Hello...I have returned!! Well, technically, I "returned" from vacation two weeks ago, but I have taken a short breather from blogging (and from other responsibilities), so that's why it's been so quiet around here. I have lots of vacation photos to share, though, so it's time to get started! As I write this, it's about an hour and a half away from July 2013, so I'm going to see if I can squeeze in one more June 2013 blog before diving in proper on vacation posts tomorrow.
After school ended, I had exactly one week to get ready for our vacation to Utah. We didn't do much during that time, other than have some friends over for dinner. These friends, the Thompsons, had been ward missionaries in our ward for years, with Nathan inheriting Shane's mantle just before they moved to the Washington, D.C. area. We were happy to share a final evening with them; we were not terribly close, but we really loved their company and were always impressed by the kindness and enthusiasm that they shared with everyone they met. We will miss them, as will many people in the ward.
"Look, kids, it's the (faux) Statue of Liberty!"
After a couple more days of packing and preparing for our long drive, we hit the road. We decided to break up the 12-hour drive by spending the night in Las Vegas, which is a pretty natural halfway point. I used to really enjoy staying in Las Vegas, but I am so over that now. When I was younger, Vegas was at least trying to be more family-friendly. Nowadays, though? Not even trying! Huge posters advertising topless shows/nightclubs/etc. glared down at my kids wherever we went...and we didn't even go to that many places in Vegas! We mostly stayed pretty close to our hotel.
But it was probably worth staying in Vegas this time, since I managed to book a room in Excalibur, the sword & sorcery-themed casino. As far as our girls were concerned, we had scored a night in a fabulous "princess castle"!
Hey, let them dream! They were overwhelmed at the "beautiful" castle's facade, and felt they'd emerged from the car into a magical fantasyland. Their giddiness made that one night worth it (and made it easier to ignore all the sad, lost souls wandering around the casinos).
Here was the view from our room!
The girls wanted to sleep with the curtains pulled back all night, so they could keep the castle in their sights. I finally had to close the curtains when sleep proved hard to come by. Luckily, we managed to grab enough winks to enjoy our breakfast at the casino buffet the next morning; yum!
...we also got in a little shopping, too.
Driving to Utah County that day proved surprisingly quick and easy. I'm so happy my girls are all becoming such patient travelers. They usually get along well in the car, playing quietly with small toys or (in Lorelai's case) reading books. We have a portable DVD player, but we only used it once the whole trip up! We tried something else new this time, too; we got a Mad Libs book and filled out several silly stories together. Lorelai especially loved that! It is fun finding out new things your kids can do. Lorelai claims to get "carsick" on long trips, but thankfully that hasn't been literally true yet. Overall, they did so well on our long driving days; I am very proud of them.
On Friday afternoon, June 7th, we finally arrived at the Carlin home--my sister Jocelyn, her husband Paul, and their four cute kids. They live in Saratoga Springs, a small town just outside of Lehi. The girls were overjoyed to see their cousins again (they'd visited Arizona last Thanksgiving, and the memories there were still fresh). It was time to play!
Here's Aurora pulling her cute little cousin Laura in her wagon. She always loves being the "big girl"!
SCHOOL'S OUT...and it's just about time for our family vacation! Time to sneak in one more blog post before I start packing...
Lorelai is no longer a second grader. Soon, she'll be a third grader, and that makes me simultaneously very proud and very melancholy. In some ways, this has been a tough school year; a lot of her friends moved (including several in her class), and her teacher, while a kind woman, was not the greatest disciplinarian. There was a group of several boys in the class that basically ran wild throughout the year, disrupting class regularly and slowing down the class's academic progress, in my opinion. One of the boys in particular teased Lorelai quite regularly. She's a sensitive soul, and she had a rough few months when she was complaining daily to me about how uncomfortable she'd become around this boy. Thankfully, they were separated when I asked the teacher about it, but I still feel the class never fully pulled itself together.
This school year has been a good learning experience for me as well as Lorelai. It's frustrating to admit it, but some years just aren't going to be as successful as other years...and every year will bring a new series of challenges, be they big or small. I am glad I had the opportunity to volunteer in Lorelai's class this year; it helped me be a little more aware of her day-to-day schedule, and be more understanding of the issues she faced. I hope next year class discipline will not be as much of a problem; I also hope Lorelai will learn to "love" school again, something I felt she was lacking a bit by the end of this year. I know she is a smart girl, and so I hope we can always find a way to make school an enjoyable challenge rather than a chore.
Speaking of "enjoyable"...Great Expectations Academy had an end-of-year program, in which every class did a performance of some kind. Luckily, the school got permission to do their assembly in the neighboring Baptist church...it was the only indoor venue nearby large enough to hold everyone and keep them (mostly) cool in the hot summer sun. Some performances were kind of weird...some were quite fun! The jazz band also played a couple of songs, and I was impressed by the level of musical talent in the school. Here's the number put on by Lorelai's class; it's a cute parody of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," with a school-days twist:
Lorelai has gotten shy performing in front of people, so she was very self-conscious about this "silly dance." But I thought it was one of the cuter, more *ahem* coherent numbers in the whole thing. Hopefully she will agree with me in time.
After school was out, we collected the remainder of Lorelai's things, said goodbye to her teacher (this is always hard for Lorelai; she always misses her teachers terribly!), and went out to lunch at McDonald's (kid's choice; perhaps next year I shall choose a less crazy, crowded location!). Then, it was ON TO SUMMER!
You may recall our Friday Family Fun Days from the summer of 2012, of which I posted several blogposts. Our schedule may be a little trickier to manage this summer, but I am hoping to have at least a few of those Friday Family Fun Days this summer as well. We had our first day out the day after school ended, on May 31st:
Friday #1: We visit the Mini-Museum, go shopping, and get a little wet.
Since it was Friday, and summer, and I had a coupon that was about to expire, I decided to take the kids to a museum we had never before visited in Tucson: The Mini Time Machine, a museum of miniatures. None of us were really sure what to expect, but I thought it might be interesting to try something new.
It was a small museum (naturally), but the girls and I quite enjoyed it. It was fascinating to look at some of the miniature homes and their remarkably detailed interiors. Some of these models were hundreds of years old, and that made the craftsmanship even more impressive! The girls also had fun trying to spot the miniature "fairy" figurines scattered throughout the museum exhibits, hiding in many of the exhibits.
The museum layout was pretty clever, and we got to peer into lots of nooks and crannies. At one point, we were even able to walk above a cute Christmas village that was nestled under glass in the floor:
There was this big creepy tree with faces carved on it in the center of the "fantasy"-themed room.
The faces didn't move, and the tree didn't talk, but just the fact that it had faced freaked the kids out. For several minutes they wouldn't even go into the room. Thankfully, they finally gained enough courage to see all the neat exhibits inside. Not only that, but there was a tiny fairy doll hidden inside the tree, who only appeared every few minutes (through the "magic" of tricky lighting and mirrors). The girls loved waiting for her to appear!
So, not a very large museum, and perhaps a bit pricey, but still a cute and interesting trip! I look forward to going again someday.
The rest of our Tucson trip was a bit more mundane; I spent most of the time running from music store to music store, buying new piano books for several of my students. It was tedious work, and the girls tried to be patient, but sitting in a hot car all afternoon can get tiresome. I tried to break up the monotony by going out to lunch (at El Guero Canelo! Mmmmmmm....), and taking them to a large splash pad on the north side of Tucson to cool off for a few minutes...
Lorelai was a little annoyed that our family was the only one not wearing swimwear, but she got over that quickly once she'd cooled off. Celeste, our water-lover, had no such reservations...
Thus, wetter and a little more relaxed, we finished our errands, drove home, and crashed in front of the TV for a family movie night. It was a great way to start the summer. And in just a day and a half, we'll be heading for UT, so I fully expect more good times ahead!
Celeste and Aurora decided they wanted a "picnic" in the garage...
Yeah, this looks a little white trash, and the flies were annoying...but the girls had fun, so who am I to gainsay their enjoyment??
Lorelai had a "crazy hair day" at school...
Pretty sad that the only time I bother to do Lorelai's hair is on a day when it's meant to look insane. But I don't think she'd have it any other way. My tomboy doesn't need fancy hairdos to be happy. However, she did have kind of a sore scalp by the time this day was over.
That same week, Lorelai had an early-release day from school. Her friend Elnorra and her sisters came over for a long-afternoon playdate. So what did they play on their day off? "School," of course! Here they all are, completing their "writing assignments"...
A week or so later, Nathan celebrated his 36th birthday on May 23 (right before Memorial Day of course! Sometimes I wish his birthday was scheduled at a more convenient time of year. He seems happy with the arrangement, though). The actual birthday celebration was low-key; he got a new computer game from his brother, and a new board game too. The girls and I got him a sleeping bag, since he didn't have one. Thus continues my plan to slowly outfit our family to go camping properly.
Nathan is not a "birthday cake" kind of guy...he prefers pie. I am totally okay with this, because I love pie as well! This year, we made him the usual mixed berry pie (his favorite), and a frozen peanut-butter pie. I also cheated a bit and bought him a lemon meringue pie. Sadly, I didn't have pictures of any of these pies! So here's yet another pie I made the week before to compensate:
It's the first strawberry-rhubarb pie I've ever made, and I was pretty pleased with the results. I bought a large bunch of rhubarb from a local produce co-op, and decided to make a pie out of some of it and freeze the rest. The best part of making this pie? Lorelai was my helper! She sliced up all the rhubarb and strawberries for me, and stirred the filling together. It was fun to cook with my daughter!
Our Saturday before Memorial Day was fairly uneventful (after the busy-storm that was my Friday: a Primary presidency meeting, lunch monitor at school, and the talent show that evening). Then, after a typically crazy Sunday (both Nathan and I had meetings all morning, I led Sharing Time in Primary and Lorelai gave a talk!), we had an exciting Memorial Day planned.
It began with a family triathlon!
This was something I've never done before, but it was so fun! A friend of ours in the ward (who is quite the Amazonian athlete) had originally proposed a full triathlon for all the women in the ward who were interested. You know...a triathlon...on a holiday morning...for fun!! Not something I normally do, but I was intrigued by the challenge of it. However, seeing as how I had no time to train for such an undertaking, I was silently relieved when everyone decided to do a smaller family triathlon instead. However, I was actually able to get some legitimate exercise in by riding my bike from our home to the park--a 5-mile round trip. It helped me feel like I'd still managed to push myself that day.
We started early in the morning (before the heat kicked in), and we rode our bikes twice around a short loop in the Safari Park in Rancho Sahuarita. After that, we parked the bikes and jogged once around that same loop. And finally, all of us headed for the pool, where we and our kids each swam a lap. It was the perfect way to start the holiday! Swimming outdoors in the early morning is becoming one of my favorite things to do. Everyone relaxed and visited (and splashed around) in the pool, and all was well.
The best part (for me) about the triathlon? Celeste rode her bicycle without training wheels for the very first time! Nathan helped her get started, but she managed to complete quite a bit of the course on her own! We were very proud parents.
After the triathlon, we dashed home and changed our clothes, then went out to brunch at International House Of Pancakes to celebrate Nathan's birthday. We got another nice treat there; our service was very slow (and the kids were driving us nuts by the time our food finally arrived!), but as an apology, the server gave us our meal 50% off! Hooray for incompetent servers (this time, at least).
Later that evening, our friends the Perrys came over for a Memorial Day evening spent eating ribs and mashed potatoes, and playing board games (what else?). It was a very enjoyable evening. Oh, that it could have gone on forever! Unfortunately, Nathan had work the following day...and Lorelai still had two and a half days of school left! Summer was almost here...finally. Just a few more things to do.
...like post this picture of Aurora with her chocolate "moustache" (from a baby shower in those last crazy days of May)
Another of our late-May big events was Celeste's "graduation" from preschool. It is hard to believe that my sweet little brown-eyed gal is going to be going to "real" school this fall with Lorelai. Having her as the "big kid" at home has been great in so many ways. I feel I've really gotten to know Celeste this year, in a way I couldn't when Lorelai was the "big kid" at home. We have shared jokes, chores, and cuddles, and I feel like we've been able to emotionally bond like never before. Since we don't have much in common with regards to our taste, this bonding has meant a great deal to me. And now, just when we're becoming buddies, she's heading off to kindergarten! That's how it always goes, doesn't it? Your child gets older, you get really close to them, you become friends...and BAM! they're off to school.
Overall, we had a very positive experience with Smart Scholars Preschool and its teacher, Ms. Nichole. Celeste learned a lot this year; she has started to read (and has improved markedly in just the last few weeks, recognizing lots of short words in a variety of books), write, and do math problems. Celeste seems to have a special aptitude for math; she will sit in the back of the van when we're driving around doing addition and subtraction problems in her head, then shouting out the answers to me (she's almost always right, too). This has been a weird development in our family, since both Nathan and I don't like math much. We're not complaining though...quite the opposite, it's cool to see her so interested in that subject!
I am grateful that Ms. Nichole noticed Celeste's interest in math, and periodically encouraged her by having her do math worksheets separately from the rest of the kids in the class. I appreciated her personalized attention to each child in the preschool, as well as all the other cute projects and activities Celeste brought home throughout the year. I appreciated her general good nature and sweetness; she was always very patient when I arrived late to pick Celeste up (which was more often than I'd like to admit!). It's been a grateful experience, and I'm already looking forward to fall 2014, when I can sign Aurora up for Smart Scholars as well! (Wow. Just typing that makes me feel both old and melancholy.)
Here are some of the highlights of the graduation "ceremony"...
The first musical number they performed...the "days of the week" song
Waiting to graduate
Receiving her diploma. She was also asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her answer? "A hairdresser."
Tossing the caps!
Celeste with her "diploma", and getting a little tired of picture-taking
Celeste with Ms. Nichole
Celeste with Mama and Aurora. She DID have a nice time at graduation, I swear! The poor girl was quite burned out on pictures by this point. She was also sad about leaving Ms. Nichole...she grew very attached to her teacher and will miss her.
The class also performed two cute musical numbers, the first involving the days of the week and the second involving fish. Celeste really gets into that "whale" verse!
After the ceremony, we all devoured the sweet treats everyone brought. Here's what I made:
S'mores cupcakes. Yes, that is marshmallow icing with graham-cracker crumbs. Yes, that is a Hershey's chocolate square atop every cupcake. Yes, they were as tasty as the name implies. I got the recipe from a cookbook based on the Our Best Bites blog.
So now Celeste is ready to become a proper student this fall. She will spend every day at kindergarten, growing and learning and having fun...and I will miss her so much. This preschool graduation made me feel so proud of her and I know she will accomplish many great things someday. I love you, Celeste!
The end of the school year came barreling down on us as it usually does. We managed to stay pretty "un-busy" during the middle of the month, but sure enough, the end of May came on in a huge rush from which I'm only now recovering...just in time to get ready for our vacation to Utah this week! So I'll have to hurry up and recap in a bunch of little blog posts.
First I'd like to share a couple of videos from our ward's talent show, which was held Friday, May 24th. Usually, I hold my spring piano recital for my students around this time. This year, I decided to make the talent show my de facto recital. I figured it would be a good experience for the children to perform in front of a larger audience (there were probably around 75-100 people there, so that hope was definitely achieved). Instead of the performing two different songs (my usual recital requirement), I only required my students to play one song, so as not to "hog the spotlight" from other talented members of the ward.
Overall, it was a great night. I think the event organization was a little haphazard (some acts were added or dropped at the very last minute, and no program was ever printed, so it was sometimes hard to tell who was going on at what time. Plus, Nathan was asked to be an MC for the event, and well...I love my husband, but his host material was a bit lacking. Luckily, I think no one held it against him!). In spite of my initial worries, the program went fairly smoothly after dinner was served. The performances were great...and most of the performances were by kids, which is awesome! I love to see kids perform and show off their stuff.
Here's the song Lorelai performed...it's called "Indian Drums":
She was walking off forlornly at the video's end because she made one little mistake, and felt terrible about it. I reassured her that most performers make mistakes, and that I thought she did wonderfully. I am proud at how far she's come this year, and I hope her progress will continue. Teaching my own daughter piano has been a bit of an uphill battle lately; I know summer is not the best time to practice intensely, but maybe we'll still be able to have some fun together. I hope this night is something Lorelai will be proud of; she is quite the awesome child.
In a move that surprised many (especially myself!), I actually performed at the ward talent show as well. I was planning on sitting the night out, in deference to my students, but my friend Amanda approached me with a fun duet she suggested we play together. Funny thing...as a kid, I never liked duets, but now as an adult, I love them and want to try them all the time. It was a fancy variation on "Chopsticks"...behold the goodness! (and also my several mistakes...ugh)
Nathan took the video. This being a ward activity, lots of free-roaming children (including both Aurora and Amanda's youngest son) wander in and out of frame quite a bit. Nothing like those distractions when trying to play in tandem! (they do look pretty cute in the video though)
It occurred to me, watching this video later that night, that I've never really seen myself playing piano before. I have had my music recorded on audio tapes in the past, but I've never watched a video of myself playing. Here are the completely irrational conclusions I came to, watching this video:
1. I need to lose weight. Yikes, look at those grandma-arms jiggling when I play! Also, my bottom is big, but I already knew that.
2. I make some pretty interesting "piano-faces" when I play. I purse my lips, I grimace, I do a bunch of weird stuff with my mouth. I wonder why nobody ever told me this before?
3. When I watch myself play, I am going to inevitably dwell on the mistakes I make. It is really hard for me to focus on the performance as a whole, because all I can think about is that section where I blew it, and relive it on the video over and over.
So, with those criticisms, maybe it's just as well I don't see recordings of my playing all that often...I get pretty insecure about it! However, as for the actual song, I have no regrets whatsoever. I didn't perform it perfectly, but it was a blast to learn and to practice with Amanda. I'm glad she gave me the opportunity to perform something a little more light-hearted than my usual classical music/church songs. Who knows; maybe I'll pull out the song again at a talent show sometime in the far future!
More Memorial Day weekend adventures to come...stay tuned.
