A Family Outing Filled with Geocaching and Fruit Burritos

This last Saturday, Nathan and I were shocked (shocked!!) to realize we didn't have anything planned. With so many of our Saturdays being filled with baseball games/5Ks/baptisms/errands/yard work/etc. over the last few months, we didn't quite know what to do with all the spare time.

So of course, we planned an outing. We had all sorts of great ideas, but since we didn't really start planning anything out until after lunch, our options were pretty limited. Since the weather was still nice (it's getting hot, but not too hot yet), we decided to go geocaching in Tubac, a small touristy town filled with art galleries and golf courses just south of us. After geocaching, we'd go to dinner at Wisdom's Cafe, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants outside of Tucson.

For those not in the know, geocaching is basically a high-tech treasure hunt. You use your GPS locator (or in our case, the GPS app on our smartphone) to find out an exact latitude and longitude measurement. Once you've reached the location indicated by the measurement, you'll start searching for the "cache"--some small object/clue/capsule/toy that will be hidden at those coordinates (usually within a space of several square feet). Some of these objects are easy to spot...some are very cleverly hidden! The fun is in finding the hidden "treasure," then carefully replacing it so other geocachers can find it for themselves later.

In many caches, there's often a small log/register included, where you can fill out your name. Sometimes, there are objects to pick up or trade (Nathan often brings small plastic toys to leave as "offerings" for geocaching sites). What's the reward for all this, you ask? Nothing, really...but it's very satisfying (in a slightly nerdy way) to find purposely hidden objects, with the help of technology and a little human ingenuity. Plus, you get a lot of healthy walking in as you conduct your searches! So it's a "win" for everyone!

Here's the first geocache we found. As you can (barely) see, it is teeny tiny, which is often the case in city limits. If a cache is too big and obvious, it runs the risk of a well-meaning non-geocacher (referred to as a "Muggle" by geocachers) finding the cache and throwing it out, to keep the city "clean!" This particular cache was hanging by a small wire inside a hole in an old tree stump behind one of Tubac's many art galleries. Inside the tiny capsule was a log, on which Nathan signed his name. Mission accomplished!

Our next stop was the Tubac Cemetery,  where a much more complicated search awaited us...

The next cache on our list was a "multi-cache," which means the searcher has to follow a series of clues spread out over a variety of locations, in order to ultimately find the cache. It takes the "treasure-hunt" aspect of geocaching to a higher level! In this multi-cache, we would need to find eight(!) different gravestones, with certain dates/numbers on each gravestone providing clues as to the location of the next gravestone, and so on until the cache would be found near the final gravestone on the list.

It was kind of cool to poke around in this charming little cemetery for a while. However, even for a small cemetery, we realized it would take a very long time to find the first gravesite just searching for it visually (time our grouchy kids didn't want to give us!). Unfortunately, Nathan and I ultimately realized that we wouldn't be able to do the search that day. The online instructions for finding each location had the GPS coordinates listed in latitudinal "decimal points"; our GPS apps only listed coordinates in "degrees," and we weren't able to do an on-site unit conversion.

Sadly, we realized we'd have to do a little number-crunching from home, and return to search for the cache later. As it turned out, Nathan found  a probable work-around a little after we left...but by then our kids had had enough of poking around in random spots, and they wanted to find a bathroom and eat dinner. Apparently geocaching can only hold the girls' interests for so long. Oh well...the cache is now definitely on our "to-do list," and hopefully we'll be able to try this one again another time.

After a quick bathroom break, we headed for Wisdom's Cafe; we have been here several times and enjoy it. I particularly like their turkey meat (the substitute for chicken, which isn't even on their menu!). It is very moist and flavorful, and any dish that uses turkey here is okay by me!

But the real reason we enjoy Wisdom's so much is because of their "world-famous" Fruit Burritos!

Mmmm. Nothing too novel about these, actually. The fruit is wrapped up in a tortilla, which is rolled up tightly, deep fried, then dusted liberally with cinnamon and sugar. Kind of like a weird cross between a churro and a French crepe! You have to order them first thing if you want them, because they are all made fresh. Also, they are big; one order is usually split between two people easily! They are quite yummy, especially served with sweet vanilla ice cream on the side.

Nathan and I split a blueberry burrito, and the girls each had a chocolate coconut cream; it was very rich, but they seemed to enjoy it:

We did manage to find one more geocache on this trip...right across the street from the restaurant! It was inside a wire basket suspended in a tall tree; you had to lower it down by rope to open the cache. Very elaborate and cute, and the girls were thrilled by it. We did a "toy exchange" for this cache, since it was a relatively large metal box. We left behind a small plastic dinosaur toy; in exchange, we received a "bubble pipe," which the kids have been using all week to blow bubbles. It was good to end the "geocaching" portion of our trip on a high note.

After this, we drove home with full bellies and tired feet. Considering how last-minute our outing was, it turned out very well! It's a nice contrast to this week, which feels like every last hour has been carefully planned out. Here's hoping I can blog about it all soon!

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do

Time to rattle off a couple of lightning-quick blog posts filled with April miscellany. I say "lightning-quick" because that's how fast this month is going by, and so much is going on, and this final week is about to kick my butt. Hopefully I'll be able to blog about some of this last (awesome) week in April sometime later...probably in May when I've finally gotten my energy back.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Lorelai's school held a "Spirit Week," with each day having a different theme. Lorelai wanted to dress up for every single day, but it just wasn't possible since I don't have that many costumes. However, the costumes she did manage to scrounge together were pretty awesome, and she really hammed it up in both!

On Superhero Day, I was very grateful that Lorelai is a tomboy and has lots of boy friends, especially friends who have been Batman in previous Halloweens and were willing to lend out their costumes:

The day after that was Nerd Day. As luck would have it, we have a tattered old pair of Groucho glasses. From there, it was easy to add a "nerdy" shirt (one of Daddy's old shirts, natch) and a big book of Science, and behold!

Unfortunately we did run out of steam a bit after that...We don't have any "Renaissance princess" costumes that fit our tall skinny gal. However, there was a Genre Day at the end of the week...kids were invited to dress up as their favorite book/TV/movie character. Lorelai had an old green vest & styrofoam "lightsaber" from a Star Wars-themed party she'd attended several months back. So, she donned the vest and went to school as a Jedi...problem solved!

From now until the end of the school year, just about every Wednesday is a "theme day" of some kind, so we'll see how many good pictures/costumes we can get out of them. I am personally looking forward to "Crazy Hair Day" on May 15th. I have already bought a bunch of new hairbands just for the occasion!

The weekend after Lorelai's "spirit week," I was fortunate to feel a different kind of "spirit." I spent several hours at our new stake center on Saturday, April 13th, as a small cog in a very big machine--metaphorically. I was helping out a bit at a huge eight-stake LDS regional conference especially for the Priests and Laurels (the 16/17-year-old men and women).  The day-long event was being hosted by the Sahuarita Stake. Susan (our bishop's wife) was the head of the day-long event, and so lots of helpers from our ward (and from many other wards in the Sahuarita Stake) were involved.

My job was relatively easy...I was the pianist for a "mini-choir" workshop that was to last only one hour (Jan, our ward's Young Women president, was the choir director). Essentially, the kids would show up, "learn" a song in an hour, then sing it at the devotional to be held that night after all the other workshops. My preparation had been pretty easy; I received a fancy hymn arrangement for "Jesus, The Very Thought Of Thee," and practiced it for several weeks. What I wasn't prepared for was the mass of excited youth that filled the Primary room when I arrived. The mini-choir was an unexpectedly popular class; more than 120 kids wanted to sing together. It was touching, and their voices were beautiful.

It was a chaotic but exciting choir. I won't lie; it's hard to learn a song in thirty minutes (which was all we had time for, after warm-ups, etc.). Later that night at the devotional, they didn't sing all their parts perfectly. Heck, I certainly didn't play the song perfectly, either. But their enthusiasm and natural ability (and the powerful spirit of joy and faith present) more than carried the performance. They were all such polite, helpful, enthusiastic, wonderful kids. It brightened my day just to be near them and see them interact with each other.

Not artwork from the actual conference, but the theme is the same. Plus, pretty picture.

After performing the song, I decided to stay for the remainder of the devotional. It consisted of two local speakers who work extensively with youth; their talks focused on the theme "Stand In Holy Places," and their energy and testimony was wonderful to hear. After the devotional was a dinner (lasagna, breadsticks, and salad, with brownies & ice cream for dessert--yum!), and I decided to stay and help the servers distribute the dinner & dessert. There were 500 kids, so a lot of hands were needed! My contribution felt small, but I was honored to be in the presence of so many wonderful youth (plus I got to sneak a little bit of food--yum!). After the dinner was a dance, but at that point, I decided to get back to my wonderful family, and took my leave happy and fulfilled. I was so impressed by the many workers who stayed late into the night to help clean the building and help out in countless ways! What a great service they performed.

Overall, it was a wonderful night. I don't know how often these conferences are held (I heard every two years or so), but I hope I will always be informed of them, so I can take my daughters when they are old enough. The workshops were terrific (they dealt with a variety of topics very pertinent to older teenagers, from living on your own, to choosing a career, to preparing for college and/or a mission, to managing your budget). The spirit was very strong. It fills me with so much hope for the future of the church, to see so many great young kids who want to live righteously and contribute meaningfully to the world around them. This conference was a great spiritual boost to the end of my week.

Yard Sale Weekend

The first weekend of April is General Conference weekend for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's a great opportunity to listen to the voice of our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, the apostles who serve with him, and many other church leaders. We are fortunate to be able to watch the conference broadcast (there are three two-hour sessions on Saturday and two sessions on Sunday) from our home, thanks to the magic of streaming television.

However, over the last few years, there's been a small conflict with our Conference-watching schedule. The first weekend in April is also the date of Rancho Sahuarita's semi-annual Community Yard Sale! It's a time for the entire community to pull their used, well-loved, no-longer-needed things out of storage and put them up for sale in their front yards. Dozens of houses participate in each Community Yard Sale; it can be a terrific opportunity to get great deals on clothes, toys, appliances, furniture, and more.

As you can imagine, this weekend is a time when my inner bargain-hunter is at war with my spiritual self. Most of the time, I manage to balance both the events out okay; the yard sale starts early in the morning, so I get up at the crack of dawn, try to snag some early deals, then head home in time for the morning session of Conference (which doesn't start until 9 am). On this particular weekend, though, the conflict was a little more overt...

...because WE had decided to participate in the Yard Sale ourselves! We had a lot of stuff sitting up in our closets, most of it baby-related. The old crib, the Exersaucer, the infant swing, car seats, bathtub, carrier, blankets, and clothes...lots and lots and lots of little-girl clothes. Since we have recently decided that our baby-making days are done, we decided to take the next logical step and divest ourselves of all our baby stuff.

In the weeks leading up to the yard sale, I'd taken the clothes (boxes and boxes of them!) up to Tucson in an attempt to trade them into Twice As Nice, our favorite secondhand clothing store. They didn't buy many of the clothes (I'm sure it had something to do with them being passed down through three or more owners!), but I still managed to accumulate a little store credit. All that remained was to see how many of them I could sell on a warm Saturday morning.

We did our best to advertise for the yard sale in advance (I posted about it on a few local Facebook pages, told my friends firsthand, and even posted the lovely sign you see above). Since we live on a street that dead-ends, I worried people would pass us by, since it would be difficult to navigate. Fortunately, a couple of other houses on our street were also participating in the yard sale, so a lot of visitors thought it would be worth the effort.

An interesting aspect of the Community Yard Sale is that it attracts a lot of visitors from south of the border. Since we only live about 50 miles from Mexico, a lot of enterprising people from that country like to bring their trucks up to Rancho Sahuarita, buy up all the (semi-) valuables they can, then resell them in Mexico for a tidy profit. On the day of the yard sale, it's normal to see truck after truck, piled high with all manner of second-hand items, slowly chugging down street after street, looking for the next "big deal," so they can add that much more to their already overloaded vehicles.

I've heard tales from other yard-sale veterans...tales of Mexican families who drive up to a participating home, ask, "How much for all your stuff?", then strike a quick deal and zip off with the goods before anyone else can get them. I'd also heard it was common for Mexican buyers to bulk-purchase all the clothes offered by a family, and I wondered if something like that would happen to my huge pile of girl clothes.

Short answer: no. However, we did end up selling a good chunk of all the clothes we offered. Nathan and I got up very early Saturday morning (like 4:30 am early--some of the yard-sale enthusiasts get out just before dawn, and we didn't want to miss anybody!). We just managed to get everything set up by the time the first customers started arriving, right around 6:30 am. We had a steady stream of people for the first hour and a half or so...then the crowds slowed down to a trickle, albeit a consistent one. Most of the large toys and baby accessories sold fast; the clothes were just about all that remained by mid-morning.

I never had one customer offer to buy the whole set of clothes from me (probably an unrealistic hope to begin with). However, I had many customers that took away small piles, and over time that added up well. I ended up selling about two-thirds of the clothes...not bad at all!

There was one more thing we were selling at the yard sale...baked goodies! A friend of mine, who has participated many times in the yard sale, told me that baked goods are great at drawing in more customers. So I made a batch of cinnamon rolls, a batch of orange rolls, and some caramel nougat bars. As the morning wore on, we also started selling water bottles. This turned out to be a good strategy...we had several people come up to our house, buy some food and water, then stay to shop. They didn't always buy our stuff, but it helped. And we sold ALL our rolls...they were a hit!

Lorelai really wanted to help with the yard sale, so I told her that she was in charge of the baked goods sales. Whatever money she brought in from the sales was hers to keep! She was very excited by this and managed to stay outside selling goodies for quite a while before getting bored and going inside to play. She ended up walking away with about $16, which she used later that day to buy an alarm clock...something she'd wanted for months! She was a very proud girl that day.

I would eventually sell some of the remaining clothes to friends via our local Rancho Sahuarita yard sale Facebook page (it functions essentially as a local Craigslist). What remained, I donated to Deseret Industries. I reserved a lot of the winter clothes that didn't sell, hoping to sell them to Twice As Nice in the fall...I guess I'll be selling off clothes for the rest of the year!

The yard sale wound down at around 12:30 pm. It was somewhat laborious work packing the remaining items away, but I felt pretty satisfied nonetheless. We'd turned a tidy profit (we made about $130), and we're reserving those funds to buy more (hopefully new!) clothes for the girls later this year. We'd also had fun helping Lorelai earn an alarm clock, and by emptying our closets. I was able to crash in front of the television for some of the afternoon session of General Conference, but sadly most of the speakers that day were a big blur to me. Hopefully when the next conference rolls around in October, I'll be able to focus on the lessons better.

I thought I would be traumatized to sell off all the baby clothes, but I didn't feel that way at all. Instead, I felt pleased and relieved to see the clothes pass on to new homes (some of which were homes of dear friends of mine). Maybe this means I've made some peace with my inner feelings. At any rate, if I do get pregnant again someday, I'm going to have to borrow some new clothes, because I gave away all my maternity clothes as well! It was a tiring weekend, but a satisfying one as well.

Spring Breakin' Part 2: Now Including Easter!

Our second week of Spring Break ended up being busier than the first week for a few reasons:
1. Celeste was back in preschool;
2. There was a Primary activity coming up we needed to finalize;
3. I had a few activities in the evening that week; and finally,
3. Easter was the Sunday before school started.

So, fun times! Here's a rough breakdown of our crazy last week of March:

Random crazy picture of Aurora goes HERE

Monday: Actually, not much happened this day...just as well, since we had to prepare for the activities ahead! I did have to run a few errands, teach a few piano lessons, and have Family Home Evening at night, but none of this was particularly unusual. The girls enjoyed their time off.

Tuesday: Here's where things started to get a little nuts. We hurried Celeste to preschool in the morning, then immediately went to a Primary presidency meeting. Most of the meeting was spent stuffing plastic Easter eggs full of candy, in preparation for our LDS ward's Easter egg hunt that coming Saturday. That was a LOT of candy. Lorelai helped out a lot with stuffing the eggs, then went and played in the backyard until we finished the rest of the meeting. About halfway through the meeting, though, I couldn't help but notice that something was different with Lorelai's hair...

 ...and indeed, something was! Apparently, she'd taken the scissors to her head last night...because she was "tired" of her hair, as she put it! Hmmm...well, next time you're tired of your hair, honey, please tell Mom before taking matters into your own hands!!

She had quite an impressive "almost-mullet" look going on. I am pretty ashamed to admit that Lorelai did this Monday night, and I didn't even notice it until late Tuesday morning! Man, I am pretty unobservant sometimes. I got lucky this time, though...one of my Primary presidency members went to beauty school back in the day, so she was able to help out right after the meeting, turning this...

...into this.

 

I do miss Lorelai's long hair, but I have to admit the short bobbed cut looks very adorable on her. She looks like a little pixie!

geekyrant.com

Right after the haircut, all our friends arrived for our Spring Break Movie Party (the one we delayed from the week before due to illness). I provided popcorn; various friends brought candy and even pizza! We watched the latest Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph, which was universally loved by all the kids who came (I counted about twenty or so). I got to catch up with some of my friends, and a good time was had by all.

We had a couple of hours to rest after the movie party...then we headed out to the playground for a final "party" for Lorelai's baseball team. She received her trophy, exchanged her phone number with her teammates, played on the playground, and ate even more pizza! I managed to get everyone home in time to get them ready for bed, then zip off to book club--always a fun night with some of my best girlfriends. Whew--long day!

Wednesday: Today was our "great outdoors" day. We spent the morning at the pool, per the girls' numerous requests. So far, the large pool at the neighborhood clubhouse is still closed for repairs (I certainly hope it's open by the time school's out, or there will be a riot!). However, we were able to go to one of the satellite pools, which was smaller but much less crowded.

Aurora was pretty scared of the water at first...but she caught on quickly!

Unlike the clubhouse pool, there are no lifeguards at the satellite pools...which meant the girls could jump in the hot tub there with no recrimination! It is now their new favorite thing.

But if you think swimming was our only activity today, you'd be wrong! After we'd dried off a little bit, we headed up to Tucson to check out the goings-on at the Reid Park Zoo.

 

 

I had a coupon for a free giraffe feeding, so each of the girls got a turn feeding the beautiful giraffes some carrots (I couldn't get a picture of Aurora because I had to hoist her up to help her hold out the carrot, plus she was a little scared of the giraffes). We didn't stay too long, but we still had plenty of time to run, jump, check out a lot of animals, and climb on fake habitat rocks:

Afterwards, the kids were getting pretty tired out, so we dropped by a nearby frozen yogurt shop and each had a bowl.

Refreshing and delicious! The kids slept well that night, I can tell you...

Thursday: Also not the most exciting day...we dropped Celeste off at preschool, then headed off to CostCo and did some shopping. Whee! The girls had a lovely afternoon playing together and watching more television, while I put away a bunch of groceries and planned for a busy weekend. That night, I attended a dinner held for the sisters of the Sahuarita Arizona Stake...it was in celebration of the birthday of the Relief Society, the women's organization in the LDS Church. As part of the program, the women in our ward had to stand up and sing a song arrangement I'd never seen before. That's what being in Primary all the time does for you. Oh well, dinner was delicious and the company wonderful.

Friday: It was another outdoor day of adventure! I drove the girls up to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, in the hopes of playing in a natural pool from the winter runoff. Sabino Canyon is a lovely area, with lots of great hiking trails. Sadly, the girls are still a little young to be doing a lot of hiking, but the shuttle ride up the canyon is still fun and educational.

We had visited the canyon last summer, but sadly the water holes were all dried up...a shame, because it was so hot, a dunk would have been very refreshing! This time, however, we hit paydirt.

 

The water was quite cool and felt great. The girls had a wonderful time splashing around and having a great time. I hope to make this a Spring Break tradition; in the future, though, we may go in the middle of the week, because it was a bit crowded on a Friday.

 

 

 

We were sad Nathan couldn't be with us; however, he wasn't able to take any time off from work this Spring Break. Maybe next year! But Nathan had his board-gaming group get together at our house that night, so he still got to have some fun on Good Friday.

Saturday: I got an early start on Saturday, hiding some eggs and cleaning up a park ramada in preparation for the Easter Egg hunt. When the kids showed up, it was all we could do to hold them back until it was time to start:

 All the kids had a great time picking up eggs, eating some breakfast (we provided milk, juice, muffins, and bagels), and playing some fun outdoor games...like this "crab walk" race the Senior Primary kids participated in (Lorelai is near the center of the pack, holding her own).

We restricted the kids from picking up more than five eggs; we were worried there wouldn't be enough for everybody. I felt a little guilty at first for "only" having a few eggs for each kid; however, several parents told me later that they had had an "Easter overload" at their school, and were happy the kids were held to a small amount of candy at the church event. And with the food and games, there were plenty of other things that held the kids' attention. It was all great!

Right after the Primary activity, I had to throw on a dress and head over to the church building, to participate in a youth baptism. I always love attending baptisms, epecially this year because Lorelai's is getting so close! It is getting very exciting to see all these kids getting baptized and thinking of my little girl getting her turn in just a few months.

For the last several years, our family has had a tradition of having a picnic lunch/dinner in nearby Madera Canyon on Good Friday. Due to Nathan's busy schedule, that picnic wasn't possible on Good Friday this year...so we waited a day and went up the canyon on "good Saturday" instead...

We had a spectacular view of Mt. Wrightson from our picnic table, and the girls had a great time running around and exploring nature as well. Since our morning had been so busy, we got to the canyon kind of late in the afternoon, and weren't able to get in any serious hiking this time. Also, I'd had a brutal allergy attack earlier and wasn't feeling super-healthy. But at least the girls had fun...and at least our streak was continued for another year! Next year, we'll try to plan ahead a little better.

Sunday: Easter Sunday...and Fast Sunday, too. Ouch! It was tough to fill the Easter eggs with candy, hide them, help the kids find them, and watch the kids eat out of them for hours, while not being able to satisfy my own cravings. However, the girls' joy was infectious...and they looked really adorable in their new Easter dresses! (Yes, I'm weak...I didn't intend to buy any dresses, but I saw them all at CostCo and couldn't help myself!)

That night, we had a large dinner (lamb, Greek ratatouille, mashed potatoes, pita bread, salad, and strawberries for dessert) with Grandma & Grandpa Barrett. We hadn't seen them for a while, and it was good to catch up with them and celebrate the holiday with family.

And thus concluded our crazy-busy Easter/Spring Break week! Our house was pretty disheveled by the end of it, but "real life" was starting the next day, and I knew I'd have time to clean. We'll see if April ends up as busy...and if I have time to blog about it!