Happy 5th Birthday Isadora!

Happy Birthday Izzy!  Here is her 5th birthday interview:

Favorites
Color: Gold (she requested that her new bedroom in DC have gold accents...)
Animal: Black Jaguar (although then later she told me her favorite animal was a fox...)
Game: Duck-duck-goose - "Because you can say Kitty, Kitty, Meow instead."
Book: Skippy John Jones
TV Show: Goosebumps
Movie: The Odd Squad Movie (which she hasn't seen yet...)
Food: Pasta

What she wants to be when she grows up: A scientist who studies Black Jaguars.

Off to camp!

Izzy likes bowling... and Sprite....

Evie is in the midst of her much anticipated 2 weeks of sleep away camp. She has been looking forward to this for almost 6 months (and would have done 3 weeks if we had let her). Before we dropped her off at camp we got in one last family outing... a trip to the bowling alley.  I think I played the worst game I have ever mustered, but Evie, Patrick and Izzy were neck and neck... with Izzy eventually triumphing over Evie, but not Patrick. Certainly a milestone for us... family can now all go bowling together and actually enjoy ourselves :)

Getting on the bus for camp....

The first week of camp was all about outdoor survival skills (Kick it like Katness Camp) and this week is the Incredible Race Camp. We got to see her for a bit this weekend when we picked her up on Friday afternoon and then camped on Mt. Lemmon.  The original plan was to camp for two nights, but it was clear that she was exhausted from camp week one (and our campsite was decidedly anglely) so we headed back down to Tucson on Saturday so she could get a good rest before returning on Sunday.

 

Unfortunately for us, coming back down the mountain meant we were here in Tucson for a record 115 degree day... but don't worry, we just hung out inside and watched Scooby Doo all day :)

According to her reports the scariest part of camp was canoeing, which she was sure she knew how to do based on her "extensive" beaver pond experience. Apparently she and two other girls, who "didn't know a thing about canoeing", set off on Rose Canyon Lake and managed to get stuck out there (and rocked the boat in an unsettling fashion). She was eventually rescued by the camp counselors though.  She also got to stay in an outdoor "bungee" all week, which is basically a wood platform with a roof and screens, and work on her archery skills.

I can't wait to hear about this week!

The Catwalk Rises Again!

One of our favorite hikes, well really of all time, is the catwalk hike in Glenwood, New Mexico. It is this amazing hike up a canyon where much of the trail is a catwalk attached to the sides of a small slot canyon and then a series of bridges over the stream and access to little waterfalls.  All told it is about a 4-mile hike. 

Well, about 3 years ago now a huge flood completely destroyed the catwalks, and the whole hike has been closed. We've still stopped at the picnic area at the beginning of the hike each year because it was still a lovely place to visit, but every year it made me sad to think that we would never get to go on the catwalk hike again because there was no way that the Forest Service would be able to find the funds to fix it....  Well as it turns out they have! (Although only the first mile is now open... the rest they are still trying to find the money to fix) Totally the best surprise of the summer when on the way up to the cabin as we drove past my parents noted that it would reopen that weekend....

So anyway on the way back from our cabin adventure we stopped and hiked as far as we could.  It is different from before, to be sure, but in some ways it is even cooler now because on the way back you can access the stream and hike back in the water and under the catwalks.

Hooray for fabulous hikes! (Where the water is still cold despite the 90+ degree heat!)

Let the summer begin!

As has become our tradition, summer begins with a week (or two) up at my parent's cabin on the Blue.  This year was no exception! I was lucky enough to work from the cabin for the first week with the help of my parents watching the girls for most of the day and me getting up super early to work before the rest of the house got up. While I worked the girls played in the stream, went for walks with my parents, and (of course) did crafts.

Another annual tradition seems to be the "trip-to-the-river-mud-bath"  Where over the course of about 15 minutes the girls got muddier.

 And muddier....

 And muddier...

Until they were both pretty much completely enveloped in mud, which by they way they were calling their war paint in the great battle against the crawdads. (A war that sadly we loose every year, although I did manage to catch one in a net and see to it that its ecosystem-disrupting days were over)

 

On Friday Patrick joined us up at the cabin for the weekend. The goal was to relax, which we ended up doing a pretty good job of on Saturday, with a visit to the Alpine car show and lunch at the Tal Wiwi. Sunday, however, was not so relaxing, with Patrick and Dad spending all day Sunday sawing large trees that had fallen across the road to my parent's Alpine place. Meanwhile, us girls were hard at work picnicking and critiquing their chainsaw techniques....

Then on Tuesday Patrick and I headed to Santa Fe for an anniversary trip and the girls continued to play at the cabin with Mina and Papa.

Santa Fe was a fabulous combination of art, food and scenery! Highlights included a rafting trip on the Rio Grande, Tapas, and the Meow Wolk gallery....

There is more to tell about the way home and the catwalk... but I'll save that for my next post!

LIttle Ballerina!

 Last weekend Izzy had her big ballet performance. She (and her fellow ballerinas) were little birds flitting on stage and spreading cuteness in their wake.  Isadora was very focus on her routine and managed to hit almost all of her moves :)

On my side it was a miraculous effort at turning her ultra short hair into a legitimate bun... a large amount of gel and bobby pins later it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. She is excited to ballet again next year (I think in no small part because she enjoys the costumes!)

End of the School Year!

Another school year complete! Izzy will never again be a preschooler (sniff) and Evie is on her way to 4th grade! Yesterday was the prize giving ceremony at their school, which is always a fun event for the kids. They each got to sing a song in French (as well as another song or two in English) and cheer on their friends for the end of the year prizes. In between the two prize giving ceremonies was a little festival with jumping castle, crepes, hot dogs, and a musical performance by a singer from the Ivory Coast. (I missed this interlude because I went back to work for those 2 hours while Patrick played with this girls)

 The big news is that this year Genevieve won a prize! Recall, if you will, last year Izzy won the responsible prize for the preschool. Well the preschool gives prizes based on the key characteristics that the Cambridge learning system encourages. The junior school kids, however, receive prizes for by academic subject (each language, math, science, art, music, and PE). In each subject one child from all grades receives the subject prize... and this year Genevieve won for science!

 In introducing the prize the school's science teacher said that she was impressed by Genevieve's commitment to doing her science fair project, her constant hard work in class, and that she shows a love for environmental sciences in particular. Not only that but she received a 120% on her year-end exam! She recommended that Evie consider a career in science, particularly one that involves "creativity and chaos" :) Her prize was a certificate, a cool optical illusions book, and a set of super strong magnets. Way to go Evie!!

Lazy (relatively) weekends

Well perhaps not too lazy... but compared to running to ballet practice and then driving to camping and other activities it has felt pretty laid back.  Both this and last weekend we've spent most of our days hanging out in the backyard, watching movies or playing mariokart and reading books.

Evie received her hugglepod that she ordered with her birthday money last weekend and spent what must have been 4 hours in it reading... until Izzy wanted a turn and she was relegated to just reading outside.

Patrick and I have spent some time sorting through books still in boxes since we moved almost three years ago and as a result had a few boxes laying around.  Folllwing the idea that no good box should go to waste the girls claimed them to make "houses". All this week they have been asking to sleep in their boxes and we've been telling them to wait until the weekend. Keeping our promise, Friday night both girls "cuddled" up in their boxes and actually slept in them all night. (Of course the sleeping in boxes could very well explain the total, utter meltdown Izzy had today, but hey we are ones to keep our promises).

The highlight of the weekend was Evie's spring choir concert. She had a dress rehearsal just before the performance so we took Izzy over to the planetarium/mineral museum at the UofA while Evie rehearsed and then we all went downtown to the Temple of Music and Art for another spectacular choir experience.

Last Expo of the (school) Year!

This past Thursday was the last Expo of the year. And the end of the school year is a mere 8 days away... how on earth did that happen?! Both girls provided great performances! Evie's was mostly in the form of a video her class made about Paris where she acted like a mime, but before the video her teacher asked them questions about Paris and the kids showed a bit of what they'd learned.  I caught one of Evie's responses on video...

She and a few of her friends worked through recesses to complete a model of Versaile, for which she was very proud.... (but unfortunately I couldn't get a good picture of her in front of it because she was too silly).

After Evie's expo we went to Isadora's, where she discussed the water cycle, the seasons and sang a little song...

Both girls have worked very hard in school this year.  I am so proud of them!

Bear and Turkey (Creeks that is!)

Last weekend we took full advantage of the last of the glorious weather and spent some quality time outside! (This weekend we have done the opposite I am afraid... lots of MarioKart... but as much as I hate to admit it, almost equally as fun because all four of us can now play together.)

Anyway, the week before last I took both girls for a hike to Sabino Canyon to play at the dam, and Evie asked me if she could do a real hike the next week.  I told her so long as she woke up by 5:30 in the morning I would be thrilled to take her. So last Saturday morning I went in an gingerly asked her if she still wanted to get up and hike (mostly expecting her to say no and go back to sleep).   Instead she sat up in bed and proceeded to get ready to go.  We were out of the house and to Sabino Canyon by 6 am. The plan was to hike as far as Evie felt she could go, well really 1/2 as far, and then turn around.  The whole hike to seven falls is 8 miles, so we didn't figure we'd make it the whole way on our first try.  We did, however, make it 4.44 miles and had a blast together walking, talking, and checking out saguaro blossoms, a rattlesnake (not too closely of course) and Bear Creek.

While we were gone Patrick took Izzy to ballet and then when they were back at home we loaded up the car.  All artfully packed so that we could fit inside the Subaru: 4 Lacroixs, 4 sleeping bags and pads, 4 canvases for painting, 2 dogs, 2 pillows, 1 tent, 1 camp stove, 1 cooler full of food, 1 frying pan, 1 spatula, and 1 bag of clothes... what we (well really I) managed to forget was 3 sweaters (I was the only one with a sweater), 1 first aid kit, and 1 lighter. Fortunately the car had an extra lighter... unfortunately the spatula managed to hide itself in the tent so that it was not to be found when needed.... 

After a two-hour drive made utterly awesome by a good book on tape (Museum of Theives) we made it to Turkey Creek and lucked into a great undeveloped campsite right by the creek. We took at little hike down the creek to a waterfall, which involved a bit of bushwhacking to get to and away from.  Sadie demonstrated that she would much rather walk the log than swim, which was hillarious, and both of the girls proved to be good side-o-the-hill scramblers.

We then settled back into camp, made a rip roaring fire, some dinner and (of course) roasted marshmallows.  Perhaps the best part of the evening was the near constant gobble gobble of a turkey tom... I guess the place is well named!  The next morning we woke up to a chill and were very sorry for our lack of sweaters in a cold canyon...  so we packed it up and headed back to Tucson.  A short, but wonderful foray in the woods!

Evie Turns (well really turned) 9!

Favorites:
Color - Pink
Animal - Elephant
Book - Secret Zoo series
Music - Coeur de Pirate
Movie - Secret of Moonacre
TV Show - My little pony (same as last year)
Subject(s) in School - Art and Math
Game - Baby dragons - where she and her friends pretend they are baby dragons who have adventures
Afterschool Activity - Jujitsu
Food - Macaroni and cheese (somethings I guess never change)
What she wants to be when she grows up - Engineer or an elephant scientist
Best Friends - Isabella, Nanan and Ruby
Best thing that happened while she was 8 - Getting to see my cousins twice!!

Notable things -Has started to read whole chapter books in just a few days (and will even take to reading instead of watching TV), went to sleepaway girl scout camp and really, really loved it, and became very interested in elephants and started donating money from her allowance every week to an elephant rescue group.

Sleepover b-day

Last year both girls had birthdays on the road.  This year we decided to be a bit more chill about it and so both will have b-days at home.  For her birthday Evie picked four friends for a sleepover.  She made her own invitations for her friends on the computer. We were pretty happy with her initiative and (for some reason) didn't think to proofread them... which meant that the birthday was accidentally set for a Friday night (when the weekend before we were in DC....) We rolled with it pretty well though :)

The birthday bash consisted of pizza eating and playing and then the main event of a trip to Valley of the Moon to see Rumpelstiltskin. Three of the girls had never been, so it was extra fun to have them experience the quirky place.  After the show they hung out and played the "games" for awhile and then we headed home for cake. 

After cake, Evie opened presents (Evie's friends bought her legos, shopkins and sewing crafts) and then the girls watched wiener dog internationals (a high budget film to be sure) and then had a "scary story contest". 

While the girls slept I put together clues for a scavenger hunt for the next morning and then got up early to hide the treasure.  I am not sure who had more fun... me or the girls :) 

It was a bit exhausting to have the party on Friday, but we were pretty thankful for a restful Saturday night and Sunday!