Hey, It's Still April, Right?

First things first....I don't want to press my luck any further with this posting!  Maybe it's playing a late April Fool's joke on me.  I have played and played with trying to get captions in the right place and have deleted things I didn't mean to delete, yada, yada, yada.  I am going to post this while my luck is still with me....but I don't think everything will line up just as I had hoped.  Oh, well.....enjoy!

Ok, ok....so it's April 15th....but it's still April!  

Here's this month's report....a picture (or more) will say it all....

Flat Stanley had come to visit from Bolingbrook, Illinois.   He helped us make a decision about our classroom!

Before Flat Stanley left to go back home, he wanted to say good-bye to his new friends here in Shishmaref.  

He was very pleased with his new fur-lined parka, mittens, mukluks, and Eskimo sunglasses, too!

ECE/Head Start Moving Day!

The crew brought in their sno-go's and sleds and started hauling furniture and supplies to the church basement where classes resumed on Monday, April 16th.  We lost only two weeks of classes but I still managed to get the majority of my April testing done off site.  I sure appreciated the parents bringing their kids to Kate's kindergarten room after school and to Denise's room during the afternoon to accomplish this task.   We have five weeks to go until we are done for the year.  We haven't heard yet what will happen to the building!

               Let's see...what else has happened so far in April?  Well, more pictures to tell the story....

Here's an incoming C-130 about to land on our small runway!    It was bringing in the military folks from "Arctic Care" who provided vet services to the animals and dental, medical and vision care to the villagers.  

This C-130 was totally awesome to watch and hear (roaring)....coming and going!

The second time one of these big birds came in, we were pretty much fogged in and knew the plane was grounded in Nome.

Alas, enough fog lifted for the plane to come in and we could hear it long before it magically emerged out of the fog.  Incredible sight to see!

                                                           

         Thor came back to spend some time with me while his "family" spent the day at the "hot springs" 

                                up on the mainland (a favorite spot for winter relaxation indoors 

                                       in the natural hot springs pool and sledding fun outside). 

                                                               Also in April....more snow....

             Would you like to have to dig out this doorway?  Or how about digging this out.....

                                              It's a "honey bin", folks!!!

Or maybe you'd like to tackle this mound of ice that slid off a roof one day.....!  No one was hurt!

Shishmaref is definitely located in a harsh climate....but beauty is all around.....

From the fog rolling in from the frozen Chukchi Sea....

...to the frost accumulating on an animal hide.....