This year, our Memorial Day weekend gave us the opportunity to gorge ourselves silly on delicious food. No big surprise, that happens often on this holiday weekend. But we also got the chance to try a new outdoor adventure as well, and we were pleasantly surprised by the outcome!
For years now, we have been curious about visiting Chiricahua National Monument. It's not too far away (it's a little ways outside Willcox, AZ, which is about an hour and a half from us), and it contains lots of natural beauty. After doing a little reading online, Nathan and I discovered that most of the hiking trails there are pretty low difficulty; when you have whiny younger daughters, this is a plus. To top things off, we have had many friends visit the monument and bring back glowing reports.
Nathan and I love to go hiking, and in recent years, our kids are finally getting old enough to tackle bigger and more challenging trails. This has encouraged us to go hiking more frequently (see, for example, our hikes in Madera Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and especially Picacho Peak for examples of our increasing daring. And these were all from the last year!). We decided that we would try "one more" hike before spring melted into summer and the weather became too hot to hike for the next several months. Off to the Chiricahuas we went!
We were lucky with the weather; it was warm but not hot (I think the high was only in the 80s that day; plus, being far from a city, the air was naturally cooler anyway). We got some cool breezes that were incredibly refreshing. And The Internet was proven correct; the hiking trail we chose wasn't too difficult, with only minor descents & ascents. We chose the Echo Canyon Loop Trail (which includes the Hailstone and Ed Riggs trails) for our first visit, about a 3.3 mile round trip.
While on the trail, we were lucky to run into some friends of ours, the Sparks family. They too are avid hikers, and we met up with them unexpectedly (they'd parked their car at the opposite end of our trail, and taken a longer route totaling about 7 miles. Hopefully we can try that route next time!). We didn't stay together too long, as we were headed in different directions, but it was fun to meet up, visit with friends for a few moments, and compare notes.
There's not much more I need to ramble about; I think the pictures of this beautiful place pretty much speak for themselves!
It was invigorating to climb among these beautiful rock formations, and to "squeeze" through the narrow gaps between the stone pillars. It was dizzying, on occasion, to look up or down through these formations and see how far we had come (or how far we had yet to go); the drop-offs sometimes had my heart in my throat!
The girls overall quite enjoyed themselves; we probably needed to bring a little more water (isn't that always the way??), but by and large everyone really loved it. We can't wait to come back to the Chiricahuas again...hopefully soon!
Our hike was on Saturday, May 28. After taking a day or two to recover from our strenuous physical activity, we spent Monday May 30 (Memorial Day) consuming vast quantities of calories, thus undoing any physical benefits we may have gained from our hike two days before. Sigh; such is life, especially on holiday weekends. We had not one, but TWO big meals that day...the first was at a friend's house with a group of friends, and the second was at our own house with a group of other friends.
The first outing (a large, early lunch) was a "seafood boil," something I'd never experienced before. The hosts, our friends Justin & Clarissa Brown, had lived in West Virginia for a while before moving to Arizona, and said they'd learned it from some of their southern friends in their time near the East Coast. It was a curious, silverware-free ritual, and I was a little nervous about how it would all turn out.
The preparation of the meal was quite simple; the Browns set up a huge steel pot on an outdoor burner, filled it with water, then set it a-boiling. They would eventually add quartered red potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage, and shrimp to the pot as well, along with an Old Bay-style seafood seasoning mix (they told us that at many seafood boils, crab or other shellfish may also be used). Everything would be added in stages and cooked until tender; then, the water would be drained, and the fun part would start.
First, the table would be covered securely with a large, disposable plastic tablecloth. Then, the huge drained pot would be upended, spilling its contents all across the table! Finally, huge dollops of butter or margarine would be set directly onto the tablecloth at several points. And then it was time to dig in with your bare hands and eat!
At first, my fastidious side was very nervous to try the huge heap of food lying wildly on the table. It felt almost barbaric to me! But I watched as everyone tucked in, and finally followed suit. We had to peel our own shrimp ourselves, but it was worth the effort once they were dipped in butter and popped into our mouths. The corn on the cob and potatoes were so hot at first, they almost burned my fingers when I picked them up. But they tasted so good that I soon forgot about my original scruples. By the end of the meal (which was a very civilized free-for-all, with everyone happily chatting and raiding the food pile with abandon), my fingers were tender from handling the hot food, and greasy from all the butter. And we were all oh so satisfied!
For dessert, I'd made mint brownies for everyone to share afterwards. Even though everyone was very full, we somehow managed to fit a brownie in our stomachs. Overall, our family found the whole thing a big success! The seafood boil was such a fun idea, and we were so happy to be a part of it! Hopefully we can finangle a way into inviting ourselves to the Brown's house again if they ever do another seafood boil in the future.
Aurora REALLY enjoyed her Memorial Day burger.
Not long after that, though, it was time to go back to our house, and get set up for the next big meal of the day, which was a barbecue at our house. We didn't have anything big or amazing planned; we just grilled some meat (burgers and hot dogs for some, chicken for others, seasoned with Nathan's delicious homemade honey pepper barbecue sauce!), made a few side dishes, and then let our kids run and play like maniacs through our house while we all visited.
We had originally planned a game night, to go with the food, but our tuckered out stomachs and wired kids meant that we mostly sat around and talked. But that was still lots of fun, as we got to catch up with good friends and have a few laughs. We went to bed that night stuffed, happy, and looking forward to the rest of our summer. If Memorial Day weekend was any indication, it would be a good one!
Our family didn't just dance their way to the end of school; it participated in a lot of other performances, too. MORE VIDEOS AHEAD; BRACE YOURSELVES!!
There were several musical productions at our kids' school in the late spring...and I'm not just talking about The Wizard of Oz. There was also a fifth-grade class "info-musical" on the Old West, the end-of-year choral music recital for all the kids, and finally, an end-of-year jazz band concert.
There are two fifth-grade classrooms at our charter school, and this year the teachers decided to try something a little different; they bought a script for a musical assembly program about the western expansion of the United States in the 1800s. There wasn't a lot of acting, per se...the students mostly stood around and read lines from a script. However, the script/narration was frequently interrupted for songs and the occasional dance number.
Plus, all the kids got to dress up in their most authentic Old West costumes! Here's what Lorelai chose to wear...
Her role? "Black (African-American) Cowboy." I'm not sure she was physically right for the part, but hey...the part was up for grabs when her teacher was giving out parts, and she volunteered.
She only had a few lines, but she delivered them well. She also did well enough in the square-dancing scenes.
However, she was pretty miserable the whole time...it was a pretty hot day, she was wearing all black, and the sun was shining right on her (and her classmates) for most of the show.
Still, it was a pretty good show, all things considered. I sure hope that the multi-purpose room the school is building will be done by next spring, so this assembly (and others like it) can be held inside on hot spring days!
But that wasn't the last musical presentation of the year at Great Expectations Academy...there was one more big assembly featuring all the elementary-school students. It was the big music assembly, in which each class sang a few songs for their parents and the rest of the school.
Before the singing started, there was a short instrumental interlude featuring all the recorder players in the school...that usually means third grade and up. Yikes, that is a lot of recorders. One recorder by itself is agitating enough; dozens of recorders (many out of tune) playing simultaneously is tortuous. The air is filled with a shrill, unpleasant miasma, and my teeth are set on edge. It sounds as if a bunch of sea birds captured, put into a large bag, and then rolled around on the ground by a bunch of raucous children. I can't be the only one who feels this way, can I?
Ah, well. At least my oldest daughter was able to distinguish herself from the recorder "pack." One of the songs performed was a Star Wars medley, and Lorelai was one of the soloists. Take a listen!
I suspect her experience in jazz band this year has made her a lot more confident in learning the recorder. More on that in a bit.
Anyway, every class chose a different movie or musical from which to learn their songs. Aurora's class did a couple of songs from Peter Pan. The boys were asked to dress up as Peter Pan, the girls were asked to go as Tinkerbell. Here's the costume Aurora came up with:
They were all so cute! Unfortunately, I don't have a video of their songs. My camera had been acting up all day, and my recording success was spotty. But at least I got all of them in their adorable costumes! Don't worry, you'll hear more singing from Aurora later.
Celeste's second-grade class got The Jungle Book songs to learn. I bet you can guess which two songs the kids learned!
Lorelai and the rest of her fifth-grade class performed a couple of songs from the movie/musical Hairspray (a musical I haven't seen, sadly! Gotta fix that sometime soon). They were instructed to dress in "50s-style clothing." We don't have a ton of period costumes laying around the house, but we did manage to put this look together:
I had a lot of fun doing her hair this morning! Lorelai had a very small solo role in one of these songs as well. I'm happy she is getting a little bolder about performing vocally.
Another area in which Lorelai's confidence is growing is in jazz band. When the year began, she was a little afraid to be part of the advanced band; she felt out of place and undeserving. But her fellow band-mates and her great director, Mr. Mark, inspired her to work hard and improve her performance steadily throughout the year. She blossomed socially in band, and her musical abilities deepened. I was so proud of her progress this year!
Lorelai with Mr. Mark
The final jazz band concert of the year was held the last week of school. It is a bittersweet event, since we always say goodbye to the eighth graders who are "graduating" from GEA and moving on to high school. This year the band performed pretty well and sent them out on a very positive note.
Plus, Lorelai performed two solos! I was only able to get one of them on camera, because my daughter is very coy about telling me when her solos are happening. Oh well. This solo was the first of her two solos; the second solo was a little more technically complicated, and was a bit shakier. Regardless, I was so proud of her for making the attempt.
This is the second (and third!) time Lorelai has attempted solos in jazz band, and I have enjoyed listening to her progress. She is definitely getting bolder and more confident in her improvisation, and even if she isn't at the level of some of her older band-mates, I still think she has come a long way. I look forward to hearing more of Lorelai and the rest of the jazz band next year!
And just a few days after the jazz band packed up their instruments...school came to an end! For Lorelai and Celeste, it was the end of "yet another year," and thus not too dramatic (despite being a relief to be done!). But for my newly graduated kindergartner, the end of school was given a lot of dramatic weight.
Kinder graduation, in my opinion, is kind of silly and unnecessary. But I can't deny it is really cute watching them walk up and get their "diplomas" from the principal (full disclosure: the "diploma" was a rolled-up empty sheet of paper, that Aurora threw away immediately after school. Ha!). But man, it was crowded in that room; I'm glad that is (probably) the last kindergarten graduation I will attend for a very long time!
The girls and I were all so ready for summer vacation, but overall everyone had an absolutely wonderful year. All three girls really loved their teachers, learned a lot, and had fun with their extra activities and their friends. I realize not every school year can be this great, but I hope next year will be as rewarding for them...and I hope I can be there every step of the way to help them through any trials they may face, and cheer them on in all their efforts.
Now, since this was primarily a music-themed blog post, here's one more video...a really funny end-of-school/tribute to Queen song, as sung by Aurora and the rest of the darling kindergartners:
That's a wrap on the 2015-16 school year, everybody! Now it's on to blogging about summer break...just in time for my girls' next school year to begin! Yikes...we'll see if I can get caught up soon.
Wow; looking at my recent blogging history, there have sure been a lot of "performing arts"-related blog posts appearing lately. What can I say? My kids attend a charter school with a strong performing arts emphasis. They also take private piano lessons (from me!), and they have all taken lessons from local dance studios as well. All these things combined make for a perfect storm of performances in the springtime every year. This spring, our family both watched and participated in a whooooooole lotta performances. Whether it was the school play, the Tucson youth theater productions, or my piano students' spring recital, we were pretty darn busy.
And that was just the through the first weekend in May! We weren't done yet. Brace yourselves...videos are coming. Lots and lots of performance videos, both in this blog post and the next!
Let's start with all the "dancing" performances. Cindy, a friend of mine and a fellow mother of Great Expectations Academy students, was hired as a dance instructor for the school this year. All the elementary-school kids got to have dance as an elective, which I thought was a cool opportunity! Close to the end of the year, the school held a "dance recital," which was really a chance for each class to perform a dance that "Ms. Cindy" had taught them.
(Aurora's the cute gal in sunglasses and a swimsuit, towards the left)
Aurora's kindergarten class performed to a song from High School Musicalcalled "What Time is It? (Summertime)". The choreography wasn't too complicated (they were six-year-olds, after all), but their enthusiasm was contaigous. They all wore swimsuits and threw around beach balls. Aurora danced with complete abandon. It was adorable.
(Celeste is near the front row, in the silver cape)
Celeste's second-grade class had slightly bulkier costumes; they danced to the Fall Out Boy song "Immortals," from the Disney movie Big Hero 6. Since the main characters in that movie become superheroes, the kids were encouraged to dress up as superheroes themselves. Celeste borrowed a cape from a friend and put on her black knee-high boots. That's my girl.
Lorelai's fifth-grade class did a mash-up of several songs, including the rhythm intro to Anna Kendrick's "Cups (When I'm Gone)" song from Pitch Perfect. Then, they did a bunch of...random dancing? Sorry, I wish I could identify the music they used, but I can't (I'm even sorrier to say I don't have a video of this performance; I hope Lorelai will forgive me! Don't worry, kid, I'll make it up to you in a future blog post).
Sadly, Lorelai felt a little embarrassed about the dance when all was said and done, even though I thought they all did fine. I'm sure part of the reason is that Lorelai is a little shy about dancing in public anyway. Perhaps her class would have been better served by performing a longer routine set to a single song, so the whole thing would have been more memorable. Maybe next year!
But this wasn't the only dancing going on in our family...Celeste had a big recital coming up as well, courtesy of Sahuarita Dance.
Celeste has performed with Sahuarita Dance a fewtimesnow, and she has been absolutely adorable every time. This year was no exception. She took a combination ballet/jazz dance class every Tuesday after school. It was kind of a rocky year (her original teacher moved away early in the year, and her new teachers were competent but very young), but overall she still enjoyed it.
I confess, I wasn't able to watch or participate in Celeste's dance class very much this year. She was always dancing right when I was teaching lessons at home, so I rarely took her to class and didn't really get to know any of her teachers or fellow students (or parents of the students, for that matter). She had moments when she got frustrated and tired out. But as the recital neared, she put on her positive face (which she wears very well!), and gave it her all.
I loved the dance number her class performed. The song was cute and the choreography was sassy. As usual, there were a lot of dance numbers to sit through to watch Celeste's number (Sahuarita Dance has a lot of students & classes), but it was worth the wait.
At the end of this year, Celeste told me she was getting a little "bored" of dance...I'm starting to suspect she may be moving on to other interests. Part of me wants to encourage her to continue; she is the least athletically inclined of all our girls, and dance is a good way to keep her moving. In addition, if she does one more dance recital, she will receive a special "five-year" trophy from the studio, which I'm sure will thrill her. On the other hand, of course, if she chooses to skip dance, that's more money in our pockets and more time after school to get things done! I just hope Celeste makes a choice that leaves her happy.
Either way, we were all so proud of her. I thought she looked beautiful and professional. Grandma Barrett was able to attend as well, and loved the show. Celeste is such a beautiful girl and I love watching her perform, because her beautiful smile and her enthusiasm is always genuine when she is on stage. She may keep growing bigger, but in my heart she will always be my "tiny dancer."
