Hello, Hawaii

Hello Hawaii! Our hotel has beautiful birds to greet us.

It is hard to believe this trip even happened. Several years ago, I developed a fear of flying. It was easy to plan trips close by, or make excuses about the kids' schedules, until I realized I had not been on a plane in 3 years...not even to see my mom in Colorado. When Paul mentioned a dream of a family vacation to Ireland, I decided I needed to face my fear. With a lot of hand holding and a lot of Xanax, we flew to Shannon in 2011 for an amazing family vacation.

Morning view from our hotel--The Grand Hyatt in Poipu

I had just turned 40, so maybe I was feeling reflective, or having a mid-life crisis, bitten by the travel bug, or just inspired by my successful flight...but I set a goal that year: to travel to all 50 states before I turn 50. I believe my social worker friends refer to this as "exposure therapy." Afraid of flying? Book a flight. In the past 5 years I have been to several new states, bringing my lifelong total to 35.

I thought about saving Hawaii for #50, but with two kids in high school, scheduling family travel isn't going to get any easier. Since Paul and I will be married 20 years this fall, we decided to schedule an anniversary trip/family vacation extravaganza!



On our way to Waimea Canyon

Once we decided on the state, the next big decision we had to make was, which island? We finally chose Kauai, also known as the Garden Isle, because it was a little less commercial than some of the larger islands. It was a fantastic trip, making it hard to narrow down the 250 pictures and countless memories to one blog post, but here goes:

Waimea Canyon
We drove along an 18 mile winding road to stop at several overlooks. Otherwise known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, this was a gorgeous introduction to Hawaii's scenery.





Na Pali Coast
In order to appreciate the vast beauty of the cliffs on the Western side of Kauai, we took a boat ride. The kids loved spotting sea turtles and dolphins, Paul loved the waves, and Allison loved getting off the boat. Just kidding, I did OK. Our boat captain was a native of Kauai and I loved all the stories he told, as well as the breathtaking views.

The Luau
Yes, it is a bit of an overpriced, touristy thing to do, but how could we come to Hawaii and not do the luau? The music, stories, and dancing were top notch and the food was all delicious...well, except the poi. I could have done without the poi. Next time, I'll skip the poi and go back to Jo Jo's for second helpings of shave ice.

Golf and Gardens
One day we split up and the boys played golf while the girls toured the Allerton Garden. If you ever go, ask for Juan to be your tour guide. We loved his mix of storytelling, history, and knowledge. The boys loved their day as well and Jack shot his first Eagle on the Poipu Golf Course.

See any dinosaur eggs, Katherine? Jurassic Park was filmed here.

 



Sacred Falls
The only way to get to this waterfall is by kayaking down the Wailua River and hiking through a muddy, rainforest-like terrain. And so we did.

 

Christmas Card, Check

Our hotel offered a complimentary photo shoot with a professional photographer. So, as an added bonus, I ordered a few pictures of our family. Beautiful souvenirs of an incredible trip with my family. And you'll be seeing this picture again in December!

 

Does grilled cheese = better sex?

The other day my friend Christie invited me to a party because her husband wrote a book. I thought, "Yay, I love parties!" I did not think, "Oh, I should go read the book." Because Christie's husband is a PhD in econometrics. He is an expert in the use and interpretation of data and he wrote a book about just that...data.

So, yeah. Not very high on my reading list. Only then I started to feel guilty. There's no way Christie would know I was at her party for the cosmos and the conversations with no intention of reading the book but I'm such a rule follower that I just couldn't do it. I bought the book. I figured I'd skim through it enough to throw out a few strategically placed comments showing I was a book supporter and not just there for the free food.

I had no idea I would actually LOVE the book. I would never have predicted that reading about data would be so enjoyable, informative, and laugh out loud funny! I read it cover to cover last week, as my family can attest, because I kept talking about it at every family dinner. In every chapter, I made connections--to the examples, the stories, the information.  I think people are constantly trying to make sense of data--they want to draw conclusions that connect with their own individual stories.

As a teacher, I made connections from the book to my own career. In one chapter, the book talks about the importance of looking at data in context. Based on the example in the book, I gave three groups of fifth graders the following made-up information: The first group was only told that a fire department's average response time was 5 minutes in April. The second group was told the response times for all 12 months. The third group was told the response time for other county's departments. They quickly realized that it was easier to interpret the data when they had more information. We then compared this to reading unfamiliar words in context--they loved the activity! And did you know the process of making statistical conclusions about the data is called drawing an inference? Fifth graders make inferential conclusions about their reading as well.

EVERYDATA is full of hundreds of interesting examples, everything from what caused the Challenger explosion to answering the question, "Do people who eat grilled cheese sandwiches really have better sex?" It explains the concepts of applied statistics in an easy to read manner that will leave you confident in your ability to discern between correlation and causation.

Last night at the party I confessed to John (one of the authors) that I began reading the book with low expectations, but ended up loving it. I mentioned that I thought my dad would love the book and that it would make a great Father's Day gift and John agreed. So, John, now I can officially say,

"100% of dads surveyed think EVERYDATA would make a great Father's Day gift."

Just don't ask me about my sample size.

Facebook's Timeline of the Blizzard

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for you to get your news from Facebook. But, truth be told, you can learn a lot about the world and our reactions to it from scrolling through the posts of your friends. Take this weekend's blizzard, for instance. I'm no meteorologist, but I could accurately track the storm from the trends in my FB feed. Do any of these sound familiar...

Thursday: The Preparations
Lots of pictures of empty grocery aisles so apparently people bought tons of bread. I don't know who, because when these same people post pictures of their fully stocked refrigerators, they are lined with beer.

(Since we were hosting several teenagers, I did NOT want a fridge full of alcohol, so we stocked up on a weekend's supply of Ramen noodles instead.  I didn't post that though. Eating Ramen noodles just didn't seem as fun as drinking beer.)

Friday: And Snow It Begins
Friday marks the beginning. Lots of pictures of the first few flakes, with clever hashtags like #snObama2016 and #snOMG. Also, lots of pictures of patio furniture. I've noticed a lot of my friends have some very nice sets. I'm hoping they all invite me over this summer to hang out on their patios.

Saturday: Pet Problems
We wake up to about 18 inches of the fluffy white stuff and the fluffy furry ones in our house remind us of reality. After some people make a large dent in the beer stocked fridge on Friday night, it wasn't on the agenda to wake up early to dig "Pee Paths" for our pets. And it keeps snowing! It buries our beloved patio furniture, our cars, our pee paths.

Time to dig a pee path.

Dude, where's my car?

Hmmm, do you mind if I don't pee today?

Sunday: Get Busy
It finally stops snowing and the sun comes out. Now we can shovel it. And shovel it. And shovel it. Apparently, we have enough energy after shoveling to also go sledding, eat a lot, and, relax by the fire. I've noticed, from admiring pictures of feet by the fire, that a lot of my friends with cute patio furniture also have very cute socks. Also, we are not too tired from shoveling to complain about Tom Brady.

Monday: Cabin Fever
In the land of social media, we have short attention spans. We're done with this blizzard. We've downloaded all our snowy pictures and we're tired of putting wet mittens in the drier. Today's feed is all about getting out...maybe shopping for some more cute socks....and placing bets on when we'll return back to school. For that news, I'm sure I'll hear about it first on Facebook!

 



Happy New Year!

For those keeping track, we may be the only family that didn't see the new Star Wars movie over the break. Despite that, it was an amazing two weeks, during which I did do ALL 16 things on my Christmas wish list, including an 11th hour game of Sorry with my family (Katherine won.)


pool sharks

 

Here are some other pictures from break...


My niece Danielle and Sean



hanging out with Aunt Sarah

great book!

Hey, teenagers! Pretend like you like each other and smile for the camera.

Wonder exhibit at Renwick Gallery...along with all the other tourists that weren't watching Star Wars

The bug room both fascinated and creeped me out.

Christmas Fun with Pop Pop and Gramy Carolyn

Tatum's stuffed animal now has the stuffing on the outside.



baking birthday bread

Happy New Year!

All I Want for Christmas

Our tree isn't up yet. My cards aren't mailed and my presents aren't wrapped.  But when I sit down this weekend to update my "to do" list, I find my mind wandering to two weeks from now--December 18, to be exact. The beginning of my two glorious weeks of Winter Break. It's not just that I won't be working--it's the brief reprieve for my whole family. No tests to study for, no homework to navigate, no after school activities to coordinate.

In addition to the visions of sugar plums dancing in my head (Kidding, why would I waste my holiday calories on a plum?) I have visions of our wonderful 16 days off and quality time spent with family and friends.


So here's my Christmas Wish List:

1. read a good book
2. game night
3. visit with friends
4. date with my handsome husband
5. stretch my muscles at yoga
6. watch a movie
7. explore a museum
8. ice skate
9. prepare a new recipe
10. score bargains shopping with the girls
11. shop the farmer's market
12. long winter hike with the dog
13. enjoy a play
14. try a new restaurant
15. finish 2015 photo book
16. celebrate Christmas with family

I confess, I'm not dreaming of a White Christmas. I'd rather save the storm for January when we can turn off the alarm, sleep in, and enjoy our snow day. This Christmas, I'm dreaming of time, and how I want to spend it with the people I love.

Be Very Afraid

Be extra kind to all the teachers you know over the next few weeks. The end of October brings something even scarier than Halloween. It's the dreaded END OF FIRST QUARTER.

We are afraid...very, very afraid.

Instead of carving pumpkins, we're carving out time to add 25 report cards to our list of things to do. Instead of trick-or-treaters, we hear parents knocking on our door for a conference. Instead of creating costumes, we're busy creating and entering first quarter data for our school ghouls, oops, I mean goals.

But unlike the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the overwhelmed feeling teachers experience at this time of year has been spotted by eye witnesses.  Look at this graph showing the phases of teacher attitudes throughout the year.

Teachers often set their sights on surviving September.  Then, October hits and we realize--ha, we were fooling ourselves--it is just as busy this month. New teachers often feel the phase of disillusionment the hardest.  They don't have the perspective of the whole year to help them remember, "This too shall pass."

Teachers, if you are feeling disillusioned, don't despair. You are not alone. Here are some tricks that have helped me ease the pain:

Focus on what you ARE getting done.  Self talk is very persuasive so if you tell yourself, "I'm overwhelmed and I don't have enough time," you will feel overwhelmed.  Instead, try saying to yourself, "I am having a productive day and making progress."  And if that doesn't work, look in a mirror like Stuart Smalley and say, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me."

Plan some small breaks for yourself. Listen to your favorite song, go for a walk, just step outside your classroom and breathe deep breaths. It's OK to skip dinner prep and order a pizza...wait, that's every day in my house.

Don't try to do it all. Let your family know that this is crunch time. We give tax accountants a break in April, right? Teachers need a little TLC right now. Paul knows that he's on carpool duty this week.  He is also a very excellent pb & j maker.  Flowers and Starbucks are common gifts this time of year.  You can tell he is the experienced spouse of a teacher! When you talk with your fellow teachers, don't spiral down the black hole of complaining, but support each other.

Most of all, hang in there. Thanksgiving will come.  I promise.


Stuart Smalley's famous quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ldAQ6Rh5ZI

More information about phases of teacher attitudes:
http://www.newteachercenter.org/blog/phases-first-year-teaching

Arkansas Adventure

Prologue: Tuesday--Expect the Unexpected

As much as I try to think through every last detail, I never know what will happen when I travel. This morning I was looking forward to flying to Arkansas with my friend Chrissy on a trip we've been planning for months.  However in an unexpected turn of events, Chrissy was suffering from a case of campylobacteriosis (an awful food poisoning) and Deb spontaneously agreed to be my new travel companion.

Chapter 1: Wednesday--History Lessons

Our first introduction to Little Rock Arkansas was a growling dinosaur.  As soon as we arrived, we headed straight from the airport to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. I was surprised to be greeted by a seemingly random exhibit featuring 13 life sized animatronics. I later learned this was a temporary exhibit honoring President Clinton's work to preserve fossil-rich areas in North America. In 1996, he designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante as a National Monument. 


Besides the dinosaurs, my first trip to a presidential library was a trip down memory lane.  Clinton was president from 1993-2001 when I was in my 20's so I could really remember many of the events from the historical timeline. 

We peeked in the replica of the Oval Office, but my favorite part of this exhibit were the president's daily schedule binders.  Organized by month, I could pull any binder off the shelf to see exactly how Bill was spending his day. 

The next stop on our tour was the Central High School and Visitor's Center.  In 1957, the first African American high school students began the process of desegregation in Arkansas following the historic Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The "Little Rock Nine" endured bullying, death threats, and even the Governor working against them. As a teacher today, this was a particularly interesting exhibit for me and it was both difficult and moving for me to learn more about their story.

 

From there, we stopped by the Arkansas State Capitol for a self guided tour, which included a statue of the Little Rock Nine. 

 

Finally, we ended up in Little Rock's River District enjoying the sculpture garden and view of the bridges.  Here, we found the official "Little Rock" for which the city is named. 

 

Chapter 2: Thursday-Exercising Our Options

 

Along with some other customers, we arrived promptly at 9:00 am to pick up our bike rentals from Billy's Bike Hike.  The store employee was not as prompt, so we chatted with other customers--two local guys--as we waited.  Our plan was to ride around the Arkansas River Trail.  This 18 mile trail crosses the Arkansas River twice--once over the Clinton Bridge and then again over the Big Dam Bridge.

I still can't believe I rode across this bridge!

 Once we crossed the bridge, we had the choice to return the way we came or to continue around, navigating some roads and construction.  Feeling confident, we forged ahead into the unknown.  And promptly got lost.  Cue those local guys, who happened to ride by and notice us standing on the other side of the highway.  They kindly helped us back to the trail and we rode together until we got to a giant fence barrier with a sign announcing, "Trail Closed." Well, apparently signs are optional in Arkansas because these guys lifted our bikes over the Jersey wall barricade and we rode right through the construction zone. Normally rule followers, Deb and I are not entirely on board with this plan.  The guys--who turned out to be a judge and a lawyer--did successfully navigate us all back to the end of the loop without anyone getting bulldozed or arrested.

Bikes safely returned, we jumped in the car to head northwest to the Ozarks.  We were in search of a scenic hike near the Buffalo River called Whitaker Point.  Heading west on the highway, we eventually turned up a windy road.  The Ozarks are not a very populated part of Arkansas, as we discovered.  We had planned to stop for gas at one of the many towns dotting the map along our route.  However, the only visible buildings as we passed through these towns were the occasional old home or post office.  Just when I was beginning to really worry, we hit Ponca.  Population 13 must be the magic number because we found a gas station and a store!

From there, we turned on a small dirt and gravel road and slowly made our way to the trailhead.  All our efforts were rewarded with a beautiful 4 mile hike and views of the valley.  If you look closely, you can see us standing on Whitaker Point--another hiker was kind enough to take our picture. 

Chapter 3: Friday--The Beauty of Arkansas

Our last day in Arkansas began with a trip to Hot Springs. There, we visited the Garvan Woodland Gardens where I learned that creatures big and small live in Arkansas. We walked over bridges and under waterfalls and fed the koi. We did not feed Sasquatch. My favorite part of the garden was Anthony Chapel.


 

Back in Little Rock, we completed our itinerary with the Historic Arkansas Museum and the ESSE Purse Museum.  Deb and I debated for a while about this last stop.  After all, I like a good handbag as much as the next girl but a whole museum dedicated just to purses?  Turns out the ESSE Purse museum is one of three dedicated purse museums in the world.  Who knew? 

 

Satisfied that we completed everything on our itinerary, we celebrated with a meal at Flying Fish, some Loblolly ice cream and a beer at Blue Canoe Brewery.  We are ready to go home!

Chapter 4: Saturday-Chicago

Well, we made it halfway home.  We flew into Chicago and learned that our connecting flight had been cancelled.  Apparently all the flights to our area were cancelled due to some kind of flypocalypse.  Deciding to make the best of an unplanned evening in Chicago, we checked into our hotel and took the L downtown, arriving at 5:00 pm.  There were so many suggestions and so little time!  We started with a walk around Millennium Park, caught an architectural boat tour, found some Chicago deep dish pizza at Giordano's and rode the elevator to the top of the Hancock building.  Not bad for one night!

The Bean



view from the water

view from the top

Watching the Cubs-White Sox game while eating Chicago pizza!

 As long as this post already is, so much is still missing.  It is impossible to write about everything that happened in five days--so you don't hear about the hotel mix-up that had us schlepping our luggage across the highway.  I left out the story of us sneaking past the line at the Hancock building to get up to the bar and take pictures without having to pay for an overpriced drink.  Many of these stories are memories now of a trip I will never forget!