The Boatwright Family

High School Graduations!

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:23:00 +0000

We have had a great weekend celebrating High School graduations with friends.

On Friday we headed to Kentucky to celebrate my godson, Scottie's, graduation.

We stopped by for his Open House before heading to the graduation Friday evening.

Thomas and Brennan enjoyed seeing Scottie's cool room and seeing Aunt Jeanne and family.

I love these t-shirt quilts that are so popular today. Have I saved enough t-shirts from the boys' youth to make one in a few years? And that's hilarious - I don't mean that I will be making a beautiful quilt - I meant "to have one made!"

Of course, Brennan can always be counted on to sniff out the Cokes and cookies when we head to a party.

Saturday morning we returned to Scottie's house for a lovely brunch with his out of town family and friends. Thomas enjoyed playing with Misty and Abbie. Brennan's smile is plastered on. He's rather nervous around "jumpy" dogs. These two are very friendly and calm though! It's great for him to get to know pets again since we haven't had a pet in 7 years.

Then we headed to Jeanne's friends' farm to check out the animals!

I wasn't dressed appropriately for this side adventure, so Thomas was happy to take the camera and take some good photos while they were all out meeting the farm animals. They had a great time.

We made it back to town in time to attend Lauren's graduation Open House as well!

Again, Cokes, a swing, and a party. The boys are all set!

We are headed to our friend Amanda's Open House this afternoon, before going out to dinner to celebrate Thomas and Brennan's fantastic state testing scores that were available for the students' families to see online today. We're proud of both of them for the work they put into their school work this year.

All this graduation talk and visiting has been fantastic!

It made me think about my own High School graduation back in the day.

I vividly remember Daddy taking this photo of me after the ceremony when I got home and took off the graduation gown.

Hawaii graduations are awesome!

Happy Graduation to All the Graduates!

Brennan's End of 4th Grade

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:23:00 +0000

Brennan had a really challenging, but very good 4th grade year.

He started the academic challenge program and was kept so busy with all the volume of classwork, projects, activities, and programs that he found himself fully engaged in school! It truly is a challenging program for each student who enters it in the 4th grade, and for those with any sort of special need like Brennan, it's even more of a challenging year.

We were so happy with his progress this year, and the hard work he put into all he was expected to take on. I served as the "Room Mom" in his class, helping out in a number of ways. It was great for me to be involved in his class on a weekly basis. Brennan likes my being there, and I like getting to know the kids better, and knowing what all is going on in the classroom.

Here are a few photos that came home with him from Pioneer Days. They visited a one-room schoolhouse in our county. Typical Brennan - has a question.

Also typical Brennan, can only imagine what he is lecturing about.

On the last day of school we room moms hosted the End of School party - sort of a mini Field Day outdoors. The kids rotated to different stations and ended the party with popsicles and water bottles.

Here are a few of Brennan and his classmates at the party.

Double hooping

Eamon and Will showing their skills

Kennedy in the jump roping/running relay

Jump rope competition

Cora Beth blowing bubbles

Megan hooping

Ball Pass Relay - the girls were serious about beating their previous times

Dutch Jumping for the first time

Brandon sharing his yo-yo skills

Sotaro in the bubble gum blowing contest

Brennan was so excited that David and his grandmothers go to come to his party at school and meet his teachers and friends. We spent the afternoon out by the pool, celebrating the start of summer!

6th Grade Graduation

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:14:00 +0000

Yesterday was jam-packed.

Not only was it the last day of school, but I led the 4th grade End of School party all morning, we had Brennan's case conference to re-set his IEP for next year, and we had Thomas's 6th grade graduation!

We're so glad my mom and David's mom are able to be here this week!

They've gotten to see what our typical week looks like (crazy busy), and are going to stay an extra day and enjoy the first day of summer with us!

Elementary School graduations are a big deal locally.

Our school puts on a very nice graduation, complete with Pomp & Circumstance, awards, and a reception afterwards. Thomas was so excited that his grandmothers were able to see him graduate!

I did not have a great vantage point (I'll know better in 2 years when it's Brennan's turn!).

The four 6th grade classes march in two-by-two to Pomp & Circumstance.

All 6th grade students write a speech about what the school has meant to them.

The teachers read each one and then they choose one presenter from each class to give graduation speeches. They also share the President Education Awards (not sure I have is name right), which Thomas received. Then each student goes up to receive his diploma from his teacher and the principal.

Then the students turn to face us. The graduating class of 2012!

It was awesome! I love that the school makes such a great big deal. I love that we were all there.

Afterward we headed to the reception and collected Thomas and all of his stuff.

During May, the PTO creates a "Baby Pirates" bulletin board and the 6th graders take in a baby photo. They hang them and everyone tries to guess who is who. Here's Baby Thomas and 6th grade Thomas!

Grandma Carolyn, Thomas, and Grandma Nan

Mrs. Stroh and Thomas

Next year Mrs. Stroh will be Brennan's math teacher, and then his 6th grade teacher the following year. She just can't get away from the Boatwright boys!

Their grandmothers took the boys out for a much-deserved last day of school ice cream while we stayed for Brennan's case conference. Then we all enjoyed some time out by the pool!

Summer is here!!

Pioneer Days 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:13:00 +0000

It really does seem like just yesterday that Thomas participated in our school's 4th grade Pioneer Days celebration! You can see those photos HERE.

This year Brennan got to celebrate the 3 day event, including a trip to a one room schoolhouse in our county. The kids had to take a pioneer era lunch wrapped in a bandanna (biscuits with bacon and an apple was Brennan's choice). I spent the day at school, dressed in my pioneer outfit, helping the kids with pioneer crafts and games. I really enjoy volunteering for events like this even though I'm exhausted by the time we leave school!

Pioneer Brennan

Yesterday, though, was the big Square Dancing event. Parents come and watch all the 4th graders do the 3 square dances and 2 Virginia reels that they learned over the last few weeks in Music Class. During the last reel, the kids get to ask anyone they want to dance. Most kids ask their parent who's visiting. Brennan asked a girl in his class (she was standing close by). I switched with her and Brennan's remark was "well this is awkward". Yeah, get over it :)

I did not have my camera for much of the events, but I did take photos during the square dance time yesterday. It was really fun, and I was so proud of Brennan for jumping right in there and square dancing his heart out. He feels like he's a real pro now.

Lined up and ready to go

Brennan and Megan

Sami and Adrienne

(They all had traditional Pioneer-era names for the event)

All the 4th graders squared up and listening to instructions from their music teacher.

Tons of parents behind me.

Serious Square Dancing Business

Swing Your Partner!

Poor Megan. Brennan would whip her around to the starting point.

And here is a short video of one of the dances. You may have to click over to the blog if you are reading this in a Reader or in email.

I'm surprised Megan didn't come in today with whiplash :)

Happy Pioneer Days!

Crazy May

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:16:00 +0000

I honestly don't remember May being this busy normally. I don't think we've stopped going, going, going since April. It's evident in my lack of blog posts, and the fact that I haven't been to the movie theater since March 23rd for The Hunger Games!

I'm in the middle of a lot of volunteer responsibilities, the boys' school work & projects have been non-stop, and we've been working in the yard a lot. A ton of house maintenance has all come up at once. I'm so looking forward to the summer!

Here's a little catch up for the past couple of weeks.

I got new glasses. Actually these are my first real glasses. I should wear them when I read, then can wear them any other time too, but it's weird so I wear them when I think about it. They're awesome though. And don't I look smarter? :)

A couple of weeks ago I met friends at a hotel downtown for dinner and drinks. The boys had been dying to go play at The Commons playground downtown, so I took them with me.

They love checking out the Chaos sculpture in the Commons.

It's really cool - it tells the time (I don't know how, but the boys do).

Since Lora, Tricia, and I gabbed for hours at dinner, the boys entertained themselves by playing with the board games and reading in the cool hotel lobby after eating.

And of course, playing with hotel resident Miles.

Thomas would bring him home if he could. Miles is awesome.

On the way back to the car after dinner and Miles time - I had to quick snap this photo of the boys, walking together. They really do get along well. MOST of the time :)

Thomas has been enjoying being a part of the Junior High Youth Group at church this year.

They had a grill-out and bake sale to raise money for the Presbyterian church in Henryville, IN that was devastated by the tornadoes two months ago. Youth Group wraps up in two weeks for the summer, and I know he'll miss it every week until school starts back.

Thomas had to career shadow as a 6th grader and write a paper, presentation, and create a poster for the career he is interested in. He delivered the final product today and said it went really, really well.

He shadowed the corporate architect at Cummins. She was fantastic and he learned a lot.

Spring is a busy time for friends' birthdays. The boys have enjoyed swim parties, skating parties, and Katie's party below at the Laser Tag place. Cute picture sent by Katie's mom.

Thomas also had to invent something, make the product, and deliver a presentation on it at school. All the parents are invited to the Invention Convention on Monday to see all the 6th grade inventions. We're looking forward to attending that.

Thomas invented a Nose Muff - you know like an ear muff but to keep your nose from getting cold in the winter. He delivered his presentation yesterday and apparently it was a hit. This is part of the marketing for the poster that he created.

(Yes, we know Peyton is no longer a Colt, but we love him anyway).

We have been soooo busy with yard work and I love it.

Of course, we love to get the boys in on all the fun. Here they are spreading 3 yards of mulch that I had delivered. They were a big help, but it was a tough job.

Between David, the boys, and me, we have done tons of weeding, mulching, weedeating, mowing, trimming dead limbs, power washing, pruning, planting, watering, cleaning, fixing, and pool opening over the last 3 weeks. The yard is looking really good though.

David and the boys gave me beautiful perennials for Mother's Day and David bought a new weedeater at my request. I love it! We also went out to dinner and spent the entire day together, which was really great.

Brennan had a HUGE research project on a famous Hoosier that started in mid-March. This project is a culmination of all they've learned about the researching, organizing, writing, and presenting processes this year. Brennan's "Hoosier" is Wilbur Wright. He struggled through the research piece but made huge improvements throughout the process. His poster and 10 minute presentation were really, really well done. He got A's on both (which is NOT easy to do in his class). He was thrilled and we were thrilled for him. I'll have to take a photo of him with his poster when we get it back from school.

Thomas and all the 6th grade band members in town put on a great concert last week.

We were really impressed! Thomas continues with Trumpet next year in Middle School.

And surely that's not all that's been going on around here??

It feels like many, many more commitments have been met, fun has been had, and projects completed.

We're looking forward to finishing up the school year strong next week, having my mom and David's mom visit and attend Thomas's 6th grade graduation (gulp!), and then heading to Kentucky for my godson Scott's high school graduation (double gulp!)

A great month!!!

April Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:14:00 +0000

It has been a fun month for all of us.

David's very busy with work - lots of projects going on.

Thomas is finishing up 6th grade next month.

He's got all sorts of final class trips, class projects, and events planned.

We're excited his grandmothers can come visit and attend his graduation!

Brennan has been really busy with 4th grade projects and class activities.

When not catching up on homework he is spending a lot of time riding his bike and enjoying the fresh air. He is anxious for the weather to cooperate so we can start swimming.

David and I are getting the yard, landscaping, pool, and house ready for summer.

We've also been busy with maintenance projects like a new hot water heater, and multiple trips to the shop with our cars. It seems like all the maintenance is due at once.

Right now we're looking at having our chimney fixed, skylights replaced because of hail damage, and our roof either replaced or repaired.

Busy time of year and I love it!

Much to our surprise we ended up on the cover our park and rec department's summer fun guide.

Every household in the county receives one of these, with the list of all the summer and fall programs. We've received a lot of kidding and attention over this photo - we're really rocking those helmets aren't we?

The American Institute of Architects hosted a conference in our town and David and I attended one of the dinners. It was fun to meet several architects and enjoy a fantastic dinner!

The 6th grade studies world history, and they had their annual celebration a couple of weeks ago -

a Medieval Fair.

I volunteered and was assigned to be a Jester and co-lead one of the groups. I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. But it was a lot of fun!

Coincidentally, Thomas was also a jester. It was a full, fun day.

The boys' school has an International Fair each spring. The boys and I volunteered to help with set up and then I got ~~roped into~~ asked to be the photographer. One of my photos was in the local paper.

We had 17 cultures represented at the Fair, with lots of games, activities, educational information, treats, and prizes at each of the booths. It was a huge success and I was so happy for my friend who chaired the Fair this year.

One of Brennan's classmates in traditional Indian attire

Two students who participated in the traditional dances that evening

The Boatwright clan clearly went as "typical Americans" in our khaki shorts, t-shirts, and Crocs, while many of the other kids were dressed in great outfits.

It's been a great month, but I am psyching myself up for an even crazier month of May.

Looking forward to some great adventures!

What I'm Reading - April 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:49:00 +0000

Well I really fell behind in my reading in April. The weather was too pretty I guess!
I did work on both of my Book Club April books, and I'll share those with you.
And I re-read a couple of books, but the pile next to my bed is growing, so I'd better get on it!

The Night Circus

My daytime book club "As the Page Turns" chose The Night Circus as our April read. It is a story of a circus in the late 1800s/early 1900s that magically appears and is open only at night. It's a story of magic but feels very real. It's imaginative and romantic and certainly deserves a read. While I tend to prefer more realism to magic, it was a fun read and lent itself to a great discussion.

Liked It

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

I tried. I really did.

The Litwits (my nighttime book club) read this book for our April read, but I just couldn't do it.
What saved this book for me was the humor.
It is a rather hilarious read about what happens to the human body post-mortem.
The fact-by-fact descriptions were way too much information for me. I stopped about 2/3 of the way in.
Another great discussion though in our book club!
Many people have read all of Mary Roach's books, so were prepared for her style and in-depth descriptions. I apparently was not!

Didn't Like It

And that's all I read (new) in April!
What are you reading?

Chopped - Boatwright Style

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Do you watch "Chopped" on Food Network?

We watched a couple of episodes over Spring Break when we were traveling and loved it. The boys especially.

Four professional chefs compete for $10,000 every episode.

They make an appetizer, entree, and dessert - one chef getting "chopped" after each course, to reveal the winner.

The catch is they have to use 4 ingredients in their dishes, and it's always some combo of foods that is not easy to pull together. And at least one of the ingredients, I wouldn't eat period!

These judges are talking to the chefs about their appetizers, and will reveal who has been chopped.

ANYWAY, when I was at a church meeting last week, the boys asked if they could do a "Chopped" dish for David. He complied and picked 4 random ingredients and they made a dessert. Unfortunately, Thomas was chopped.

Over the weekend, they wanted to play again, so I got to choose this time. They made an appetizer. I chose Daikon Radish, Grapefruit, Crackers, and Salt. They could add any other ingredients as well.

We set the timer and they got started, assembling the ingredients:

Just like on the show, it's very fast paced, but they did great. I was watching that no one got careless with a knife in their rush!

Brennan's dish. Very nice.

We really appreciated the presentation, and suggested a little less paprika next time.

Otherwise, it actually tasted great.

(Note to self - we're now out of bay leaves)

Thomas's dish.

We thought the addition of peanuts was inspired, and noted that presentation is not Thomas's forte.

One dish is covered by the bowl.

Whose is it? Who will be Chopped?

(You can tell by their faces that this is really important to one person...)

Oh no! Thomas was Chopped again!

Brennan is thrilled.

The winning appetizer.

Oh, and by the way - no $10,000 prize for the winner at our house :)

Cajun Night and Baby Shower!

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:04:00 +0000

Oh, Wine Club, I've missed you!

Last night John and Ginger hosted our Wine Club for a Cajun Night and it was a wonderful evening!

All of our "members" were there - such a terrific night!

We didn't sample wines, but we did enjoy delicious Hurricanes, Red Roosters, and other assorted beverages. But the food was the star of the show - absolutely amazing food.

Here's John grilling up the oysters

Oh my they were good!

And these crab bites were decadent (as David said)

And this was only part of the food. If someone left hungry, well - I'd be amazed.

So great to see everyone!

Robin, Lora, Jan, and Vinita

Barry and Ginger

Leigh, Rob, and Barry

Mary telling a tale to David and Jeff

Barry thanking our hosts for an absolutely wonderful evening

In addition to the Cajun theme, we also had a Baby Shower for our newest Wine Clubber - Miss Emma!

Emma was great and we all enjoyed holding her!

Leigh and Emma

Mike and Emma

Jayne, Emma, Dave, and Rosann

Roger, Ginger, Rosann, Emma, Lora, and Charlie

I think everyone enjoyed seeing all the gifts

Boudreaux's Butt Paste (made locally) - it's wonderful stuff and fit the Cajun theme!

Bad photo, but beautiful monogrammed blanket

Two terrible shots but it was so funny how the men were in the back row (peanut gallery)...

...and the ladies were up front

Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

Happy Family!

Shoot Fly Shoot Photography 101 Class

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Before we left for vacation last month, I took the online Photography 101 Class by Shoot Fly Shoot.

My March big goal for 2012 was to find a photography class that would help me learn to use my DSLR camera a little better. I looked around for a local class, but did not find one that I thought would be a good fit. I also looked into doing a 1 on 1 class with someone, but did not have any luck.

Then I heard about Josh and Kevin's new online class and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did!

You may know Kevin from Layla & Kevin's blog The Lettered Cottage. If not - jump over and follow them!

Josh and Kevin take most of the mystery and confusion out of shooting in Manual with a DSLR.

I had already read my owner's manual cover to cover, and had read two of Scott Kelby's great intro books. I had also played with my camera for 2 years, improving a little here and there.

But Josh and Kevin's class really pulled all of that disjointed learning together.
It helped me simplify the set ups when we were traveling, and get better shots.

I still have a ways to go to get the best shots that don't require much editing working after the fact, but I feel much more confident setting up for a really good shot - no matter the lighting conditions.

Here are a few shots I took on our San Francisco/Yosemite/Grand Canyon/Utah trip just after going through the training, and a couple right after the trip.

I know that these shots were better than they would have been because I followed their guidelines and saw my shots improve as I was going.

A huge thank you to Josh and Kevin!
I'll be signing up for Photography 102 as soon as it's available!

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Place You Discover On Your Own

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:30:00 +0000

A Really Cool Place That You Discover All On Your Own

On our trip out west for Spring Break, I mentioned that the boys should be on the lookout for this 101 Place. Brennan immediately said - it's Our Ravine!

Included here are photos that Brennan took with his new camera last week.

I've mentioned before but the boys have started exploring in the deep ravine behind our neighborhood this spring, after years of being reminded to be careful when they get that close. It's a steep drop!

Now they head off together in their wellies to explore and return mud-covered.

I'm just as proud of David and me, letting them go off into the unknown, as I am of their adventurous nature!

In February, Brennan took this photo (his first ever on his new camera) to submit for an Earth Day Competition. I think he did a fantastic job - I loved the shadows. This is from partly down the ravine looking up towards a neighbors house.

But back to last week....

This photo Brennan took from our screened in porch to show where the Ravine is.

And as they're headed down, down, down...

The reason I bought boots for the boys - there's a perfectly good pair of Crocs in the deep mud somewhere in that Ravine!

I love that the boys have found a new "playground" right in their own backyard!

A friend (I can't remember who!!!) suggested they sprinkle wildflower seeds in the ravine this spring and see if they grow. They received seeds in their Easter baskets so I'm sure they'll be sprinkled soon!

From the Book:

#101 - A Really Cool Place That You Discover All On Your Own

Call this one an 'extra credit' place, if you like. Find a place, a place unlike the others in this book, a place you stumble upon in your travels or one you find through careful research. It could be a famous place or not, in the middle of a city or out in the wilderness, near home or very far away. The important thing is that it's an interesting and special place to you. Take your time discovering your place (since this is extra credit, you can even wait till after you're 12 if you need to). Write it down on your list or keep it a secret. Then congratulate yourself for your discovery - you're now officially an explorer!

Easter 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:07:00 +0000

Thomas and I had a great 4 day Easter weekend, but we sure missed David and Brennan who went to Mississippi to visit Grandma Carolyn for the long holiday.

It looks like they had a lot of fun without us though :)

Aunt Donna, Grandma Carolyn, Brennan, Taylor, and Ellie

Brennan up high and Ellie in the big fig tree (I love those figs!)

Aunt Donna, Grandma, David, Ellie, and Brennan

Thomas and I kept ourselves very busy with various sleepovers, parties, church events, errands, projects, and cleaning up and cooking in order to host Easter dinner yesterday.

Our friends the Towsleys and Borowskis joined us for a wonderful day of fun.

This makes the 8th year that we've all gotten together for a great meal and huge Easter egg hunt.

This year my guess is that we had 500+ filled eggs.

Ready to take off (it was strange to not have Brennan!)

While the Dads spend quite a while hiding all those eggs all over the yard, it takes even longer for the kids to find them all!

The older kids decided they had found them all, but our youngest hunter found a few more!

The piñata egg is a lot of fun to find and then destroy.

A beautiful afternoon with friends!

Wilbur Wright Birthplace - Photos by Brennan

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:07:00 +0000

Last Saturday we took a family trip to Millville, Indiana for Brennan's Famous Hoosier Project.

His famous Hoosier is Wilbur Wright.

It was a great experience because we had done the same for Thomas two years ago when we visited Lew Wallace's home in Crawfordsville.

Wilbur Wright was born in Millville and the family lived on the property for a few years before moving further south in Indiana and then to Dayton, Ohio where Orville was born. They had older siblings and a younger sister. Their father was a Bishop.

I did not realize that Wilbur died so young - just a few years after the historic flights at Kitty Hawk. Orville lived 35 years longer and got to see the impact their solo flights made on the rest of the world.

The Famous Hoosier project is an important one in the boys' 4th grade class. The project includes a site visit, a detailed research project where they learn to use 8+ ways of getting sources on a working field trip to the public library (microfilm, older materials in "the stacks", reference books, biographies, magazine searches...), a long research paper, and a 3-sided poster and presentation. All of the photos at the site visit have to be taken by the student if they're going to be used in the presentation.

Good thing Brennan's a pro with a camera now.

I looked online and decided that Saturday, March 31st would be a good day for us to go.

I had NO IDEA that the Museum and buildings weren't open until April 1st!

The gentleman who works there let us in anyway and opened up everything for us.

We were so grateful!

In addition to the many monuments on the property and the Welcome Center, there are several buildings still standing including the family home, sheds, barn, etc.

In the museum there is a fantastic video, including details of their historic first flight on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk.

Outhouse

I'm glad we got to tour Wilbur Wright's birthplace as a family.

Brennan was very professional, introducing himself to the docent and explaining the project.

I'm sure he'll do a great job on the remainder of the project!

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - The Middle of Nowhere

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:33:00 +0000

The Middle of Nowhere

My last Spring Break post!

Thomas and Brennan knew we were on the lookout for this 101 Place, and we announced many, many times on our trip that we'd found it! I took some photos of times when we felt we were truly traveling alone, in the absolute Middle of Nowhere!

California - The Mojave National Preserve

We drove through the Mojave desert on our way from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon.

It was beautiful and I loved seeing all the Joshua Trees!

But wow - quiet, desolate, dry, and dusty for the hour+ that we were driving through.

Good thing we had a full tank and full water bottles!

Loved this name for a little town right outside the National Preserve.

The Mojave National Preserve has the most Joshua Trees of any specific location in the world (including Joshua Tree National Park).

There were miles and miles of them in a forest along the road

And Brennan's Mojave photos - his are better than mine!

Arizona

Absolutely beautiful. We would drive for miles and miles and see no one at all.
The scenery was really gorgeous throughout our time in Arizona.

But look how different the landscape is within four hours of driving throughout the northern part of the state.

Can you see the Bighorn Sheep way out in the distance? There were 3 of them. I don't have a telephoto lens, dangit.

Utah

See the burro?

Again, for miles and miles in Utah we truly felt like we were in the middle of nowhere!

And I have to share these two funny photos from our trip. Since this is my last Spring Break post - I wanted to include them here.

Brennan took this one - he thought it was hilarious!

This is at a restaurant in Utah. Not sure I want to be charged by the scoop.

From the Book:

#96 - The Middle of Nowhere

It's not a place that can be mapped, but you'll know it when you see it. You'll be riding along in a car, on a bus, or in a train. Looking out the window, you'll see --- well, not much. Someone who you're traveling with will say, "Where are we? The middle of nowhere?" The trick is, at this point, to stop and find out where you really are. Because even the middle of nowhere is really somewhere, and it may be more interesting than you thought. Try to find out the name of the place, what it's known for, whether anyone lives there, and if so, what they do. Even if it turns out that the middle of nowhere is not that interesting after all, at least you can say you've been there.

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Rock Art Site

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:35:00 +0000

A Rock Art Site

After visiting Arches National Park, we wanted to see the famous Petroglyphs before we left the area.

Moab is famous as a Rock Art Site with numerous locations where petroglyphs (carved pictures) and pictographs (painted pictures) remain untouched from hundreds and thousands of years ago.

Here is one example in Moab - we did not hunt for this one, so the source is listed below.

source

After hiking around Arches National Park and having a great Italian lunch in town, we returned to the National Park to ask about nearby petroglyphs. The park ranger told us about some not far from the entrance to the park. There would be a small hike to get to it, but it was worth it. Off we went.

Armed with just my iPhone again (and thank goodness), we started following the path, having really no idea where we were going, but were certainly up for a "short hike" in the heat. (We kept saying we were glad it was March and not July!)

We kept going and going, wondering if we were on the right path.

We saw an informational marker off in the distance so we kept going (Thomas leading the way).

See the sijil by David's foot? Same as at Arches National Park. We knew we weren't lost.

Sijils marking the way by previous hikers

The marker told us our hike was just beginning. Now we had to go straight up.

We're not really seeing anything, but then I looked to the left.

Despite our protests that it was too steep to climb, Brennan took off.

And discovered some Petroglyphs!

Big brother had to get in on the action

You can't even see our car. It's waaay back around the right in a parking lot.

And back down we went

While we didn't see a ton of Petroglyphs face to face, we did see a number of others around to the left, but we weren't able to climb straight up there. We understand there are a lot of accessible ones in the area. It was really fun to see and try to determine when the may have been carved. Most online information says this grouping was from 300-200 B.C., but potentially as late as 300 A.D. That's really awesome to see!

From the Book:

#19 - A Rock Art Site

It's not a place for CD cover art - it's a place where you can find 5,000-year-old engravings and paintings, just sitting right there on the rocks! No tickets, no glass cases - just petroglyphs (engravings on stone) and pictographs (paintings on stone), some from the time of the last Ice Age. These images of people, bison, mountain lions, coyotes, and other animals have survived (in the wind, rain, and snow for thousands of years) even though the people who created them have disappeared, leaving no other trace of their culture. Wouldn't it be cool to make something that last that long?

Arches National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:16:00 +0000

After visiting The Grand Canyon we headed into Utah, and were able to see more beautiful scenery.

I have spent time in northern Utah around Salt Lake City, Provo, and Park City, but never on the Eastern edge. It's absolutely beautiful.

We stayed in Moab and visited Arches National Park the next morning.

Of all the planning and packing I did, the only thing I didn't take was my camera battery charger.

Truth is - I never run out of battery so it didn't occur to me to take it.

So all of these are iPhone photos, and I think they turned out OK, despite the lack of a good camera.

Arches National Park is absolutely gorgeous. David said it rivaled the Grand Canyon.

I'm so glad we decided to spend time there before continuing on our journey.

We did a little hiking and lots of wandering around, enjoying the scenery.

Thomas was about to sneeze

The park is 77,000 acres and sits on top of a salt bed, which is the main cause of the formation of arches, spires, balanced rocks, and eroded monoliths.

Here we're looking at the result of the Moab Fault that occurred millions of years ago.

Learning about the faults and erosion

Everywhere we looked - beautiful rock formations

Two climbing monkeys

A balanced rock

Monoliths

"Three Gossips"

"Sheep Rock"

Exploring down the salt paths

"Balanced Rock"

Thomas read on a sign that hikers build "sigils" along the path so that you know you are heading in the right direction. It's usually a little pile of rocks. Thomas liked to add a couple of smaller rocks to the top of the sigils we passed.

World-famous "Delicate Arch" off in the distance. We did not do the full hike to it. And this photo does nothing to show you how beautiful it is and why it's so famous!

Here is a much better example!

source

"Fiery Furnace" - a collection of narrow sandstone structures

There are more than 2500 arches in Arches National Park. It's really gorgeous and a definite highlight of our trip!

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Canyon or Gorge

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:41:00 +0000

A Canyon or Gorge

No one in our family of four had visited the Grand Canyon before so this was a real treat.

As we got closer to our the National Park of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, this is the varied landscape we encountered.

First pines and snow...

...then desert-y Arizona scrub...

...then pines and a little bit of snow. The change in landscape out west always amazes me.

Our first view of the Grand Canyon!

We spent the evening looking around. We were going back the next morning to see more.

I really like that we got to see it in the early evening and early morning.
The views and colors are different.

It was really breathtaking and we had only scratched the surface!

We were all ready for a good night's sleep, then we headed back first thing in the morning.

First a stop to see Smoky the Bear.

We walked along the rim, did the shuttle bus tour and stopped at several great vistas, visited the Visitors Center area, then on our way towards Utah that evening, we did the driving tour. There was so much to see and I can't tell you how much we loved it.

You can see a walking path for those who hike all the way down.

The Colorado River

My camera battery died at this point so I took a lot of iPhone photos, that actually turned out pretty well!

I love this photo of us - it was a great day.

From the Book:

#86 - A Canyon or Gorge

When you hear the word "canyon", the first thing you think of is "grand". In fact, the Grand Canyon is so grand that all the other canyons in North America have kind of an inferiority complex because of it. Quite a few canyons are so anxious to be favorably compared to the Grand Canyon that they call themselves "the grand canyon of" a certain area, just so that everyone knows they are impressive as well. The truth is that there are many, many canyons and gorges that, were it not for the Grand Canyon, would be considered quite grand in their own right. You really must see the Grand Canyon one day, but in the meantime, why not pay a visit to one of the less famous but truly spectacular canyons? The canyon will be grateful that you remembered it, and you'll see an amazing sight.

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - An Endangered Place

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:13:00 +0000

An Endangered Place

We flew right past our 60th of the 101 Places, and we're here at #64. That's a lot of sightseeing and it has been a ton of fun!

When we read the section on Endangered Places in the book, I didn't really have any specific places in mind. The book had a number of great suggestions including: grain elevators (endangered? not in Indiana!), prairie churches, neighborhoods, landmarks, historical buildings, and shared the website www.nationaltrust.org for more ideas. There we found Route 66 - and decided to check it out.

My first misconception - that the road still exists in its entirety. I thought it would be awesome to do a Route 66 road trip with the boys one day. But much of Route 66 is now interstate and highway, apparently some is no longer travel-able.

The second misconception - I had NO idea it ended in Chicago! It seemed like an "out west" sort of experience only. We're only a few hours from it! Strange.

But David knew where it was because he knew the lyrics to the classic song (from 1946 - wow!) "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66", listing off cities we went through on this trip, including Kingman, AZ, Barstow and San Bernadino, CA.

So as we started into Arizona I was excited to do a little research and realize we were going to spend an hour plus on Route 66 to get to the Grand Canyon! Then David told me we'd already been on Route 66 a couple of times on the trip in CA and we'd seen the signs. I HAD NO IDEA!

The boys are familiar with Route 66 because of the Disney movie Cars. While Radiator Springs doesn't exist, we did have fun while we were traveling along in Arizona on that endangered old piece of Americana.

Doesn't look that different from much of what we had seen in Arizona.

Beautiful, dry, and quiet.

Some cool names did pop up though

Not Radiator Springs, but close.

Long abandoned gas station

Pretty countryside

Lots of little towns just off

And yes, that is snow.

There's no accounting for it. It was 1:00 p.m. and 68 degrees. In Arizona. But the snow was still there.

From the Book:

#79 - An Endangered Place

You've heard of endangered species, right? They are animals so few in number that their entire species might cease to exist. Well, animals aren't the only things that can disappear - places can, too. Historic buildings, landmarks, and even whole neighborhoods or geographic areas face destruction from neglect, development, and environmental factors. And when they do, a little bit of our history and culture disappears with them. Nothing lasts forever, but some places are so special that they deserve to be saved. Visit an endangered place, and imagine what it would be like if your kids never got to see it. Then see what you can do to help.

What I've Been Reading - March 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:35:00 +0000

Well, given all of the posts around our recent vacation, I realize I am behind on my Reading post.
I have not been reading nearly as much this past month, but I have some gems to share.

The Miller House and Garden

I will be starting the process to become a Visitor's Center architectural tour guide next year. Our town has thousands of visitors each year who come to see the architectural showplaces. I started the tour guide process years ago, but then we moved to Memphis and I stopped mid-training. I'm looking forward to starting up again with the next training group.

In March I was invited to attend a behind-the-scenes tour at The Miller House with fully-trained tour guides. I'm thrilled to have had the chance. It's great to start the training early. I also read the fantastic book on the home, written by the gentleman who led our tour. Ready to start my second architectural book this month.

Really Liked It

The Princess Bride

The Litwits (my evening book club) read The Princess Bride for our March selection.

I don't even know where to start with this review!

If you've read it, then you're smiling to yourself because you went through the same range of emotions about it that I went through last week. It's a book within a book that really sucks you in, then makes you even more curious, then finally allows you to come to some conclusions.

It's a good story in itself, but the author's 25th anniversary and 30th anniversary introductions, the follow-up at the end of this version of the book, and knowing the movie, will probably only enhance your curiosity and love for this book.

If you DO read it - call me afterwards so we can talk!

Loved It

A Simple Act of Gratitude

On our recent vacation I read a lot of The Princess Bride, but also started on this book by Los Angeles judge John Kralik. A few bloggers shared this gem of a book on their blogs and I looked forward to reading this non-fiction story.

The author was at a very low point in his life both personally and professionally when he decided to start being more grateful. The book chronicles his 15 month quest to write 365 thank you notes. His life was transformed through the process.

It's a really sweet read, and has inspired many to start their own 365 thank you note quests.

I was happy to put this in the mail to a sweet friend this morning.

Really Liked It

Take a Bow

I learned about Elizabeth Eulberg's YA novels last year when a friend sent me her second book, Prom and Prejudice with a note "read this book. now". I loved it and read her first The Lonely Hearts Club, started following her blog, and we've become online friends! She even sent me a happy birthday note! I also enjoyed hearing her stories from being a publicist at Scholastic and getting to know J.K. Rowling, then Stephenie Meyer (Twilight series), and then her transition to author herself.

I highly recommend Elizabeth's YA novels to my friends with daughters in the 13+ range.
Her third novel just came out and I preordered my copy from amazon weeks ago.
It was such a nice surprise to receive it in the mail last week!
Take a Bow is about four students at a creative arts high school in Manhattan.
Reviews have been terrific. I love her honest writing with very relatable characters.
Really Liked It

And that's what I've been reading during the past month.

What have YOU been reading?

The Hoover Dam

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:59:00 +0000

As we left Las Vegas and headed towards The Grand Canyon, we had to make a stop at the Hoover Dam to show the boys. David and I toured the Dam years and years ago. We knew the boys would be impressed.

Lake Mead in Boulder City, NV headed towards the Hoover Dam

Lake Mead

The newly built Hoover Dam Bypass across the Dam

From the parking garage, looking out towards the Dam. The mountainous region around that area is really beautiful!

I think the Visitors Center and other National Park service buildings and monuments are really pretty.

Thomas heard another kid say that rubbing the monument's foot was good luck, so we had to stop by.

The Dam is on the border between Nevada and Arizona (and their two different time zones)

In the distance you can see the clock for Arizona time, where Arizona begins

I find myself always lifting my chin to make sure I'm in the photos because Thomas is nearing my height

Crossing the bypass over the dam as we head towards The Grand Canyon!

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Special Place to Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:00:00 +0000

A Special Place to Sleep

In order to get from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon in March, you get to go through Las Vegas.

I knew this would be quite a fun stop for Thomas and Brennan who've only heard about Vegas and seen it in photos. So we decided to spend the night. I chose Paris Las Vegas as our hotel, and it delivered on the WOW factor!

We were only in Vegas for a day, and the boys spent a lot of that time just looking around, pretty impressed. We had a couple of really good meals in Vegas. We highly recommend the Creperie and Croissant restaurants in Paris for a great breakfast.

New York, New York

The Stratosphere

Brennan took this photo of the giant M-n-M Store

And he liked the "classic look" of The Cosmopolitan

He also took this photo of the Bellagio which I thought was great!

Brennan's photo of Treasure Island

The Vegas Strip - the boys thought the outdoor escalators were pretty cool

I never thought I'd be taking my underage kids to Vegas on vacation, but here we are!

Caesar's Palace

The Mirage for dinner

Vegas at night

We really enjoyed our great spot for the water show at the Bellagio

A super fun stop on our trip!

While Thomas liked our hotel room (and the fancy pillows on the beds) the best - the highlight of the stop for Brennan was "either the huge casinos or when I got to have my picture taken with Mario and Luigi!!!"

Sleeping in a CASINO!!! was a certain highlight of this trip!

From the Book:

#80 - A Special Place to Sleep

Well, by now you've done quite a bit of exploring, and that probably means you've stayed in a few hotels. It's exciting at first, but after awhile it can start to seem like you've seen the place before: the boring room with the two double beds, the "continental breakfast" in the morning, consisting of a Danish pastry in a plastic bag and little mini-boxes of cereal. It may be time to get some more excitement from your lodgings. How about sleeping in a lighthouse? A tree house? A castle? What about a hotel made of ice? There are lots of lodgings where just staying there is an experience in itself. You may just decide to stay up all night to enjoy it and not go to sleep at all.

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Ghost Town

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:16:00 +0000

A Ghost Town

Well, I had no idea how many ghost towns exist in the U.S.

If you ever want to visit one with your family, it's pretty easy! Especially since they exist in all 50 states.

I found several to choose from on our trip out west. Visit http://www.ghosttowns.com/ and choose the state (or province if you're in Canada) and start looking.

We "visited" two - and I say that because the second one was quite an experience.

But first, Calico, California.

On our way east towards the Mojave Desert, we took a detour to visit a Ghost Town that has been preserved, and serves as a way to see what a silver mining town was like. It was founded in 1881, and was deserted in the 1920s.

Walter Knott, of Knotts Berry Farm fame, worked in the silver mind in 1910.

In the 1950s he purchased Calico and restored all but 5 of the original buildings to mirror what they looked like in the 1880s.

Governor Schwarzenegger proclaimed the State Historical Landmark as "California's Silver Rush Ghost Town" in 2005.

On the drive to Calico off the interstate

The landscape around Calico is absolutely beautiful, and varied.

Calico was named for its multi-colored mountain peaks surrounding the town.

We walked through Calico, toured a silver mine, and rode a train to view the mine and adobe homes still standing.

It's a pretty little ghost town, and worth a stop if you're ever in San Bernadino County!

The Ghost Town I had planned on us seeing is Cerbat, Arizona.

I knew we'd be just a few miles from it on our way to the Grand Canyon a couple of days later and thought we should see an unpreserved Ghost Town, since we had experienced a touristy Ghost Town. Little did I know.

We followed my phone's GPS onto a dusty little road, with absolutely nothing but cactus and scrub for as far as we could see.

Here's David - playing along but not at all sure this is a side-trip we need to be making.

I'll never live down our Cerbat adventure.

We turned off a couple more times in pursuit of Cerbat, which apparently has a couple of original 1860s buildings and a boat! (Why in the world? I really wanted to see the boat.)

Cerbat was actually the county seat in the 1870s, a thriving little mining community with a school, post office, and other public buildings. Surely we could find it.

And then we did.

After what seemed like an interminable drive on scary little roads in the middle of nowhere Arizona, we stumbled upon some dilapidated metal sheds (???), and what we believe is a man living in Cerbat, who didn't look at all happy to see us.

And here's the difference between David and me.

I wanted to stop and tell him that we were interested in seeing the ghost town (really, I wanted to see this huge boat!) so we'd just be a few minutes and then on our way.

David did not stop but turned around, waved a little wave to the scary looking squatter, and off we went back to the Interstate.

So, we got to see two very different kinds of Ghost Towns out west.

I think I prefer Calico.

From the Book:

#13 - A Ghost Town

The mill shut down. The train stopped coming. There was a big flood. There are lots of reasons a town can become a ghost town - left with nothing but empty, abandoned houses, stores, and churches. Gold rush towns in the West are some of the best-known, but there are ghost towns in every state and province. Although some are falling to pieces, some remain much the way they were when the last residents moved away. Visiting a ghost town gives you a strange feeling - not really scary, but eerie and a little unsettling, and kind of exciting. Go see one and find out for yourself.

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - A Wind Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:15:00 +0000

A Wind Farm

As I was planning the trip I realized that Tehachapi was known for its Wind Farm and hopefully we'd have a chance to see it on our trip. Little did I know there are a number of amazing Wind Farms in the states where we traveled. We came across at least 4 and snapped some photos.

There is a large Wind Farm on our drive to Chicago so I thought we'd just wait until our next trip there to see a Wind Farm. But we got to see several, and they popped up just out of the blue on our travels!

Unexpectedly as we were traveling through Napa we saw windmills off in the distance. Can you see them?

They went on for miles and miles and miles.

Just enormous - 200 feet tall according to the website.

And later we saw the Tehachapi Wind Farm as well.

(Again, Tehachapi is much further south than Napa - but look at the snow!)

There were just tons of them!

There was also a really amazing one in Eastern Utah as we were traveling there later in the trip. I didn't have a camera out at the time, but it was certainly impressive, lined up so close to the road!

From the Book:

#20 - A Wind Farm

So, you're riding along the highway, just looking out at a whole lot of nothing, when all of a sudden, what's that in that field over there? An army of colossal three-armed alien droids assembled, ready to take over and destroy the earth? No, it's a wind farm! And it looks like nothing you've ever seen: massive turbines on towers more than 200 feet tall, whirring slowly or quickly in the wind, dominating the landscape like giants. They're strangely beautiful, like modern art sculptures, and they make a gentle swooshing sound while they transform wind into electricity without the use of air-polluting coal. But wind farms don't just look really cool: take a tour of one and find out how they may just save the planet.

Tehachapi Loop

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:41:00 +0000

When we left Yosemite, we headed south and I identified Tehachapi (Tay-HA-chu-pee) as a good stop for the night.

I looked on Trip Advisor to see what might be interesting to see in the area, and immediately stumbled upon the Tehachapi Loop on many, many blogs and websites. For those who are train fans, it's an important trip. For the rest of us, we just thought it would be cool to see.

The Loop was built in 1874 and sits amid pretty scenery. It was built to lessen the angle of the grade that the train would have to climb. About 40 trains come past daily, so we took a chance that we'd see one. We only had to wait a few minutes for a train to come.

Brennan took a lot of photos so I'm going to use his primarily in this post. He does a great job!

We're in Central California at this point - look at the snow!

Here's the Loop before the trains come. It's cool to see how the tracks wrap around itself, but it's hard to get the picture until a train comes.

And here it comes - through a tunnel down below and then winds it's way up and around.

Then it wraps around itself as it continues to climb.

And then we could see the end of the train come out of the tunnel and head up the Loop.

It was fun to see The Loop in action! As we left the area, we met back up again with the same train and rode alongside it for quite a ways.

We always like it when we "discover" something off the beaten path!

Under the Cherry Blossoms

noreply@blogger.com (Bonnie) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Last night David and I attended our church's preschool fundraiser, "Under the Cherry Blossoms".

It was a wonderful night, and funds and awareness were raised for our preschool (I serve as board chairperson this year).

I took my camera, of course, and snapped a bunch of photos. Bistro 310 was transformed and we enjoyed an amazing four course Japanese dinner, along with a traditional tea ceremony, a live auction, and a great time to catch up with friends who attended.

The artwork for the invitations were made by our four year old students. Notecards of the artwork were available. I loved them and pick up a packet.

Our Japanese families helped decorate the restaurant and organize the event. It looked really beautiful!

There were a number of beautiful live floral arrangements. So pretty.

This antique kimono and obi were in the live auction.

Serenity boxes were made for the event and lined the tables. Most fun centerpieces ever!

This is the artwork that was used for the invitations. I desperately wanted this framed version and bid on it, but it went to a tablemate. Turns out her daughter's bedroom is decorated in cherry blossoms so they clearly needed the artwork more than me :)

During the cocktail and appetizer hour, a gentleman played the Koto. It was really pretty.

My sweet friends and fellow board members Regan and Emily volunteering at the event.

Robin (restaurant owner) and her parents.

The traditional tea ceremony

It was a really fun night for a great cause!