end of year adventures

We try our hardest to live life to the fullest in the Hall house. That typically means that we do not allow ourselves much down time, because there is so much out there to see, do, and explore. This year we have crammed as much as possible into our two-week winter vacation.

Following our brief stay with the Nebraska Halls, we embarked on yet another adventure, to make sure that 2013 ended with a bang. We began by stopping off at Fort Union National Monument in northern New Mexico on our drive home. We were both unaware that the Civil War took place this far west and enjoyed the little history lesson that we got there. We spent a lot of time talking about how differently historic structures were made, comparing the longevity of Puebloan sites and these Anglo sites. The Puebloan structures have withstood the tests of time and the elements much better than their Anglo counterparts. It's worth checking out and comparing them yourself if you are ever out west. New Mexico has a good supply of both kinds of historic sites.

Fort Union National Monument

Fort Union National Monument

Our next adventure took place in the outskirts of Flagstaff a couple of days later. We visited Sunset Crate Volcano National Monument and Wupatki National Monument, enjoying a variety of landscapes and nearly every type of ecosystem on the 35 mile loop road between the two sites. At Sunset Crater we were amazed at the towering mounds of cinders. At Wupatki we were once again taken away by the structural integrity of Puebloan buildings. The two locations were breathtaking in different ways and left us wishing that we had had more time to explore, but alas, we had one more adventure to squeeze in before the end of 2013.

Twisty Trees at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Wupatki National Monument

It's a good thing we're not very big people!

Wupatki National Monument

Upon leaving the Flagstaff area we drove south to Glendale, home of Camelback Ranch, the spring training site for the White Sox and the Dodgers, and of course to Across the Years! Our final adventure of the year was to test ourselves in the 24-hour endurance run at this fantastic event. We got into town Monday evening and camped out (another bonus! one more night of camping in 2013!) before the 9AM start on Tuesday morning.

As the name suggests, Across the Years is a run from one year into the next. The event consists of 24-, 48-, 72-hour runs and a 6 day run. We clearly took the easy way out by only doing the 24-hour event! Everything was incredibly well run (no pun intended, but it is there none-the-less) and I was impressed by the thought that the Coury family and Aravaipa Running put into every component of the week-long event. The food was fantastic, warming tents were available, and the first aid support was by far the best I have experienced at a running event.

The start of the 12/31 24-hour event

Motivation from the families/friends of runners 

Inspiring race participants

For me, the beginning of the 24-hours was fantastic. Going from our home elevation of 6500 feet to the nice thick air at 1100 feet was a blessing and a curse. I knocked out some quick for me miles, walked some, and ran some, and walked some more. Until I simply could not run any more. Never having run in an ultra event, I hadn't really come in with a great strategy for doing anything in particular. Mostly I had just wanted to cover 50 miles. I did achieve that goal. I had also decided that I wanted to move for the whole 24-hours. I made it close to that one. My lack of planning early on left me with super tight hip flexors which rendered me nearly motionless as I embarked on my final lap of the event. I had decided to push on, but my inability to move very well meant that I was not staying warm and the shivering that commenced made my hip flexors even more painful. An hour and a half and one mile later I crawled into the warming tent and called it quits at 21.5 hours and just under 57 miles. I learned my lesson and have a better idea of what I can do next year to make things go more smoothly (hopefully). The mister ended up with just over 71 miles and lessons learned as well. 

Ready to toast to the New Year! Sparkling cider and champagne for all!

Happy New Year!

Yes, the New Year did happen to fall on hump day - thanks to the support crew at this table for evoking smiles

We're now home and recovered and preparing ourselves for the second half of the school year as well as a whole new year of adventuring. Time flies when you're having fun!

This is what my recovery looked like shortly after arriving home

Happy New Year to All!

christmas

This year we were fortunate to once again have fantastic weather over Christmas, allowing us to join the Hall family in Nebraska for the holiday. All of the Hall siblings made it home, providing for a festive celebration full of aunts and uncles doting on the lovely Alice.

Alice opening gifts

The week was filled with fantastic food, continuing rivalries in a variety of different board games, and a never-ending game of pass the baby/chase baby Alice/make Alice laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

Alice the lamb

It was also a time to relax and rejuvenate while surrounded by loved ones. It is times like this that make me wish that all of our families lived near-by so that we could enjoy one another more frequently. Though, I also recognize that our distance is what makes these times together that much more special and cherished. You can't win them all I guess.

[belated] thanksgiving

Once upon a time I mentioned that I would write about the epic adventure that occurred over Thanksgiving vacation. Since that time life has been quite crazy, a little out of control, and of course, full of adventure. Now that things are slowing down a little bit, here is a glimpse of the adventuring that took place when my parents came to town.

We were fortunate to have the whole week of Thanksgiving off, which meant that we were able to squeeze in quite a bit when my parents visited. Their first full day in town we took it easy, thanks to being snowed in more or less. The mister and I went for a snowy morning run, and then we all went out for a delicious breakfast at the Plaza. If ever you are in Gallup and it is breakfast time, I highly recommend stopping by either location and ordering the french toast, or the huevos rancheros, or an omelette, or a burrito, really, it is all excellent. They are famous for their french toast though, it is out of this world. The rest of the day progressed with movie watching, game playing, and catching up after not seeing each other for a long time.

On Monday morning, we ate some breakfast and then hit the road. We headed west with the Grand Canyon as our destination. Our journey, however, also included a visit to Petrified Forest National Park. An hour outside of Gallup we hit our first stop. Mom and dad were introduced to the painted desert, we met a cool park ranger, we did a little bit of hiking, and hit up old Route 66. 

Painted Desert

Route 66 (in case you couldn't guess)

Dad on Route 66

In front of one of the massive petrified trees at the park

After leaving the "forest," we continued our journey west and took the scenic route from Flagstaff up to the Grand Canyon. Even for being late in the season the park was packed. We got a quick peek into the canyon before the sun went down and then had dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge. The service wasn't great, the food was mediocre, and I guess that was a good predictor for the rest of our stay at the park.

Tuesday morning we were all up dark and early to embark on our most enduring adventure of the week. For mom, dad and I, the destination was the Colorado River. For the mister, the goal was Rim to Rim to Rim. As the sun began to show itself we snapped some quick photos and then began our descent. The mister took off and the rest of us took it all in. The canyon is deep, that is for sure. Beyond that, I cannot honestly say that I think it is so grand. Perhaps after all of the adventures and amazing places that the mister and I have had the honor of experiencing, this was not on the top of the list. Maybe it is because the park is so commercialized and overrun with people. I don't know (though I will say, since our visit we have seen photos from other parts of the park, and maybe we were just in the wrong place?), but we still enjoyed ourselves, so I can't really complain.

Ready to hike! (and run as the case may be)

We were all on the Bright Angel Trail which goes down, and down, and down, as you would expect when dropping into a canyon of immense proportions. We watched the strata in the rock change as the age of the formations changed. We enjoyed watching the colors changes as the sun continued to rise high into the sky. We talked, and laughed, and had a great time being together. Before we knew it we had hit our stride, were passing other groups that had left before us, and the Colorado was in sight. Checking our watches we decided to push for the suspension bridge and have lunch on the river bank before beginning our climb out of the canyon.

Mom and Dad at the Colorado River

On our return hike we kept a slow and steady pace, allowing us to complete the ~18 mile round trip adventure in about 11 hours. We were happy to see the top after what seemed like an endless climb and were excited when we sat down to dinner, though a little concerned for the missing mister. We filled our bellies though and while we were waiting for dessert I went out to investigate some "really awesome lights down in the canyon" that a kid at another table was talking about. Sure enough, I could see the mister's lights making progress up the trail and went back in to enjoy my sundae. As we wrapped up the meal, the mister was at the top and I had his dinner, hot from the oven, ready to take back to our room.

Almost to the top!

Chris finishing his R2R2R adventure

The next morning we grabbed one last meal at the Bright Angel Lodge and then began our return to civilization. Our first stop was at Walnut Canyon National Monument, just outside of Flagstaff. It is a small canyon, but incredibly impressive and historic with the remnants of cliff dwellings all around. We stretched our legs by climbing around in yet another canyon and enjoyed the breathtaking views. Upon completing our visit there, we stopped in Winslow, Arizona for lunch and to check out The Eagles landmark.

Walnut Canyon 

At Standing on a Corner (in Winslow Arizona)

One might think that this is where our adventures ended, but no. They continued once we got back into Gallup. On Thanksgiving we worked up an appetite by running in a Turkey Trot and then climbing Pyramid Rock. Then we had a traditional New Mexican enchilada dinner (it was the easies thing to do and accommodate gluten-free and vegetarian diets). More games followed before digging into our garbanzo bean and black bean brownie sundaes. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day.

Mom and Dad made it to the top of Pyramid (even with snow, ice, mud, and slippery junk)

Dad's gluten-free vegetarian Thanksgiving (and he was FULL after!)

On Friday, we drove south and visited El Morro National Monument in Ramah. This historic landmark holds the inscriptions of those who passed through the area once upon a time. We were also able to check out some of the Puebloan structures that have been being excavated. We followed our hike up with delicious eats at the Ancient Way Cafe - another place that I highly recommend trying out if you are ever in the area. Everything is phenomenal. On the way home we stopped in Zuni where mom did her Black Friday Shopping (for herself - you can't pass up the amazing deals that she got on some pottery). Then we returned home for some more game time (no, not football, board games).

Checking out El Morro National Monument

On Saturday, mom and dad were scheduled to leave town in the afternoon, which meant that we had time to squeeze in one more hike! We went out to the High Desert and hiked through some amazing freezing fog. Everything was crystalized and beautiful. We enjoyed the quite morning surrounded by nothing but nature. That was heavily contrasted later on when we went to the flea market, but that is what Gallup is. A mix of serenity and crazy. We got both in just a few short hours. One more meal, and then we had to say our good-byes. 

One of the beautiful aspects of hiking in frozen fog

It was a whirlwind of non-stop adventure, and I wouldn't change it for anything. I am so fortunate to have crazy adventuring parents that will go out and squeeze the most out of every day when we only get to see each other about once a year. Granted, after they left I think we all had to take some serious naps, but it was worth it!

thirteenth schmirteenth

While I have never been much for superstitions, today the Friday the Thirteenth superstitions were crushed to smithereens. It all started with the mister shouting out at six this morning that we were on a two-hour delay. I had already gotten my workout in and was in the midst of getting ready for the day, so I progressed as I would on any other day.

I got to school with two and a half hours of sweet silence to myself. I finished lesson plans for next week, I prepped the classroom for next week, I made a new batch of salt dough to replace ornaments from yesterday that had been too wet and therefore broke when they were taken off of their plates, I revised our daily schedule to fit the late start, and I found time to start writing out lesson plans for the week following Christmas vacation. It was busy, I was running around like crazy, but came away feeling very accomplished.

My kinders showed up bright-eyed and bushy tailed and full of energy. After a sugary breakfast of syrup-infused waffles and saying the pledge we jumped right into learning. Our morning circle went off without a problem and the kiddos read the morning message without any help from me (they're good, I tell you)! We moved on to a quick review of the week with sounding out CVC words and going over our comprehension skill for the week - drawing conclusions. We moved right on to our weekly assessment and all of my little learners earned a 100% on their work! Yay! We cheered and everyone got a sticker for their hard work this week.

From there we moved right into a math review so that we could tackle the math assessment before lunch. We had big holiday plans for the afternoon, so we wanted to get the hard stuff done right away. We reviewed making and taking apart numbers four through ten and everyone was on their A-game. Each person was called on to give examples for different numbers and they were given guidance when needed. With all of my kinders showing off their smarts, we squeezed in the assessment right before lunch and were able to give ourselves another cheer when once again everyone passed with flying colors (there was one 94%, the rest earned 100%)! Stickers were awarded and we lined up for lunch.

When my class returned we worked on creating pony bead ornaments for them to take home. Wreaths and candy canes took up the majority of our afternoon. While the kinders were hard at work I pulled them for individual assessments in reading. Once again they did great. My lower leveled students are showing some growth and overall twelve of the sixteen that have been here this week scored 80% or better! I'm in heaven today. What can I say. To reward my kiddos they all received a roll of Smarties for being such smartie pants today.

To top things off, all of my students were picked up in a timely manner. I'm almost afraid to leave school for fear that my magical bubble of goodness will burst. But, as I mentioned, I'm not really one for superstitions. Off to my magical crafting world to knock out some of those looming Christmas gifts!

Some of today's ornaments

Our classroom tree!

who was that man

First off, this is the time of year when things are in go, go, go mode. In teaching, in personal life, even in my sleep I feel like I'm making plans for the holidays. Therefore, there is not a whole lot of blogging going on. It will return on a regular basis in the new year for sure. As for now though, I am busy planning, crafting, and trying to make some sense of the little bit of free time that I happen to find (which really is practically nonexistent - therefore, life doesn't make much sense right now).

This afternoon, during our math intervention time a random man walked into my classroom and poked around a little bit and then left. We have had so many people in and out of our building lately, and it's the time of year for observations and walk throughs, so I didn't think much about it. Then, after students were dismissed, I learned that the man doing walk throughs was our new superintendent. I can say, my assistant was observed. I was not. I was overlooked as I was working with my small group (extra small today due to absences). I'm not sure what he was looking for, but I hope he found it.

While my assistant was observed, I learned from other teachers that they had interesting happenings while the superintendent was in the building as well. One, who was free from teaching duties for a couple of minutes took a dying plant out to her car so that it could be given special care at home. As she hurried to take care of her errand she ran right into him. Oops! Another asked him who he was and told him that he was there for cleanup and wasn't going to see much. Then one of her students walked up to him and said, "Who are you?" in the manner that only little kids can. Sounds like a good afternoon was had by all!

In other news, my kinders are still saying incredible cute things. Today, while waiting for parents to pick them up, one of my students and his sister were simultaneously talking about spinach and singing Christmas carols. One exciting verse, sung to the tune of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was 

"Popeye the sailor man, had a very shiny nose."

I started laughing at that and missed the rest. Love them! 

 

testing and snow

We returned to school on Monday and in the afternoon at professional development we learned that we had to do our next round of standardized testing. Our testing period is over next Wednesday, but as a grade level we decided to schedule our testing days for yesterday and today. Since my kinders are rock stars, we had perfect attendance yesterday and today. That means I am done. No make ups to do. Tests are turned in. Check!

To top off the excitement of finishing up testing, it started snowing this afternoon! And the ground was covered when we released students. They were so excited when we went out to wait for rides. They were running around, catching snowflakes on their tongues, laughing as snowflakes settled on their eyelashes, and of course making the occasional snowball even though it was explicitly stated that students were not to make snowballs upon dismissal. The joys of being in kindergarten. Actually, the joys of snow. I don't think it matters how young or old you are, if you enjoy the snow it is always an exciting experience to stand out and watch the flakes fall around you.

Now it's time to play the "What will tomorrow bring?" game. Will we have a normal school day? A two-hour delay? A snow day? Only time will tell.

welcome back

Today we returned to school from our week-long Thanksgiving holiday. It was a fantastic break. My parents came to town and we galavanted all over the southwest. I'll write more on that later though, when I have time to organize all of those happenings in my mind so that they can make sense to others.

This morning during sharing time we talked about what we did over Thanksgiving break. When it was my turn to share I was able to squeeze out an, "Over Thanksgiving break, I..." before my kinders shared with me just how well they have gotten to know me this year. They shouted out:

"went running!"

"made presents!"

"put up your Christmas tree!"

"decorated your Christmas tree!"

They've been listening, that's for sure! I also shared with them that I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then had to climb all of the way back out. They got pretty excited about that, until someone reminded them of sharing limits and said that we had to listen to our next friend share. They're just precious. I'm glad to be back with them - even if it was only for a half day.

Beyond sharing time, here is a peek at our math centers from today:

Everyone hard at work, figuring out different ways to make 4 & 5.