renting a whole darn plane, not to mention procuring the thousand pounds of clothes, food, tents, sleeping bags, boats and paddles required for our destination. And bear spray. And mosquito nets. Stay tuned. 

[Grandparent Disclaimer: Despite your grandchild's proximity to Booms and Bombs and Bushes, we promise to maintain a reasonable semblance of order, safety and decision making to promote a positive life experience environment which will likely encourage further exploration, growing confidence and a strong sense of self... hopefully... at least that's the plan. And it's really really fun while we're at it.]

Inspirational and Unknown Quotes

Yes, yes... we're still here! As mentioned in previous posts, we're just so darn entrenched in the AK way that I forget to write about it! In an effort to get you up to speed on the goings on of the past few months, but not to bury you under a mountain of narrative text, I offer a series of quotes:

PINHOLE CAMERA MAKING. A family weekend of creativity and science...

Indigo: "I really get to make my own camera and take pictures with it? I'm only five, remember?"
J and Kim: "Yes, and yes."

Making the pinhole part...

Loaded and ready to roll!

They came out!

TECHNOLOGY and EDUCATION CONFERENCE. A professional development week for Kim in Anchorage...

Polycom Rep: "Hi there everyone, the very first thing I want to offer is a chance for you to express your needs - that's why I'm here. What can Polycom do for you?"
Guy next to me: "Well, most of my students leave school for weeks at a time with their families to go caribou hunting, hiking hundreds of miles off the road system; do you have a portable Polycom in a backpack that we could send with them so they could connect back to the classroom from the hunt?"
Polycom Rep: "You're serious, aren't you. [pause] I don't get asked that in California. Let's talk."

SPRING BREAK SKIING IN AK. A conversation about J's upcoming boys' ski trip to Hatcher and Thompson Pass came up at a neighborhood bonfire gathering...

Neighbor: "So you're headed up to Thompson Pass to ski, huh? Lots of slides up there. You could bring some explosives with you; do a little avi control on your own."
J: "Interesting... [translation, "what are you f-ing crazy?"] where does someone get that sort of thing?"
Neighbor: "I've got some... in my back pocket." (Literally pulls two sticks of dynamite out of his back pocket and hands them to J. I'm not making this up.)

2013 Spring Break Guest Blogger Andy returns for some goods...

And brings another Lower 48er, Ryan, along for the ride.

Ridiculous bonus quote because I wasn't there to razz them in person: "Andy and Ryan, is that dynamite in your pocket or are you just excited to be in Alaska?"

SPRING BREAK PLAYING IN MAUI. A glorious venture with Kim, Indigo and Gran...

Indigo: "Rainbows are sort of like the Northern Lights out during the day."

Somewhere, under the rainbow...

Beach buddies.

How does "Team Leslie: The Maui Adventure" sound?

DRIVING BACK FROM THE AIRPORT. Team Leslie rendezvous in Anchorage after our respective Spring Break trips...

Kim: "Bore tide!"

At the right place at the right time.

PRESCHOOL SOCCER. Got to be harder than herding cats...

Assistant Coach Kim: "Okay defense kiddos, you have one and only one job - to keep the ball out of this goal!"
Preschool boy: "And not to bite people!"

Coach J: "So, now that I've got your attention, let's-"
Preschool girl [reaching up to touch J's mega-beard]: "You're like my daddy cuz he's got whiskers too!"

Look out for biters...

SPRING IS HERE. The temperatures are warming up, the sun is out, the daylight is long, and we still have a little snow...

Team Leslie: "Ahhhhh..."

Multiple family yurt, climb and ski trip - and all the kiddos came up the mountain!

Between Dad's legs on the way down.

She can have her Maui and her AK too!

Going for it...