A New (and Safer) Playground

For years the Hershey playground has also been part of the visitors' parking lot. Despite large orange cones, signs, and gates, I cannot tell you how many times I have been supervising kids at recess only to see some fool drive their car past the cones and through the children. Or ignore the "Closed from 8:00 - 4:00" sign and drive down the access lane and onto the playground despite the press of children all around.

Linda has been working for quite some time to have a new playground built in a safer location, and she has succeeded. The  first Monday school was out for summer, the heavy equipment arrived and began ripping out the swings, basketball standards, and other things on the playground/parking lot.

The new playground is on the south side of the school and next to (but not sharing) the teachers' parking lot. A much safer place for the kiddos.

The kids will exit at the opposite end of the hallway from my classroom, so I should have less hallway noise than I did when they used the parking lot and went outside through the door by me.

 Some of the new apparatus - a climbing web.

 Some of the previous equipment that was relocated.

 A rock climbing wall! Bet that will be popular!

I think the children will be excited when they return and see their new play area. And the teachers will breathe a sigh of relief that we will no longer have people driving through the children.

Back to School Preparation

Two weeks from today, I go back to school. (Well, I get paid to go back to work that day. But you can be sure I will be working hard well before then!)

Just before we went to Florida, I drove out to Hershey to check on the cleaning status of my room. You really can't begin working in your classroom until things are cleaned and put back in place. I was disappointed that my room had not yet been cleaned.

 A view of my desk and the mini computer lab.

 Actually, it looks pretty good for not having been cleaned!

 I am anxious to get those tubs and things off the counters and back into their places.

Some welcome changes have been made, however - new electrical outlets! And some older ones have been moved to more convenient spots.

 My desk is an electronic hub - computer, printer, Eno board camera and docking station, electric pencil sharpener, fan, etc. But the outlet was down below the desk and nearly inaccessible to me. When Linda Fields told us we would be getting new outlets, her directive was to put a request in anywhere we wanted an outlet. She could not guarantee we'd get all we'd ask for, but she said we would get some, so to dream big.

I did. I hung orange signs all over the place with "Huston, outlets here, please" written on them. (Huston is the name of the electrical company.)

But for my desk, I felt that one was critical to be moved and not overlooked. And so I wrote an additional sign for it:

"Please put them up high. I have arthritis and several artificial joints. It hurts to go low to plug things in. Thanks much! Mrs. Isenbarger"

It worked! I got my desk outlet raised to desk height.

I also got one on the front wall under my Eno board. Why there is no plug there has always been a mystery - it is one of the busiest spots in the classroom, the center of instruction, and yet there was nothing there to support electronics used in lessons. Until now.

So, the electrical rewiring has been completed, and I will drive out tomorrow or so to see if the room is cleaned and I am able to get busy.

Florida View or Utah View?

Friday evening as we were preparing for the water balloon fight, I got to thinking about other times I had visited Kyle and sat outside his home on a lawn chair. Such different views!

The Florida view - palm trees, a lake, green grass, and knowing the ocean is a few miles to the east.

The Utah view - rocky mountains looming over the patio.

Which view do I prefer?

Any one with Kyle in it!!

Florida Trip - Day 3

Friday we went to the beach! I cannot remember the name of it, but the sand was pure white and soooo soft. It was somewhere in St. Augustine.

As we walked on the boardwalk from the parking lot to the beach, we saw a gopher tortoise digging itself a hole.

We had our own gopher tortoise - Braden!

Kyle and I posed for a mother/son picture when...

... he decided that dumping ocean water over me was a good idea. Luckily, he was only playing around.

Craig and I took Addie out to enjoy the waves that were rolling in.

We'd each hold her hand as one approached...

... then lift her as she jumped over it.

She also played gopher tortoise.

Corinne models the latest beachwear for bab(i)es.

Ashley and Corinne play in the sand together. (I think Ashley looks like a model here!)

Boompa and Addie catch some more waves.

Another photo of Kyle and me.

We played at the beach much of the day, coming home mid afternoon. What is it about water that is so relaxing?

While Ashley decorated Addie's birthday cake, we went outside and got water balloons ready for after-dinner fun.

Addie and Braden helped the adults fill them by stretching out the balloons.

We ended up with a cooler full!

Ashley took some wonderful pictures, so I pulled a screenshot of hers from Instagram.

 Braden sits on the ground from the effort of stretching the launcher waaaay back and releasing it.

 Addie tries the same tactic. 

 Addie and Braden ride their bikes for a while.

Water balloon fight over, we celebrated Addie's birthday.

She loved the Barbie and horse that we got her. "I'll name the horse Abby," Addie pronounced. Made me smile!

And Corinne shows that she, too, has an early interest in horses!

Florida Trip - Day 2

I have always wanted to see Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest European settlement in North America. When I was young, stories of the Spanish conquistadores (and their horses, naturally) and Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth fascinated me, and I wondered just how the world had looked back then.

Our second day in Florida, I got the chance to see it.

Getting ready to enter the grounds. Already the heat and humidity were rising and the air was hot and sticky.

The fort sits on a small rise of ground overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

A conquistador stands guard as you walk over the drawbridge that crosses the moat.

Another view of the drawbridge.

Inside the castle walls, there is a large courtyard. The walls also housed the fort's rooms.

Braden poses with a small replica cannon. Cannons were everywhere!

There were many benches to sit on - welcome in the heat!

A broader view of the inner court. As I walked around it, I could not help but wonder what those walls had seen over the centuries.

Each corner of the fort had a lookout turret that you could go in. This is a view of one looking up.

Kyle, Corinne, and Addie just fit into one.

Kyle and Addie walk together on one of the paths.

The fortress is right on the Atlantic Ocean.

In the distance from the fort, we could see a lighthouse jutting up over on Anastasia Island.

We drove over to see it. There was a fee to enter the grounds and go inside, so we decided that seeing it from the ground was just fine.

After lunch at McDonalds and a quick trip to Walmart, we came home and crashed, taking naps for an hour or so. The heat really, really gets to Craig and me and we were worn out.

But, the naps perked us up so that we were fresh and ready for the annual giant marshmallow fight after dinner.

Braden shows his mama all his ammunition.

I love this pose of Kyle as he throws at his dad!

When he got on the ground to retrieve marshmallows that had gone under the car, I made my move.

By stepping on his back, I kept him out of action! 

Addie used the water balloon launcher to throw some of her marshmallows.

Team Dad takes cover from Boompa behind my car.

Standoff!

A final throw by everyone at mommy. (I could not hit the side of a barn that night!!)