Science Camp

It was Kaelyn's turn to go to science camp with the 6th grade this year. She was so excited while crossing her fingers there would be snow. She has returned bummed that her camera had run out of batteries but EXCITED because there was SNOW!!!! From the sounds of it there was quite a bit of snow on the ground with more snow fell Monday night when they got there. What a great experience this is... We are glad to have Kaelyn home!!!!

Next Stop..Powell & Lombard

While Marc and I were in San Francisco we had to ride the cable cars. They were a great way for us to get around being that we didn't rent a car.

Did you know; they have to replace the brakes on the cable cars every 3-4 days? There is a cable station along the paths of the cable cars. This is how it all works....these big wheels crank the cable along the track every day from 6am to midnight. Just a little info we found out.

Alcatraz

We took an audio once we got on the island. At least we weren't the only ones walking around wearing silly headphones like these. There are quite a few pictures here.... The outside yard you see was the "recreation yard" for the inmates. They didn't have a lot of room, but would go out and play ball there or read any mail they had received. There is a picture that shows the famous prisoners that were kept at Alcatraz.

There are a couple different pictures of the cells the inmates would live in. The picture with the double door was solitary confinement. There wasn't any light that would get to them. Some of the inmates would be in these cells up to 14 days. During the audio tour it would say how the dark would play tricks on thier minds. The other cell you can see down toward the floor where the escape attempt would made. There were 3 inmates that did this. They made fake heads to lay on the beds so when the guards would come around they wouldn't notice the inmates were missing. The holes in the wall would lead them to the utility hall where the inmates climbed the pipes to the roof.

Alcatraz also was the home of the first working lighthouse.

The room where Holly is sitting was the library in the jail.

To me, the most amazing thing that I cannot get over is how most of the guards lived on the island with their families. Obviously, there were little kids who would play around on the island while the inmates were kept in their cells. The children thought it was cool how they got to ride the boat across the ocean to go to school.

San Francisco...Alcatraz Cruise

I have decided I am going to need to categorize these pictures. There are so many to choose from :) This is the cruise we took out to the island of Alcatraz. What a beautiful city San Francisco is....

And Kaelyn turns 12....

We celebrated Kaelyn turning 12 last week (Jan 28th). Kaelyn had a party with her friends the week before her birthday that she has been planning for months. Kaelyn so badly wanted a sleepover party, however, the last time we had attempted one of those the night was a disaster. With hopes that the girls' had done a little growing up we planned a sleepover party. The night was a success filled with laughter and fun. No drama this year!!!! The morning of Kaelyn's birthday we found a fun surprise on our front door. In addition to the "birthday fairy" coming to decorate the room the young women fairy came and decorated our front door.

It's hard for me to believe my kids are getting this old. I keep thinking I remember thinking about these days when my kids were just babies running through the house with toy trucks and barbie dolls. Now they run through the house with headphones attached to their ears and screaming because they didn't know you were coming around the corner.

First Game Won!!!

Last week Desert Ridge Jr played Gilbert Jr in the most exciting game I have ever seen. Our boys (the Rattlers) came out strong and aggressive. Cameron was on fire that game...he ended with 5 steals, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 12 points!!!!!! The final score was 34-24. One of those proud moments and as a mom I couldn't quit smiling ear to ear :)

Go Cards!!!!

The Arizona Cardinals made the playoffs again this year. Somehow Marc is always able to find tickets to things. When I say find tickets I am not talking about tickets in the nose bleed section...I am talking about tickets in the lower level or even corporate suite. This game was no different. Marc got a call Saturday before the big game letting him know he had tickets to the Cardinals vs Greenbay Packer game and like all the other times he gets tickets (did I mention he gets them for free?) they were great seats. We could never purchase tickets for these games....Cameron would be disappointed and look at us cross eyed when he found out he would have to look through binoculars to even see the game. Cardinals won 51-45 leaving us with a house divided. Now the Cardinals play the New Orlean Saints whom Cameron LOVES!!!