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Monday, November 25, 2013

Girl Scout Jamboree!

Each year the Girl Scouts have a big Jamboree where all the troops get together and have a day full of arts and crafts, nature etc… This event was HUGE and over 270 people attended (siblings and parents were welcome to join). I took the opportunity to score some one on one time with my favorite red head and we left everyone else at home (mainly because Audrey and I were going to spend the night!).  Here we are on the bus ride to the desert camp…. 

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When we arrived, the owner, Matar did a demonstration with the falcon – pretty expensive birds!

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Meanwhile, Audrey got a Henna design on her arm.   She loves getting henna at any and every opportunity… does this mean she is likely to want tattoos??? oh dear God, please don’t!!

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Here are the Girl Scouts climbing up a sand dune for a big group picture

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my apologies for the black dot on my pics.. it was a piece of sand inside the camera.

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We noticed some of the tents outside of the camp were a little less than stable…. Naturally ours would have to be the one that blew down in the previous night (thankfully they put them up the night before!).  I cannot imagine how scary that would have been for it to blow down while we were sleeping inside!

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Next is the type of tent we were ‘SUPPOSED’ to be getting.  Like the kind they told us we were going to have when we signed up to sleep out there.

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Once again: this was the tent that was assigned to us (below):

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aaaaand below is the tent that we actually got to sleep in.  We were a little let down.  Not because we are above tent camping.. heck, I’d have been all about it, but when your expectations were set for a bed, a fan, and a lamp and at the last minute you are introduced to this type of tent.. well, all we could do is laugh. Of course my drama girl had to cry about it and do the whole, It’s not fair.. why do they get those tents??!! etc. etc. Yep, sweet girl, not fair – but we’re gonna roll with it. 

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Ok rewind back to the daytime..  Here’s a pic of me and my girl!

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and some of her girlfriends!

Francesca, Aneschka, Audrey, Hanna, Saskia and Evelyn…. They are on their 3rd school year at ACS together!

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… just another day at the office for these guys below:

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Well, its not a blog post without a pop in from the Delcambre’s 

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Me and my sand sister, Nancy!

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Sun was going down….

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Audrey and Aneschka played dress up

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Mama joined in!

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Dinner time at the camp

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Audrey used a head lamp to see her food Smile

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After dinner they had a big bonfire where the girls sang songs and ate s’mores.. it was so cute to watch!  it was for girl scouts only so the parents had to hang out in a different area of the camp…

I turned my flash on to take a picture and came out with this:

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yes, that is sand in the air.. the dust is so small you cannot see it - 

Here is a guy making local tea… it is super sweet and has a strong cardamom flavor.. I think it taste like fruit loops.

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Audrey was WOOPED and opted not to go on the nighttime nature walk – I laid in the tent with her and let her watch Teen Beach Movie on her ipad and within minutes the girl was out!  Nancy and Evelyn returned from the walk and we whisper-talked for hours and got a tiny nap in before the wind woke us up… our tent fabric was whipping around and making a lot of noise!! Between that and the howling coyotes.. yeah, I. did. not. sleep.  But this girl clearly did!

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She woke up and got to work as if she lived here.  First thing was going to feed the animals!

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Time to go!

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Our view on the bus ride home….

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We love the desert and I’m sure we’ll be back out there soon!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

HALLOWEEN 2013

Every year we look forward to Fall Festival at ACS… Now that we live soooo close to the school we even had a ‘pre-party’ at our house with a few friends to get all costumed up.  Naturally Audrey decided in the 11th hour to change costumes but no biggie – she just sifted through the closet and found another. 

Here is my attempt of our kids group picture:

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Julia is wearing Audrey’s old costume Smile 

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As I looked back into the old shutterfly files to get this picture of Audrey ^^ It takes my breath away to see her at the same age as Julia… Since they were born at the same time of year they are the same size at each season that passes and they look SO MUCH alike.. Not very similar in this particular picture of julia above, but in person it is astonishing.  oh dear it hurts my heart to see how fast time has gone. 

Ok. back on track.. Sandy the Viper –*(mascot) starts the parade and William’s class is the first one up.  William also changed his mind on costumes.. about a week before he decided to be Ben 10 instead of Batman.  Thanks to a sweet friend, his wish was granted – she found a ben 10 costume for him! Made. His. Day. Week. YEAR.

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Here comes Audrey’s class… She happened to have a friend wearing the exact same costume.  - I’m pretty sure she commandeered the fan from her – it isn’t ours.

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All the classes take a turn parading in front of the adults, showing off their costumes…

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Audrey had an afterschool class she took called “singing camp”  - part of the deal was that they perform in front of the elementary school at fall festival

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wanna see?? 

did you catch Audrey totally adjusting the microphone in her direction.. what can I say, the girl likes to take charge.

Speaking of taking charge.. Nancy and I are homeroom parents again – and one of the biggest things of the year is this event – we came up with the booth theme: Mr. Miller’s Monsters and collaborated on how to make it work.  She and I divided up the efforts and it came together without a hitch… thanks to some hardworking volunteers, set up was done in under an hour.

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Trick or TREEEEAT!

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Since this event went all the way into  “Mom, I’m tired, can we please go home?” There was no time for real trick or treating… Most of the time Fall festival lands on a day other than the real Halloween so it isn’t a problem. This year: problem. Thankfully our neighborhood organized a trick or treat day on Nov. 1st since there are so many kids that go to the school and also wanted to trick or treat on a separate night.  After dinner we gave the kids a few minutes to change and BOOM. we went out the door..

Audrey came up with this costume.. Belly dancing scarf thing on her head, my shirt worn as a dress, a headband as a belt and 3D glasses from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I adore her goofiness. When people asked her what her costume was she said, and I quote: “horseback riding instructor”  what?!!?!?! {well, now that I think about it there is another instructor at the place she takes lessons that does dress similarly, minus the coins on her headscarf}.   William grabbed his costume from last year and a pair of flip flops. LOL

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Julia was already bathed and in pj’s so we didn’t bother putting her in costume. it was already 7:00 pm and we only trick or treated for about 30 minutes.

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At the end of the quick lap around the ‘hood – there was a big group arriving at our house so the kids enjoyed passing out candy to them. 

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Happy Halloween!

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