Where's Stanley? and a short video of Cosmo with Jax

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Hello third graders!

Well, I was thinking about where Stanley has been for the past week (and a half). I realized I know where Queen Creek, AZ is, but you might not. So, here is a map of Queen Creek's Johnson Ranch golf course (which is actually south of QC proper, and in unincorporated Pinal County - while QC is in Maricopa County - where Sheriff Joe Arpaio runs the show). We live near the golf course- actually, the 9th green is behind our backyard!

Here are directions from Troy, to QC.





When Ron, Cosmo, and I drove out here in mid-July, we took 4 days to drive out here with an average of 500 miles per day...well, that was the plan.





We stopped in Fishers, Indiana (near Indianapolis) to visit our friend, Jill, who is a hydrologist (water geologist). Her dog, Jax, was Cosmo's best friend back in Clawson, MI.




Here's a 38 second video of Cosmo and his pal Jax (RIP) playing at Realtor Park on Main Street, Royal Oak. Jill and I (Dawn) are in the background. Cosmo is the larger, lighter colored one.

Next, we stopped in St. Louis, Missouri. We took some wonderful photographs along the Mississippi River near the arch.

Next, we stopped in Oaklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Then to our first mountain - near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Finally, we made it to Queen Creek, Arizona!

Just over 2,000 miles from Clawson, MI where we started.

Well, there will be more photos tomorrow. Today (Sunday) we went to Tempe and photographed all over the ASU campus.

Stanley will be heading to Michigan tomorrow morning!

Take care,

Dawn

More photos of Flat Stanley

Friday, October 17, 2008 (and other days too)

Yup, there are mountains here in the Phoenix area. I don't even recall which one this is. I think we photographed this on our way to the Casa Grande Ruins. I just hadn't posted the photo yet.

Can you find Stanley? He wanted to check out this cool ride on a hot day!

Not sure if you can see the sign too well. There was a post in the way. This "Bulls 4 Sale" sign is true. There are about a half dozen bulls in the field (too far to photograph here). In the first photo, Stanley is actually blocking the sign. This is on the Hunt Highway just north of Riggs Road Near San Tan Flat Steak House. hmmmm maybe that's where they get their meat.

By the way, here is a close-up of Stanley on the bike.

Hanging out near home

Thursday, October 16, 2008
Not much going on today. We went for a walk with Cosmo, took a drive and found an old video game to play. I hope you like our simple post.

Please leave a comment when you have a few minutes. You don't even have to register.

Dawn

Covered Wagon

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Here we are at the San Tan Flat Steak House...still. We took lots of photos. What a great place to photograph southwestern stuff! Here is Stanley with a few covered (and not so covered) wagons.

San Tan Flat Steak House

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Here we are at the San Tan Flat Steak House, just north of the San Tan Mountains.

Stanley literally saddled up to the bar to order a water!

Here is Stanley with a cow skull.

Reminds me of Georgia O'Keefe artwork.

The band is a little rusty on the music...don't you think?

Stanley with Aunt Dawn and an old geezer!

Can you find Stanley in the sugaro cactus made of horse shoes?

Stanley gets flattened at the San Tan Flat Steak House!

Pie with friends

Strawberry Rubarb pie - yum!

I want to be like Indiana Jones! My, he's got a big hat to fill!

I like reading books...I was even used as a bookmark once!

Dancing with the Stars was on after Joe changed the station from Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

We went to visit a former colleague of mine (Aunt Dawn). Jennifer and I taught at Desert Mountain Elementary 10 years ago. She was a 5th grade teacher, and I was a 1st grade teacher. Now we both teach 2nd grade. She is at a school in the Gilbert School District, and I am teaching at Harmon Elementary in the J.O.Combs School District in Queen Creek.

Jennifer and Joe have two lovely children, but without their parent's consent, they cannot appear on the blog. But if you look closely, you may see a hand or arm. They played well with Stanley and we walked their dogs around the neighborhood. Stanley ate pie, played the piano, dressed up like Indiana Jones, and read a book. Afterwards, we all watched Dancing with the Stars for a few minutes. Joe had turned off Sponge Bob earlier. :( Oh well, we would have been singing the theme song all the way home afterwards...Well, Ron would be singing!

Take care and I will finish up with some more adventures this weekend.

D

Chandler fountains

Sunday, October 12, 2008

After our drive out to Coolidge to see the Casa Grande Ruins, we drove north but I didn't want to go home yet. So we headed up AZ-87 to Chandler. We stopped in their downtown area and took a few shots of Stanley by a fountain. We saw an Indian art fair with beautiful jewelry, but we did not buy anything. We strolled along and peeked into shops. We found an artistic ostrich to photograph.

There are some ostrich ranches around here somewhere. I know I have seen a couple of ostriches out here in the southeast valley before. Well, as I typed this blog, I looked up ostrich ranches in AZ and found Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch. It is south of us, near Eloy, AZ.

Funny story about Eloy, AZ. Ten years ago, Ron came out to AZ to visit me from Michigan and he was writing a science fiction novel about the first manned mission to Mars. The main character was a skydiving videographer. So, when he came out to visit, we drove down to Eloy and went skydiving. Eloy has the world's largest skydiving center. I loved it! I was ready to go back up again minutes later. It's been 10 years and I am looking forward to my second jump. :)

Dawn

Land of Cotton

Where's Stanley?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

On our way to the Casa Grande Ruins, we passed through Florence, AZ and a cotton field. We will be sending a boll of cotton in our care package in a couple of days. Check out this (manual) slideshow From Field to Fabric to learn more about cotton. I sure did!

If you look in the background, you can see the mountains. I don't recall if they were to the east or west. But if you check out SummitPost, you can learn all sorts of things about the mountains in and around Phoenix.

We can see the Superstition Mountains from the corner near our home. I see them everyday when I head east toward my school. I truly love living here in the southwest! It's so cool to see the mountains everyday. I lived in Mesa ten years ago and taught in Queen Creek at Desert Mountain Elementary. I moved back to Michigan in 1998, but now, I've returned to the Sonoran Desert once again!

Happy reading!

Casa Grande Ruins

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Today we did a bit of exploring because this weekend the temperatures have been extremely bearable! Even a bit chilly at night. So... we went to the neighboring town of Coolidge. Pretty much their only claim to fame is the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Some rocks that constituted homes for the Hohokam Native Americans about 1,000 years ago.

We will be sending a souvenir to you soon!

Breakfast

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Breakfast for Aunt Dawn..scrambled eggs in a tortilla. Spaghetti and meatballs for Uncle Ron!

Flat Stanley wanted to sample it all!

We're heading to the Casa Grande Ruins later...more photos and blogation!

Dawn

Harmon Elementary

Top photo: Flat Stanley in the courtyard at Harmon Elementary. Here you see the media center in the background in the first photo. The K-2nd grade classes are in the yellow building to the right. 3rd-5th graders are in the green building to the left.

Bottom photo: The playscape has a canopy to keep things a bit cooler. In August, when the school year began, the daytime temperatures in Queen Creek, AZ were about 108 degrees! It sure gets hot in the desert!

Thursday and Friday October 9-10, 2008

Hello again!

Today, Flat Stanley came to Harmon Elementary School with me. I am a second grade teacher. We had half days of school and parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon.

On Thursday, the kids took Stanley to walking (15 minutes of exercize daily), then to P.E. (also known as gym class in Michigan). They played dodge ball.

Friday, was Principal Lineberry's birthday, so Dean Bray set up a plan to surprise him. All the students in the school went out to the field and formed the phrase "We Love Mr. Lineberry!" The teachers formed a heart to make it complete. Boy! Was he surprised! He went up a very tall ladder to see the message. I am sorry I don't have a photo of it yet...if I get one, I'll post it here!

After the message, the students went to the technology lab for their computer lesson.

Oh, here's Mrs. Sketch's Second Grade Stars' website.

Check out the kids' favorite Fitness Challenge! It takes about 3 minutes to do...when it says run to the bathroom, the kids run around the room one time clockwise. Make sure you have a chair and a book ready for the exercizes.

More later!

Aunt Dawn

A Very Skinny Visitor!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Guess who just popped in for a visit?!?! Flat Stanley!

Evan Sketch shipped over Stanley from his third grade class Barnard Elementary in Troy, MI!

We have one week to have adventures! The timing is great. I have fall break next week (after conferences on Thursday and Friday this week). I don't know what type of adventures we'll go on, but we'll try to do some cool things together in sunny Arizona. It's 96 degrees right now. Well, I will keep a journal of his adventures and perhaps a video as well!

Take care!

Aunt Dawn