Biosphere 2

 Jacob's work had their annual picnic at the Biosphere 2 this year. We had just been to Oracle the week before for ziplining, but we made the drive again and it was worth it. It was cool to see the different ecosystems. There were a few displays around, including one about ocean animals with a dolphin skull, shark jaw, sting ray parts, and more.

As we were moving from the desert into the ocean area, the Merritts caught up to us. Their kids latch onto our kids almost immediately when they see us. We spent the rest of the tour with them, and ate lunch with the kids that wanted to join us. 

It was a lovely family outing.

March Family Outing: Ziplining

 We tried to reserve a time to go ziplining in February, but the times were already full, so we snagged the next available Saturday, which happened to be the 3rd Saturday in March. We were glad to be able to schedule it before it got too hot. Or so we thought. Then it hit 100 degrees 2 months earlier than it normally does just a couple of days before our reservation. But it's fine. The Ziplining place is in Oracle, at a higher elevation, so it was about 10 degrees cooler (and didn't even hit 100 that day, so was just in the high 90s in Tucson) and there was a lovely breeze that kept us from getting too hot. 

We got all harnessed up and headed out. There were 5 ziplines, the first two were not very fast, then they got a little faster, until the last HUGE zipline that was very fast. We all had a super fun time. It was definitely family bonding time well spent.

Megan:

Annie:

Rachel:

The whole crew:

Ryan:

Megan:

Annie:

Rachel:

Jacob:

Colette:

The last tower was very high and had two ziplines coming off, so we could go in pairs and race. Jacob and Grandma went first, then Ryan and Megan, then Rachel and Annie, then I went with the guide.

Jacob and Grandma:

Jacob:

Megan:

Ryan:

Rachel:

Annie:

Ryan turns 14!

Ryan is now 14! He decided to have his friends over for a party the weekend before his birthday for some games and maybe a movie. Not surprisingly, they did not get around to watching a movie. They did have a lot of pizza, soda, jackbox and other games, and even watched a Dry Bar comedian with water in their mouth trying not to spit laugh. 

For our family celebration on Sunday I didn't get any pictures, but he got some games he wanted, and some new ties that he was especially excited about. On his actual birthday he got a brain-rotting day where I didn't tell him to get off screens at all (and since it was Spring Break he had A LOT of time to waste).

This past year Ryan has definitely grown. He's taller, his voice is deeper, and I don't mix up him and Annie when they call on the phone any more. He's got a good group of friends and is a good kid making good choices most of the time. He's a great student, a great lover of math and puzzles and strategy, and is kind to everyone. We're thankful he's in our family.

Spring Break

 We laid low this spring break, no overnight trips for us. Normally our spring break includes the great bedroom rotation and cleanup, but since Rachel is just staying in her bedroom until she moves out there was no moving kids to different bedrooms. They did, however, all have a detailed list to do to get their rooms cleaned, hopefully at least almost as much as a normal year.

Rachel still had work most afternoons. We did try to have a few outings over break to make it more exciting (and get the kids off the screens). We went to the temple, then met Jacob for lunch.

Megan spent a lot of time crocheting. She asked me to take her to Hobby Lobby the first Saturday of break, and in just under a week she had a new sweater made.

Rachel wasn't interested in going to Patagonia Lake with us, so we went one of the days she had to work. It was beautiful weather. A little hot, but the water was still plenty cold, and the wind was minimal, so paddle boarding was fun.

We watched Lego Ninjago for family movie night and that renewed the kids' interest in the Lego Ninjago series, and since them watching a show together (especially this one) feels a lot less like brainrot and more like quality sibling bonding, they took advantage of more flexibility with how much time I allowed them in front of a screen while watching together, and made it all the way to season 8 on the Lego Ninjago marathon they implemented over break. Megan happened to find a green ninja peep at the store and had to take a picture in honor of Lego Ninjago. 

The last Friday of break we went to Rocks and Ropes for some rock climbing fun. Everyone had a good time, even if some were sore the next day.

Rachel got a lot of college prep stuff done over break, catching up on her to do list. She and Lydia were able to secure their dorm room and already have a group chat going with some of their new roommates that will be sharing the apartment with them. Rachel got her scholarship applications wrapped up (she got a full tuition scholarship to BYU already, but is applying for a few local scholarships). She talked to an advisor and got her major changed to pre-english teaching, and her minor to music. She applied for a credit card, got turned down because of her income falling just under their cut off (despite a surprisingly high credit score already), applied for another one specifically for students and got that one. And finally, the last day of break had a 40 minute session shooting senior pictures. I'm excited to see how they turn out. We haven't done professional pictures since she was a baby, but it was pretty painless, so for my Mother's Day present I'm having my family do family pictures with her so I have some nice pictures of the whole fam before Rachel heads off to college.

My baby's all grown up and saving China! ready to take on her next adventure!

February Family Outing

We set a goal this year to schedule at least one family outing each month. With how busy the kids are, we don't always have family home evening on Monday nights since people are missing or don't get home until bedtime, and with their other activities it's really easy for time to get away from us and not hang out much as a family, so we thought that scheduling a day each month would be a good way to remedy that. In January we counted our trip to Phoenix for Rachel's jazz concert, but in February we went to Main Event and did a game of bowling, a game of laser tag, and spent some time in the arcade with passes we got for Christmas. Everyone had a fun time and it was great family bonding time.

Jacob had a really good bowling game. No so much for the rest of us. ;/

Valentine's Day Weekend (Vail Pride Day and Regionals)

 Vail Pride Day and Regionals usually fall really close to Valentine's Day, but this year it fell on V-Day, along with Regionals. They always kick off Vail Pride Day weekend with a volunteer luncheon on Thursday, the staff luncheon on Friday, then the main event with the students on Saturday. This year at the volunteer luncheon I received the Volunteer of the Year award from Cienega, completing my collection from all 3 schools my kids have gone to. ;) They always take pictures in front of a backdrop with a really nice camera, then no one actually ever sees those pictures again, so this is the picture my friend, Denise snagged from me with a few other photo bombers in front. :) 

Our ward had a Valentine's Day adult prom, so Jacob and I went to that. We're not big dancers, but did get a couple of dances in and enjoyed visiting with friends.

On Saturday Megan and I headed to Vail Pride Day early so she could visit the booths that give out free stuff and she got a good amount of free stuff. She even managed to sign the Declaration of Independence while we were there. 

We had to hurry over to meet up with Ryan who came later with Dad and Grandma Knight just in time for their call time for their band performance. They combine all 3 grades at the school (who normally practice separately), and combine with another school besides that, all with just one practice with everyone together, so all things considered, it was pretty good.

After that we headed over to Sabino High School where regionals was held this year. Rachel did so well (5th in the region) that she was unfortunately assigned to play with the orchestra, which she hated. She had several movements where she didn't play anything, and the parts she did play she ended up on a 3rd trumpet part even though she'd be on 1st trumpet with harder, more exciting music, if she was playing with the all-region band instead, like she wanted. Jacob didn't even realize she was on stage until the last song, because he somehow missed the discussions beforehand. That was their best song, so at least he realized it by then. 

Lydia made all-region choir, so we snagged a picture between performances of the future roommies.

Annie impressively made all region band as a freshman, and was actually the highest seated clarinet from Cienega, which is doubly impressive. She also got a seat close enough to the front that we could actually see her. She had a good time with the whole experience. While Rachel spent a lot of time playing games on her phone with Cassidy over the 2 days of rehearsal, Annie was glad to be with the band and had a more positive experience. 

Because both girls participated in all-region, they qualified to audition for all-state. They traveled up to Phoenix for that audition just before spring break, but unfortunately did not make it in.