Nanny and Papa's Amazing Race

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The date for my parents' visit to the North finally arrived this week.

The girls had been anxiously counting down, and I know that Nanny and Papa were anxiously counting them down.

Eli and I have been counting the days, too. 

Busy hardly begins to describe the pace I feel like our family operates at since we've arrived. 

Bring on a welcome excuse to focus on the important "stuff!"

So, Wednesday morning, when we woke up, Nanny and Papa were already en route.

The connections to fly west and north are at a vicious pace, with about 40 minutes between flight.  One delayed landing, and well, what happened to me in November happens... delays!

My sister-in-law, Emily, said picturing them in the airport is like imagining them in the Amazing Race.

The girls and I went to school for the morning, though Miss A adamantly tried to persuade us to have a family detour to the airport for waiting.  This was at 6:00 am.

We went to school.

I checked their flights throughout the morning.

At lunch, I went to their classrooms to gather them together and go to the airport to welcome Nanny and Papa to Yellowknife.

Miss G camped out in front of the Arrivals door. 

Miss A checked out the polar bear and seal exhibit by the baggage claim. 

Then, Eli arrived to welcome Nanny and Papa, too. 

The plane landed and began to taxi closer to the terminal building. 

The girls moved to another door to be close to the action. 

Then... 

We spotted them.  The girls ran over to the Arrivals door. 

Nanny and Papa! 

Switch girls! 

So, a few days of time zone adjustments, more work for me and Eli (including parent-teacher-student meetings), and some settling in...

And, today, I took Nanny and Papa to see the ice road. 

Unfortunately, I had to do this in shifts, because I can only fit one extra adult in my car... poor planning on my part, as Eli's car was at work! 

He's been working marathon long days, with no break whatsoever for weeks, so planning has taken a backseat to survival.

Nanny freaked out very little when I drove out onto Great Slave Lake. 

I was very proud of her.

When we stopped to look at the ice, and see the seemingly endless ice below us, complete with large cracks, she wavered, but bravely posed for pictures with the girls. 

It was pretty with the bright Northern sun. 

Out on the ice road, we passed the Snow King's Snow Castle which is in its final stage of development. 

It is scheduled to be opened next weekend, and we'll be visiting it, so more pictures will follow. 

I was also able to show my parents some of the floating boat houses, which I showed pictures of last August when my cousin Jody came to visit.

As you can see, the owners continue to live in them in the winter.

In the winter, they can use cars and trucks to get to the houses, rather than a boat, and have a "yard."

You can see that one house has put up a winterized tee pee.

The orange structure in the middle is not terribly level, but that's a risk you take when your house gets frozen in a big lake each year...  some years are more level than others. 

Here is a snapshot of the thick ice.

It does not do it justice.  The ice is clear and strong.  It's beautiful. 

Papa was totally impressed by the ice road. 

And, he posed for lots of pictures. 

I'm sure we'll make a few returns during this visit. 

With no street lights, it's a great place to see the Northern Lights, too!