Mrs. Flores’ Web Blog

Well, it’s been awhile since I jotted a few notes, so I figured it was time to check back in.  Perhaps with all the summer fun you’ve been having, checking my blog is at the bottom of the list.  However, some of you may be bored and surfing the internet and may just think of stopping in.

So how’s your summer reading?  I had set reading aside briefly while I focused on maintaining my domicile (housework!).   The last couple of nights I’ve started reading Everest Book Two by Gordon Korman.    The Summitquest team has arrived in Nepal to begin their trek to conquer Mt. Everest.  The book starts right out telling you that one of the kids will not make it back from the mountain.  Joey and I have been speculating on who might this victim be.  Let me tell you a little bit about the kids on the Summitquest team.

         A) Tilt:  He is this jerky kind of kid who is very self-centered.  He is rude and disrespectful not only to adults but to his peers.   He wants to be youngest person to climb Mt. Everest.  He wants all the glory and noteriety; however, he is not the youngest member of the team.  He is secretly corresponding with a newspaper and sharing inside info on Summitquests adventure.  He is trying to get the youngest kid kicked off the team.  We kind of think he should be the one to go, if anyone.

         B) Perry:  He is on this eXpedition, because his rich uncle owns Summitquest and wants his nephew to climb Mt. Everest.  Perry is not a very strong rock climber and could be endangering his life.  He doesn’t really want to be on the team and Cap Cicero, the team leader, doesn’t think Perry should be on the team.   Perry could get himself killed.

          C) Sammi:  She’s an Extreme adventure addict.  She loves exciting and dangerous stunts.  She’s an Extreme skateboarder, rollerblader, snowboarder, rockclimber…anything EXTREME!  She already has a scraped-up forehead from running into a YAK!  Her dangerous, push it to the limit antics might just leave her on the mountain.

           D) Dominic:  He is the youngest member of the team.  He is so excited to be going to Mt. Everest it is like his dream come true.  He is so enthusiastic about being on the Summitquest team.  He reads everything he can about Summitquest, Mt. Everest, the Himalaya’s, and rock climbing.  He is a team player and looks out for everyone.  We don’t want him to be the one to go, but right now in the story he is suffering from HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema), and his cough is real bad.  We are not sure how life-threatening his condition, but the doctor is checking him out.

That’s the latest update on my reading.  How about any of you guys, what are you reading?  I’m sure someone has got to be reading something, a mystery maybe?   If you;re not reading you probably have seen a little TV (or perhaps too much TV).   Camp Rock with the Jonas Brothers seems to be on every channel.  Did anyone see the movie?  Did you like it as much as High School Musical?

Well, I’ve been continuing my vacation research/planning.  My sister-in-law who is a school counselor in Vegas forwarded me some of the Vegas educational experiences that are available for the students in Clark County. 

My last trip to Vegas was when Joey was still an infant.  I have always loved researching fun places for kids to visit.  I guess being the oldest of 7 and now mom of 2, I can’t help but love the same kinds of places that kids do.  When my family visited Vegas then, we visited the LIed Children’s Museum.  When everyone else was ready to go and sitting on the lobby benches, they had to page me to come to the desk to drag me out of the fun. I was so busy exploring Richard Scary’s Busy Town, and the exploratorium upstairs.  DIdn’t they realize I was having fun with my hair standing on end from touching the static ball. 

Well, I’ve got a whole day planned this time around.  I love to visit children’s museums and I’ll be accompanied by my niece who is also a 3rd grade teacher and loves this sort of stuff too.  No party-poopers will be allowed, I’ll drop them off at the nearest nickel-eating, bell ringing faire while we kids enjoy Einsteins Corner, playing a laser harp, being a radio DJ, entering a hurricane and other such fun events.  Check it out for yourself at  http://www.ldcm.org/ .

If perchance we do get bored, my next adventure site will be the Atomic Testing Museum which opened in 2005.  We’ll be visiting Las Vegas at a time that the museum is hosting a “Physics Behind the Fun” (Amusement Park Science).   What a privilege! I’ll be looking to gain some new insights to share for SLC’s Rollercoaster building event in the fall.  HMMM… I better start saving paper towel rolls. 

Why did I have to write paper towels?  Now I remembered I have some kitchen work to take care of.  It’s off to my domestic maintenance duties…  What are you doing this summer? 

Talk about a cliffhanger.  I just finished reading book one in the Everest series by Gordon Korman with my boys.  The book is about a group of kids who are traying to join an expedition to climb MT. Everest.  Their training includes an excruciating climb of Lucifer’s Claw in Alaska.  One of the climbers falls and well I had to run up to school to get the next book.

What I like about the book is that isn’t just about boys that like adventure, it’s about girls who are thrillseekers too.  I also enjoy creating the images in my mind.  For Example one of the kids is thirteen, but looks like a ten year old.  He is limber and loves to climb.  When I was a kid, I always looked young for my age too.  I also loved to climb.  I would climb to the top of the big tree in my backyard and look toward downtown to see the big buildings.  I probably shouldn’t confess this but my brothers and I would play this game to see if we could make it around the whole house without touching the floor (which of course meant we were climbing walls, furniture and the refrigerator too).  Just know that I did get in trouble.  How do you explain a grimy kid print above the door frame?

Well I’ve been reading a little more about the Grand Canyon.  Sounds like a whole lotta people travel in the summer.  I’m not so sure I want to fight the crowds and traffic jams.  Perhaps I might be able to plan an itinerary that will have us arriving before sunset.  I’ve heard that the awe-inspiring, breathtaking views are definitely worth it, but sometimes the traffic congestion is this most memorable aspect of the trip.  I will see what I can do.  I think I’ll keep reading and researching.  Do you have a vacation memory that is trumped by disaster?  In other words, what is the vacation disaster you remember?  Is it funny?  Tell me about it.  I’ll have to think about mine and write about it soon.

Have you started reading yet? 

Well my boys and I are starting our vacation plans…We are reading about different places to visit in New Mexico, Arizona and Las Vegas.  So far we have read about Carlsbad Caverns and Whites City Resort.  From what I’ve read, Whites City Resort is the closest hotel to Carlsbad, and it has a WATERPARK, (which will be great to visit in the heat of the summer).  Since our main goal is to visit family, we don’t plan to spend a lot of time seeing all the sites, but Carlsbad and a special tour is definitely on the list.  A cool cave sounds pretty good right now with our scorching summer days here already!

Another cool place we are considering a visit is Rockhound State Park in Deming, NM.  It was featured on one of the Travel Channel shows called Cash and Treasure.  Joey particularly loves rocks!  Guess what! We can find and keep up to 15 pounds of rocks from the park.  In particular, we will be looking for Thunder Eggs (geodes).  Has anyone ever visited Rockhound State Park and found Thunder Eggs?

What are your vacation plans?  Want to go to any place special?  A skate park? The Smoky Mountains?  A Cruise?  Tell me…..

It is summer, and life isn’t all just fun and dreams.  Gotta go….gotta tend to some of the duties of head of domestic maintenance.

Mrs. Flores

I have permission to open the storybook cafe next Wednesday in the afternoon.  Be ready to find a book that you might want to read over the summer!

Our storybook cafe event was a great success!  It is so great to see so many children excited about reading!  Let’s keep reading through the summer!  Does anyone think we should open the book exchange one more time before school is out?   What about the summer?  Would you come get a new book to read?

 This Friday is our special Storybook Cafe event!  Be ready to see some of your favorite characters ready to share a story with you.  Bring a book from home and exchange it for one from our book exchange.  Friday is National Reading is Fun day!  Find a book and enjoy a good read!  Students will also be serving lemonade and animal crackers as a special treat. Come Enjoy!

Students you get another day homework free!  Hooray!  4th Graders you will be taking the Reading TAKS test tomorrow!  Get a good night’s rest again!  Remember U R  A STEP :)!

NO HOMEWORK!

Math TAKS test tomorrow!  GET A GOOD NIGHT’S REST!