Disneyland, Rio, Flags and Superheroes

Every year at Emily's Jr. High, the Student Council takes a quick turnaround trip to Disneyland. Emily isn't in Student Council, but several of her friends are. This year, they needed more kids to fill the bus, so they offered seats to the kids in NJHS (National Junior Honor Society). Emily is in NJHS, so she jumped at the idea to go on this trip with her friends.

Now, what is a turnaround trip. Basically, hell. But kids thin it's fun. So, you get to the school at 10:00 at night. They hired a nice motorcoach bus and a driver. They drive all night and get to Disney at 6 in the morning. They eat some McDonalds and go to Disney. This year, they did California Adventure instead of Disneyland. In order for the school to allow this trip, the kids get a 4 hour leadership training from Disney. It seemed like a really long time, but they did fun team building stuff, and if you are going to learn from any company, Disney is a great one to get lessons from. Then, they were released to go on rides for about 7 hours. Then, they did a little shopping in downtown Disney, went to McDonald's again and got back on the bus at 11 to head home. The seats recline like airplane seats, so they were cushy, but uncomfortable.

One of the Moms dropped the girls off and got a few pictures.

The bus had wifi and plugs, so that was good. I was able to follow them on Snapchat and Instagram. When they first got on the bus, there were photos and laughing and videos. Everyone was hyped up. 

 

We missed our girl though and her lonely unused coffee cup the next morning was sad.

 

This was their whole crew.

Emily had her location services off to save battery life, but I could tell where they were around Disney by zooming in on them. I'd send them little messages throughout the day. They looked like they were having a blast.

 

  

I knew Em would be tired when she got home, so I washed her sheets and got her bed all ready. Dakri was picking up the girls at 6:30. David said Emily walked right in the door, went right to bed and crashed.

 

I woke her up around 1:00 because I didn't want her to get into a bad cycle.   Our teachers are all on strike fighting for better pay and better conditions for our kids. So, the kids had Thursday and Friday off. They already are scheduled to have Monday off and who knows how long this will go. They are supposed to make up the days at the end of the year, but we are going camping and have a beach house reserved, so it is what it is. We will not be making up days. But, I do hope they win their fight. Most classrooms here have 30-35 kids. There isn't enough money for text books, copies are limited. Funding for education in Arizona is a joke.

And while Emily was gone on this trip to Disney, I took lots of pictures of Rio to send her and make her happy.  Here he is trying to get healthy by eating spinach.

 

This is his favorite spot. He lays on this window perch we got him and looks out Ben's window all day at the front of the house. That bush out theHre has bunnies and birds in it.  It's a cats dream.  

He's so handsome. Ben had to rub his head to get him to hold still.

 

 And don't you just want to kiss his little nose and mouth?

  

And in other events....

When Em made flagline, we got her a pole and flag. It's much easier to have a practice flag at home. It came yesterday. Emily's friend Ava who is a grade behind Emily also wants to do flagline, so she got a flag too, and Emily was teaching her stuff yesterday. Ava will have to wait a year to tryout for the team since she'll only be in 8th grade next year. But, these girls were out there for hours twirling their flags.

This  morning was the day these boys have been talking about for months. The Avenger Infinity War movie!  They got on their superhero shirts and were all ready for the first showing of the day. I like superhero movies and wanted to go, but I just couldn't do it. I know several of them die (we don't know who) and I don't want to watch my kids favorite fictional characters die. It just makes me sad. Captain America was Noah's favorite and I have a feeling he's not making it out of this 150 minute show alive. Maybe that's silly, I don't know, I just didn't want to see it. I told them, they all look really happy for going to a funeral. Captain America and Iron Man have had their run of individual box office hits, so I figure they're story is pretty much done. Oh and Thor, if they kill Thor, I can't bring myself to watch that handsome man die, but Thor movies are still going strong, so Marvel would have to be stupid to kill him off if they can squeeze one more box office smash out of him.

In any case, they'll be home in three hours and we'll see how the funeral went.

Oh wait, I just read a spoiler to be prepared for the bad news. I'm not saying who "dies" or who doesn't, but next year is Avengers 4 where superheroes will come back to try to reverse the curse of Thanos. So, basically, they could all come back. Smart Marvel, very smart!

Lava River Cave

There's a cool place almost 2 hours north of us close to Flagstaff called the Lava River Tubes or Caves. 675,000 years ago, lava flowed and when it cooled, it formed a tube or cave. Lumberjacks found it 100 years ago, and now we get to explore it.

David and I did the caves about 15 years ago. Who knew we'd be back in 15 years with 3 kids in tow. Dakri has always wanted to take her kids, so we decided to make the trek up there this weekend.

The San Francisco Peaks were pretty and had just gotten snow last week.

It was a gorgeous day out.  The sky was so blue and the trees so pretty and green. 

The kids got right to work 'splorin the woods.

 We brought stuff to make lunch and had a picnic before we went in the cave.

David would've been fine laying there all day.

The caves are cold, like 30-40 degrees. And it's pitch black. You must have headlamps.

The boys were so excited to go, but I made them come up for a group photo.

Here's our crazy group.

And now, down we went.

As soon as we got in, everyone had to take pictures. They don't turn out great due to the darkness, but it gives you an idea.

At one point, we all turned off our headlamps and it's absolute darkness. You can't see your hand in front of your face.

Some areas you can stand up easily, but the ground is so rocky. I should've work hiking boots.

And gloves are a must. In a few areas, you literally are crouched down like this crawling through spots. 

It dead ends about 3/4 of a mile which surprising takes about 45 minutes.   We added a rock to the pile and turned around.

We made it out safe and sound. Josh and I were the only two that hit our heads just a little. We were going to wear bike helmets down, but figured we'd be fine.

Then, we stopped at McDonald's for milkshakes and fries and this lovely girl waited on us. Then, I realized she's my friend from high schools daughter. She was so sweet and apologized for wearing so much make up. She just came from drama rehearsal at high school. It's such a small world. My kids always say I know someone everywhere we go. Maybe they're right.

It was fun to get out and do something different and we all had a good time.  Maybe we'll be back in 15 years with grandkids. 

Color Guard!

High school was a blast! I was on cheer and had a ton of friends, and if someone asked me to go back and do it over again, I wouldn't even hesitate. David's high school career, not so much. He wouldn't go back, not even if someone paid him.

Emily has always been shy and quiet. She came out of her shell a bit when she went to Jr. High, but she'd still be described by classmates as quiet and shy. But, she did become more confident the past few years.

When we went to future freshman night a few months ago, I told her she had to get involved in something. I didn't care what it was, she just needed to be in a group or on a team. It literally changes your high school experience from a crappy one to a great one. When we walked into the gym with all the tables set up for all the different groups, there were a few girls from Color Guard twirling flags. Color Guard is the flagline. They perform with the marching band at football games. Emily saw them and thought it looked cool. So, we put her name on the list of girls interested in Color Guard.

A few weeks ago, we found out they were holding auditions for Color Guard now for next years team. It was 3 nights this week from 2:30 to 5:00. Emily said she'd do it. Then, the night before, she came in my room after 10:00 and said she was scared and not sure she could go through with it. She was just going to walk from her school to the high school since they are right next to each other. I told her she would do fine and if she wanted, I would come get her to help ease some of the anxiety.

She had an hour to kill since her school gets out an hour early on Wednesday. So, I picked her up and brought her a change of clothes. We went to Starbucks, and then I dropped her off at the high school. She vaguely remembered where the band room was from the future freshman night. I told her where to go. She was scared to get lost. I told her I could walk like 200 feet ahead of her and just point to the class and nobody would even know her Mommy was walking her in. She said she'd be okay.

So, off she went.

 

Then, she texted me a minute later and said there were all these high school kids and she wanted to come back to the car.  But, she pushed on and texted me when she made it to the room.  Whew.  She said the girls were all really nice and luckily, she knew one of the 8th graders from her school that was trying out too.  

Then, she came home that night with a flag to practice with. It's a little different trying out for flagline. She's never done this before. Would she get it? Would she be good? I understood her apprehension. Most sports, you are confident in your abilities. She had to learn a choreographed dance routine and a flag routine.  Both had to be performed today along with an interview.

 

David picked her up each night since she was done right when he got off work.  I texted her to see how it went and she said good and they would find out in a few months.  Months? What?  Then, she got home and told her Dad and I together that she made it!  She wanted to surprise us both at the same time.  

I'm so so happy for her.  I know this is just another confidence boost for her and I know how amazing this group of girls will be for her in the coming years. It doesn't matter if it's a cheer squad, a softball team or flagline, you develop some of the best friends of your life in these groups. I know she will have so many wonderful experiences and make lasting friendships. I hope she finds her Pam.  

Fun With Pam

I'm behind on blogging. I seem to have so much on my plate lately.

Pam came up to visit a few weekends ago. We hadn't seen her in much too long, so it was nice to see her again and catch up.  We headed to Wildflower to get some lunch and have some girl time.

Pam is in a hiking group on Facebook and she has to hike 5 new trails. In an effort to help her accomplish that, we headed straight up Glassford Trail.  Oh vay, this thing is straight up.  I was dying. Pam and David were fine, but they do cardio almost daily.  Me, not so much. We left the kids home for this hike. Last time, David and I did it with the kids and he alternated carrying Emily and Noah. Ben was fine.

We finally made it to the top!

Then, we came home and had steak and potatoes for dinner!  Pam brought the kids Easter gifts. She's sweet like that.

Then, the next morning, we went for another hike.  I figured we could get her 40% on her way to making her April goal. The kids came this time as this is their favorite hike.

Of course there are stairs, but why take those when you can climb rocks?

And we finished!

It was a great visit with Pam. I'm hoping she can't find 3 more new trails around the Valley and she'll have to come back up here.  :)

Easter

The kids got Good Friday off from school, so it made the Easter weekend extra nice. It wasn't as rushed.

The kids dyed eggs. I'm glad they still wanted to do it.

Here's Ben's finished product!

 

We had a small group of my family up here.  Emily helped me make the deviled eggs. 

 

And the Easter Bunny came.  Seriously, Noah is already on to the whole Easter Bunny thing. He asked me if it was really me, and I lied.  Emily found out in 6th grade. Ben was 5th. Noah is in 3rd.  I'm sure Ben and Emily were on to me earlier. But, Noah as the youngest, is just growing up quicker than the other two.  We usually do the egg hunt at the clubhouse and the kids decided they didn't want to do it. Noah later said it was only because he wasn't feeling great and he'll do it next year. So, that's good!  Anyway, they got their baskets. 

 

Ben already took some of his stuff out when I took the pic. But, I tried to scale back this year. We just have too much stuff. 

 

Emily wanted chopsticks.  So, she's eating her cinnamon roll with chopsticks.   

 

We had a nice dinner and dessert and then I realized I didn't take any pictures, so I grabbed my phone for a few funny snapchat photos.

 

And Nikki made this great bunny cake, but I didn't get a picture before we ate his ears.  Ooops.  It's nice when you're having a good time and don't even think about your phone or taking a picture. 

 

We said goodbye to our company and walked back in to find the cat eating the cake!  He thought it was good too! 

 

It was a nice holiday with family.