James Visits for Easter Break

James came home for Easter break from March 27 - April 4. My, it was good to see him again!

The first thing Jim and James did together was to pick up the ATV Jim had chosen earlier in the month. It's got a plow on the front! Of course we all had to try it, and Jim graciously let me drive the new toy first. It was nice to push that snow around! Then he and James gave it a go.

The rest of the week was pretty laid back, on the whole. Sunday we went to the movies to see "How To Train Your Dragon." James was introduced to my whole new fur venture, and he looks better in Jim's beaver trapper hat than Jim does. I made James a possibles pouch for his dice, and he made a chain mail insert for it. Here's James, wearing a beaver face pelt as a beard:

Wednesday was the long-awaited opening of the Kenai WalMart Super Center! Of course I wanted to go on opening day, so James went with me. I'm still basking in the glow of having that WalMart less than half an hour away! Before, the nearest WalMart was a four hour drive. I read that there are only eight WalMart Super Centers in all of Alaska. [update: I got that info from the local newspaper. According to WalMart's website, as of April 2010, there are six, not eight, Super Centers in Alaska.]

The dogs were very happy to see James. Moya was with us at the Kenai airport to pick James up, and she was in puppy overdrive most of the rest of the visit. 

"Put down that stick and play with me, James!"

"I has a James. I wanna keep him."

A rare puppy snuggle:

James went with us to Moya's obedience school on Saturday morning. Here he is working on "stay." James did very well, staying. Moya... well, this was not her best day of school...

James grouted the tile under and behind the woodstove while he was home, and so that's all finished now except for sealing the grout in a day or two. It looks great. I haven't taken a picture of it because the stove isn't hooked back up yet. 

All too soon, it was time for James to get back on the plane and head for college again. We'll miss him, but this time it's only a five-week separation, and then he's back home for the summer!