After not doing anything exciting last weekend, I was determined to get out and do something fun with the kids this weekend. As soon as everyone was done eating breakfast, I was packing up coats, boots and snacks - then I finally got around to telling Matt we were going to Fur Rondy downtown. I was still waffling as of last night because if it was cold, the kids might get tired of it fast. But my neighbor randomly brought me a pass to another company's hospitality suite where we could warm up if they got cold. Perfect!
Fur Rondy is a 10 day event, but part of it is the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Race. Which meant there were dogs everywhere! Thomas was pretty excited about all of the dog teams. There was a slatted fence up around where most of them were getting ready, but it didn't really hamper the contagiousness of their excitement. :)
We ended up at the far back when we first got there. It was where the sleds were lining up and still pretty far back from the start line, but the dogs didn't care - they were just ready to get running! And given all the hoopla about measles cases this year, I think it was awesome that almost every lead dog was wearing an Immunize Alaska's Kids jacket. Please do, Alaska!
Thomas was excited too, though it's hard to tell from his expression... He mostly just wanted to watch the dogs and didn't really care if mommy wanted a photo of him and Dada.
Henry was *not* excited. It was a few blocks from the parking lot to 4th Avenue, so we put Thomas in the stroller for speed's sake. Which meant I had to carry Henry. We haven't done that in a while and not in all of his winter clothing... He was not impressed. Matt had to clip the hood on the carrier up because Henry just kept dropping his head back in protest and Matt thought he looked super uncomfortable.
Let's be honest, carrying a 27 pound irritated infant isn't exactly a picnic, but I'm smiling about it. Just enjoy it, Henry! ;)
We finally made it to the starting line! It's not the "real" start, it's just the ceremonial one, so they line up a team, introduce the team and then the team takes off. A minute or so later they repeat it with the next team - it really is more for show. The real start (restart as they call it) is usually in Willow, but due to the awful snow conditions this year, it was moved all the way to Fairbanks!
This is a pretty good demonstration of the "trail" conditions. The city piles up a 10' wide swath of snow along the city streets for the sleds to run on. Note the bare pavement to each side of the trail. I think this year they had to put snow down for the whole run to Campbell Creek Airstrip. I think most years, the snow is required for the streets (obviously the city keeps the streets plowed!), but not for the off-road parts.
This is one of the teams running by. I don't know all that much about the Iditarod, but I read online that people "win" the chance to ride in one of the sleds for this part of it. And there is some requirements for who all has to be present for the start, so most teams had to have two sleds at the start. The dogs really didn't seem to care about number of people or trail conditions, they were just happy to run!
We finally found a place to watch without the fence. Thomas enjoyed the view much more without it!
The trail down 4th Avenue. It's really cool to see the Iditarod going down the city streets. It's got to be more fun than waiting for the finish in Nome. Apparently it can stretch for days when people arrive, I would get cold waiting that long! ;)
A bunch of people were using the parking garages for a better vantage point. Smart!
I brought all their cold weather clothing along and then felt silly when the thermometer in the car was telling us it was 45 degrees outside. But then we got out of the car and it was so windy! The wind chill was much colder than we expected. So I was pretty glad we had so many layers. Thomas is missing his glove here because kids apparently can't keep mittens on and he dropped it in a puddle. I was all trying to go under the rope and fetch it with Henry on my back - some good samaritan beat me to it! We told Thomas to pull his hand in his sleeve until we could dry it off a little.
There were so many people that would get up next to the trail to take photos. I was all, are they going to get in trouble? Are they supposed to do that? Matt kept looking at me like I was crazy - who is going to stop them, honey?
So I did it too! I had the zoom lens, but I couldn't get any good shots without people walking in from of me. But next to the snow pack, it was a great vantage point! And the dogs have the most awesome expressions. Half the time they were acting so weird you couldn't even guess they were running!
The ones that you could tell were running had some serious tongue action. They have the longest tongues!
And look at the "Iditarider" on this one - she looks so excited. Man, I would be so excited if I got to ride along. Where do I sign up??
After watching several teams run by, we decided to walk down to the carnival and let Thomas run around and ride some rides. He hasn't ridden many, so we decided to go on the easy truck ride first. There were several parents riding along, so Matt went with him.
He did so well that we went to the Helicopter ride next! He had to ride this one alone and we were a bit nervous he might freak out. He did great the first two revolutions, then the ride started moving the helicopters and planes up and down. We held our breath and waited to see what he would do...
He loved it! He was steering his little wheel so carefully and had this super serious look on his face - he was concentrating on keeping that bird in the air - ha!
When the ride finally stopped and he was back on the ground he looked over at me with this look of accomplishment on his face. I love this little serious guy. For the record, he talked about the helicopter all evening! That and the train one we didn't let him ride because it was "too fast" - maybe next year!
Then Matt took him on the Super Slide because we had a few tickets left. They climbed all the way up to the top, got situated on their mat and down they went!
Haha - I knew Matt was having fun the second they started sliding, but I wasn't sure about Thomas...
But when they finally came to a stop, he started smiling too! Yay for Super Slides!
Also in the carnival area was the inspiration for Fur Rondy - it was originally started as a place to sell furs. We were pretty intrigued by all of the furs and some of them were way cheaper than we would have guessed. We didn't buy any, Matt's been talking about getting into hunting up here, so it feels like cheating to buy one. Kinda like me and rocks. ;)
Headed back to the main drag and got to see a few more teams. This trio looked like they were asking each other if they were ready.
Haha - this guy! He was soon ready and tired of waiting. I feel like if I was a sled dog, I would probably be this ridiculous. Sigh... We can't all be models like the one next to him. :)
Can you tell someone was tired? He was riding on Matt's shoulders so we could move at a decent pace with Henry in the stroller. We were going to the Hard Rock to eat, but it was packed. I ran upstairs to the party we were invited to, but didn't see anyone I knew (and more importantly no empty tables!). So we decided to pack it up and hit the road.
We figured the two of them would crash, so we decided to drive to our favorite mexican food restaurant in Palmer - La Fiesta. Not a chance, these two were so wired that they messed with each other the whole drive up there and passed out 5 minutes before we arrived. Thomas powered through lunch by leaning on his dada and Henry slept on the bench beside me the whole time.
They obviously had a great day, even if we did wear them out! :)