Then as it started to warm up the ice began to break apart. Huge ice chunks were pushed onto the bank of the river.
Once the river was open hundreds of seagulls arrived. There were so many it was incredible. They were very loud and even woke me up in the middle of the night once. Piper and I would just stand there and watch them diving into the water and coming out with smelt. The eagles were in on the action too! There were about ten eagles I could see soaring above the river at one point. They were also locking talons in the air which was very cool to see.
Piper was as amazed as I was by all the birds.
As I walk I tend to collect dogs and children along the way.
Finally it was light out when I let Piper out in the morning and I got to see some sunrises. Now when I wake up the sun has already risen by 6am.
At the beginning of April one of my kids came upstairs crying saying she fell on the playground. I took off her coat and pulled up her sleeve expecting to see a scrape. Instead I saw her arm, hanging there, twisted and clearly broken. I took her right to the clinic and her mom met me there. With no pain meds at the clinic she had to wait for a plane and fly to Dillingham. They then sent her to Anchorage for surgery. Finally she came back almost two weeks later. She was so brave!
My mom surprised the kids by sending Easter eggs. We had an Easter egg hunt before we let school out the Thursday before Good Friday. They had a great time!
The puppy who was staying at my house found herself a home! On Good Friday she began her journey to PA! Our runway was closed because it was too wet. I had to ask someone to take me across to Togiak for her to catch a plane there. Then she spent the night with Helen in Dillingham. They were off to Anchorage bright and early where they spent the day in the airport. Helen checked her in with Alaska Airlines that night and they parted ways. Easter Sunday she finally arrived in PA with her new family! It took a lot of people to get her there and I'm so thankful for everyone's help!
Loading her on the boat
Waiting in the airport in Anchorage
Now that the weather has warmed up, Piper can't wait to run down to the river and get right in. When there was still ice she was chasing the ice chunks and jumping on them in the water. Last week it was windy and she was jumping on the little waves and trying to chase them.
Just after Easter I was walking and the kids swarmed me, "Come jump with us!" I finally caved and did. :)
We finished our math curriculum! As a reward we had a movie afternoon. We used Meghan's popcorn maker to make a ton of popcorn. The kids had so much fun watching the popcorn maker we could have done that for two hours by itself!
Our weather has been nice and warm, in the high 40s or low to mid 50s for a couple weeks now. We got a random hail storm though. It was really amusing to watch the hail fall from my classroom. When I walked home there were huge piles of it along my house.
We are studying Earth Science and bodies of water. Clearly that means we need to spend at least one afternoon exploring our river! Most fun we've had in science all year.
Meghan and I got to hang out a couple of weekend ago. We took a trip down to the beach. She took me all the way to the cannery and we did some exploring too. The herring were announced as being in the bay that weekend. There were a couple of big boats and Meghan said that soon the bay will be filled with them. The Time Bandit from The Deadliest Catch even comes for herring.
My kids got their bags from their pen pals in Kutztown this week. Once again the games were beautiful and the kids loved them!
Here are a few more random pictures from around the village.
View at the end of the airport
The village from up at the airport
A maxi going
Our post office
Dog yard
Puppy coming to see Piper
Pussy Willows blooming
Seal Skin
Another maqi
This time next week we will be done with the school year. I get to come home a day earlier than expected so I'll be home on May 27th and I get to travel with my friend Marisa to Philly! I am having mixed emotions about going home. I can't wait to see my family and friends but at the same time I am so sad to leave this place. I have been here for almost ten whole months. I have seen summer, fall, winter, and spring in Alaska. I have gotten to know the people here and made some amazing friends. It will be especially hard to leave Meghan, Andy, Ash, Piper, and the newest addition who makes me smile Liberty. I know I will see Meghan & Andy again (sorry you guys have no choice, I'm visiting :) ) but it's unlikely I'll ever be in Twin Hills again and see the people here. That makes me really sad. And as I'm writing this I just got called to go to John and Jessica's house for dinner. People here are so kind to me! Next time I post I will probably be done with the school year…wow where did the time go?!
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