Saturday Snapshots....my vacation continues...

Hello, Saturday.

I've had another busy week this week and have taken lots 

of snapshots so I could link up with my 

bestie Miss Nelson from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera!

for Saturday Snapshots.

Want to see the beginnin' of my vacation?

Read here (Days 1-5), here (Days 6-9) and here (Day 10-15).

Day 16 Cali...we drove over to Pismo Beach.

We stayed in the same exact hotel that I used to stay in when 

I was younger.

Seriously...this is the view from the room.

Sea Crest OceanFront Hotel in Pismo Beach.

Day 17 Cali...these are the stairs that I posted on Instagram.

What goes down...must go up...

or somethin' like that.

UGH...we had take a break...clearly I am out of shape

because I was out of breath goin' back up there.

Check out these cool lil' caves.  

Day 17 Cali continued...we had such a relaxin' day sittin' around

outside...by the pool durin' the day and by the fire pits at night.

They had about four different fire pits around the property.

Of course I had to test them all out to figure out

which was my favorite.

Day 17 Cali continued...Overall, Day 17 was my amazingness 

(Did you like that I used your word, Chelsea?)

Day 17 was also the day that I got to meet Kelly in real-life.

Read here to find out more about our fun time!

Day 18 Cali...we stuck around the hotel all day and then 

headed to F.McLintock's.

I remember fond memories from my childhood

of this restaurant.

One of the things I remember most was the waiter pourin' water

from high up over the table...into your glass.

This brave child let the waiter pour water into his glass...

blindfolded.   

My steak was YUM!

Day 19 Cali...Drove home from Pismo, hit 600 followers on Bloglovin'(WooHOO),

ate a healthy lunch and found some popcorn stickers at Dollar Tree...score!

Day 20 Cali...didn't really leave the house.  

Did find a random bottle of grapes hangin' out in the hallway.

Day 21 Cali...Nitty's memorial day.

Check out the Flipagram at the bottom for a slide show of the memorial.

A great big thank you to George and Pris for hostin' the dinner

at their house. It was a beautiful event and lots of people

that adored Nitty were able to make it.
We handed out dish cloths that she had crocheted.

Everyone loved them.

Day 22 Cali...a day filled with laziness and not leavin' the house.

I did celebrate my One Year Blogiversary and stayed in my 

pajamas until 7 p.m.

Read here to find out about that.

Day 23 Cali...had lunch at Tehama with mom and Pris.

There were deer all over the course yesterday...just hangin' out.

Check out the little baby with her mama.

Happy 4th of July.

Day 23 Cali continued...had dinner with the 'rents and their sweet friends.

We ate at Corkscrew Cafe in Carmel Valley.

We started outside in the cute garden seatin' area, but it was too chilly.

The food was delicious and the company was even better!

Day 23 Cali continued...They served the table with warm

bread, creamy goat cheese (no...I didn't eat that, Jivey), and 

roasted garlic to spread on the bread.

Mom and I split a yummy Pear salad with melted Gorgonzola cheese

and had a Meyer's Lemon pizza with prosciutto, arugula,

mozzarella and Parmesan.

This was place had the coolest atmosphere. 

I couldn't stop snappin' shots.

Day 23 Cali continued...went to Patria in Salinas to make 

reservations for dinner tonight and to check on some grapes.

The most important part of my week was this...turn your volume up.

Happy Saturday, friends!

Saturday Snapshots...Spark Student Motivation...Lovin' It & Over It

Happy Saturday, from Pismo Beach, California.

Still on the linky train...

I'm linkin' up for Saturday Snapshots with my bestie Miss Nelson

from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera.

 Day 10 Cali...We headed to Oakland to watch the Boston Red Sox play
the Oakland Athletics.  Unfortunately, the Red Sox didn't win, but we still had
a fabulous time.  I've been lucky enough to visit many baseball parks growin' up.
I think my count is up to ten.
We took a shuttle from the hotel to the park and back.
Less hassle for the most part...except people were rude pushin' to get on the shuttle.

Day 10 Cali continued...We had dinner at a restaurant named Francesco's

that has been in business for 45 years.  Our waitress, Lisa, has been

workin' there for 39 years.  Talk about dedication!

The food was scrumptious. 

I of course had Chicken Piccata because I love capers!

We had to check out grapes there too.

Yep...they were drinkable.

Day 11 Cali...We went back to the ball park for some more baseball.

This time, the Red Sox WON!  

We left early though to catch the shuttle to break down on the crowds.

We listened to the end of the game on ride home.

Day 12 Cali...I took my first trip to Trader Joe's.  

O-M-G...I am in LOVE with the Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels.

If you haven't tried these, get you some!

On the way to pick up dad from golf we watched the deer 

walkin' around the course. 

We also saw wild turkey babies, 

but didn't get a chance to photograph them.

We ate dinner at a place called Baja Cantina in Carmel Valley.

Wonderful atmosphere.

I had Prawn Scampi and everyone else had ribs and garlic fries.

Day 13 Cali...We ran some errands...one bein' to Grocery Outlet 

to pick up these Nonni's Salted Caramel Biscotti.  

They are individually packed and only 100 calories.

If you see these...pick them up!

Mom made a fabulous pork loin, broccolini, and slaw for dinner.

YUM!

Day 14 Cali...Ran some more errands to my favorites...

Costco and Whole Foods.

I seriously wish we had these where I live.

We did some readin' and relaxin' at Tehama and then

met some friends for a delicious dinner

at Cafe Rustica in Carmel Valley in the Village.

Day 15 Cali...I didn't leave the house...not once.

Do I feel guilty?  NOPE!

I spent time workin' on my Monday Made Its, readin' and 

gettin' ready for THIS....

Want to check out my first five days in Cali?

Read here.  

Want to check out days 6-9 in Cali?

Read here.

I'm also linkin' this up with Christy from 

Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road for 

her "Eating, Drinking, Linking...Oh My" linky 

because I gobbled up a lot of yummy food this past week.

I'm also linkin' up with my sweet BBB Joanne from 

Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student

Motivation Saturdays.

Firstly...Joanne, I hope you had a FABULOUS birthday this week!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Nextly, my bestie ACH sent this to me and I was thinkin' this would

be a fabulous thing to spark some motivation in students.

I haven't tried it, but I definitely will be.

It was too good not to share with you...my other besties.

Become a Scholastic Kid News Reporter

(click on the link to find out more info)

Applications will no longer be accepted after September 26, 2014

My super funny friend Ali from Teaching Powered by Caffeine

is back with Lovin' It & Over It.

Relaxin'.

Enough said.

I needed this.

BIG TIME!

I'm on vacation, so I don't really have anything that I'm over right now,

except for maybe my belly flip-floppin' every time we 

are on a curvy road.  I'm not really a great back seat driver

as it is, but put me somewhere that is not flat and straight like Florida, 

and I get a little queasy.  

Nothin' a lil' air-condition' in the face can't fix.

Happy Saturday, friends!

Saturday Snapshots...Spark Student Motivation Saturday

I'm gonna make this quick because I'm gettin' ready
for a road trip.

Don't know where I'm goin'?

Read here.

I'll be back on Sunday to catch up with you.

I love Saturdays because I get to link up with two of my favorite girls...

Miss Nelson from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera for 

Saturday Snapshots

and

Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for 

Spark Student Motivation Saturdays.

Day 6 Cali...We basically stayed around the house most of the day...in pajamas!

I seriously had no problems at all with this.

We had to drink the grapes at dinner to make sure dad 

is growin' them correctly.

I'd say he's doin' a pretty awesome job.

Yum!

Day 7 Cali...We went to Mission Ranch to drink some grapes to make 

sure they were okay for the rest of the public to consume also.

Yep, yep, yep...they are good to go!

I always have a great time here because I actually used

to work at the Mission Ranch Inn...almost ten summers ago.

I met some wonderful people and friends from that experience.

Wow...how time flies!

Mission Ranch has a bea-u-ti-ful view.

Where else can you find sheep hangin' out by the ocean?

Of course the lone black sheep was far in the pasture, so I didn't

get a good shot of him.

Day 7 Cali continued...

We went to dinner at the Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurant.

Great atmosphere and I got some scrumptious grilled shrimp tacos.

Day 8 Cali...Got my hair trimmed.   Drove up to Tehama to pick

dad up after golfin' and then bee bopped around the back yard

checkin' on mom's garden before eatin' dinner.

Nothin' overly excitin' happened, but that's fine by me.

I love lazy days.

Day 9 Cali...Went to see Jersey Boys with my parents and some of their friends.

If you like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons...go see this!

I grew up listenin' to them with the two pictured above.

I knew every single song in the movie and danced in my 

seat most of the time.

If you were ever a sorority girl...you have 

been on a dance floor singin' "Oh What a Night"...

I can almost guarantee it.

I finally got my movie theater popcorn I have been talkin' about

here and here.

Day 9 Cali continued...We ate a quick dinner after the movies.  

Grilled chicken, cauliflower puree, and veggies.

This was as good as the grapes!

I'll be takin' lots of snapshots on my mini trip.

Be on the lookout this week.

Want to check out my first five days in Cali?

Read here.

P.S.  I don't garden, but I want this.

This is at mom's bestie's house.  

It just looks invitin' and makes me want to go buy

cute flowers and flower pots.

I seriously did not inherit the green thumb from my father.

This is not a joke.

This motivates me and makes me want to buy more.

These sweet girls took every book off all four bookshelves 

in our class and organized them without me promptin' them. 

All the money I have spent on books is so worth it when 

my babies love to read and love books as much as I do!

Mo-ti-va-tin'!

Happy Saturday, friends!

We're NERDY and we know it...

Today I'm linkin' up with Miss Nelson from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera for Saturday Snapshots and Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation Saturdays.

This week I decided to try somethin' that I saw on Jeanette's Third Grade Galore blog where she featured Fun Science Lab Coats.  In Florida, 5th Grade is a HUGE testin' year for Science.  In April, we will take the Science FCAT(Florida's Comprehensive Assessment Test).  I thought, what better way to spark some student motivation than makin' my kids feel like real scientists.  I put in my newsletter that I would like students to bring in an old white or light t-shirt that we would basically be destroyin' in class.  I didn't give the secret away and it was drivin' them nuts wantin' to know what in the world we would be doin' with the shirts.  After everyone's shirts came in, I put Sharpies in a center with the students' Science books.  All I told them was, design your lab coat how ever you choose, but it must be Science related.  Some drew pockets and others buttons.  Some wrote Science vocabulary words and others drew pictures.  I loved that some of my kids chose to write "I'm Nerdy and I Know It" and "Watch Out for the Nerd Herd".  It warms my heart that they completely grasp that bein' nerdy is cool.  They proudly wore their lab coats to lunch and wanted to show off their creations to the rest of the school without any promptin' from me.

I'd say this activity was a success and definitely sparked some Science motivation in my students.

Last night I had dinner with some great friends, includin' Miss Nelson.  I love eatin' at Bonefish Grill.  I had a yummy steak and some crab cakes.  Two things I love: food and laughter!

Everyone was pickin' on me because every time the waitress would take away some plates, I would get upset if there were food crumbs in my eatin' space.  The "Type A" in me goes a lil' crazy on the inside just thinkin' about it.  Now Miss Nelson on the other hand, is not bothered by such things as you can tell by her eatin' space.  It just goes to show that two very different personalities can be such great friends.  We definitely even each other out.

Jerm and I went to meet up with another dear friend after dinner.  I got elected to drive the pimped out golf cart down the road.  This thing goes 25 mph and has lights that move to the beat of the sound system they have installed.  I'm not too sure everyone was thrilled with my drivin'.  I almost knocked poor Jerm off the back of the cart when I took off from a stop sign.  He kinda deserved it though...he was tryin' to take a picture to document the hilariousness of my golf cart drivin' skills.

    I'm so blessed to be able to spend each day next door to my bestie, teachin' and collaboratin'.  This week we had picture day. We were wearin' orange in support of our principal's son who had to have a plasma exchange this week.  This will help give his bone marrow donor's blood a chance to take effect.  My principal, her son and entire family have been through so much in the past nine months and amaze me with their strength and positive outlooks at every twist and turn.   

This guy certainly explains so much this week.  Not only does this make ME crazy, I am certain it makes the natives restless also. The full moon brings out the behavior banshees.  Does this disrupt anyone else's sleep? 

  

Made some Halloween Labels.  Must've been the influence of the full moon.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week.  Happy weekend to you!