Summer Shenanigans

With June came swim lessons, sleeping in, and our big road trip up to Utah. On our way up we stopped at a really big meteor Crater in Arizona and the Grand Canyon. On the way home we hit up Arches National Park in Utah and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. We’re so blessed to have a National Parks pass! Ready for a ton of pictures?

Pretty flowers in the front yard and church clothes means…
…spontaneous family photos!
One-on-one swim lessons have been so good for Abigail!
Mosquitoes are no fun! She was determined that they would not get to her!
Abigail found this bear that you can draw on and then wash…there was a similar one from the 90s. Glad to know the concept is still around!
First picture from our road trip: we have always driven past this rest stop and said, “Next time we need to stop for a picture!” and…never have.
Until this time!!
Leave it to the kids to find video games at our hotel. 🙂 They played while we got breakfast ready.
I can’t remember if this was in New Mexico or Arizona…but it was pretty!
It was crazy to find a forest when I was expecting desert landscape.
Giant hole in the ground in Arizona!
I can’t even begin to fathom how big the meteor was.
It’s really hard to get perspective unless you are there, gazing down into the crater.
I’m also trying to figure out just when Joseph got as tall as us.
Family photo!
This is a replica of what was found in the crater. Much of the meteor had vaporized upon impact, but this was left.
Abigail thought this guy was funny.
“Say cheese!”
She loves cut outs!
A replica of the Apollo Test Capsule.
Grand Canyon!
It was in the 70s and felt so good!
Joseph’s first real look into the canyon. He was just as thunderstruck as I was.
I love this boy!
Duck on a Rock outlook.
Family photo! It was so nice when people would offer to take a picture!
Close up of Duck on a Rock.
Google Photos made it B&W which I kind of love.
This crow was circling around and “mocking us” (according to Abigail).
I think he (or she) was just enjoying the breeze. 🙂
These two were so fun to travel with!
There were tons of places to just pull off and get pictures. Way easier than hiking!
The texture and layers are just stunning.
I managed to get everyone!
If you look right next to Joseph’s sleeve, you can see the river!
I love the different colors, too.
Pictures cannot do it justice!
Another stunning vista.
Beauty was everywhere.
Love that this kid will still take pictures with me!
Love this one, too!
Another amazing view.
It was so cool to see all the layers!
Showing me her Navajo jewelry (we found some Navajo women selling jewelry they had made).
After taking a break in our hotel room and getting dinner, we headed back to the canyon to get sunset shots and realized the elk crossing signs were very valid. 😉
Baby elk!
Baby and momma.
Sunset was even better!
The cliffs were completely different colors!
The wind was a little crazy, though. 😉
Seeing the sunlight kiss the top of the cliffs was so pretty!
I love these people so much!
An amazing shot.
Taking pictures with her tablet.
He was so impressed with the entire thing!
I love this man!
I love that the sunlight paints the clouds and the cliffs!
Another shot of Duck on a Rock.
The sun was sinking rapidly.
Another shot of me and Paul.
I’ve spent 23 years of my life married to this man and I am so grateful for him!
I was amazed to find trees growing seemingly out of the rock.
Selfie with the one who made me a mom.
The textures!!
Peeking over the edge.
The wind was nuts!!
She’s kind of obsessed with Smokey the Bear. Don’t ask me where she heard about him, though.
A random pretty pull out between Arizona and Utah.
While in Utah, we toured the Temple Square area in Salt Lake City. This is in the Conference Center and has always been one of my favorite paintings.
A Cristus statue in the Conference Center.
The Salt Lake Temple is undergoing major preservation renovation, so that’s what’s up with all the cranes and scaffolding. The domed building is the Tabernacle, which was the original building where conferences used to be held before the Conference Center was built.
We were sitting in the Tabernacle (they do a presentation where they demonstrate how good the acoustics are because when it was first built, microphones didn’t exist) and imagine my surprise when I happened to turn around and see my Relief Society president from when we lived in Colton! Talk about a small world!
While we were in Utah, we visited my nephew’s elk ranch.
Abigail was pretty keen on the idea of feeding them.
I wish you could see the big grin on her face. Afterwards she was a little grossed out by the elk slobber, haha.
This is one patient teenager.
Feeding the elk some of the green stuff they like.
Joseph decided to get in on the fun.
Abigail feeding them.
Checking out the mommas and the babies.
Fireworks fun with cousins on the 4th of July!
Lunch followed by Swig with my bestie was awesome!
My best friend and I took Abigail to Thanksgiving Point which is a huge place that has several kid friendly venues. This was at a farm area. The kids (baby goats, that is) kept sticking their heads under the fencing to try to get at stray pieces of goat food. Abigail was pushing it towards them. 🙂
I love goats.
Apparently goats like selfies, haha.
Abigail loved getting to ride a horse.
She was a little anxious, so I stayed close by.
The children’s museum at Thanksgiving Point had a Daniel Tiger exhibit. Abigail was so excited!
Pretending to be Katarina Kittycat.
Standing next to a display with Mr Rogers’ red sweater and shoes. It’s his show that Daniel Tiger is a spin-off of.
She loved getting to play with Trolley.
There were other parts of the museum that were fun, too.
She wasn’t too sure about this exhibit. 😉
This was a light harp that would make music when you ran your hands through the beams of light.
I’ve known this amazing woman since our early teenage years. It was so good to get to see her!!
This was a fun illusion!
Our last stop at Thanksgiving Point was the butterfly house. This was a fun place!
A nice woman got a butterfly to go from her to Abigail.
Abigail was trying to get it to go from her finger to the bushes but it decided to land on her shirt instead.
These are my favorite butterflies. When their wings are closed, they look like this…
…but then they open their wings!
On our way to Arches! We stopped at a random rest stop and this train engine was there.
Headed into Arches.
It was soooo hot.
It’s crazy to see what wind and water can do.
This was one of my favorites.
Checking out the scenery.
Daddy-daughter selfie!
The Darr men.
This was another cool one.
It was crazy to see these pillars.
They didn’t look like they were stable!
Wind and water are crazy, man!
Found an arch!
This was a cool area behind us.
We went walking a little on one of the trails to get this shot.
One has to wonder how the arches get there.
Dad and the kids.
I was so focused on the arch and the holes that I didn’t notice that…
…it looks like an elephant! Now scroll back up to the previous photo to see what I mean. 🙂
This goofball was OVER the heat but still trucked on.
So many awesome spots for photos.
Memory-making for sure!
This was as we were driving. It was so cool to glance out and see such cool formations.
I was fascinated by that tiny hole near the top.
The different textures were so cool to look at.
This one might be my favorite, though.
I think this was after we left the official park, so it was cool to get a little parting gift.
We drove through a tiny bit of Colorado.
We stopped at the McDonald’s in Roswell on our way to Carlsbad Caverns.
Abigail liked the space theme.
She also got some wiggles out, which was good.
The caverns were so cool!
An elevator takes you down into the caverns.
Once down in the caverns, it’s probably between 1-2 miles that you’re walking as you wind your way through the caverns themselves.
This was a ladder that the earliest explorers used to get up and down. Um, no thank you, haha.
I was mesmerized by the formations.
It’s crazy that it’s all from water!
A cool bat sculpture.
We got Abigail a stuffed bat that she wanted to make hang from the cave.
Oh look, another cut out. 🙂

March, April, and May Catch Up!

Uh, I guess the end of the school year was crazier than I thought. I could have sworn that I had done a blog post between now and February, but I guess I haven’t. Whoops! So here’s a catch up post. March, April, and May hosted end of year festivities, a couple trips to Six Flags, and so much more! Strap in for a lot of pictures!

Annual Book Character Parade at school. Abigail was Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Spring Break trip to Six Flags.
She wanted to go on a bigger ride but changed her mind while we were up there.
This one was much more her speed.
Selfie with Dad!
Best St. Patrick’s Day shirt yet!
Abigail got glasses!
Baby face peeking through.
I love seeing birds at our feeders.
Especially cardinals!
Ready for battle! Don’t worry…it was just a mock battle and Joseph went plenty easy on her.
Easter at the Park!
Abigail was excited to find a huge sucker.
This kid!
Easter morning: Abigail’s big gift: a new video game.
Joseph’s big gift: headphones.
So much awesome in this picture!
Abigail and her friend Evelyn showing me their matching stuffies.
Paul did a lot of travelling for the LP. This was from his Austin trip.
It wouldn’t be the end of the year without at least one stomach bug!
Yoshi meets Sonic.
Matching Cinco de Mayo shirts. 🙂
With her stuffie Elenor that we got because it’s from one of her favorite YouTube channels.
End of year band concert.
I like that the directors has the percussion come up to the front so that parents can get good photos!
Ready for the Math Rocks Concert at school.
She HAD to wear her jeans vest. 🙂
Paul went to Michigan for an LP thing and brought back a bear for Abigail.
End of year awards for Abigail. Her teacher, Mrs. Hanhart, gave her the Critical Thinker Award. 🙂
A quick selfie with her in the hallway. Someone was keeping an eye on my class so that I could get some quick pictures. 🙂
Pretending to be Amelia Earhart.
I took Abigail to see the live action Lilo & Stitch movie.
It was so good!
Scootering along.
This might be her favorite at Six Flags.
She does like this one, too.
Joseph on The Joker.
Carousels are always fun.
She made instant friends with these two kiddos.
One more selfie!

So I Guess This is a Monthly Thing

I was looking at the blog and realized I hadn’t posted anything since last month. Whoops! Here’s a brief recap: Joseph got a pretty cool award at school, Abigail had her grade-level music performance, Paul went to Liberty Con in Washington DC, we celebrated Valentines’ Day, and I’m plugging away at 4th grade. More in-depth info in the captions. 🙂

So, in one of his classes, he wrote a letter that was supposed to be from an Alamo defender to a family member, describing what was happening at the time. His letter was selected as one of the best ones and he was awarded this trophy.
I took this picture not long after our snowy day…to show how quickly Texas weather changes. I was in short sleeves and not cold.
Anyone who knows me knows I love pretty books. I had picked up a fancy copy of Pride and Prejudice as a gift for someone and decided I needed my own fancy copy.
Look at the back!!
Since this is the year of the snake, I only felt it fitting that I wear my snake earrings. 🙂
Sights like this make me happy: sunshine coming into the room, the view of the tree from my window (I can hardly believe how big they’ve gotten…but then I remember we’ve been here 12.5 years), a floral quilt on the bed…
Oof…I’ve been struggling with over-socialization in my classroom. This was the perfect shirt to wear. I feel like now I have some new behavior policies in place that may cut down on some of the things, so here’s to hopefully experiencing less trying days than this one was.
How I have fun on a Friday night…kidding…but I have been trying to stay on top of my lesson planning and grading so that I have my weekends completely free of work stuff. It’s been refreshing.
When Paul was in DC for Liberty Con, I took the kids to Buc-ee’s. Trust me, they had more fun than this picture suggests. I think the sun was behind me, which made it hard for them to look at me.
At Liberty Con. Paul told me that this guy is a pro wrestler.
Here he is with an editor for Reason Magazine. He did an interview for them.
Here’s a throwback!! Paul was looking through photos to scan and found this one. We were baaaaaabies.
On Friday, she was hanging out in my room after school as I worked on some things and she was doing such a good job sounding out the words in this book. Plus, I could tell that she was understanding the text and not just decoding. It was a really awesome sight.
Paul said all he wanted for Valentines’ Day was a card…so I made him a card and got him some snacks at Buc-ee’s.
He surprised me with this Luna Lovegood mini backpack and Herbology wallet. Luna is tied for first place for my favorite Harry Potter characters (the other one is Tonks), and I love all the plants. After we opened presents, we left the kids at home with pizza rolls and went out to the movies. It was a relaxing evening!
I already had this shirt (I got it a couple years ago), so now I have a bag to go with it!