Fantastic Fun in Fairbanks!

Let's face it - the summer in Anchorage has been pretty lousy. Bad weather can lead a person like me to feel like I need to get out of town. So, when I received an invitation from my good friends in Fairbanks, Nicole & TJ, to come to their housewarming party I decided I couldn't miss it. I headed up last Saturday morning, I figured that I'd go early on Saturday and then I could be an extra pair of hands to help out before the party on Sunday. I headed home Sunday evening. Here are Nicole and I happy to share one another's company:
In addition to the greatness in seeing Nicole & TJ was the greatness in seeing their two beautiful girls. I had met their older daughter, Cedar, when she was just a baby. Their younger daughter, Coral, I had not met before - I'd only seen her on photos and videos her mom sent me. These are two sweet, smart, and funny little ladies. I'm so glad I got to spend time with them. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market and we went to the store to get supplies for the party. Cedar entertained me with her stories of being a princess and Coral entertained me with her game of "guess where my feet are on the shopping cart". After errands were completed it was time for dress up. Here Coral is Captain Hook and Cedar is Tinkerbell:

On Sunday morning the girls were ready to party! Here they are in their party dresses waiting for everyone to arrive at what Cedar dubbed the "Global Warming Party". We tried to tell her that it was a house warming party, but she kept saying it her way. She's got her concern about the environment on her mind.

One of the highlights of the party was when the girls and their friends went outside to play Stomp Rockets. I had never seen this toy before, it is pretty cool! Those rockets can really fly if you stomp on the launcher hard enough! Here is Nicole trying to help Coral launch a rocket while Cedar and friends give their encouragement.

Later in the party Cedar decided to entertain us with her musical stylings. She's a talented young singer and no surprise since her daddy is a very talented musician too! TJ plays banjo in the band Solstice Complex in Fairbanks. We got to see him play back in January when Solstice Complex traveled down to Anchorage for the Folk Festival. TJ also sings, and plays a variety of string instruments, his newest is a bass. Throughout the party there were different musicians playing down in the family room - great musical entertainment! Without further ado though, here is Miss Cedar, singing and playing ukulele on a song of her own design:



After the party guests had gone home the girls decided to spend some time with their daddy looking at the comics. Coral had partied so hard that she just crashed and Cedar was pretty tired too. Not to mention TJ & Nicole!
Although the weather was not much better in Fairbanks, they have actually had so much rain that there was serious flooding in places, it was nice to get away for a day and a half. Thank you Coral, Cedar, TJ, and Nicole! It was so wonderful to get to visit with all of you!