Week's End

The Chicklet's 4th grade class had their musical concert Thursday evening. I've given up trying to get a good pic of her performances. She's always in the back row and the size of an ant in a dark corner... Instead I got her with some of her classmates before their performance outside their brand new building. They had a great performance. Kudos to their music teacher, Mrs. Forrester!
OOOOOOOOhhhhhhh Noooooooooooooooooo! I have some catching up to do! With my Internet down at home I missed a thing or two.
Belated Happy Birthday Mizz Polsia!!!!!!!!!! Hope you had a fabulous day!
What was I thinking? A 1/2 hour bus ride with a bunch of 4th graders?
I spotted this box outside one of the buildings. EEK! Love it!
No sooner do you turn your back and where did the kids end up? In jail! Luckily, they were given a reprieve and set free. It was sunny and breezy. Pretty dusty too. The ride back to school was much quieter with tired kids. We only had time to see 1/2 of the village so the Chicklet and I hope to go again soon.
In the meantime, I took pics of windows....peeling paint....tools...Most of the buildings have been moved from other parts of Arizona to show what life was like in the state during the 1800's. As interesting as it was, I am biased. Growing up in California, our 4th grade history focused on the state's landscape and California missions. Although I have a hard time with how the native people were treated, I have had a fascination with the missions and have visited at least 1/2 of the 21 in California. Had I been around at that time would I have lived on a rancho???? I have a romantic attachment to the golden, rolling hills of my home state.

It'll be 20 years in August since I moved to Arizona. I figured that in four more years I'll have been here the equivalent of my years in CA. So many people here are from somewhere else. I'll never be a AZ native but I've seen a lot of changes in the time I've been here. With that in mind, the Chicklet and I went on a little excursion today.The Tempe Center for the Arts has come a long way from the time it was housed in the old pool house at Tempe Beach Park. The pool was filled in and the deck was a sculpture garden. I wonder what happened to some of the funky sculptures.
If you're driving on the the 202 Freeway in Tempe you'll see the distinct architecture of this building on the south side of the Rio Salado/Salt River.
The mechanics of the west end of Tempe Town Lake. If we ever have another wet winter like we had in 2005, the water will flow like a waterfall at this end.
For now there's a light flow of water creating wetland for birds and fish.Here's my bird... There was theatrical performance today so we lucked out and the gallery was open. In celebration of the TAC's first anniversary, they have an exhibition of works focusing on paper. The quality of the work was top notch. I saw some works of some local favorites and of some of my former art co-op colleagues. To be honest, I wasn't sure about picture taking, so didn't.
We wandered up the steps to the balcony area and then we stepped outside to an upper courtyard. Talk about a great spot to chill out. The court yard areas are north facing-perfect for being outdoors and avoiding the AZ sun. I'm going to make my way to the TAC more often. They have some great areas for hanging out and relaxing.

We hit the jackpot with our next stop. We made a quick trip to the Desert Botanical Garden. The construction is over and better yet, we got a sneak peek at the Dale Chihuly sculptures being installed. Some were already in place and they are stunning. Here's something to wet your appetite:This one was being assembled as we entered the garden. One of the volunteers let the Chicklet touch one of the glass pieces before he handed them on to be installed.This one is in place and another stunner. The exhibition is opening Sat. the 22nd with a special viewing on Friday, the 21st. I'll be making ticket reservations to see these in the morning light and evening light. I asked today and there are no sold out dates or times as yet. They are being sold for 4 hour intervals, 3 different blocks of time per day. The Chicklet is positively excited to see the exhibition. Me too!This bumper sticker seemed a good way to end our wanderings. The morning started out at Hebrew School. There's an adult hebrew class that some of the parents are taking. I haven't dipped my foot in yet but my friends were practicing hebrew vowels quizzing each other with flash cards. I have pile of the Chicklet's work sheets that are going to end up in my collages one day.

There's a lot more photos to share from today that I'll share during the week. gosh, it feels good to have some goodies to share.

God natt!
Marissa