Hello Fairbanks!

Well, we are home from our three day excursion to Fairbanks. It will be hard to go over all the details, so I have decided to write them in sequential order.

Friday: We left after a brief delay of taking Megan to the doctor (ear and eye infection), but got the go ahead from the doc to head out, so we loaded our camper (the kind that sits on back of a truck) and hit the road around 1:30. A couple of stops for a gazillion dollars in gas and the like, and we were really and truly on the way. One word describes our drive: FREAKING AMAZING (I know that's two words, but "freaking" is my adjective). The weather was sunny and clear, which made the views of Mt. McKinley unbelievable. We came around a bend in Willow, and there it was, in all its majestic glory. Truly spectacular! We stopped at a scenic lookout just south of Cantwell, and hiked around with about two hundred tourists off tour buses. Thankfully, there was a lady kind enough to take a family picture of the four of us with the mountain in the background. Dn. John and I were truly in awe over the beauty of the drive. Megan and Marina slept through most of it. :) Anyway, the girls made it pretty happily until about 7 o'clock that night, then decided to come pretty much unglued. This resulted in me riding in the camper with them, and at one point in time getting pretty knocked around (me, not them). I had decided it was safe to climb down off the over the cab bed to get Marina a snack. Note to self: It was not safe. I played it up a lot with Megan, "Wow, look what happens when we don't listen to Daddy! He told us not to get down, and I didn't listen, and now I have a big owie on my arm." She was dutifully impressed that even Mommy can disobey Daddy, yet not escape the consequenses. Fast forward to 10:00 pm or so, we roll into Fairbanks, find a campground, then listen to the soothing sounds of both our kids screaming until about midnight. Finally, FINALLY, got to sleep, Dn. John in one bed with Megan, and me in the other with Mairna. Swell.

Saturday: Dawned bright and clear, with a definite bite to the air. We drove over to the ballfields to accomplish our purpose in Fairbanks: Kick some major booty in the Men's State Softball Tournament. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. We won first place in state! (Granted there were only five teams, and four of them were from Fairbanks, but the guys played amazingly, so I still feel it was a very solid win). Dn. John had a batting average of .500 which earned him an All Star T-shirt. The guys all got fancy hoodies that stay "Champions" on them, and since my girls and I made up 75% of the fan base that traveled, I weasled an extra hoodie out of Joe. They are very warm and cozy! After winning the tournament, we bummed the use of showers from some of the guys who stayed in a hotel, had a team dinner, then hit the hay. This time, Megan in her own bed, and Marina on her own until about 3 am, when she decided it would be super fun to get sick, and need to sleep with us.

Sunday: We drove to St. Herman of Alaska OCA church for Liturgy with Fr. Isaac Farha, who turns out to be an old friend of Fr. Philip (Dn. John's brother). Fr. Michael Oleska happened to be at the church on a pastoral visit, so that was pretty cool. He told us about a woman, Matushka Olga of Kwethluk, who Metropolitan Jonah is petitioning to have cannonized. The story of Matushka Olga was so touching to me that I began to cry while he told it. I can't even begin to do it justice, so Google "Matushka Olga of Kwethluk" and read for yourself. What an amazing woman. Turns out one of her daughters was even at Liturgy with us! I made some pretty instant friends with a lady named Jennifer, and we had a good time yapping away through coffee hour. After church, we decided to go to Pioneer Park (also called Alaska Land) for a fun family outing with the girls. We rode the Merry-Go-Round, ate Greek food, played on the playgound, rode a train, and in a fit of generosity (with some slight rolling of the eyes), my husband consented to take one of those old fashioned dress-up pictures with me and the girls. It is ADORABLE. I'll scan it and post it later, along with the million pictures we took. After that, we decided to scrap the last night of camping, since both girls have colds, and hit the road for home. We pulled in around midnight, which made our travel time home about two hours shorter than going up, so that was cool.

Now, today we have the ever-so-fun task of cleaning out the camper! Hooray! Now, you know why my post is so long--I'm putting it off! Anyway, once I find the camera in the pile of crapola, I'll post some pictures. In any case, we're home and we had a blast.