On 7/26, I went up to Mount Lemmon to see the waterfalls since we had so much rain this summer. I wasn't disappointed. Lots of waterfalls. I met my friend Greg Lyons from church and his summer camp kids up on the top for a short hike. We found LOTS of ladybugs. It was awesome.
Nathan had his meet and greet at school on 7/30. This is his first year of middle school (6th grade). His homeroom and ELA teacher is Mrs. Powers. This is the first teacher he will have different teachers for each class and a locker. He has Tompkins for Latin, Currie for History, Mena for Science, Ferbeyre for Art, Lowe for Music, McRae (Coach Bam) for PE and Woods for Math.
My "Flying Saucer" bloomed on 8/1. I put that in quotes because the nursery told me it is a flying saucer, but I don't think it is. However, it is still very beautiful. The summer rains also brought out summer poppies and the beautiful barrel cactus flowers this year. I went and took pictures of the summer poppies on Skyline and Sunrise. Then I photographed the barrel cacti by Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla.
Nathan's first day of 6th grade at Leman Academy was on 8/4. I went to the Reid Park Rose Garden that day. It was finally open. There were beautiful roses, but the garden hasn't been maintained in some time.
I went to Reid Park Zoo on 8/12. I also photographed the barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla.
I photographed more barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla on 8/15.
My June Noon torch cactus bloomed on 8/17.
I went to the Desert Museum on 8/20. I also photographed the summer poppies and other wildflowers to and from the Desert Museum. Plus I found a pretty red barrel cactus on Hartman Lane to photograph.
I photographed the wildflowers and barrel cacti along Lambert Lane on 8/21. I also photographed more of the barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla. And I went to the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.
On 8/25 I photographed the datura growing wild along Hartman Lane.
I went to Tohono Chul Park, Pima Prickly Park and photographed the barrel cacti at Lazyboy on Ina and La Cholla on 8/26.
On 9/3, I went to Sabino Canyon. There was actually a lot of water flowing. So much so that the tram only went up to the first bridge. I decided to walk it. I went through the water at the first bridge, but then decided to turn around. Everything was very green in the canyon. It was a good day to go, too, because I saw a desert tortoise (the first time seeing one there or in the wild, for that matter) and a group of javelina including some babies.
We went to Scottsdale to have lunch with the Alvirs at Grimaldi's on 9/4.
We went to Apple Annie's on 9/6. Their peach crops got ruined, but they shipped some in. So we bought some peaches and some other items. We also ate some yummy roasted corn while there.
I went to Catalina State Park on 9/13 to see the morning glories. I had never seen so many morning glories in my life, and there were multiple colors. I love them. Reminds me of Georgia O'Keeffe paintings.
My June Noon bloomed again on 9/28. I also went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens. There were a lot of bird of paradise blooming at Tucson Botanical Gardens.
On went back up to Mount Lemmon on 9/30. Everything was very green, but no Fall colors yet.
I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens on 10/1 to see the opening of the Butterfly exhibit. It was closed last year due to COVID-19 precautions. I was rather disappointed because I only saw a handful of butterflies in there. However, I found some morning glories growing in their parking lot so that kept me busy for awhile. Afterward I stopped at Green Things Nursery.
We went back to Apple Annie's on 10/9 to pick our pumpkins and to photograph the sunflowers. I picked a peach pumpkin, Paul picked a traditional orange pumpkin and Nathan picked white and warty pumpkins.
Nathan made honor roll the first quarter, but just barely with a 90.6. He got a 94 in History, 88 in Science, 91 in Math, 90 in Latin and 90 in ELA. His English, Latin and Art teachers said Scholar is a pleasure to have in class. His History teacher said he tackles new challenges with a positive attitude. His Math teacher said Scholar is a pleasure to have in class AND he tackles new challenges with a positive attitude. He got a C (Consistent) for Caring, E (Exemplary) for Citizenship, E for Perseverance, C for Respect, E for Responsibility, E for Trustworthiness and a C for Best Effort. No Ds for Developing or Rs for Rare. Not bad at all for a kid who doesn't like school this year. He doesn't think he is being challenged enough at school. I think he is bored. He doesn't really like a lot of his teachers, the administration or his peers. Part of the problem is that they have a lot of turnover in staff. That should tell you something right there. I have always said they have too many kids going to that school and not enough space for all of them. They keep adding more schools within Leman without working out the kinks in the present schools. Bullying is a issue. This year Nathan says swearing is a big problem with the 6th graders. It is hard for him to be raised in a Christian home, but then be exposed to kids like that every day. We are considering switching schools next year, but there aren't a lot of options. We don't want him going to the regular public schools so we have to find a good charter or private Christian school.
On 10/16, Nathan and I went to Reid Park Zoo to see the animals being fed pumpkins and to see the new baby zebra. Nathan had Fall break that week, but we didn't go anywhere this year because Paul had to work. I was surprised that Nathan actually wanted to go to the zoo with me, but I think he just wanted to get out of the house after being there all week. Being a Saturday and Fall Break, the zoo was very crowded.
I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 10/22.
We went up to Mount Lemmon to see the Fall colors on 10/23. Bear Wallow had the most color as usual. We ate at the Iron Door for lunch. There was quite a bit of yellow up there. We drove through Summerhaven and there was some color there as well. It was a beautiful Fall day.
My June Noon torch cactus bloomed AGAIN on 10/24.
