Holiday Time

Happy Holidays all! Hillary & Chase are in California, where it's 50 F, and papa Steve is back home in Igloolik where it's about -35 F. Steve is excercising our friend Maren's sled dog team while she and her sweetie Jay are in Cuba. Chase is getting his first two teeth, both lower incisors. Steve is psyched the Solistice has come and the days will be getting longer, although not warmer for awhile. Hillary is happy to have the support of her mom and dad in taking care of Chase while she finishes up.

On the road in the south

Well, it's been almost two months since our last post! Time flies. We've been on the road since mid-October. We've visited some of our friends and family, California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Montana as part of our whirlwind tour. Those who we didn't catch this time, we hope to catch up with you next time. We're off to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Here are a few shots from along the way. Happy Holidays to you all!

The snow is back...

It's the week of September 22 and the snow is back... The second, and last, sealift ship came in this week. It brought school supplies, grocercies and gas. Steve, Hillary, and Chase went out on the land and saw snowy owls gliding through the sky. Two polar bears, a sow and cub, wandered onto Igloolik island this week. Now we have to bundle up Chase in the amouti each time we go out! As you can tell from the photo of Chase in the bathtub, Chase is putting on his winter fat layer just like a good Arctic mammal. The lake has frozen up, so it's time to get out ice fishing again. Steve is psyched!

The month in a nutshell

It's been awhile since our last post. Here are a smattering of photos from the last month. Steve & our friend Jay and his dog Sam got out seal hunting and fishing a fair bit. We also got our yearly sealift - a large boat equipped with cranes comes in once a year with everything from chips & salsa, to skidoos, cars and ice cream. The forklifts went around busily for days dropping the crates of goods people ordered in front of their houses. A bunch of follks, Chris, Maren, Jay, Steve A. and Steve VS got out goose hunting several times as well. We had goose manwhichs and they were pretty darn tasty. Hillary got out in the field with Lily to help with her polar bear work - what amazing animals! Chase ushered in a 2-mo old b-day Aug. 20, which was ananna Hillary's b-day, and Chase will be 12 weeks old tomorrow, crazy! We had our first winter storm warning yesterday and got a bit of snow; the seasons change fast up here. More soon-ish!

Ice, fog and then the sun again

Well, after the glorious weather we had for our boat trip to Melville Peninsula, the winds blew the sea ice back into the bay and we had fog and rain for about 10 days. The kids made the most of it by playing in the little ice bergs (or “bergies” as New Foundlanders would call them). The weather cleared a couple of days ago, and Steve, Chase and I were back out on the land enjoying the cooling days of summer as our summer winds down and watching fledging geese, loons, and phalaropes in the ponds on the island. Chase continues to enjoy our outings and is on his best behavior whenever we’re out, yay! We even saw a "tree" - well, not really, a shrubby willow about 1.5' high, but hey that's "big" up here! I got a new pair of rubber boots from our friend Lily, so I was able to tromp around the wetlands without worrying about getting wet feet :) Steve went for a swim in the Arctic water out near our friends Jay and Maren’s cabin, Sam, Jay’s dog swam too. We visited sod houses, the look like humps on the horizon in one of these photos, used by Inuit hundreds to perhaps a thousand years ago too. Lucky fisherman were out camping on the land and drying char they caught in nets in the sea out in the sun on racks. Chase likes to sleep in what we call the "touchdown" position, with both hands over his head; he likes it when we tickle his cheek with Arctic cotton grass; and he's quickly outgrowing his clothes!

Boat trip

Last weekend Steve, Chase & I went on a boat ride from Igloolik to the Melville Peninsula (or as the Inuit call it "Canada") with our friends Lily, Steve A., Maren, Jay & Jay's dog Sam. It was a beautiful day in the 50s. Steve A., Jay, and Maren all caught ocean char on spinning rods and Steve V., with help from Chase who was in the sling, caught his first ocean char on a fly rod - he was excited! Steve's hoping Chase is a fish whisperer already. We went on walks and saw Phalaropes (& their chicks), Snow Geese, Eiders, Terns, and various other ducks & gulls. The flowers, including arctic poppies and dwarf fireweed were in gorgeous bloom. We saw harp and ringed seals on our boat ride back - it was a wonderful day! Oh and the first photo is of Steve & Chase last week catching one of their first lake char on a fly rod - this shows the sling method, complete with the fly in the fish's mouth :)

Out on the land

Mom and dad took Chase out on his first fly fishing trip on the land - he was 3 weeks old. Steve caught fish on a fly rod at the lake, sweet! Hillary carried Chase in her Amautiq. An amautiq is the traditional baby-carrying jacket used by the Inuit. As you can see, the weather was beautiful. Chase is fond of his monkey blanket. Chase likes to coo and look out windows at the great outdoors :)

Baby Chase arrived June 20th

Well, baby Chase arrived June 20th at 12:30pm. He was 8.75 lbs and 21.5" long. After a few days in the hospital in Iqaluit, Nunavut, the three of us flew back home to Igloolik. It was Chase's first plane ride! Grandparents Betty & Bruce came to Iqaluit on June 18th and got to hang out with Steve and Hillary before Hillary delivered. We went for a walk in the regional park and visited some museums and exhibits, which was fun. When Steve, Hillary & Chase got back to Igloolik, grandparents Betty & Bruce and sister Heidi were there to greet us along with many friends. Grandparents Betty & Bruce and sister Heidi stayed for a week or so, which was great! Since then Steve, Hillary & Chase have been getting to know to each other and Steve and Hillary exploring the trials & triumphs of parenthood.