Car Wash

Nothing like paying your own family to wash your own car in the name of charity. At least I have a clean car. 

Cowboy Party

Fire Station Opening

Our little community has a beautiful new fire station. They had a grand opening this morning and I am pretty sure that every family with a kid showed up. Charlie saw lots of his friends from school there.  This is Charlie's friend Malachi. (We had the birthday party with him, if you will remember.)

Chick-Fil-A was there and had a giant cow in a fire suit. Charlie was terrified and wanted nothing to do with it.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the mutant cow. The company also had a cow-painted mini fire truck that gave rides around the block.  Charlie and his friends are waiting for their turn.

This was the Chick-Fil-A truck that gave everyone rides. For the record it was very hard to get up on. Malachi's grandmother (the Coata Rican zip liner) did some type of ninja/air bender move to get up on the truck, of course.  Let's just say, I did not. It was not one of my finer moments.

Expanding Vocabulary

Charlie: Mom, don't say poop, that is a bad word.
Me: How about excrement?
Charlie: Yeah, that's a nice word.

Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum

On Friday, we had a fourth grade field trip to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. It is located down by Tucson. I had never been there, so I was very excited to go. It was beautiful. The scenery was spectacular.  It was a mix of a botanical garden and a zoo. Not only did they have beautiful plants, but they also had an aviary, bat caves, mountain goats, snakes, mountain lions and even a bear. 

The kids had a great time. There were a number of hiccups, but all in all, the trip went well. 

 This cactus' flowers only last one day and one night and then they fall off. The people who were walking around the museum were treating the cacti like celebrities as they took pictures of all the blooming flowers.

 The picture above and below are of Cactus Wren (the Arizona state bird).

If you are ever in AZ, I highly recommend visiting the ASDM. It was gorgeous and really showed the desert landscape at its most beautiful.

I'm Having Flashbacks. . .

When I was the art teacher at AJ's school, I supervised the tie-dying of 700 shirts in one day. It was super hot, super messy and by the end of the day, I was hoarse from telling kids that yes, the dye will stain their clothes. 

The fourth grade is going on a field trip on Friday to Tucson. It should be a lot of fun. But you know what's not fun? Losing kids on a field trip two hours from home. In an attempt to herd the cats (and identify them), they will all be wearing blue tie dyed t-shirts. Wish us luck. 

Four Year Old + Cardboard Box + Red Marker =

Ducks

When I was a kid, we had a pair of mallard ducks that came to the house every year to have their babies. It was a tradition. The last couple times we have gone to the grille, these ducks have been there. I know they are not "our ducks", but they are close enough. 

Garden Take 2

Week 1

Week 3
(The basil has been harvested twice)

 I just ordered more Earthboxes. I love them and it is the only way I have had any success with gardening in AZ.  I think I will plant more herbs and have a bone fide herb garden.

Easter Egg Hunt

My Bed is Lumpy

If I can tell that there is a 10lb cat in my bed, does that mean I'm a princess?

I'm Not Sure What Everyone is Complaining About. . .

These eggs may not be full of money, but they are stock full of protein!!

Because I'm Mean, That's Why

AJ informed me that there is a really lucky kid at school that gets twenty dollar bills stuffed in his eggs. When I told AJ that that was not going to happen with the Easter Bunny that I know, he was kind of bummed. So to compensate, I found this one million dollar bill at CVS. I wrinkled it up to make it look more realistic. I was going to put it through the wash but I thought that was a bit excessive. This little baby is stuffed in an egg waiting to be found. Who is the lucky kid now?

Easter Celebration

I took the kids to the Easter celebration on Main Street this year. There was an Easter egg hunt, a petting zoo, sack races and cookie decorating. Poor Charlie got completely traumatized by the hunt. He got mowed down and didn't get any eggs. But the staff slipped some into his basket and he was a happy kid once again.

 My favorite picture is the one of the chicken and the goat. Kids kept trying to get the chicken off, and she would not budge. One chicken even laid an egg while we were there.

 The egg coloring went well. We tried a tye dye kit that was pretty cool. And the best part is that it actually worked. And I even remembered to buy white eggs this year. Go me. Of course I didn't remember that I had already remembered, and thus ended up with two cartons of white eggs, but oh well. Happy Easter!