Mud and Math Mania

August 8-10

On Saturday afternoon, Josiah and Mackenzie biked to ‘8 Mile’ with Jesse and Judah. It is 8 miles to the Peel River ferry, and while they rode their bikes, Sarah, Annah, Joel, and Ruthie, and Keegan jogged. Lynn was impressed with Keegan’s willingness to join in. Lynn and I went for our walk around town with the little gaffers, and tried to avoid some of the dogs-and the playground. As soon as Naomi and Ezra see monkey bars and the like, it’s hard to keep them contained in a buggy. We did stop at some raspberry bushes to sample the berries, though. I think Estelle has the most fun on our walks. I carry her in the front pack and she wildly flails her arms and legs. When we go up and down hills, the motion sways her vigorously from side to side and she is downright gleeful.

After our walk, we met the cyclists and joggers down by the ferry. Lynn and Paul have a simple cabin and it was a nice spot for a picnic. When we got there, both Keegan and Joel were fast asleep inside. After everyone was refreshed with some food and drink, we went down to the riverbank and the kids had a blast sliding down a muddy bank into a water hole. Even Diana and Naomi joined in. But, boy, were they ever dirty, covered in mud from head to toe! They had to dip into the very cold Peel River to wash the mud off before we could take them home. Keegan, Ruthie, and Annah rode the bikes home. In the evening, Lynn invited Bronwyn, Keegan, and I over to try some caribou their neighbours brought over. It was good. Keegan and Bronwyn stayed until 1 am, playing ‘Cops and Robbers’ outside.

BRRRR! It rained all through the night and it was chilly when we woke on Sunday morning. Seven degrees. It’s a good thing Lynn told us to bring rubber boots with us. We tramped through the mud and muck to go to church. Because of the cold, we spent the afternoon in the daycare. After supper we went to sing with the Hanthorns, but we barely arrived when two of the biologists staying with them for the week came in the door. Their truck got stuck in the mud along the Dempster. Needing all the able bodies they could muster, Bronwyn and Keegan piled in the van with all the others to help pull them out. It took three hours before they returned. Paul said it was a very slow, inch-by-inch process, but they were successful.

Monday morning, Annah, ,Ruth, and Judah, came to the daycare just after 9 am to do math with our kids. They got lots done and we ate pancakes afterwards. Jesse came over too. Jesse and Judah played with Josiah and company, Ruth helped Keegan with his guitar chords, and Bronwyn taught Annah and Ruth some tunes on the violin. They have amazing concentration and practiced for at least 2 hours.

We were interrupted by a knock on the door and when I answered it, there were three cyclists standing there. They were Jan, Teresa, and Paul (he said to call him Paul, because I couldn’t say his real name) from the Czech Republic. They had flown into Inuvik to begin a bike journey down the Dempster Highway into Alaska. In Inuvik, one of their bikes was stolen from the same campground where we had stayed. They found it discarded in the bushes and made it to McPhoo last night. But alas, in the morning, they discovered someone had taken one of their bicycle seats. JUST the bicycle seat. They saw our bikes locked up outside our trailer and asked if they could buy a seat from us. Annah thought they had some extras at home, but they didn’t, so I gave them the seat from Kurt’s bike. I told them to consider it a Canadian souvenir. I assured them that their experience was not the norm for travelers in Canada and we wished them well. They took our address and hopefully they will contact us along their journey, or let us know when they reach Anchorage.

The kids went swimming, cold as it was, but most of them didn't last long. Keegan, Bronwyn, and Annah basically got a private swim lesson during the teen swim because they were the only ones there. Bronwyn, Mackenzie, and Annah went to swim team and FROZE! We hung out at the Hanthorns for a while, then back at the daycare, Kenzie, Keegan, and Josiah were so spurred on by the morning math lesson, they all did more. I think Mackenzie did about 5 lessons today, and Keegan has done 6 lessons in the past two days. Wowsers! Who knew the North was good for the brain too.