Trying on the Tux

We left Alamosa on Wednesday afternoon and drove to Grand Junction for the night. It was a crazy night and a lesson to, in the future, spend a few extra dollars to stay in a more reputable hotel. I tried to be thrifty and figured that one night at a Motel 6 couldn't be too bad. We were woken up at 3:00am by someone pounding on our door. Bill went to check it out and found two men outside our door, one was bent over in obvious discomfort. They didn't respond to Bill so he called 911, twice. By the time the police arrived, the man who was bent over had passed out (extremely intoxicated) and was completely unresponsive, so the police called the ambulance. All of this took place outside of our room and quite loudly...no respect for the people inside who were trying to sleep! I don't think I ever got back to sleep and I was so ready to get on the road and drive to Salt Lake City.

We arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday afternoon and went to pick up Jamie's tux. He tried it on and needed a few alterations. He was so adorable...he even said, "You're right, mom...I DO look good in a tux!"

OMG! He is so handsome!

We saw Steve at Men's Wearhouse, who invited us over for dinner. J.B., Laura & Scott were there and Rob & Silver arrived as well. After our late night/early morning experience in Grand Junction, the three of us were exhausted, so we left early and went back to our room to turn in for the day. One thing about staying in a Senior Assisted Living Center...it is SO quiet!

Not a lot going on today...I'm going to help Bev with the scrapbook and then get a pedicure at 1:30. I also need to go to Kohl's and Ross to do some returns/exchanges. The wedding rehearsal is at 5:00 and a luau dinner at 6:30. Bonnie (Bill's sister) got in late last night so we've been hanging out with her this morning. I think we've decided to drive straight through to Alamosa on Monday. We want to visit with everyone for as long as possible and we want to avoid an overnight stay in Grand Junction.

Catching Up (Busy Week)!

Whew! What a week! Last week/day of the school year plus a road trip to Salt Lake City for Scott & Corrie's wedding.

Monday was Jamie's scheduled River Walk and picnic in Cole Park. It was also a cold & windy day so, after a trip to Atencio's Market to pick up items for the picnic, Mrs. Price decided the weather was not good for the River Walk. Instead, they walked straight to Cole Park for games and hot dogs. I was the designated driver of the food supplies and games, so I was not exposed to the elements...and I was still COLD! Those kiddos must have been little popsicles!
Their spirits were not daunted, however, and they had fun playing games in the park. The wind was not cooperative for badminton or horseshoes, things kept blowing away, but they did make noble attempts to play!

Red Rover

horseshoes

badminton

Mrs. Price cooking the hot dogs

The cold & wind soon got the better of us and I don't think anyone was disappointed when Mrs. Price decided it was time to head back to school after only an hour at the park.
Brad, Ashley's dad, had come prepared with puzzle worksheets and Junior Wildlife Division Officer activities, so even though they spent the afternoon indoors, they still had fun things to do.

My mom arrived on Tuesday afternoon. She came to baby-sit the dogs while we go to Utah this weekend. She noticed this big bird sitting on the electrical wire so I grabbed my camera & zoom lens to see what it would do. I had to crop in PhotoShop to get this shot but it still captured a lot of detail. We think it's a hawk.

Wednesday was the last day of school and Jamie was so excited. Well, so was Bill, but he still has to work one more week before he can officially begin his summer break.
Look at how big my 2nd grader (oops! I mean, 3rd grader!) is!!

I made teacher gifts to hand out on Wednesday. I made this name frame for Mrs. Price and also gave her a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. I made little backpacks for all of the other supporting staff (PE, art & music teachers, office staff, principal & counselor). I filled the backpacks with a variety of yummy chocolate.

front view

back view

Wednesday was Field Day at Boyd, which meant they had games & activities at Boyd Park.
They were paired with another class and had different centers to rotate through. I got there a little bit late and just caught the end of the tug of war. Mrs. Price's class beat Ms. Christie's class and then the girls beat the boys. Jamie's shoe broke during the tug or war so he had trouble keeping it on for the remainder of the activities.

Jamie won his heat of the sprint race, despite running with one shoe on and one shoe off.

The next center was a relay race where the kids had to run to the cone, pick up the bat, put bat to the ground and put forehead on the bat & spin around 10 times and then run back to their line. When they were all finished, they still had time so they played a round of Simon Says.

Next was the potato sack race.

Then, the highly anticipated cross-dressing relay. The boys had to wear a dress & other ladies accessories (high heeled shoes) and the girls dressed in men's clothes & shoes. Everyone had fun with this one!!

The next center was refreshments and this is where the remainder of the activities fell apart. The popcorn & lemonade stand was good but the snow cone stand had a long, long line and threw the rest of the activities off track. By the time Mrs. Price's class got through the snow cone line, everyone else was finished with all of the centers and were cleaning up. So, they missed out on the Tricycle Races and the Hula Hoop relay...both of which looked to be quite entertaining!!

Everyone had sack lunches (either from home or provided by the cafeteria) and ate in the park. School was scheduled to go until 3:00 but Mrs. Price said that the day was pretty much over after lunch. I went with Jamie to hand out the teacher gifts and then we left the school at 12:30.
All in all, a fun day to end 2nd grade!

2nd Grade Community Field Trip/Late Night

Whew! What a full day of activity...I think that even the kids were worn out at the end of the day.

We started from the school at 11:14am and walked to Atencio's Market. The kids were split into groups and given a shopping list with items that they will need for Monday's picnic. They had to locate the items in the store, write down the prices and determine the number of servings per package. Monday morning, they will have to figure out what (and how much of each item) they need to purchase for their picnic and make it all work within the class budget. Math in action!

We left Atencio's and walked to Calvillo's for lunch. Everyone was on their best behavior and lunch was very enjoyable.

From Calvillo's, we walked to Cole Park to let the kiddos burn off some energy. They had a great time!

From Cole Park, we headed to Main Street for a downtown "window shopping" tour. It was kind of funny how the kids all gathered at the windows and looked into all of the downtown businesses...the people inside the shops had to have wondered what the heck was going on!

The kids were getting pretty tired by the time we got back to the school at 2:55pm. Some were complaining, most dramatically, that they weren't going to make it. Funny how, when the bell rang (at 3:00pm) and the Late Night activities began, they were able to run and play at Boyd Park for almost an hour!!

Late Night is, apparently, a highly anticipated event and tonight's activities began after the remainder of students, teachers, etc. cleared out and Mrs. Price's students were the only ones inside the school building. When Jamie first mentioned it he was very concerned that he wouldn't be allowed to participate because it would interfere with his bedtime. Late Night was to go until 8:00pm, which is the time he usually goes to bed. He was thrilled when we said he could go. There were lots of activities planned (board games, playing in the gym, watching a movie, pizza & birthday cupcakes) but the highlight of said Late Night was having PERMISSION to run in the halls!!

board games

the look on Parker's face says it all...pure JOY, while being allowed to run in the hall!

shooting hoops in the gym

movie (Over the Hedge) & pizza

cupcakes to celebrate Parker's birthday!

A full day of fun! I bet they all sleep good tonight...I know I will!

Spring is in the Air!

It finally appears that spring is on it's way! We've had our spring winds for a few weeks now but I was beginning to wonder if our trees & shrubs would ever bud out or bloom. I was actually beginning to believe that the 50 - 60+ mph winds we've had had blown all of the life off of them!! The trees in town have all bloomed and there is lots of color and today, for the first time, I noticed a hint of color here at home. My crabapple tree is just budding out and I found two blooms that were almost ready to open. The lilacs are getting close to blooming as well. The aspen trees have cute, little, yellow-green leaves.
YAY for Spring!!!

crabapple tree

crabapple bloom

lilac bloom

baby aspen leaves

When things are in full bloom, I'll take more photos and post them.

Bowling

Jamie's class earned a bowling trip because they reached their AR reading/testing goals for the year. So, nineteen 2nd graders descended upon our local bowling alley for an afternoon of craziness! Luckily, we had the entire bowling alley to ourselves. They bowled two games and had pizza and pop. I was exhausted afterward...don't know how anyone could spend all day, everyday, trying to contain all of that energy.
God bless those teachers!!

I tried to take some pictures as I'm kind of toying with the idea of making a CD/DVD of the year in photos to give to each kid at the end of the year. I still need to learn more about my new camera and tweaking the different settings. They turned the lights down and turned on the laser lights & disco ball...the kids LOVED it but, it made for difficult photography. The lighting was just weird and those silly kids wouldn't stand still for a second! I had to, finally, resort to using the flash to get some clear shots.

Jamie

Without the flash, I was able to get this cool shot of Parker and the laser lights dancing on his shirt.

Zeke, Parker, Diego, Austin T., Jyziah & Jamie

Six lanes of energetic 2nd graders!

Zeke, celebrating a spare!

Spring Fun Run

Today was the Fun Run at Jamie's school. This event is held in the fall and in the spring. The kids run 2 laps around the park and the few blocks east of the park, for a total of one mile. The third graders run as a group and then the 2nd graders run. The weather cooperated for today's event, never a guarantee in the spring around here!

Jamie placed 9th overall in the fall fun run and told me yesterday that his goal was to finish, again, in the top ten. He finished in 9th place today and he was very happy! He is a fast runner but definitely more of a sprinter than a long distance runner. He could probably be a good distance runner with practice, though.

All of the second graders, at the starting line.

Jamie, noticing that I'm present for his run...love that smile!

On your mark...get set...GO!!!

...and they're off!

Jamie...first lap...

...second lap...looking a little tired!

Nothing like being met at the finish line by dad!

Dianna Rodriguez, Boyd's principal, is retiring at the end of this school year so after the fun run, they had a picnic and entertainment to celebrate Mrs. Rodriguez' many years of dedicated service.

One of Jamie's classmates, Inez (in pink skirt), dances with the Semillas de la Tierra dance group. I just love Inez...I think she is so adorable, and she did a great job!

Another one of Jamie's friends, Alonzo, also dances with Semillas de la Tierra. He also did a great job!

The weather held out until about 12:30 when it clouded up and actually started to rain. We've had so much wind lately that it was nice to have rain, just wish we would've had enough rain to settle all of the dust...sigh!