one more summer adventure

Just when we thought Summer was coming to an end, the start of school was delayed.  And just when we were preparing for a couple more weeks of boring summer activities ("we want school! we want school!"), an opportunity for one more roadtrip popped up...

 

"are we there yet?"

 

...to White Sands!

 

 

to see these folks:

NOW aren't you glad that school hasn't started yet?

 

Our girls have been penpals with these girls for a few years but have never met each other before.  Well, not since infancy, anyway...  And, the Livos brought their cousins, too!  Their five cousins, so there would be 9 others besides my three.  And their auntie and mommy and grandma.  All sixteen of us in two hotel rooms.  (Okay, three.  We weren't feeling quite that adventurous...)

We were having so much fun at the Sands that we stayed until dark.  And then a little later... We had grilled steaks and corn and queso and watermelon deliciousness.

...and then we woke up the next day ready to play and play and swim and play some more.

 

there is so much happening in this photo...where to begin...?

 



L. with a black eye, and rabbit ears.  Ha.

 

And that is what you can do in 30hrs with 16 folks, 3 vehicles, 97 degrees in the shade and only one use of the jumper cables.  I'll tell you what, those Hanna/Livos know how to pack in the fun.



Summer Report (Part III): at home

other stuff we did this summer...

we won the softball championship!

we worked on the yard

we watched the parade:

(Navajo Code Talkers)

we went hiking



we taught an art class ("How to Draw Nibbles [the Hamster]")

we wrote and performed plays

we cheered on some of our mountain biker friends at the National Championships:

(a smoothie-maker bike--see the back?)

 

 

 

and we (finally!) finished the backyard project:



(for those of you who do not live in the desert, let me explain that turf and rocks just plain make sense around here.  that said, I would like to get some lavender bushes and spanish broom in here, and some ivy along the fences, too.  Maybe next year, unless we move to the tropics or something)

...and now we can actually play in it!  

 

side yard:

tada!

We have been eating most of our evening meals out there on the new lawn.  It is so pleasant now that it isn't all mud and burrs...

okay, no we did not do this whole job without outside help. but yes,
we are so proud and happy about how it turned out.

 

Summer Report (Part II): ReOnion

 

Emerald Isle, NC

 

 



Great-Grandpa in the pool!

 

 

 

 

those -Roc guys:

 

the mandatory grandkids shot:

 

the mandatory fuss during the mandatory kids' shot:

 

 

dance parties in the dark with glow sticks:

 

best ReOnion EVER.

Summer Report (part I)

My friend Jeannette came all the way from Egypt/Princeton, NJ to visit and I showed her some of the local sights and colors of our area.

 

I took her to see some of the pawn shops and jewelers downtown and she managed to find an Arab vendor and talked Middle Eastern politics with him for awhile. 

 

Then we went to the International Folk Art Festival and she immediately became chummy with some fellow Arab women from Palestine (their textiles are beautiful!!):

 

 

We had one of those road trips where everything went smoothly and we found parking right away and the hotel room was lovely and the restaurants were affordable AND delicious, and we even had time to visit a couple of museums.  How simple and easy everything was came to us especially meaningfully when twice we averted serious disaster: once on the highway when the car in front of us blew a tire at 80mph and bounced into the air but landed without any greater drama.  The second time was when, in the old plaza in downtown Santa Fe, we were admiring a parade of classic cars and had just stepped away when lightning hit the tree we had been standing close to and shot off bits of bark large enough to send several people to the ER.  Our ears rang from the noise for quite awhile afterwards.



Amina from Morocco



summer monsoon skies

Back to School

 A couple weeks' in and they are still smiling.  This school is great.