A Day in Chiniak

We spent the day today out in Chiniak. It's about an hour drive opposite from town, and into the wilderness of Alaska. It's a dirt road for about half the way with lots of winding turns. A few of Chris' friends from work were going out there to go camping. We weren't able to spend the weekend out there, so we decided to just make a day of it.

It was a lot of fun, and still somewhat cold considering how beautiful the weather was. It was Emily's first time "kinda-camping." She got SO DIRTY!!! It was just killing me to see her with dirt all over everywhere! I've never seen her that dirty before. We took the other kids. Chloe spent the day laying in the river...the water was about 35 degrees! Chloe had a BALL and Bryndall enjoyed running around with all the new smells. We haven't really had a chance to take the dogs out for the day since we got to Alaska. I hope we're able to do more of this kind of stuff. We decided that next time we'll rent a camper or something from Base and spend the weekend out there with everyone.

Here are some pics (I think they're mostly pics of Chloe):

The Drive to Pasagshak

So, you have two choices when driving thru the country of Kodiak...Chiniak and Pasagshak. Chiniak is to the left. Pasagshak is to the right. When mom was in town earlier this month we drove to the Kodiak Launch Complex, which is at the end of the road in Pasagshak. (Ya, we have our very own rocket launch facility...yep, here on this tiny island. Just in case the Russians attack.)

It was about a two hour drive, but we had good weather and a nice drive. Here are some pics we took along the way. There are wild buffalo and waves largest enough to surf!

Grandma & Emily at the Aquarium

Here's some more pictures I forgot to post from my mom's visit earlier this month. We took Emily to the Aquarium on the island. She LOVES fishies! It was fun and it was hard to get her to leave.

Quietly Sleeping

It's 9pm here in Alaska and time for Emily to go to bed. I expected to go through the same runaround we've been going through for the past 2 weeks...the crying, screaming, and tears for another 2 hours.

But, no. I carried her into her room, put her in her crib, and she quietly went to sleep. 20 minutes later, still no peep. I don't believe it!! She's actually sleeping!!!

(I'm not holding by breath, but so far so good...)

Boundries

So, here's our latest dilemma.

As you know, we've had a previous problem with our dogs pooping in the neighbors yard. Yes, we don't get out there after every poop and clean it up. It's too difficult. Between juggling Emily, Chris being out of town and our harsh weather, it becomes nearly impossible to pick up every landmine after it hits the ground. BUT...in our defense...on just about every non-rainy or snowy day we're out there scooping up the poop. Our neighbors have mentioned to us once that their son stepped in dog poop while outside. Of the 8-10 other kids running around our backyard, NONE of those other kids have EVER stepped in any poop. Also, in our defense, there are about 7 dogs within our immediate greenbelt backyard area; all of which poop freely outside. Whose to say that the neighbor's poop is our dogs' poop??

Anyway, here's the deal.

Our neighbors called Housing and tattletold on us that are dogs were pooping in their yard. Chris spoke with the Housing Lady about our troubles with picking up after them every time, and explained that the poop in their yard is not overwhelming (maybe 1-2 piles). Anyway, what it comes down to is we've got to build a fence or move out of housing.

To build a fence will cost us in the neighborhood of $500 to $1,000. It will need to be a fence of good construction because the Housing Inspector will come by to inspect our work...so, we can't do it half-ass. And, the fence would only be in place for one year because Housing is planning to add a backyard fences to every one's yard in 2010. I don't know if I want to "waste" $1,000 on a fence that will be useless in a year.

Another catch is that we'd also have to also modify our patio with steps to allow us to access into the backyard, which we don't currently have. Our patio, as it is, is completely enclosed. We'd have to cut an opening off the patio and install steps out to the grass. This also would be scrutinized when they came to do the inspection. I think these modifications would also increase our budget. And...not to mention the time invested in building a fence; we'd be doing all the work ourselves. With Emily keeping us busy we're already strapped for time.

ALL of our friends here think we're crazy for even being in Housing and putting up with all of this. EVERYONE is encouraging us to buy something. We do have three more years here...so, why not buy? Because new Coasties are coming to the Island every summer, we shouldn't have trouble selling when the time comes. And, you can easily buy a good and decent house for less then $300,000.

So, now the question becomes...Do we build a fence -or - invest in a home?

(Here's a pic of our mean neighbor's patio. They're ALWAYS outside smoking)

2 HOURS

Well, it's been a rough few weeks with Emily not sleeping. Two nights ago she cried in her crib from 9pm to midnight...3 hours. We finally had to go to sleep so at 12am we went and got her and she slept with us again that night. This has been "the way" for the past week and a half. We're all exhausted with trying to deal with it, and irritable as a result.

Yet...last night...the FIRST night in the past week and a half...Emily fell asleep in her own bed. Yes, she cried for about 2 hours before she was so tired that she couldn't take it anymore. We Won!!

I'm really hoping that she'll give in again tonight, and hopefully this will be a start of putting things back the way they should be!

Sleepless Nights

I believe it all started on Monday. I don't know what happened or what changed, but Emily started sleeping in bed with us every night. Chris was on duty that night, after just getting back the Friday before from being away for 2 weeks. I honestly think that Emily felt "safe" with Chris home, and because he was gone again on Monday, I think she may have felt that daddy was missing.

I took her to sleep with me that night. I had a long day at work and I was exhausted. I let her cry in her room for about 30 minutes, and her crying wasn't dying down. I didn't want to stay up all night with her, so I made it "easy" for myself and brought her to sleep with me. She, of course, passed out within minutes and didn't make a peep for the rest of the night.

Chris picked her up from school on Tuesday, and that night she again refused to go to bed in her crib. After about an hour of crying we finally gave in and we all went to bed together.

It's been the same every night this week - we let her cry for at least an hour and by the time we're ready to go to sleep, she's still crying. Neither one of us want to stay up all night fighting this fight, so we give in. It's been a whole week now and I'm worried that this may become the way things are. I didn't get any sleep last night because Emily kept moving and hitting me...and then Bryndall was sleeping on my feet...It was horrible!

How do we reverse this?

How long do we let her cry?