Goodbye to Braces

A rite of passage was happily achieved today in the Samour household.  Sienna had her braces removed!  The de-bracing was surprisingly swift and honestly the whole process from start to finish seemed quick.  She started with wearing a palate expander and then needed a few teeth to come out and a few to come in before having the braces put on.  Once they were on it was an appointment every 6 weeks.  Now she is nearing the end of her junior high years, and the braces are gone.  I think it was great timing.  Not necessarily planned but still appreciated.  She can start her freshman year of high school with a great smile, something not all kids are privileged to have.  Both Sienna and Spenser inherited my crooked teeth, especially the ugly tooth pushed way back on one side of the front of the mouth.  Growing up I wanted braces to fix that "defect," but it was an expense that my family could no way afford.  I'm used to it now, but as Sienna neared 7th grade and her teeth needed work, I decided to make the appointment for the consultation with the orthodontist, and eventually signed the contract to straighten her teeth.  It was an expense I took on as my own, and I can tell you to recieve the notice in the mail that "my financial burden has been met" was a dream come true.  Don't all parents want their kids to have the things they didn't or couldn't?  Of course I reminded Sienna of this throughout treatment any time she complained.  The end result shows it was all worth it.  

Here she is outside the orthodontist's office, with the congratulations goodies they gave her.

After taking pictures and sending them to everyone we could think of, we went to the mall to shop, and then to lunch at Native New Yorker for wings.  Sienna loves wings, and they're so much easier to eat without braces!  Of course I wanted to snap some more pictures, so on the way home from lunch we stopped at a couple "vistas."  Here are some pics from the first.

Here are pics from the second vista.  We drive by this neighborhood almost every day, and love the name of it of course.  Today I thought it made an appropriate backdrop for a photo, or shall I say several photos.

    

It's been a great day and I'll bask in it for now.  The reality is that Spenser will start this process next year, after he loses some teeth, and has some others come in.  One financial burden met, another yet to come.  Until then, show those pearly whites Sienna!

Daytona Delights (Super Delayed)

*Remember we vacationed in Florida for fall break last year?  You saw the Wizarding World blog stories, and I started the Daytona chapter, but never finished it for reasons I can't recall.  At any rate, here's a taste of what the second part of that vacation looked like.

The last chapter of the 'dream family vacation' ends fittingly at Daytona Beach.  We love the beach, and the sands of the Florida coast have been tempting us for many years.  If we had a bucket list, I guess we'd be crossing that off of it!  Rob had been to Florida before, but it was a first for Sienna, Spenser, and myself.  Although we had to contend with some weather, precipitation mainly, I found Daytona delightful.  The fact that a superspeedway exists there too only enhanced its appeal, rain or shine.  As we drove in, here is the sign that welcomed us.

How hard it was to drive right by the speedway and not go in! 

But we resisted as we longed to unpack at our beach hotel.

Here is the view from our balcony.  A pool and a beach!  Now that's what I'm talking about!

The property is more like a condominium building, which made for some spacious accomodations.  Here is the living room,

and the kitchen.

Sienna seems to be enjoying the place!

Time to enjoy the balcony as a family.

Oh yeah!

Now that we've seen our accomodations, it's time to hit the sand!  Here we are on the Florida coastline for the first time!

Those are happy vacation smiles!  And now it's time to hit the water.

After enjoying the evening on the beach, our next day order of business was a tour of the speedway.  Check out the sights!

After the high from the track, good spirits continued on the beach.

You can even rent and ride bikes on the beach! 

 

The boys rode...

and I took a short spin as well.

 

Check out our reserved umbrella, chairs, and table.  We're special (or just big spenders)!

Fun in the sun!

Appropriately, DB bids adieu!

 

Thank you DB and hope to see you again soon!

Tents, Tortillas, and Turkeys

What do tents, tortillas, and turkeys have in common?  Well it must be Easter in the Samour household!  Easter mass is one of the four times Rob asks requires us to go to mass as a family.  So we are definitely one of those "Chreaster" families, with the two additional days of Father's Day and Rob's birthday.  Today's mass found us and countless others outside the church in a huge, open, white tent.  Although a bit warm, and the sermon a bit long, it was enjoyable and worth the trip. I promised a picture and proof of our attendance, right?

Believe it or not, our eyes are open in the above pic, it's just so bright we're squinting a bit!

We saved seats for the Shanahans, and then headed with them to lunch afterwards.  Where do you go on Easter Sunday to eat and avoid a crowd?  Filiberto's!  We were the only ones there, and dined on burritos and tortilla chips.  Then it was home for rest, before preparing the Easter meal.  This time we purchased cooked turkey breasts much like the rotisserie chickens, so that the workload was reduced. 

Heat, add some gravy, and voila!  We also had turkey ham, which is basically turkey made to look and taste like ham.  It's great, and the plus is Rob can eat it too.

Mashed potatoes, corn, and cornbread rounded out the rest of the meal.

Happy Easter!

Caminos y Calles

Administrators, engineers, and contractors from all corners of the state invaded Tucson this week for the annual ACEC Roads and Streets Conference.  This year found Rob in attendance after taking a 4 year hiatus; I'm not sure of the reasons why, but he's glad to be back and hence, so are we!  The conference is always well attended and a fun time in a beautiful location. 

Rob left Wednesday, and we weren't able to come down until after school on Thursday.  Here's a sun-setting view from the patio bar after we arrived.

Here's a same location picture a little bit later.

A view of the patio/bar.

As you might expect, Rob knows everybody at this conference, and they all know him, so it's hard to make your way through the hotel without a chat or two or twenty.  I guess the diffence is they don't get to see us (his family) that often, so we'll just call it a treat for them!  Actually it was a treat for us too!  They all couldn't get over how big the kids were and many greeted Spenser with, "So you're the drummer?"  Sienna also remarked that she enjoyed the conversations she had with everyone.  Of course Rob spent time talking shop while at the conference but with his family in tow, he also plugged Samour Sounds and the upcoming show.  I shudder to think at how long the invite list has gotten!

The next morning Rob had meetings and I had a headache (go figure), but after a short respite, I perked up as I didn't want to waste a minute of the resort.  We had a quick breakfast at Starbuck's, shopped in the boutique, and checked out the pool area.  Look at this gorgeous day!

The hotel is located literally out in nature, surrounded by saguaro cactus!

And here are the children, enjoying their surroundings.  The strange face on Spenser is par for the course.  It's either that, or no picture at all.  Sometimes I have to settle.

After our breakfast and mini tour, we met Rob to check out of the room and pack the car. Then we separated again as he went to the last session, and we hit the pool.

Here is Sienna poolside with her new favorite mini-backpack!

 Sienna floats on the lazy river, pushed along by the current as well as her brother.

Thanks to ADOT for providing such nice digs.  We were "hoppy" to be here on our Good Friday!

Sprinkles!

I have sprinkles of randomness to share today and can think of nothing other than that to call it.  And now that I've said it, I realize it's so cute!  Who doesn't love sprinkles?  They're colorful, sweet, and cheery, and add pizzazz to any concoction.  I think I'll have to keep them in mind as a blog title in the future.  

Spring weather finds Sienna out on the tennis court.  Pretty good form here.

Rob played with her first, and then I hit the court for a couple baskets.

I'm coaching Gilbert High School tennis after school a few days a week, which may have inspired us all to get out on the court.

The Hunger Games is a hot commodity right now, although I read the book some two to three years ago.  But because all my students like it, and I do too, I added some memorabilia to my classroom.  You can see Katniss Everdeen, the female protagonist, over my left shoulder.  To my right you'll find three figurines from the movie as well.  It certainly makes the classroom environment more fun!

Spring pictures are in too, and here's what Sienna's looks like.

Spenser's are on order!

He also tested into Honor's Language Arts and Math for Junior High, so kudos to him!  Hopefully having parents adept in both those subject areas will help him succeed. 

Good Friday will find us in Tucson for ADOT's annual Roads and Streets Conference.  It's the one time a year to blend work and a mini-vacation together.  Rob goes to break-out sessions and presentations, and we lounge at the pool.  I'm looking forward to that!  With Easter Sunday looming as well, the family will make their rare appearance at Mass.  Check for an upcoming picture to prove we went!  Tee hee!

Hope you enjoyed the sprinkles!