Our oldest son is in fourth grade and he qualifies for the Every Kid Outdoors pass this year. This means that he and the family get free access to hundreds of parks, lands, and waters for an entire year. It is an amazing program for all fourth grade students in the United States. We have previously purchased the America the Beautiful pass which is the Interagency Pass that provides access to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas across the United States. Our family didn't purchase an America the Beautiful pass this year because we knew Caden would qualify for the Every Kid Outdoors pass. With this in mind we want to create really special memories for him and our family this year using his pass. Our family packed up and headed to Utah last week to visit Zion and Bryce National Park. Along the way we stopped at the Hoover Dam and also took a drive through Las Vegas. We stayed in Saint George which ended up being a great starting point for our adventures to the … [Read more...]
Every Kid Outdoors Pass: Visiting Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park
Meet Finn ~ Our Sonoran Desert Tortoise
It has been one month since we adopted our Sonoran desert tortoise from Arizona Fish and Game Department. Meet Finn. We don't know if Finn is a boy or girl and will not know until Fin is about 10 years old. Fin is currently 1 year of age. Finn is a super low key pet. Our tortoise lives in our backyard in an enclosure. Once it gets bigger, Finn will be able to roam freely in the yard. In the first week of having our tortoise we found Finn flipped over upside down three times. This can be super dangerous especially for the baby tortoises. They will release their bladders when upside down and can quickly become dehydrated. After finding Finn flipped so many times we decided it would be best to redo the burrow again and add extra dirt in the enclosure. I have lost count at this point how many times we have remade the burrow. And this last time we got it just right. It is the perfect size and after some pretty heavy rains also stays dry. Plus Finn has … [Read more...]
Desert Tortoise Hatchling Burrow & Enclosure
We are getting ready to add another member to our family soon and will be adopting our desert tortoise hatchling this week! We are adopting through the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Under state law, desert tortoises are available for adoption for Arizona residents only. Our family has been in full on research and learning mode for the last two months to prepare an enclosure and burrow. The kids were super eager and motivated to help prep the backyard space for our new little friend and we let them take shovels and rakes to clear the space for the desert tortoise enclosure. Once the area was clear the construction began. This was a slower process due to the heat of summer. The burrow itself was the most time consuming to construct, mostly because we had no idea how to size it appropriately for a hatchling. Inside the enclosure is the burrow, water dish, a globemallow and desert hibiscus plants. Our enclosure measures 4 feet by 4 feet. It is 2 feet tall and has … [Read more...]
Read Aloud Reviews: The Neverending Story, Pilgrim’s Progress, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, & More
Hi! Welcome to my tiny space on the internet, I never really planned to go silent on my blog for over year. Homeschooling four kids is my main priority and last year I was so exhausted at the end of day I could barely keep my eyes open let alone type a coherent sentence. I am really hoping to be back here more often. So please be kind if you notice multiple typos, bad grammar, or poorly written sentences. All that to say, welcome if you are new and welcome back to past readers. One of my favorite things to do is read aloud to all my kids. I love the sense of connection it gives us and that we can discuss what we are reading together. If you aren't reading aloud to your kids I highly recommend it. It has become just another part of our nighttime routine at this point. Very rarely does our television come on after dinner but we can still be found curled up together in the living room with a good story. Over the summer we read so many good books. We also enjoyed listening to … [Read more...]
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Coolidge, Arizona
Last week we packed up our minivan and made the 45 minute drive to Coolidge, Arizona. We visited one of Arizona's National Monuments, the Casa Grande Ruins. I remember going on a field trip in elementary school to the Casa Grande Ruins and was awestruck. During our pandemic year of homeschooling the kids we have covered ancient history. We finished reading about the fall of Rome this week and they are asking to continue their history lessons into the summer. This totally surprised me but I am going to take that win and pat myself on the back. Since they have enjoyed history lessons so much this year, I knew they would all be excited to see what archeologists have discovered in Arizona. The ancestral Sonoarn desert people who lived in Arizona developed irrigation, farming, and trade. Casa Grande means "the great house". At the peak of the community Casa Grande was home to 2,000 people. There is a mystery surrounding what happened to the people who lived here. By the year … [Read more...]
Off The Cob Mexican Street Corn
This Off The Cob Mexican Street Corn is a super easy and tasty dish that is one of our new family favorites. It was so good when I made it that Josh asked me to write down the recipe so he could make it at the firestation. That is high praise in our family because not every meal or recipe we make at home are ones that he would want to duplicate at work. We served this with smoked pork sandwiches and coleslaw but honestly it would be good with so many different flavor combinations. I even added the leftovers the next morning to roasted sweet potatoes, crumbled bacon, avocado, pork, and salsa for a breakfast bowl. I hope you enjoy this recipe just as much as we did. Ingredients 16 ounce bag frozen whole kernel corn2 tablespoon melted butter2 tablespoon mayonnaise1 lime juiced1/2 teaspoon paprika1 teaspoon blend of salt, pepper, garlic (I use this brand)4 green onions sliced 1/2 cup cotija cheese3-5 stems cilantro chopped fresh Directions Heat frozen corn … [Read more...]
