This weekend we went to the Williams Reindeer Farm in Palmer, Alaska. Due to the extreme cold, it closes down for the season in mid-September. During the Christmas season, it is open so that people willing to brave the cold can visit Santa's team. Normally, you just see the reindeer, but not Santa; this weekend he happened to be visiting to make sure his team was ready for the big day next week. We didn't get a picture of the boys with him. He was so friendly and everytime he wandered away Liam asked to go find Santa, while Ben just kept saying "No, Danta, no Danta!" Whenever he saw Santa however, Ben pointed and said "Mitmit, Mitmit!" or Christmas.
Apparently, both Santa and his reindeer like the cold....according to our car, it was negtive 7 outside.
According to the William Reindeer Farm Facebook page, it was negative 12 degrees, but I am thinking that might have been after we left. The boys were dressed in long johns (top and bottom), pants, snow pants, two shirts, down jackets, hats, mittens, and Sorel boots. I didn't wear snow pants and regretted that when the backs of my thighs went numb. I had one thick Smartwool socks, and my feet still went numb despite my Sorel boots being rated to negative 40 degrees. Next time, I'll wear my wool trouser socks plus my Smartwool socks. The boys didn't seem bothered by the cold, but Liam was in heaven with so many animals and Ben ran non-stop, so I doubt they would have told us if they were.
At the farm, we got to meet Rudolph
We got up close and personal with Denali, the 2 year old moose that was hand raised after his mother was killed by a car when he was 4 days old:
Being raised by humans, Denali thinks he is a dog and loves to give kisses. Here he is trying to kiss our friends Noah and Noah's mommy, Michele:
We have the standard crying Ben picture:
Ben didn't mind the reindeer, but disliked having his movement retricted (I needed to keep him close as the reindeer have sharp horns and Ben doesn't follow verbal directions).
Liam loved the reindeer--petting them, feeding them, everything:
1 comment:
I feel cold just looking at those photos.. I still can't get over how short reindeer are!
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