Holiday Greetings 2010

Wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas this year. Enjoy this scrapblog that starts from when Nicole was 4 months old through this year at 12 years old and in 7th grade.

Castles n Coasters Fun

As a reward for earning the highest AZAC test grade in the 7th grade, Nicole wanted to go to Castles n Coasters. Her two friends, Madison and Emma joined us. There were absolutely no lines the day after Thanksgiving and they had a BLAST!

The Beauty and the Geek

Nicole's school hosted a Beauty and the Geek dance for the 7th and 8th graders. The girls WERE suppose to be the beauties as Nicole and Emma are in the cover photo, but as you can tell, some of them chose to be Geeks (glasses with band-aids). There was a DJ, dancing, and photo opportunity. She had lots of fun. Many THANKS to those teachers that helped out and volunteered their time on a Friday evening.

Nicole's 7th Grade School Photo, Age 12

Horseback Riding

Today was a picture-perfect Fall Day to go horseback riding. Weather was a crisp low 70s in the late afternoon. Nicole and I used our Groupon Special and was anxiously awaiting for this 2 hour trail ride. We caught the end of the sunset as we were returning to the coral. I hate to admit it, but my ankles and knees were sore towards the end of the ride. I thought about my Dad the entire time on how this is the life he wished he would've lived, out in the country amongst horses, just being a cowboy. Got choked up and knew he was with me in my heart.

Volleyball Banquet

Nicole's school, Lake Pleasant, held an Awards Banquet Ceremony to acknowledge the football and volleyball players. The two coaches, two football Moms and I, helped put it together. I created the program handout. The food was catered by Rosati's. It was a spectacular evening.

Sarah Parsons, a Senior from Mountain Ridge High School,who played volleyball, delivered a speech about high school expectations and college. Her background, education, and college interests, really hit home with Nicole and Sarah is an excellent role model for Nicole. I received flowers and a gift from Coach Orr and tons of thank yous from the players and parents. Nicole received 1 of 4 special awards that the team players voted on. Nicole's was "Up and Above" Award for going above and beyond her city training, school training, attending various high school playoff games and being the first to further her skills in club. She was THRILLED and was extremely surprised!

Congratulations to the entire volleyball team for stepping it up this year. They really worked hard under Coach Orr's guidance and Coach Orr made it fun for them while they strengthened their skills. She gave each player a Team Photo and DVD that I made of their games. To be added later in a link.

Club Volleyball

Nicole is going on her 4th year of playing volleyball. She is now ready for a "club" volleyball league. I'm still going through withdrawals not coaching this Fall season while she was on the school league. I toyed with the idea of coaching a team without Nicole, but there were too many conflicts with practice dates. Nicole and 5 of her friends got divided out. Three went on one team, three on another. This is going to be a crazy ride, but after the first practice session, I knew we made the right decision. Her coaches are highly qualified and have won state championships coaching High School teams. I also learned more for myself, for the next time I DO coach. Here is a video clip of her at tryouts with 4 of her friends from our City league. She is wearing the neon yellow t-shirt and makes the last set on the video.

A Week full of Surprises!

I love Surprises. I ESPECIALLY like to be the giver of the surprises. My stomach gets all fluttery as the event approaches in anticipation. On Oct. 20th, my Mom flew in to AZ from Michigan. I knew she was coming, but Nicole didn't.

We arranged it so my Mom could see Nicole's last volleyball game and just be there on the bench when she walked in. When Nicole walked into the gym with her team, she glanced over and saw me, but it didn't register that my Mom was sitting next to me. So me and my Mom walked over (me with camera in hand) to Nicole as she was practicing her serves. I apologize for the shaky camera as I had tears in my eyes as I was filming. You can see the shocked look on Nicole's face when she turns around and sees my Mom. Unfortunately, Nicole damaged her knee earlier in the week from an unrelated event and didn't play that game. My Mom did get to see her in a tournament that Saturday and Nicole did great serving some Ace serves.

The next day, the school had another surprise for Nicole. The school emailed me earlier in the week that Nicole was going to be one of their Silver Star Quarterly Award Winners. It was a surprise for all the kids that earned the award. Nicole thought she was just going to an honor roll assembly. But when she walked into the gym and saw me, she knew something was up. You can see her giggling in the video, but not because of the award. Bruno Mars was on the loudspeaker and her friend, Emma, was thrilled, thinking the school played the song especially for her LOL. Nicole's school does an excellent job recognizing their students. I brought Nicole flower and cookies to share with her class.

It was so nice to have my Mom here in Arizona helping me celebrate my Birthday. She helped me out so much while she was here, even painting my patio furniture to spruce it up. THANKS MOM! LOVE YOU!

Halloween 2010

Had a fun Halloween taking Nicole and her friends around the neighborhoods. Temperatures were comfortable! Visited several homes that were preparing hot dogs and desserts for the kids.

Jump Street Fun

This is what kids in Arizona do when the temperatures soar above 100 degrees. This venue, called Jump Street, is air conditioned and wall to wall trampolines. The trampolines even go up a portion of the wall. If you get tired of watching the jumping, fast forward to the end to see the foam pit. Oh, if my body was as flexible as these kids or a Gumby doll, I would've been right in there with them.

Lake Pleasant Silver Hawks

Nicole's school volleyball team has been practicing hard over the past few weeks and I've seen dramatic improvement in their skills since last year. Tonight is their first game. GO SILVER HAWKS!

Nicole trying to contain her excitement

School Volleyball Tryouts Results

Nicole as she returns from finding out she made her school's volleyball team. Congrats Nicole on two years in a row!

Happy 12th Birthday Nicole!

It's taken me a whole week to recover and catch up on my sleep since Nicole's Birthday party, hence the delay with this post. We started out with 7 girls going to Rio Vista's rock wall. Ate pizza. Then we played Walleyball. NOPE, that's not a misspelling. Walleyball is played inside a racquetball court, similiar to volleyball. A rubber ball is used like to a playground kid's ball. But it is a much faster game. Instead of the ball going out of bounds, when it hits a wall, it's back in play. Much of the skill is anticipating where the ball is going to go after it hits the wall. The girls had a blast!

Then it was back to our house for my famous homemade faux "Sanders" bumpy cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and top your own ice cream. Nicole was spoiled with all her presents. The girls sang and played and giggled until 2 am in the morning. I had planned on making pancakes the next morning, but the Birthday Girl asked if I could make a run to get Krispy Kreme donuts. YUM, I couldn't turn down that offer. All in all, it was a great day for Nicole celebrating with friends. Thank you to everyone who sent facebook greetings, cards, and gifts. She really appreciated it!

Leadership Training Program

Click here for Facebook link for photos.

Nicole along with 15 other 7th and 8th grade Lake Pleasant students were invited to attend a Leadership training program with selected Senior athletes from Liberty High School today. They broke out into groups with the Seniors and learned how to create an athletic Motto and Mission Statement. They will bring these skills back and apply the same program to their school.

Hawaiian Luau

Did I ever mention that I absolutely LOVE our planned community, Vistancia? Last night we attended a Hawaiian Luau, complete with appetizers, sorbet, leis, hula hoop contest, limbo, and Polynesian Entertainment from New Zealand. AND it was ALL FREE! It was so exciting being up close to the dancers and the music.

First Day of 7th Grade

Today was Nicole's first day of 7th grade at Lake Pleasant. She didn't have as much apprehension or anxiety as in previous years and things ran smoothly. She had a great day and loved her class assignments and seeing her friends. She even got selected as one of the few athletes to attend a Leadership training program at the high school. Congrats Nicole!

San Diego

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071643&id=1182404179&l=66d1aa7151
[Click link to see San Diego Photos]

As we approached the end of summer, we decided we all needed an inexpensive, nearby, get away before school started back up. We decided to drive to San Diego for a few days. When we left Phoenix, it was 111 degrees. When we arrived in Ocean Beach, it was 70 degrees. BIG difference. Nicole was brave enough to go in the water. I still had my capris and a sweater on.

The first day was exciting watching the junior olympic beach volleyball players. It was so different watching a 2 person team versus what Nicole is use to playing with 6 players on the court. The next day we met up with Becke's family on Mission Beach. A little too much sea weed for me, but Nicole enjoyed boogie boarding. We headed to Coronado beach the third day, which was extremely clean. I didn't care for the drive over the bridge. Our last day we headed back to Mission beach to catch the evening sunrise.

Following are our restaurant recommendations: The Pizza Port in Ocean Beach - excellent pizza for only $2.25 per slice; Tasty Burgers at Pacific Beach Bar & Grill; Authentic Tacos at Jose's in LaJolla; Creamy Pesto Genovese Pasta at Buon Appetito in Little Italy; fish & patty melt was average at McP's on Coronado Island; Top Notch dinner at Phil's BBQ in San Diego, the Price was right too, but be prepared, there is always a wait!

Heartbreakers Video

This is the video I created for each of the players with footage from Coach Brenda's photos, Lori's video, and Sonya's Grandpa's photos. Enjoy!
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The Heartbreakers Close out the Volleyball Season

Our volleyball team, The Heartbreakers, closed out the season last night. We won the first game, the opponents won the second. The third game was a nail biter. We would be ahead 1 point, then a tie, then they would be ahead 1 point. It was like that the entire game. We lost by 2 points, but it was so exciting.

Afterwards, we had our trophy presentations at McDonald's with ice cream treats. Coach Brenda took the AWESOME team photo displayed here. She is so creative and continously sets the bar higher each year. I made the edible photo cookies.

A picnic lunch at Lake Pleasant

We decided to finish off this enjoyable holiday weekend with a picnic lunch at Lake Pleasant. Unfortunately, even though Max is a Labrador Retriever full bred, he doesn't appear to have a fondness for the water like our prior Lab, Brenna. He would only go in the water up to his elbows. He was much more interested in all the yummy food leftovers laying on the beach (e.g. chicken bones, old hot dogs, crusts, etc). Nicole and Dan had some fun cooling off in the Lake. To my Michigander families and friends, Lake Pleasant doesn't even come close to Torch Lake.

We had a BLAST, Literally!

This year we decided to brave the crowds and attend the fireworks up close and personal. What a Blast we had! We went to the Peoria Sports Complex, only 15 minutes from our house. Had a brief delay entering one parking lot, and we had to be rerouted from since it was full. What a bonus, we parked only 10 spaces from the entrance in the second parking lot.

We brought our own food and beverages. We missed the Luke Airforce fly over by only 5 minutes, so I know better for next year. Bucky Covington from American Idol fame entertained us. He and his band were pretty darn good. The fireworks lasted approx 15 minutes and was well worth it. It was intense, being so close to the sound effects. No problems exiting the parking lot, it was a smooth transition. We're already making plans for next year.

Happy 4th of July

Phoenix Volleyball Festival

As you know I coach Nicole's city volleyball team for 11-12 year olds. Occasionally, Nicole has taken some side training classes through a local competitive club called "Club Zia". Last week, Eric of Club Zia and Marketing Director for the AZ Region Volleyball gave a "shout out" to us coaches and invited us to participate in a demonstration drill at the Phoenix Volleyball Festival in downtown Phoenix, AZ. The Phx Volleyball Festival runs an entire week and is one of the largest volleyball events in the United States.

Eric asked us to bring a handful of players to demonstrate a drill called a "mini-tourney" or "Mini volleyball". Basically, one or two volleyball courts are turned on its side and a rope is strung along the top. So one volleyball court now becomes 4 mini courts and two volleyball courts become 8 mini courts. The objective of the training is to have players play 3 on 3 and allow them to touch the ball as often as possible. The demonstration was to encourage other school leagues and clubs visiting the festival to incorporate this drill into their practices.

I along with Coach Brenda brought our kids and friends: Nicole, Izzy, Delaney, Brittlen, Caroline, and Gavin to demonstrate this drill for a straight two hours, along with some other players. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to watch the club leagues compete. AZ Desert Storm is an 18 year old club team, one of the top in Arizona, and you can see a bit of their game at the end of the slide show. I do encourage you to stick through the short video for their outstanding play.

Slide Rock State Park

Had some refreshing fun today at Slide Rock State Park. It was 10 degrees cooler(95) there. We had to wait about 40 minutes to get in the parking lot. But it was well worth it. As Nicole was walking along a rock shelf, her hand came within 2 feet of an Arizona King Snake that crawled out of a hole. He wasn't as interested in Nicole as he was in the little mouse that was running ahead of him. Nicole got the heck out of there.

Later ate dinner at the Oak Creek Brewery. Portions were huge. Quality of food was exceptional! And the hot soft pretzels with melted swiss cheese fondue was out of this world. I could've made a meal out of that alone!

Rio Vista Summer Volleyball Camp

Nicole and her friends, Delaney, Izzy, and Caroline signed up for a 2 week volleyball camp that prepares them for school try outs.

The Heartbreakers - Summer Volleyball League

We're midway through the summer volleyball season with Nicole's 11-12 year old team. These players have put in a ton of effort and it shows. Each week the players keep breaking their own historical records on their game wins, successful passes, sets, hits, serves and team challenges. Approximately 90% of the players are now serving overhand and they are breaking out of the box by doing attacks and performing 3-touch rallies. This is just a few photos. More photos and videos to come as the season finishes up.

SkyDiver

Madison and Nicole coming down on the Sky Diver

Castles N Coasters Fun

Nicole, Madison, and Jennifer riding the Desert Storm ...The brave ones!

Castles N Coasters Fun

Nicole and Madison have been bugging Jennifer and I since their school field trip to Castles N Coasters to take another visit there. Today it was cool enough (95) to do so. We had a blast. Not many rides, but barely any lines to wait in.

More Birthday Bowling Photos

Kayleigh's Birthday

Celebrating Kayleigh's Birthday bowling

Memorial Day 2010

Lots of catching up to do. Enjoyed Memorial Day for a BBQ with friends Stratmans and Daragos and pooltime with the kids.

Zia Training Team 2010

This is an AWESOME Video clip of Nicole's 8 week Zia Training Volleyball Class. In the indoor court, she is wearing a red T-shirt with a white "2" on the back. On the Sandcourt, she is at the 1:34 min. mark wearing a grey t-shirt with black shorts and she is preparing to do a Hit.

USA Volleyball Championships

I took Nicole and Madison to the USA Volleyball Championships today in downtown Phoenix. There were all ages groups of both men and women. Very inspiring.

The Sidaways Farewell

When we moved into our home four years ago, we were the first ones to move in on our street. We've had some major turnover in the past 9 months. Three houses went up for sale directly across the street, 1 next door, and 1 one house down. At this rate, we may be the last to leave.

Recently, the Sidaways (Kristin, Brian, Ashley, and Katelyn) are one of those families that have made the difficult decision to relocate and move back closer to their roots and parents. Kristin has been instrumental in bringing our neighborhood together. She has introduced so many of us to each other. TRUST me, when I say, Kristin knows EVERYONE!

But not only that, Kristin and her family have become our family in Arizona. We've celebrated holidays together, attended each other's school and sports events and are always sharing meals back and forth. Who would've ever thought I would come to LOVE jambalaya or rice and beans? We've shared each other's tears and been each other's shoulders to cry on. But more than that, we've had a TON of FUN and OH so many LAUGHS. Everything we did together was as a family and included the kids. Nicole, Ashley and Katelyn play well together and we always learned new family oriented games. It took me 48 years to learn how to play dominoes. I also learned Skip-Bo and Bunco; while the Sidaways learned Tripoley (aka Michigan Rummy), Put and Take and spoons.

The Sidaways have made our transition from Michigan so much easier with their friendship and we will miss them terribly when they relocate to Mandeville Louisiana. We wish them ALL the Best with their new Adventure in Life.

When we moved to Arizona, four years ago, we met the Robinsons on Meet The Teacher night. Emma became Nicole's first friend and BFF. Now the Robinsons are moving to Las Vegas.

In the past few months, Nicole has spent hours going through our photo folders and consolidating all the pictures of Emma over the past four years. There was more than 200 photos, so she gave Emma two photo albums, a DVD slideshow, and a photo pillowcase as her going away gifts. In addition, Emma had a going away pool party with some of her friends. Bye Emma, we're going to truly miss your sense of humor and for ALWAYS making us laugh!

Principal's Award

Nicole came home with a Principal's Award. Apparently, this is a high honor since only her and another student in her class received this. It is for carrying a 4.0 grade point average all year long. In addition, she was thrilled to test out to attend the higher math (pre-algebra) classes next year (hmmmm, she's her daddy's daughter). WAY TO GO NICOLE!

Rattlesnake

Our friends took us on a golf cart ride to see this rattlesnake hiding under a bush.

Vistancia Spring Choir Concert May 2010

Even though Nicole doesn't attend Vistancia Elementary anymore, most of her friends still do. We always support her friends by attending their performances as well as our own, so we have a full schedule come the end of the year

Jake's Communion

Lake Pleasant Band Concert

Vegas for Mother's Day

Choir Concert

As the school year ends

After recovering from kidney stone surgery, the last week and one half has been a whirlwind of activities, especially with school events. Nicole had her Spring Concert on Thursday May 6th.

Two days later we were in Vegas meeting my Mother in law and Dan's Aunt from Michigan for Mother's Day. So sad it just wasn't enough time to spend with them.

Tuesday, May 11th we attended Nicole's Band Concert. Make sure you watch the drumline at the 2 min 45 sec. mark. This is the 7th/8th Grade Advanced Band. One of the drummers choreographed the drum routine. AWESOME! What I didn't get on video was a surprise acrobatic dance by that same drummer as he was dressed as Michael Jackson to the tune of Thriller. Nicole is so excited for these new songs she will learn next year in 7th grade.

Lastly, our friend, Erin's son, Jake, had his first communion today. He looked so dapper. I'm so excited as we head into Summer volleyball season. I attended a 3 hour training clinic today and am already starting to feel sore. A good sore, though. I hope to get more volleyball photos of the players this season. Enjoy!

Not so much fun :(

This week I had two kidney stones removed from my left kidney. One of the stones was 2.5cmm so it was WAY too big to pass through. The actual procedure is called a percutaneous nephrostomy. Monday, the radiologist placed two tubes directly into my kidney and I had a mild sedative "twilight" so I was awake. Stayed overnight. Yesterday, was the actual surgery and went under anesthesia. The urologist widens the passageway, blasts the stones in pieces and sucks them out with a vacuum. I came home today with a leg bag for drainage which will be on for a week. This photo above is only a 1.5cm fragment of one of the stones that the Doctor gave to Dan as a souvenir.

Rock Wall Climbing

On Saturday, I took Nicole and Madison Rock Wall Climbing at Rio Vista. They had a blast and their muscles were so sore from the workout.

Horseback Riding Video

Horseback Riding

Nicole's friend, Madison, invited her to visit a family friend's ranch to ride their rescued horses. Notice, there are no saddles or stirups. Next time they are going on a trail ride. Needless to say, Nicole has inherited her Papa Joe's (my Dad) LOVE of horses and country. She was absolutely thrilled and was non-stop chatting about it all evening. I'll have to dig up some old movie footage when my Dad was a young man and he would trick ride on the horses by standing on their back and swinging his body from side to side.

Band Performance At LP Arts in the Parks

Lake Pleasant Arts in the Parks

Tuesday, the 20th, Nicole's school hosted their Arts in the Parks. Again, we were entertained by the band and choir. Nicole and her friend, Madison, had their Japan Travel Poster on display and the third graders entertained us with their square dance.

Band Performance at PUSD Arts Festival

This Band combines both Nicole's school, Lake Pleasant Elementary, and her former school, Vistancia. Nicole is at the bottom left playing clarinet.

PUSD District Arts Festival

I just noticed I haven't posted since Easter. As we approach Summer, our calendars begin to fill up with school, family, work, sports, and community events. Add to that, my computer has reached it's hard drive capacity, so I've been unable to create slideshows.

On Saturday, the 17th, Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) held its annual Arts Festival at The Peoria Sports Complex. All the Peoria schools participated with their Artwork, Choir and Band Performances. Nicole is in both Band and Choir and Mrs. Carlson and Ms. Comber, respectively, do an excellent job!

More Easter Fun

Easter 2010

Had a wonderful Easter with Great Friends and Food! Nicole started the day solving clues hidden in eggs that lead to her Easter Basket which was in the laundry dryer. Good thing I didn't have to use the dryer or there would've been hot chocolate instead. Attended CCV's Service with The Sidaway Family. Pastor Don delivered an inspiring message about being Fearless.

After the service, the smell was overwhelming coming off of CCV's outdoor grill. So we ate an impromptu lunch, and relaxed while the girls, literally had a BALL. Came home and Dan and I cooked together in the kitchen. Dinner menu came out awesome. I have to admit, it wasn't a very traditional "Easter" menu. Spinach salad, asparagus w/hollandaise sauce, roasted garlic mash potatoes, bow tie pasta w/alfredo sauce, chicken pomadoro, rolls, carrot cake, and pecan Pie (thanks for the yummy treats Kristin:)

Afterwards, taught the kids and grownups how to play the card game "spoons". It was the girls' idea to use plastic eggs instead of spoons and to spell the words "Happy Easter" for each letter that you lose the round with. We had lots and lots of giggles during this game.

I truly feel Blessed!

Happy Easter to All!

Quarterly Lake Pleasant Silver Hawk Awards

A Mother's Bragging Rights:
Last week, Nicole's principal sent a letter home to certain parents. The letter was asking us to attend an assembly for yesterday, April 1st, for those students that have been nominated by the teacher for the Quarter for showing Excellent Effort, Character, Improvement, and Citizenship. This was a surprise, as those students that were nominated did not find out until their names were called during the assembly. Unfortunately, I was out of town in Los Angeles for work and couldn't attend. Dan was able to go and took the following video. On top of that, Nicole received an Honor Roll Certificate for her 4.0 grade point average. She is still able to pull that grade even though she tutors 2 students during her math period and arrives 15-20 min. late in math because of tutoring. WAY TO GO NICOLE! Mom and Dad are so proud of your accomplishments!

Spring Break in Vegas

Since our friends, The Robinsons, are relocating to Las Vegas, we decided to take a trip out there for Nicole's Spring Break. Keep in mind, the last time Dan and I had visited, was 13 years ago, before Nicole was born. I did quite a bit of research beforehand to ensure this was a "family friendly" vacation. However, the city still has its vagrants, and x-rated trash lining the street. There is absolutely no way to avoid it. It didn't help that we arrived on St. Patrick's Day and it was also March Madness week. Following was our agenda and recommendations should you also decide to take a trip out there.

Wed - Met up with the Robinsons for some St. Patty's Day Cheer. Ate at the Flavor Buffet at Harrahs. Quality of food was excellent and hot, priced on the high end at $22 per person. Chocolate fountain and gelato station caught my attention. Madame Tusseau's Wax museum - Some of these actors looked so real, especially their eyes and teeth, that sometimes I would almost think it was a real person and they were going to move and scare me. Mirage Volcano - Free on the Hour. Caesar Forum Shops to see the live statute show and aquarium (Free) near the Cheesecake Factory. Bellagio Water Fountain Display - Free every 15 min. Truly inspiring with the "america" music that accompanied it.

Thurs - Roller Coaster at New York New York, Scirrico's Pizza at NY NY for lunch. Great choice! Excalibur Arcade - ask the concierge or security guys for coupons beforehand. M&M's World - BIGGEST RIPOFF EVER. Didn't know the price was $13 per pound!!! Dropped $47 on M&M's that would've cost me $8 in a grocery store. So much for my "couponsense" budget. Lounged at the MGM Pool with the Robinsons. Diablo's Mexican Rest. for dinner (just north of NYNY). Excellent guacamole.

Fri - Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel. A DEFINITE MUST DO! Ate lunch at Pink's. Great Dogs and Hamburgers. Got caught up in traffic on the way to Hoover Dam. Should've left earlier than 11am. This was my second visit, and I'm always in awe of these enormous Dam and how it got built. They are building a new bridge and highway to reroute congested traffic. I hope I NEVER have to cross this new bridge. You'll see the photos how high it is. Seafood Buffet at The Rio. Needed to drive there. Price was outrageous, but a concierge attendant was gracious enough to slip me $10 off coupons for each of us. Nicole went crazy over the crab legs. I preferred the dessert buffet. Toured the Luxor and Mandalay Bay to check out their amenities.

Sat - Shopping at the Las Vegas Outlet Mall. Then off to see the Robinsons Stunning house and backyard. Nicole slept over Emma's. Dan and I attended the Fab Four show of Beatles impersonators. We were 3rd row from the front. We really had a great time and the actors did a great job singing and playing the instruments. No lip-synching. Definately a must see. Then we ate at the 9 Irishmen in NY NY. Wasn't that good. We've had better food and prices at our local "Irish Wolfhound" in Surprise.

Sun - Time to go home.

What we didn't see or do that will be on the next trip's agenda: Gondola ride at Venetian, Secret Garden at Mirage, Amusement Rides at Circus Circus, Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.

Oh by the way, did you know that Vegas has gambling? Ha ha, all week long we didn't gamble. So on Saturday, while Dan and I were waiting for our dinner table, I put $6 in a blackjack slot machine. By the time our table was ready, I only lost $3. I told you this was a "family friendly" vacation.

Lake Pleasant Field Day

Boy...Field Days are not like they use to be when I was a kid. We had distance jumping and throwing etc. Yesterday, Nicole's school held its First Field Day for the 6th and 7th graders. The events lasted from 9 am - 3pm with a lunch break in between. I volunteered, but there were some awesome 5th Graders helping out, so I really ended up taking an hour of photos and video coverage. Nicole's class was called "The Purple Rhinos". Each class wore a different color shirt.

There were relay races, water ballon tosses, Dizzy Lizzy, and some other water sports. The weather was gorgeous and some of us got burned even though we had sunscreen on. The P.E. Teachers did a great job in planning. Thanks for a great day!

Dizzy Lizzy Relay

Check out the first kid in red. LOL!

Beach Ball Relay

Potato Sack Relay

Nicole is in the second lane from the right, on the return relay.

The Firecrackers go out with a BANG!

Today's Nicole's team, The Firecrackers, played their last volleyball game for the Winter Season. They went out with a bang! They exceeded ALL my team challenges. They played 14 successful rallies of 3-hits; 22 successful Sets; and 6 Attacks. Way to finish up the season TEAM! I'm very proud and honored to have been your Coach. I'm looking forward to doing it all over again this Summer :)

We also had a special surprise for Coach Brenda. Since this was the last week our team was together and her Birthday is next Saturday, I baked my famous faux Sander's Bumpy Cake and the Team sang Happy Birthday to her.

Nicole's First School Dance

Nicole attended her first school dance for 6th - 8th graders along with some friends. I wish I were a fly on the wall (or at least a chaperone). The event combined both her former school, Vistancia, with her new school Lake Pleasant. I liked that idea because both schools are in the same community and all the Lake Pleasant kids started at Vistancia three years ago together. I hope the schools continue combining big events.

When we arrived, we were surprised to see a policeman and his vehicle immediately outside the entrance. Geez, I suppose it was needed to ward off any nasty activity. We arrived 10 minutes early to pick her up and was able to capture some of the kids dancing. Unfortunately, I never caught Nicole dancing, she was just hanging around. Afterwards, she and 3 friends came back to the house for an hour for snacks and chat and played on the trampoline with their dresses on. I should've caught that on video :)

Nicole looked absolutely stunning. She is starting to grow up and it's just not fair.

Today's Hail Storm

Our weather was so unusual today. A hail storm one minute and, literally, the next sunshine!

Crown King

A week ago, the three of us decided to venture up to Crown King. Emma, Nicole's friend, raved about what a great place it was. She left off some important details though. It only took us about 30 minutes to reach the exit on I-17. But it took 2 hours of dirt road to get there. You can see how rugged the road is in some of these video clips. We didn't think it was going to be an all day trip.

This is a great destination for dirt bikes and quads. Which we didn't bring up. Good thing we had the Tahoe The town, itself, is nothing to write home about. Apparently, we didn't go the next 8 miles, past the town, where a scenic lake is. We stayed for about 15 minutes and headed back home. Thankfully, we found a new route and that dirt road was only 1 1/2 hours.

AZ Region Junior Girls Club Volleyball Championship

After Nicole's City league game today, her and I ventured down to Grand Canyon University on Cambelback west of I-17 to watch part of the AZ Region Junior Girls Club Volleyball Championship. The players at this location were 17 and 18 years old. If anyone is interested in getting their daughter inspired by the sport of volleyball or challenged to beef up their skills, take a field trip to one of these club events, it was truly amazing and awesome to watch.

Volleyball Team Photos

Today was Photo Day for our Volleyball Team, The Firecrackers. Since the players already have many of these collectible photos, Coach Brenda came up with a creative idea that was out of the norm. We all had a great time even though it was in the wee hours this morning. The Players played three awesome games taking two wins and missing one game by 3 points. Congratulations!

Game #1 The Firecrackers vs The Sparks

Nicole and her team, The Firecrackers, played their first volleyball game for the winter season. All three games were close in score and they won their second. They are pouring their heart and passion into this season and their hard work and effort really show! Good Luck Firecrackers!

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Dan's cousin, Tom, recently relocated to Arizona. Tom's Mom, Gerri, is visiting him for 3 months. Last night we were invited to Cave Creek's hot air balloon festival. The nighttime temperature was chilly. But we weren't out there very long and got to see the best of the best.

All the balloons were fully inflated by 7:30 p.m. Then minutes later, we witnessed four skydivers jumping out of a plane with pyrotechnics. It was so exciting. It's a must to mark on next year's calendar. I highly recommend the public parking and taking the shuttle bus to the Rancho Manana golf course. Trying to find a parking spot any closer was ridiculous. Here is the website for more information www.cavecreekballoonfestival.com

Rockhounding

Last weekend, our friends, Jamie and Michelle, invited us on a rockhounding excursion. They took us to an old Salt Mine in Camp Verde to collect Gauberite crystals. Here is a bit of history on the salt mine. We didn't find any arrowheads this time.

Aboriginal
(Salt Mine Road)
This large salt deposit off Salt Mine Road was first mined for profit by Western Chemical Company during the 1920s as an open-cut mine. In 1930, International Paper and Ameri-can Cyanamid formed Arizona Chemical to mine salt cake in Camp Verde. When purer materials surfaced in 1933, the mine was un-able to compete and closed.
Prehistoric use: Salt use from this source likely dates back to prehistoric times 2000 years ago during the Pueblo culture. In the 1920 and 1930s, miners revealed evidence of early Indian activity. The Spanish explorers recorded discovery of the salt mine, sometime be-tween 1583-1598. They might have even used Indian slaves to mine this mineral (speculation). Much later, salt

Trampoline Fun

Nicole and her friends having fun with her Christmas present from Santa.