Day 18-making snowmen

   January 22-After the whirlwind of activity the past few days, we relaxed around the apartment today.  We were all behind on blogging, so we tried to get partially caught up.  Sally got some knitting done, cooked, and finished grading assignments and preparing for her weekly Monday lecture.  The kids started out pretty slow, but as the day wore on, they began to get rambunctious, so we finally threw them outside.  They played in the snow and made two snowmen (Mom and Dad, as they tell it), because it is the perfect kind of snow for snowmen and snowballs.  After an hour or so, they trickled back in, cold and a little less rambunctious. 

               Alex using her siblings as a ramp.

   We received an e-mail from Alex's teacher, Þóra, that she sent to all of the 7th grade parents.  Again, I am trusting Google Translate here, but in it she said that "the trip and the week was an outstanding success. Our kids were a model for both work and play, and were quite highly amusing as well. I will shamelessly boast about our kids who made new friends, as they entered even stronger friendly ties with the group. There was no drama and no boredom throughout the week.  The school camp staff's comments about the group was exemplary, and I think they meant it."  So, it sounds like a good group of kids that behaved well and had a good time.  Alex will post comments about the trip soon. 
   As the sun set, we kept looking at the sky outside, because the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, was predicting that the aurora borealis would be active.  Unfortunately, we did not see anything, except stars, so we all headed to bed.