Torsten’s Auke Bay Coop pre-school went on a tour of a tug boat a few weeks back. They sure enjoyed it–here is a picture of Adelie, Ava and Torsten having fun on the tug boat. We are also prepping for Halloween fun as a family of pirates.. Argghh!
Under a new ceiling
We are having a busy fall, but trying to catch up from the summer as well. It was great to have Peter visit for the whole summer–what a treat for him and Torsten to have such great time together. Torsten “helped” Peter work on installing a new ceiling in the new house (nice pine tongue and groove on the white ceiling in the living room).
Carrie and Torsten enjoyed playing trains under the new roof (although they didn’t feel like cooperating with the photographer!)
Minnesota relatives
On our trip to visit northern Minnesota, part of the purpose was to catchup (for Carrie) and meet (for Torsten and Matt) some long lost family (on Carrie’s side). We visited Carolyn (Carrie’s namesake!) on Lake Vermillion, then Skip (Carrie’s Uncle) and his family on another beautiful lake. We saw several family homes, and in general enjoyed meeting family and relaxing on the lakes. Torsten especially liked “hanging with the big boys.”
After the Boundary Waters canoeing with friends, we caught up with Mike and Ellen, along with Aunt Peggy and all her family–what great hospitality, and a beautiful place to stay at the farmhouse (with an organ!)!!
A major highlight for Torsten was visiting the petting zoo across the border in Wisconsin. Torsten still likes to pretend his is a bunny and be fed carrots:
These are just a few of the highlight photos–many family are left out, so make sure to check out the photo gallery of the whole trip!
Do you see what I see (its a glacier!)
I like this photo–someone actually said I may have an ounce of artistic skill (I think it is just a lot of artistic license that I’ve taken!). Actually, it is just luck–that’s why I take so many photos. Anyway, I went up Mendenhall Glacier yesterday to try and do some mass balance work–the ablation wires are in (but that was what Eran, Logan, and Regina did). I had no luck finding the magnets–I like to think it was because of so much snow–there definitely was a lot.
If you need to go through a gallery of photos, they are at http://seamonsterak.com/gallery/v/Mendenhall+Glacier/mass+balance/Mendenhall+Mass+Balance+Day+1/highlights/
Easter Eggs and BBQ
We are still catching up on blogging, but we had a great Easter Egg Hunt/BBQ at Auke Rec. We got great weather, and we all had fun working the grills, walking the beach, searching for eggs, and hanging out with friends. If the few thumbnails below aren’t enough for you, we always have the full gallery.
yes, the snow is knee deep on skis
Catching up some more on t-h blogging. Carrie and Matt went up to Spalding Meadows on Monday, March 12. It was a great hike up (see the picture of Matt hiking up on skis above). We skied around a little up at the top (not enough–Matt ran out of fuel for the warm food for lunch (we still had chocolate and trail mix, etc), Matt ran out of steam a bit (and he had worked up quite a steam/sweat on the way up and had done a not-so-good job of managing moisture!), and the snow was “closing in” a bit (visibility was dropping and snow was starting to pile up quickly)–Matt had images of two frozen Torsten parents and thought the grandparents would kill us (if we weren’t already dead)). So we headed down too early. And that was still lotsa fun!
Need more? View the whole gallery (including the cooking fun…)
The perfect commute
Juneau is having a great snow year. (This is already the fifth snowiest winter season in Juneau. By March 6, there was 164 point 7 inches, according to Meteorologist Nathan Foster in the Juneau Forecast Office.) The ski commute home from the UAS campus across Auke Lake, a brief ski down back loop, and then breaking trail along the Montana Creek trail over to Mendenhall River, and finally home is probably only about 5 miles, but took about 2 hours and was exhausting. What a great way to shift gears from work to home! I did this on last Friday and again Monday (UAS snow day). These pictures are from my cell phone–the only camera I had. Some of the trees back there are almost 2 meters in diameter, so it is a phenomenal ski in the woods! Here’s a few pictures, and you can check them all out at the gallery.
The happy commuter.
Looking forward down the trail.
Looking back the trail already skied.
The home stretch (looking down our street–our home is down there at the end of the road, under all the snowy trees (with an 8 foot tall pile of snow on each side of the driveway!)).
Fun in the Sun (Auke Rec)
We had a great, sunny, Southeast day that Matt escaped from the office to join Carrie and Torsten at Auke Rec (Recreation Area). Torsten loved the beach and the streams flowing down, as usual. Check out Mr. Cool on the beach:
We’ve got the whole photo gallery of the day up as well.
Onward to the past!
I just got this email from NASA News:
NASA Science News for January 8, 2007It’s official: the Moon is on the metric system. NASA is returning to the Moon, and the agency has decided to use metric units for all future lunar operations.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/08jan_metricmoon.htm?list73928
We’re so cutting edge! It is 2007, and we’re getting ready for.. 1969We’re going to the moon! (Apollo 11, July 20, 1969)
We’re using the metric system! (Australia converted to metric in 1969).
Guess what, I just discovered this great cutting edge new band. Called the Grateful Dead! They are hot!
What other parallels might we find–let’s see: In 1969 a country called Vietnam was using the metric system. In 2007 this other country called Iraq is using the metric system. Boy, a lot of countries use the metric system. I’m just sayin’.
I’m excited we’re going to the moon, I’d sign up to go. I’d be psyched to check out Jack Schmidt’s ski reports and I’d love to try out some biking. I love the metric system. I love the Dead. (I’ve been listening to 5/8/77 on the ipod, Torsten loves drummin’ along with the Hamza El-Din opening of the 9/15/1978 Gizah Sound and Light Theater show (at the Pyramids in Egypt), and after finishing Phil’s “Searching for the Sound” auto-biography, I’ve been going back to a lot of early shows. From 1969. I’m cutting edge here, I tell ya!)I’m just thinking, ‘cmon NASA, fund sensor networks or something. Oh, OK, I’ll get back to work. Sorry.
