School Days

I've made it a ritual to capture my daughter's photo on the first day as well as the last day of every school year and I'm quite proud of the fact that I haven't missed a single day.  I created a scrapbook dedicated solely to these photos and it's so fun to see the changes both from within, as well as between, school years.  Now for a little trip down memory lane...

This is Little Miss Meggie on her first day of kindergarten in August 2006. She was soooo ready and soooo excited to be going to the "big school."
   

And here is Miss Meghan on her final day at the same school exiting as a fifth grader.  A bit more apprehensive about going to "big school" than six years ago but still very eager and totally ready.

My how she has grown....

Goodbye Elementary School

It is so hard to believe, but my baby will be a middle schooler come August.   She's so much more ready for the new experience than I am, but that's probably always the case with parents.

They had a "graduation" ceremony for the fifth graders at her school yesterday. It's rare to see Meg in a dress and she looked so pretty.

The full view...

Those are big black bows on her shoes.  Aren't the so cute?

She ended the fourth quarter with 5 As and 1 B, which as luck would have it, was an 89. That's straight As in my book.  Her final grades were all As with the exception of an 88 in math.  I'm so very proud of her.

And speaking of proud, the staff/teachers gave out several special awards to a select number of students.  They included top reader, top mathematician and Student of the Year as well as awards for music, art and PE.  The parents of these students were called last week and informed of the awards.  We didn't receive a call so we were totally taken off guard when they began announcing The Viking Awards.  Viking Award recipients are chosen by the 5th grade teachers and go to students that they believe are the "best all round kids" based on grades,  sportmanship, kindness to others, honesty, etc.  When Meg's name was announced we were so proud.  And to make things better, these awards were TROPHIES and you all know how important trophies are to Meg! (All of the other awards were paper certificates...LOL!)  It was a very good day.

Today is her last official day of elementary school.  I have a beautiful photo taken this morning that I'll share next time.  Thanks for stopping by!

Last of the Vacation Photos, I Promise

After leaving Old Town Albuquerque late Sunday afternoon, we drove to Karen's home in Rio Rancho where we got to meet her family and see the backdrop for so many of her wonderful photos.  I absolutely loved her home...very southwestern.

From there we drove to Santa Fe where we had dinner in the historic downtown district.  Unfortunately it was night time and all I carried with me that evening was my Iphone so the photos are extremely less than spectacular.   Lynne, Catherine and I then spent the night in a wonderfully comfortable condo and made our way back to Colorado Springs on Monday morning.

A front had moved in over night and we woke to chilly temps.  Up until this point it had been in the 80s every day but that particular morning it was barely 50.  By the time we got to Colorado Springs, it was 40 degrees and rainy. Come late afternoon the rain had turned to snow!  I still find that so hard to fathom...snow in May.  Wow.  Like the typical Florida tourist that I was, I ran out and snapped some photos.
   

I had no idea that it could snow at anything over 32 degrees but apparently when you're 6000 feet above sea level, anything is possible.   It snowed for about an hour at which time it turned back into rain.  To give you an idea of just how much the higher elevations received....

Here is a photo of Pikes Peak taken from their backyard deck on the first day of my arrival.

And second one taken off the same deck on my final morning, the day after the snowfall.

Beautiful, isn't it?

We had one last excursion on the way to the airport...I needed to buy some Colorado Crap for Meg.  Lynne took us to the Garden of the Gods, a registered natural landmark located right in Colorado Springs.  Unfortunately we only had time for the gift shop (a wonderful gift shop I might add) but I did snap a few photos of the scenery.  This is one of my favorites.  Peeking just above the cloud line is a snow covered Pikes Peak.

Lynne then graciously drove Catherine and I back to the Denver Airport where we said our goodbyes and boarded planes for our respective states. While it was good to be home,  I missed them all immediately the next morning.  Thank you all for such a wonderful time!!!

In case you were wondering....Meg LOVED all of her goodies but I doubt she lets me leave her again any time soon.  She really, really missed me.  :-)

More NM Sights

Sunday was the final day of the retreat.  We packed it up and did the local touristy thing, starting in Albuquerque.  
   
Our first stop was to an awesome eatery chosen by Karen.  She'll be able to remind me just what it was I ordered but I can tell you it was DELICIOUS!
  

Our next stop was to Old Town Albuquerque for some sightseeing and shopping. We all knew how important souvenirs were to Meg and this was the perfect place to help out the local economy.  *wink*  The town square was filled with wonderful southwestern architecture and history.

I found gifts for Randy, Jay and Meg in this store.  I LOVE the outside of the building.

I even managed to find a little something for me while there.  I purchased a beautiful necklace and earring set handmade by Mary.

There was so much more to see and do in Old Town Albuquerque but our time was limited.  Next stop...Santa Fe.

Crop Photos

For those not current in scrapbooking lingo, a "crop" is the term given to a gathering of scrapbookers.  Our NM crop took place inside a large metal red barn-like structure on the property.    We had all joked about the amount of things we'd each packed, but to our amazement, we actually felt quite under prepared compared to others in attendance.  But trust me, we made do.  :)

In addition to her fourteen completed layouts, Catherine took two card classes where she made one dozen beautiful cards, all of different designs.

Lynne and Karen working on the pages ...

And me?  I somehow managed to finish a vacation mini album in between texts from Meg.   "Mommy, are you there?" ...""Mommy, did you buy me anything?" ... "Mommy, I need you." ... and my favorite,  "Mommy, Daddy spent $44 on weed killer at Home Depot!"

Below is my favorite crop photo.   It perfectly conveys the silliness we enjoyed through the whole weekend.  Lots of laughter,  inside jokes, and all around goofiness that just goes to show, you're never too old to have fun!

The Mountain Retreat

The scrapbook gathering we attended was held at The Manzano Mountain Retreat about an hour outside of Albuquerque.  The setting was very tranquil and rustic with lots of antique farm machinery, log cabins and lodges all of which made for some beautiful photos.

This was our lodge.

And this was the dining hall, complete with a "chow line."  

Tomorrow....crop photos.

Vacation Photo Week

I'm going to spend the week bombarding my blog with photos from my recent girls weekend.  Consider yourself warned. *wink*
    
On the first full day of our getaway, we traveled to the top of Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, NM.  Keeping in mind that I live at sea level this was our starting elevation...
  

   
And this was our final elevation...
  

    
  So how might we have accomplished this, you ask?  By way of this....
  

  
I am not the best with heights but when enclosed, I do okay.  (It's the whole fear of falling over the edge thing.) I snapped this photo of another tram running while we were at the top of the mountain, safely away from any cliff edge.   
    
The temperatures were cool, the winds were vicious but the scenery was spectacular.  I took these photos from the tram on the way up.
  

  
The view of Albuquerque was really cool too.  The city itself is very widespread.
   

  
We had lunch at a mountaintop restaurant that also provided wonderful views. And while I really wanted to try one of their Top of the Mountain Margaritas, that whole fear of falling off the cliff edge was enough to get me to order a plain iced tea.  I was very thankful however that I didn't encounter any of these while there....
  

Yeah, I'm Still Here

I've been totally MIA but I assure you, I had the BEST time in my blogging absence.

Last week I flew out to Colorado to meet up with two Playground of Memories friends, Lynne (from CO) and Catherine (from ID.)  The following day the three of us drove to New Mexico to meet up with Karen, another POM friend.  We did some fabulous sightseeing, eating, shopping and of course, scrapbooking at a mountain retreat.  It was nothing short of fabulous.

(from left to right...Karen, Lynne, me and Catherine) 

Here we are on the top of Sandia Mountain in Albuquerque.  You obviously can't tell from the photo but we are 10,000+ feet above sea level which is 10,000+ feet higher than this FL girl is used to.  :)

Our story ---
We all met on ScrapAddict.com over 8 years ago.  When that website dissolved Lynne, Catherine and I started PlaygroundofMemories.com so that we wouldn't lose touch with the friends we'd made over the years.  In that time I've had the opportunity to meet both Lynne and Catherine (as well as many other wonderful ladies) but this was my first visit with Karen, who is just as fabulous in person as she in online.  She is also an AWESOME tour guide of the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area.  It's beautiful country and I hope to go back one day.

I'm still wading through dozens and dozens of photos but promise to post more of our daily adventures and scrapbooking over the next several days.

Thanks for the wonderful time, ladies!!!!!  Miss you all already.