Darr Family Blog – Page 25 – The place to follow the Darr Family

Field Trips and Early Fiesta

This week had some fun events for me and the kids. I got to take my students (and Joseph, kinda…it’s convenient that he’s in the same grade that I’m teaching) to the Natural Bridge Caverns. It’s called Natural Bridge because there was one point where a sinkhole opened up and rocks and soil collapsed, leaving some rocks that were connected to each other, making a natural bridge. The caverns were surprisingly warm (the guide said that the caverns stay at a pretty constant 85 degrees year round. I wanted to take pictures of everything! Nature really is amazing. The field trip went really well (nobody fought, threw up, or got lost). The day after the field trip, the school celebrated Fiesta (early, because actual Fiesta will be happening while the older kiddos are doing state testing. There was the shoe box float parade and then parties galore. Finally, Friday was Abigail’s field trip to the zoo. She had a ton of fun!

I have this strange compulsion to take a picture of every old-fashioned windmill I see.

Here’s the Natural Bridge. It’s right at the entrance of the caverns.

The different colors were so fascinating!

I was also fascinated by the ones that looked like stone icicles.

The different textures were really cool. Smooth bits, spikey bits…there was just so much to look at!

Each “room” had names. This one’s name had something to do with castles, I think.

Pluto’s Anteroom (the last room before we got to the deepest part of the caverns) was really cool, too.

This one was called “Bomb Bursting”…can you see the explosion?

This one is called The Watch Tower. It’s the tallest column in the caverns.

Looking down into the Hall of the Mountain King.

I think I got my steps in that day, haha.

I went in to check on her and realized she was half off her bed. I snapped a picture and then carefully put her legs back onto the bed.

I love getting to sneak in pictures with this sweet boy of mine! This was during the fifth grade fista party.

Her teacher snapped this picture of her at the zoo. This has always been one of her favorite spots.

She is super-excited that we’re growing carrots. And yes…she pretty much lives in her pajamas while at home. 🙂

We went out to eat last night and discovered the restaurant was giving away Fiesta medals (they’re medals that people like to collect from different places during Fiesta and the places will design and release new medals each year). Paul decided to grab one for Abigail. She was pretty excited to get it.

I Actually Took Pictures!

Life has been craaaazy lately. I’ve been so busy with work, kids, and life in general (did I mention I have another big test in about four weeks? Yeah…I need to start studying for that) that my phone hasn’t been out a whole lot. I did want to document our fun Easter weekend, though. It started out with a couple egg hunts and ended with Fiesta shoe box parade float making and pie (can it end any better?)

At the beginning of the neighborhood egg hunt.

She was able to fill her basket pretty quickly. Unfortunately for her, every single egg had a temporary tattoo in it, which we avoid putting on her because they irritate her skin. She still had fun collecting them, though.

I spent a good portion of my Saturday morning making these signs (there are seven all together) for my grade level Fiesta party. I made the signs on poster board, glued them to cardboard, and then dismantled a Fiesta banner to use for the bottom.

This was another thing I did on Saturday: strawberry pie!

We also had an egg hunt to take part in at the ward Easter party. They took a different approach. The kids collected as many eggs as they wanted, but all of them were empty. Then they turned in their eggs for a goody bag.

Joseph didn’t collect eggs (well, he did find some of the harder hid ones meant for the older kids), but he had fun hanging with us and his friends.

Paul taped things off, Abigail helped paint, I did the little drawings, and Abigail started to add stickers.

Joseph got a Beyblade in his basket, so he spent a lot of time battling this afternoon.

Paul used twisties to hold down the unicorns. He made holes through the box and secured them kind of like they secure toys in boxes.

This is a beautiful Easter diorama that we got from Paul’s former foster mom, Barbara. I love that she thinks of such thoughtful gifts for us.

The literal fruits of my labor (and some sugar, whipped cream, and pie crust, haha).

Pictures of…Plants :)

This past week I did not take any pictures…at all. No pictures of the kids, nothing. Luckily, Paul took some pictures of some of our plants that we’ve (and I use that “we’ve” very, very loosely…Paul has done everything) been growing. The garlic and potatoes were kind of an experiment. We’ve grown tomatoes every year, but this is the first year we’ve successfully grown them from seeds and transplanted the seedlings into larger pots. They haven’t been too happy with the cooler temps, so we’ll see if they start taking off once it starts being consistently warmer. The potato plants prefer cooler temps, so they’ve been growing like crazy and the garlic right along with it. Garlic mashed potatoes, anyone? 😉

As for what our family has been up to, we’ve all been pretty busy. Paul has been busy at work getting his guys settled into their new office and making sure everything is up and running the way it’s supposed to be. I’ve been busy at work because it’s always busy, but now we’re really gearing up to review for STAAR (the end of the year standardized test), so life is…crazy. The kids have been handling having two full-time working parents like champs. I’m trying to be better about asking for help and Paul has been amazing at stepping up to the plate (sometimes literally on days I’m rolling in right at dinner time and he’s got it either completely prepped or ready and waiting). I’m so blessed with my eternal companion!