Coronado Cave

Whew. We are back from a mile and a half round trip to Coronado Cave. I have been wanting to get the family out hiking, but we have had activities going on so far this spring that left little time for anything else. Finally, we made it out to our first hike. The hike up to the cave was pretty rough in places and I was concerned about taking Annie and Zoe. They surprised me! Annie had me on pins and needles the whole time BECAUSE of her confidence. Nothing was too big, no rock to hard to climb over, no steep winding trail too scary. She would have made the trek in half the time had she not had to wait for me! Nick led the way on our trip and did a great job warning us of upcoming hazards. He was followed closely by Delaney and then Zoe. Zoe seemed to think it was a run up the trail. That girl has two speeds, fast and asleep. I tried to keep Annie close to me. Rick and Emi brought up the rear and made sure no one was left behind. At one point we passed a couple and their ten year old daughter who told us they were turning back because it was too tough for them. We weren't swayed from our resolve and made it to the mouth of the cave. Then, the real fun began as we started the 25 feet descent into the cave. It was challenging to manuever rocks and ledges that dropped further than Annie was tall. Not to worry, though, she didn't mind. We lowered her to the next level each time and she kept right on going. Here is a link to the National Park Service website with more information about the cave.  Coronado Cave

Here I am taking a break as we make our way up the mountain.

Nick is King of the World!!

Here we are inside the cave. The flash on the camera illuminates the cave, but we were completely in the dark using our flashlights to see the next step we took.

My little spelunker.

You can see the mouth of the cave where we are heading to leave the cave.

Here we are on our way back down the trail.  The kids wanted to bring back every rock they found.  If you look closely, that was a lot.  We did limit it to one each.

The Birthday Rule

We had a wonderful birthday breakfast with Zoe on the 7th. Birthdays are anticipated by everyone in the family as we all love the morning festivities. This year, however, Zoe was so excited about her birthday that she began celebrating the day after Christmas. What I mean by that is she declared herself certain privileges each day since her birthday was coming up. "I get the first bagel, since it's my birthday. I get to pick the color bowl I want, since it's my birthday. I get to go first, since it's my birthday." And on it went. Emily, bless her heart, finally could take no more and told her, "When it is your birthday, you can take your toys upstairs and play with them, but that's it. Your birthday will be over." It was so funny, but Emily was on to something. Thus, our new family rule....When you fall asleep the evening of your birthday, your birthday is officially over. Yes, it is actually a rule, now. And it worked beautifully.

Annie's First Day of School

My littlest girl started school this week for the first time ever. She attends full-day preschool at First Baptist Christian Academy and really loves it. It was so funny for me to see the lunch boxes all lined up for the day. Rick makes all the lunches and when I came down the stairs, there they were. I used to say that it was just as easy to make five PB&Js as it was to make one. I have something to add to that, now. Easy...sure. Just as cheap...no way. We use more than half a loaf of bread a day. That is three to four loaves a week. Plus snacks. Whew.

Zoe's Ear-piercing Experience

Our family has a time honored tradition of going to get ears pierced on the sixth birthday.  Delaney had her ears pierced when she was six.  Emily had her ears pierced when she was six.  And we all knew that Zoe would follow in the family tradition and do the same.  So, we have planned for two weeks to take Zoe on her birthday after school to Claire's for the rite of passage from little girl to big girl.  In the car on the way there, we had much discussion about how the piercing would feel.  We told her that there would be pain, but that it would pass quickly and she would be so happy to have such beautiful earrings.  She actually considered not going through with it, but we all agreed that we should finish the trip and at least look at the choices.  If, when she got there, she decided she didn't want to get them pierced, we would leave and get ice cream.  When we arrived, she quickly decided that she liked the green stone and was ready for piercing.  The wonderful gal at Claire's began to assemble the needed items for the job.  Somewhere in the process, Zoe changed her mind.  I tried to gently tell her that it was her personal choice and she didn't have to do it, but if she wanted to she had to decide and follow through with her choice.  Something in her demeanor changed and she scooted closer to the Claire's gal and declared she did want earrings.  So, the preparations continued.   The gal put the little purple dots on her ears and we all looked at Zoe, measuring side to side so she would have perfectly straight earrings for years to come.  Finally, it was time for the first ear.  The gal picked up the piercer and steadied it on Zoe's ear and with a quick punch it was over. Zoe was the proud owner of one beautiful green earring.  Zoe began to tear up.  Quickly her tears turned into sobs which transitioned quite seamlessly into wails.  She became so overcome that she couldn't hear me trying to comfort her. The Claire's gal and I spent about 15 minutes trying to explain the mysteries of the universe and convince her to let us continue.  After a while, I was tiring and told her to walk around the store and see if there was anything she would like to buy once this was all over.  Yes, bribery was on the table at this point.  She walked around calmly and looked at several very nice things, but time was ticking.  So I walked over to her to lead her back to the chair.  Zoe, my delicate, sweet, deeply thoughtful little girl then ran...yes ran...away from me in the store and began to scream (I wish I was exaggerating), "NO!"  This seemed like a good time to cancel the entire plan, pay for the ONE earring and get me and the four girls out of there.  I asked the gal to ring us up and that we would be on our way just the way she was.  I caught Zoe and tried to take her hand so we could gather ourselves, only Zoe would have none of it.  She flailed her little arms around and began what I consider to be the most difficult part of the ordeal.  She began to scream, "Take it out!"  The kind Claire's gal looked at me and I said, "Take it out."  At which point Zoe began to flail again screaming, "NO!"  This went on for what seemed like several hours as people from all over the mall began to gather and point at ME.  We finished the paying transaction while Zoe continued to scream.  I reached down to take out the one earring and she pulled away from me crying and screaming.  I have passed from embarrassment to anger to frustration to what now seems down-right amusement. I look pleadingly at the gal and asked if she could try just one more time to take out the single green stud so beautifully placed in Zoe's ear. She must be part Saint, because she did agree and successfully removed the earring.  I took Zoe, gathered the other three girls and we all held our heads up proudly and walked out of Claire's and the mall with Zoe crying the whole way.  I have learned that the best way to handle the most embarrassing of situations with your kids is to pretend not the see the people staring and pointing and to get out as quickly as possible.  I think back on the afternoon and feel I got quite a bargain.  I will forever have this story to remember and tell, and it only cost me $34.95 + tax. 

P.S. Zoe is quite fine and is playing outside as I type.

Our Day at the Range

Delaney and I went to the range today to shoot my new pink Beretta Neos.  We loved it! 

Congratulations Zoe!

Zoe won Student of the Week at her school, Col Johnston Elementary. She was awarded a gift bag and an ice cream party with the principal and all the other winners.

Congratulations Delaney!

Delaney's school, Col Meyer Elementary has a Character Counts program. Delaney was presented with a special award for showing Respect throughout the first quarter of school. We are so proud of her.

Delaney's trip to the pumpkin patch

I went with Zoe on Tuesday, and Delaney on Thursday to the same farm.  Delaney is pictured with her friend Cheyenne in one picture and Ja'Nia in the other.

Zoe's trip to the pumpkin patch

I went with Zoe and her Kindergarten class to Black's Farm for a field trip.  The kids had such a fun time.  Zoe is pictured with her best friend Mckinley.