Botanical Gardens Chiles and Chocolate...

Today, since Jasmine was off school and I cannot effectively work with her around, we went to the Botanical Gardens where they were having the annual "Chiles and Chocolate Festival". Zillions of other people had the same idea... many of whom had never seen a cactus before:))- Taking endless photos of the cacti:)) I had never been there during the festival and didn't know it was so "sophisticated". Chocolatiers from all over the country were there! Of course, Jasmine was in heaven because each booth had small samples. There were amazing chocolate towers, delicately decorated, very pretty. The chocolates were inside in the AC and outside were all the gourmet chilis and chili products of every kind. We ended up buying only one little chocolate which was a 1" cube intricately decorated like a little purse, and placed in a little purse shaped box. 8.00!!!:) My only concern was getting it home before it liquified in the heat. We bought it for Miss Adrianna who is the office manager at Jazzy's new school- Imagine Tempe. She is a total fashionista, always wearing very hip funky clothes, boots and designer purses. She is incredibly friendly and helpful, has a strong "Joisy" accent, and has really helped Jazzy (and me) adjust to her new school. We also visited the Monarch exhibit which holds 800 Monarch butterflies, and walked around for a short time, had lunch and watched some Brazilian martial artists/dancers. Our visit was cut short because Jasmine was misbehaving so badly. Perfect beautiful day outside. 70 degrees. The Botanical Garden always has all kinds of new artwork/sculptures every few months. This time they had huge sculptures representing each season. Here is the Summer statue.

Looking at the monarchs with her magnifying glass!

Miss Grumpy ready to go home and take a nap before going to ballet class:)

More Autumn Antics Photos....

Jaime with her two littlest students.

Acting goofy, as usual:)

Getting ready to start!

First, second and third places:)

Autumn Antics 2012

Peoria Polar Ice Autumn Antics. A competition judged solely on artistry, presentation, and interpretation of the music. Jazzy did the same routine with a couple of changes... which we are probably going to do for quite awhile. "These Boots Are Made for Walking". 1962 version by Nancy Sinatra. Jazzy won 1st place unanimously from all 5 judges. I kind of felt sorry for the little kids that didn't get a medal:( Looking at photos from last time with Jaime and Kiki.

Watching the show with Kiki, her little brother Grant, and trying to hide- grandmother Arlette who must live at the ice rink. I have never been there when she was not there.

Annali explaining to Jazzy that she must smile:) Annali was Pocohontas.

Jaime and Jasmine.

She floored me again...

We were just sitting at the table the other night, and Jasmine was supposed to be doing homework. I was on the computer sitting next to her. She said..."You know- My name is Mrs. Stolz, and I have a son". I said "Oh yeah"...not even looking up or paying attention because she always says she is a mom. Then she said.."His name is Ron!!". I jumped off the chair:) She may have asked me a couple of years ago what my father's name was, but I don't think she would remember that. Now she says that Ron likes the name Jacob better:) I guess it goes right along with the having to watch The Lawrence Welk Show on Saturday nights!

Critter Keeper.....

New program,- one of many- at the Phoenix Zoo. Kids ages 6-10 can spend a few hours with various zookeepers "helping" them feed the animals, clean cages (which we didn't do), learn about the animals. and see what it's like to be a zookeeper. Class size is limited to 6 kids.. which was really great. Today the class was on "Endangered Species". The first animal they visited was the flamingos. The kids were able to feed them up close with the "keeper". (I wasn't aware that flamingos are endangered- I really don't think they are.) Next, off to the bird sanctuary where they all fed meal worms to the exotic birds. I didn't think that Jasmine would grab a handful of meal worms with her hands, but she did. Next, they each colored a small box with various paints, put meat into the box, and threw the boxes over the fence for the African Spotted Dogs who ripped up the boxes and devoured the meat. The class went overtime by 15-20 minutes. I was supposed to go to my Sunday afternoon meditation class which I keep missing, but by the time we would have made it back to the car, I would have already been hopelessly late to my class:( I don't even think they know I'm in the class anymore:( So, we just stayed at the zoo, had a late lunch, walked around, and rode the safari train. The Phoenix Zoo is just way too big to see in one day. There are many more classes in the Critter Keeper series, so we will be going back multiple times. In the flamingo pen with the "flamingo keeper", standing on one leg like the flamingos do.

Feeding the flamingos.

Making observations about the aviary. They had to check off a list of items about the birds, count the birds to make sure they were all accounted for, check to make sure they all looked healthy, then feed them the worms.

Holding the worms...

If I was a Hornbill:

Painting boxes for the meat to give to the African Spotted Dogs.

Learning about the Desert Tortoise: We actually saw a Gallapegos turtle. I have never seen a turtle so big in my life! Massive! They say he is over 100 years old, and has been at the Phoenix Zoo for 50 years since they opened this week, 1962.

Eating lunch after class. Oh yes, Dora the Explorer was there so we had to go meet her, and then drive one of the Barbie cars around for awhile. It was a long fun day. One of these days, I'll be able to go back to my class!

Desert West Competition....

"These Boots Are Made for Walking" at Peoria Polar Ice on 10/27/12. Getting last minute pointer from Coach Jaimie- probably telling her to "smile"!:)

Start position!!

Air guitar:)

Dancing on the ice.

"One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over YOU"

Tempe Kiwanis Park Halloween Bash....

Every year, I keep hearing about this massive Halloween Party in Tempe-- 10,000 people. I've kind of dreaded going. This year we finally went. I have never seen so many ghosts and goblins in one place before. Lots of games, booths, prices, dances, singing, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts... even the mayor of Tempe was there with whom Jazzy spoke for a few minutes. Of course... lots of candy. I told her that we were definitely not going trick or treating this year, so this was it.... as far as "trick or treating" goes! Playing "Pin the Face on the Pumpkin".