We had great plans going into the weekend of going up to Independence Mine at Hatcher Pass. After breakfast on Saturday, we hit the farmer's market and then headed back to the house to eat lunch before heading north. I decided to 'just check' the forecast and it looked pretty bad. Severe storms were supposed to be rolling into the valley in the next few hours. Well that kinda makes heading toward the impeding nastiness look like a bad idea.
I was pretty bummed about the change of plans, but at least we got quite the haul at the farmer's market. Zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, rhubarb, squash and onion. Guess where those rhubarb are likely going to end up...? (Hint - a pie!!!)
What to do with a toddler when your plans suddenly evaporate? Improvise! And figure out which of his birthday presents he hasn't used yet - aka the paint cups. Whoever invented all these spill proof items is a true friend of parents. And look at the concentration on his face, sticking his tongue out while he paints his purple lines - cute!
I picked him up early from school one day shortly before Mother's Day and his teacher hadn't helped him finish his gift to me yet. Which means I learned a new trick - how to get the perfect paint hand print of a toddler? You paint their hand and then stick it on the paper. And it also explained why Thomas is always trying to paint his hand...
I figured I would try the paint the hand trick too since I specifically bought super washable paints for him to play with. It works really well - though apparently I have much deeper palms - his whole hand shows up but the interior of my hand was a no-show. He decided to remedy this by putting his hand print inside of mine.
Which he proceeded to do multiple times so his hand was more of a purple blur. But it still made me smile to see the size difference and it's like he's holding my hand by proxy. Pretty much the only time he will hold my hand is in parking lots because he knows he *has* to. No spontaneous hand holding for this momma. Boo!
What about those awful storms that ruined our plans? They didn't show up until the middle of the night! I was so bummed. I figured we could try again today and the forecast still looked pretty bad. Well, it's Alaska - the forecast won't always be perfect. I decided we should attempt the Mine anyhow, if it sucked we would just drive back. We made it up to the Mine and the start (end?) of Hatcher Pass after stopping to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Palmer.
And the weather was not so great... But it wasn't awful. We bundled everyone up in jackets and the fancy new stroller to wander around and look at the circa 1940's mine remnants.
I kept stopping to take photos while Matt was powering up the trail with the kids in the stroller because he was worried about Henry getting cold - as in he was hurrying to get it over with... Needless to say between my pausing and his going, I didn't get to read much of the historical signs beyond a few titles. So I have no idea what the individual different buildings are.
But I could just not get enough of taking photos of the ruins of the mine. The weather made the mine look like an eerie ghost town. The mist and the lighting was just too cool for photographs.
There was another path that went up to the upper level on the right side, but it got vetoed by Matt on behalf of the kids and Nonni on behalf of Nonni. In her defense, we didn't exactly gear Nonni up for the rain that was steadily getting worse. But I fully plan on going back to the mines on a nicer day when we can walk all over them. I'm interested to see if they have the same spooky vibe when the sun is shining.
Everyone looking up the path to the top of the ruins. You can see the skepticism on Thomas and Matt's face while Henry is frowning. I am sure that my dear Henry is only frowning because he really wants to go up there too and can sense it isn't going to happen...
See? No frown here! Just the sure, steely gaze of a little man who knows he is looking good. We accidentally ended up with one of Wallace's old jackets from when Rachael was here (James was borrowing warm clothes!). And it is just the best jacket for a little boy - a nice brown color with construction vehicles? I think Matt was jealous of Henry's awesome pullover!
Also note he is sitting in the stroller without the aid of a car seat! Sure, I had to pull a blanket out of the car to prop him up and he had a death grip on the tray in front of him, but he sat up the whole trip! Way easier to lug the two of them around in one stroller than having to carry one or depend on one to walk. I am officially in love with my double stroller! :)