Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Smoke

Ah... nothing like the fresh smell of forest fire in the morning.
Today started off smelling like a small campfire. Now (noon-ish), our skies are thick with smoke. Not sure the cause yet, but I am guessing that someone's 4th of July celebrating went horribly wrong. After spending much of the night waiting for a phone call from J, I received a text at 6:30 this morning saying, "Am OK. Just got off call from 1830hrs last night. Will call after I sleep."
That pretty much confirms that something big is (or was) on fire.

Meanwhile, the girls and I are holed up in the house, windows closed to try to block out some smoke, filters on, and hoping for rain.
While trying to entertain a toddler stuck in the house on an otherwise sunny day is proving challenging, we are putting the time to good use, finally getting some pictures in an online album, coloring, painting, and various other activities to try to distract Beans from the idea that the playground would be a perfect place to be today.

Otherwise, we are trying to stay cool. With the windows closed and no air-conditioning (um, it's ALASKA. We generally don't need air conditioning), and the house getting full sun all day (east and west facing windows), it's getting pretty warm in here.
The Moose Nugget household has officially become an unlimited Popsicle zone.

More updates as we get them.
Until then,

Happy and smoke-free Moose Trails!