With Memorial Day and the end of the school year, there's been a lot going on. For Memorial Day, we decided to have a barbecue and invited tons of people. I even bought a nice gas barbecue for our new house. We had about 25 people show up from church, work and some neighbors. We made tons of food, including grilled corn and pineapple. We even had the wii going for the kids/teens.
The next day I went with some friends to the OK GO concert at the Red Rock Resort. They were letting teachers in for free! They were really good, although a little loud. Just to be different, they did one song where all 4 band members played the hand bells and sang, and they were actually very talented!
The last day of school for the kiddos was June 2nd. I somehow got conned into going on the senior grad nite trip to Disneyland. It wasn't too bad. All the rowdy kids wound up on the other bus. We spent the first 3 hours at California Adventure, which was pretty fun. I'd never been there before. 
We actually got to go on all the rides and the lines weren't too bad. There was a really cool Toy Story ride - they give you 3-D glasses and you have to shoot targets on a screen while riding around. It was pretty cool, even if my friend Joe did get the higher score.
At about 11:30 the move all the kids over to Disneyland. It was crazy crowded and loud. We got to go on a few rides, but mostly the lines were really long. I did find my dream hat, but couldn't bring myself to buy it.
Joe was very excited to get his picture next to club 33 - it's the only place in Disneyland where they sell alcohol. You have to have a membership which is somewhere around $30 thousand a year and the waiting list is like 7 years long!
We stayed until 6 am, but by 4:30 all the chaperones were ready to drop. The floor of the Opera House was covered with sleeping teachers, including Joe, Elena and I all cuddled together in a corner. We made it back, but I can't say I really remember much from the next few days because I was so tired.
Tomorrow is graduation for Del Sol, so I have to work, but then I have the whole summer off! I love being a teacher! (Sometimes!)
Last week I was able to go on the marine science field trip for the 2nd year in a row. We had a really fun time. Day 1 - Left Del Sol at 7am. First stop, Red Rock State Park in CA for a little desert hiking (and teaching!)...
We stayed that night in San Simeon, CA at the state campground, which is a 5 minute walk to the beach.
Day 2 - We discover that the raccoons have eaten a lot of our breakfast! We drive that morning to Monterrey to visit the aquariums...
Lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and our only group photo...
Then on to the tide pools, where even the squirrels come to live.
That night we stayed in a hotel in San Fransisco and I got my first sleep of the whole trip. I cannot say I'm the world's best camper, especially if I have to listen to raccoons all night! In the morning we headed to the Exploratorium, which is near the golden gate bridge. I forgot to take pictures, but here's the 3 advisers playing with the exhibits (sorry for the blurriness, the students don't know how to use cameras!)...
After a meltdown by one of our students (he has Asperger's syndrome and lost his hat!) we headed off to China Town, not very scientific, but tons of fun (the picture of seeds is for Rick. I couldn't figure out what they were, otherwise I would have bought him some)...
We then had a long drive to Reno, where we stayed at Circus, Circus. In the morning we headed over to the University of Nevada, Reno campus for a tour (and a little fun at the fraternity fun raiser!)...
We made it back to Del Sol Saturday night and I am just now starting to feel normal again! Just so you know who's in the picutres - Mr. Echeverria (we went to BYU together and both used to work at Heritage), Ms. Vinciguerra and Ms. James (who brought her family and pretended it was a vacation!)
So, my friend Joe has decided that I'm the president of our "adventure club." After our excursion to the Mormon Fort, we decided to go see Spring Mountain Ranch this weekend. It's actually a really nice park with a ranch house from the 1930's (originally...) Over the years, several various people have owned an expanded the ranch. It's last owner was Howard Hughes (he basically owned half of Vegas at one point). The best part of the house was the secret passage that led from the master bedroom closet into another bedroom and bathroom. Apparently Vera Kraupp, a very famous person, owned the ranch. While she was there, a bunch of men came in and stole her 33 karat diamond (now belongs to Elizabeth Taylor) off her finger, tied her up, etc. So she built the hidden passage to have privacy and a get away. There are also some hiking trails around. Our club isn't that adventurous, so we stayed to the wheelchair accessible path! It was sure pretty, though.
The last day of school for the kiddos was June 2nd. I somehow got conned into going on the senior grad nite trip to Disneyland. It wasn't too bad. All the rowdy kids wound up on the other bus. We spent the first 3 hours at California Adventure, which was pretty fun. I'd never been there before. 
We actually got to go on all the rides and the lines weren't too bad. There was a really cool Toy Story ride - they give you 3-D glasses and you have to shoot targets on a screen while riding around. It was pretty cool, even if my friend Joe did get the higher score.
At about 11:30 the move all the kids over to Disneyland. It was crazy crowded and loud. We got to go on a few rides, but mostly the lines were really long. I did find my dream hat, but couldn't bring myself to buy it.
Joe was very excited to get his picture next to club 33 - it's the only place in Disneyland where they sell alcohol. You have to have a membership which is somewhere around $30 thousand a year and the waiting list is like 7 years long!
We stayed until 6 am, but by 4:30 all the chaperones were ready to drop. The floor of the Opera House was covered with sleeping teachers, including Joe, Elena and I all cuddled together in a corner. We made it back, but I can't say I really remember much from the next few days because I was so tired.
