More parents opting to have children school-homed

I LOVE THE ONION!

Check this article out and have a laugh....or a cry.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/increasing-number-of-parents-opting-to-have-childr,17159/

WASHINGTON—According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education, an increasing number of American parents are choosing to have their children raised at school rather than at home. read more.......

(for those of you who are not familiar with the Onion, it is sarcasm.......)

The Mushing Mayor

Here is Middy coming into Unalakleet.














The entire town came out to cheer him on!
Only 48 hour behind Macky! :)
Not too bad for a rookie!












Here is the mushing mayor laying out straw for his dogs.

















All of the kids had the chance to pet Middy's dogs and tell them good job. Here is Isa cheering one on.



















The best part of the Iditarod was getting to hang out with our good friends.



















And start training the next generation of mushers!

IDITAROD

The mushers started coming in to Unalakleet this morning. Mackey made it in first at 4:30am with King right on his tail. Jeremy went 40 miles upriver to a little cabin to meet Mackey as he went past.

Here is Mackey on the trail stopping at the cabin to "snack" his dogs.









One of Mackey's dogs waiting for a snack.














Here is our friend holding Mackey's sled for him. The duct tape is an old Eskimo secret to preventing frost bite, especially on a snowmachine at -30 without a helmet.






This morning it was cold as we went down to watch the mushers.






Here is King and his lead dogs before he took off this morning.




Updated: 11:16 AM AKDT on March 14, 2010

-24 °F Clear

Windchill:	-24 °F
Humidity:	76%
Dew Point:	-29 °F

Cross Country Ski Race!

The cross country ski team always has a ski race the Saturday before the Iditarod mushers come into town. This year was absolutely beautiful! Sunny but cold. Official reports say that the weather was 25- but it was a little warmer on the snow.




It was cold enough to freeze everyone's eyelashes before the finish.

















This year was additionally fun because there was a fellow from Australia who came up to work with the school district for the week. He had never been on skis before and did great, except for that one big fall just as he was starting off! He was a good sport.

















Tonight the first mushers will make it into town. Its going to be a couple long cold nights as we cheer everyone on that comes through! Lance is in the head with King right behind him. King rested at Kaltag while Lance rode straight on. Lance has got to be exhausted and needing a rest and King should be feeling good. We will see what happens when they get here. All I know is that these folks are tougher then me! City is busy and full of folks from the outside!

Our mayor, Middy, is still in there racing with the pack. I will post pictures when he comes through!

Ready for the Iditarod!

Here is Isa with two of her friends in Jeremy's (well actually his fathers Richard, but we get to use it until we send it off to him!) new basket sled.




The girls had a blast riding in it as we took it for a test run around the village pulled by the snowmachine.





Maybe next year the three of them can take it in the Iditarod! We just need some dogs.....
















Speaking of the Iditarod it started today and our mayor, Middy, is running this year! Go Middy!

To find out more about the Iditarod you can go to the official site http://www.iditarod.com/.




I was a bit worried about the Iditarod this year. A week ago it was 32 degrees and the river had overflow from melting snow and ice. I thought there is no way the dogs will be able to run in this weather. Well today it is cold, really cold, Alaska cold, with the wind blowing 30 miles an hour and it is only predicted to get worse. Perfect weather for this crazy sport and the crazy folks that run it.

Iditarod racers are some of the toughest people in the world.

They should be coming through here next Sunday.