Dog Sled Ride!

With all the Iditarod madness in the Anchorage area right now, the base had a dog sled team visit over the weekend.  We decided to go and take the boys on the ride.  We did not realize that there would be only one team and we'd wait for over 2 hours in temperatures ranging between 10 degrees and 19 degrees.  I would have never believed it if I didn't see it but the boys were so incredibly patient.  They spent their time playing in the snow or cheering on the dog sled, with a few quick trips to our car or the base ski lodge for bathroom or refreshment break.

Ben in the navy with fur ruff and Liam in the lighter blue.

As we got near the front of the line, Ben started to get impatient and started crying "I want the doggies!  Ben's turn!"

Here I am trying to distract them with the static delay of a sled.....it worked for Liam but did not stop Ben's crying:

Liam's cheese face:

I think this photo shows how much these dogs love being on a sled team.  Do you see how the stance of the dogs in the middle show they are ready to get back to running?

Look at how big Ben has gotten!  After all that waiting and crying for a turn, Ben didn't want to get on a sled.  Here I am dragging a floppy, uncooperative kid onto the sled.

As soon as we started moving, he stopped crying.....until he realized that Daddy and Liam weren't on the sled.  Then he started crying for Liam and Daddy......until we hit the little hills that made the sled bump, and then Ben was full of giggles.

Look at those happy doggies!  They love this!

The white coat on the lead dog is not to keep him warm (which I thought) but is to reflect the sun because they get warm running in even 10 degrees! 

Then our turn was over.  Apparently, Ben did not consider the fact we'd ever get off the sled and he threw an enormous fit.  It only got worse as he watched Daddy and Liam get ON the sled.  Ben was crying and yelling at me "Ben's turn! Another one Ben's turn! Ben's TURN!"

The view on the sled:

What pure joy looks like: