Our First Ever Parent Teacher Conference

Last week we had our first ever parent teacher conference. Now if this would have been for Phi there would have been no anxiety. We would have went in expecting Phi's teacher to give high praise for our brilliant child! But this conference was for .....

Louie.....

our crazy one.

We walked into the classroom and Louie settled in.

Why so nervous Lou? 

We sat down with Louie's teacher, and the sub who has been teaching the class for a few weeks now since OG teach is out on maternity leave.

They offered us fresh fruit and cookies, which we declined. We chit-chatted with Louie's teacher. (She's a friend!) Then we got down to the nitty-gritty.

I held my breath expecting to hear how she is behind and to put together a game plan to catch her up before the end of the year. Remember Louie was homeschooled until this year and my expectations of my own child is WAY different than an actual teachers.

Turns our Louie is doing awesome. Words like exceptional and phenomenal where thrown around. Not only is she doing well, but she is showing improvements in all subjects and has mastered her 2nd grade math and reading requirements are moving on to 3rd grade math and reading.

Not only is she doing great in academics, she is also well-behaved and even helpful to her friends in class. Her teacher told a sweet story about when Louie's friend was in charge of calendar for the week. Calendar is when a student goes up in front of the class and tells the date, what the day was before, what the day is after, gives the weather and counts the class money and tells if the day is even or odd. (I would have been nervous too!)

See Louie had done calendar a few weeks earlier. The weekend before Louie's turn for calendar she was really nervous. She keep wanting to practice with us. After that Monday we asked Louie how calendar went and she loved it. So fast forward a few weeks later and it was Louie's friend turn. Her friend was nervous, so all on her own, Louie went up and helped her friend with the whole calendar job.

That's my girl.

This story made me so proud. Because of course I want my kids to do well academically, but more importantly I want them to be kind.

So all and all in was a great experience as far as parent teacher conferences go.

Louie with her 41+ week pregnant teacher.
Thank goodness she had the baby the next day! 

Right in Our Backyard: Palm Springs Botanical Gardens

Lots and lots of pictures... you have been warned... 

Exploring these gems near our house is so much fun. I have heard lots of cool things about the Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm Springs. More importantly I had seen a ton of very cool Instagram pics from this place.

We went one weekend, cameras and even selfie stick in hand. The place is not like your typical botanical garden. You are not going to find a huge variety of different types of flowers and plants. Instead you are going to see more types of cactus than you even knew existed!

Walking around the grounds almost feels like you have been transported to another planet.

Or maybe its like walking through a Dr. Seuss book.

And some of these are like no joke when it comes to needles.

There were parts where Louie exclaimed "Mom, it's like walking underwater".  Totally Louie. Totally.

And when you think you have seen every shade of green imaginable, you turn and a pop of purple.

Guys.... every corner is Insta-worthy.

As if the grounds are not enough, my absolute favorite part was the "Cactarium"

I could have spent all day in this place. There were plants that looked other worldly!

After they dragged me out of the Cactarium we continued on....

Much like my Grandma Rachel, Louie loves her a good Buddha statue.

This was one of my favorite ones. It almost looks alive!

Cactus graveyard....

My only advice would be, tie your shoelaces tight because this is not a place you want to take a fall. Imagine one of these piercing your skin. OUCH!

Of course towards the end of the trail they have a plant stand where you can purchase you own desert beauties! We took home 6. Let's see how long I can keep them alive. 

It took us maybe an hour to see the entire thing, but I could have easily spent hours looking through everything again.

It is a must see. I mean just go for the Instagram pics you'll get to post.

#doitforthegram

A Date with a Tramp Named Oline

We have never taken the kids to a trampoline park before. Scratch that. I took them once, but we only got as far as the front doors when they turned us away because they were full for the day.

Anyways, Phi and Louie had never been to a place like this. Mostly because they have never asked to go. Last month the girls were invited to their cousins birthday party at Sky Zone! I was interested to see how my very nonathletic, anti-normal-fun-kid-stuff kids would do.

These places are pretty insane. Wall climbing wall, dodge ball courts, basketball courts, a giant floor made of trampolines complete with trampoline walls!

It took them some time and a few laps around the place for the kids get into the groove of things. I am very happy to report that before we knew it they were diving into foam pits. 

It was such a fun birthday party! The girls had a blast! I took a ton of picture but they all look like this....

So I will spare you anymore! 

Wee Rebel Books

In this house, books rule. The kids know that I can't say no when they ask for books. We have shelves full of books that we have to weed through often to make room for new books. Lately we have been reading big books in the car. We have read Wonder, Rain of Gold and Coco and now we are reading A Wrinkle in Time.

So you can imagine how happy we were to receive 2 new books from John and Jana in the mail. The brilliant minds behind Wee Rebel Books. Books like ...

Happy Punks 123

and

A Rule is to Break

We ripped open the package to find two new gems.

First up...

When a sweet little gorilla wonders what the world would be like if seeds were planted all over the world. This cute little guy takes seeds and plants them in school grounds, telephone polls, business offices and in a short time the world starts to look a whole lot different. A great book and reminder that nature is beautiful and it only takes a little work for us to bring more nature into our concrete jungle world.

Book Number 2!

Now most parents tend to want kids who are obedient. But sometimes kids need to be a little resistant. This book plants the seed in kids heads, that even though they may be little, they still have a voice to stand up for what is right and fair. In this day and age kids cannot always count on the people in charge to be kind and do the right thing so kids can have a say in making things better for everyone around them. This book is filled with sweet illustrations and a powerful message that even little ones can start a revolution.

John and Jana, thanks for thinking of me and sending these 2 books my way. Now that my Louie is reading she can't wait to read these to her little cousin! 

Sunday in San Diego

A few Sunday's ago we headed our to North Park in San Diego. There is a super cute shop down there called Artlexia. This shop was having it's first annual Dia de los Muertos celebration so we wanted to check it all out. There were some great booths there, but it was a lot smaller than we expected. It only took us about an hour to see everything.

We walked North Park a little bit and then jumped back in the car and just let the day take us. We drove into Downtown San Diego. We drove around and checked out where the concert venue was and the hotel we are staying out for the NFG shows. We drove by Petco Park.

From there we headed to the Waterfront Park.

The day was gorgeous. We spent some time at the park and let the girls run around.

Then we walked across the street to the harbor. Lot of boats to see.

We got to see the USS Midway.

And I finally got to see "Unconditional Surrender".

After a nice long walk, we got back in the car and headed to Del Mar. We grabbed some dinner at Burger Lounge where they had the best lavander mint lemonade. I love these day trips that are so go with the flow. They usually take us to places we have never been and places that we might never plan on seeing.

Whitewater

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon we took Elwood and spent the day at the Whitewater Preserve. This gem of a place has been a quick 20 minutes away from us the whole time! We got there a little after noon and we just got in the gate. There is limited parking spaces and once it's full the gates are closed. The place has lots of picnic areas and because it was at one time a trout farm, they still have big ponds.

There are a few different hiking trails. One of them was closed because of high fire conditions. The other one had a few shorter trails and we opted for the short hike to the river.

It was a very quick little walk along a rock lined path. We ended up at the foothill and the Whitewater River. The kids quickly took off their socks and shoes and waded in. But not as quickly as Elwood who immediately laid down in the cool water.

That morning when we told the girls that we were going to the preserve to hike they both groaned and complained. Both are usually pretty anti-outside.

They both loved it. And Elwood was in heaven. So many new smells!

My handsome boys

It was such a gorgeous place. I think because I grew up in an orchard and by the ocean the desert is so different and beautiful. We can't wait to go back. This time with board shorts and rash guards and a picnic.