Weekend Re-Cap

Where did this weekend go? It seems like it just started? Whew!

Well Sofia made it through her first week of 4th grade with no trouble BUT her teacher has already quit!  WHAT?? Ugh!! This is like a replay of her kindergarten year! Let's hope the long-term sub they choose will be great! The funniest part is the teacher was only actually in class with them 1 day! She had in-service days on Monday and Tuesday, came to class Wednesday and then quit the same day! Oh boy!

I signed Sofia up for gymnastics at a new, local place (5 minutes from home) and she will be going to Level 2, 3 days per week from 4-6. She was SO happy to be back in class! Now I'm searching eBay for more leos! This week she will also be trying out a tumbling class at another local gym. Gotta get her (and me) active!

Friday night we took our minions to the movies. I enjoyed the movie (as much as you can) and the kids a fun too!

On Saturday, we were lazy around the house for a bit, then we went by the library and to sushi for lunch. We had seen How Do You Roll on "Shark Tank" and thought the concept sounded pretty neat so we looked them up and then it dawned on me..."Hey, I saw them on Groupon!" So I quickly looked them up and sure enough, you got $20 for $10. So I bought 2 because I knew we (Me and Honey) and Honey's oldest son, J, love sushi! Now of course Miss Picky would have nothing to do with sushi so luckily Pei Wei was right across the street so she got her lo mein and we got our rolls! You get to choose your wrapper style (I go with soy as I detest seaweed), 3 fruits or veggies (I went with jalepeno, avocado and cucumber), 1 meat (spicy tuna for me) and then sauce (spicy mayo). The roll is 10 really big pieces and they cost about $8. Pretty good deal if you enjoy sushi. So look them up! If you've already tried them, let me know what you think!

After our bellies were full from sushi, we headed over to one of the Hilton Resorts here in Phoenix for some pool time (Honey and I had a Groupon for massage/pool day but it was raining on the day we got our massage, so they gave us a raincheck for the pool day). It was hot outside but we still had a few hours of pool fun!

After the pool, we picked up some takeout and then headed home for a night in because on Sunday we had big plans!

We woke up Sunday morning at 6:30 and were out the door by 7am headed to the Grand Canyon with the kids. We took them to Bright Angel trail and we hiked down to the 1.5 mile rest stop and then back up. It wasn't too hot and it started to get cloudy on our way out, so that made the climb a little bit easier! That makes 4 National Parks for us to visit in the last 4 weeks.  Which brings up the following rant. I apologize now if I offend anyone. 

Have Americans forgotten about our National Parks? Are we so obsessed with electronics and other things that the idea of being outside does not appeal to us anymore? Do we know how lucky we are that we live in a country so wonderful that provides these places of beauty to us?

Where is all this coming from you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. In the last 2 weeks, we have been in Arches National Park, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. I would venture to say 75% of the people combined that we bumped into on trails, etc. were from different countries (Asian, European). Very few were English speaking Americans. Now, I am sure I might come off backwoodsy or something but it just seems odd. I remember growing up as a kid, we went the Great Smoky Mountain National Park a few times each year. It was a different story back then. Do we not appreciate what we have in our own backyards anymore? By all means, I am not angry that people from other countries appreciate our parks, I just wonder where the locals are? Any thoughts?

Ok, rant over. Now on to some pics from the wonder that is The Grand Canyon! Hope you all had excellent weekends!