Good posts come when you wait...(sorry for making you wait)

Hidden Waterfalls and Natural Ocean Pools

Living on an island presents many advantages:

a beach is always 5 minutes away,

you get to pay more for EVERYTHING (gas is now $4.12),

Lauren has been pleasantly warm for the past seven months (a moist 90 degrees daily),

laws and rules are more like suggestions and guidelines (it's like a bad game of Red light/Green light on the roads),

BUT the best part about island life is the plethora of picture-perfect adventures.

We went on one recently with some awesome friends of ours. We're so glad we did. It's not often we drag ourselves out of bed early enough on the weekend to take in the sights of Guam (it's okay to shake your head at us in shame). Our adventure led us to some hidden waterfalls in the village of Talofofo (aka "God's country" to the locals) and some natural ocean swimming pools in Inarajan. (We could just make up crazy names of villages and you guys would never know.)

Let the photo documentation begin! Readers, please meet our adventure crew: The Kimball family. Stan, Lynnsey and the four boys who we will refer to as Synonym, Mohawk, Bowl, and Mole.

Synonym is the brains on the left and Mohawk didn't spike his hair for this trip.

We caught Lil' Mole in the midst of his favorite activity...picking at a mole. I don't think Stan appreciated it very much. Stan will be wearing a turtleneck next hike for sure.

Where's Baldo??? Atop the first of 5 waterfalls.

When parents cut hair...you can almost always expect a happy bowl cut.

Mole loving life...picking, watching, sleeping and pooping all on his dad's back.

Attempting to look cool, calm, and collected while trying not to slip off the rock. That's not a rope, but a root of a tree helping on our way down.

Obligatory family photo op with waterfall background...regular backgrounds eat your heart out.

Chilly pants! Try not to look at my ten-year-old girl chest (Guess who is writing captions for this photo).

Despite incriminating evidence, Baldo did NOT punch Synonym in the face. He was just trying to get the little guy to flex.

Who doesn't love hidden waterfall caves? Lauren doesn't...I had to drag her into this secret hole most people overlook.

Or death-defying cliff jumps? (Okay, it seemed a lot higher than it really was).

Baldo has talent for posing for cameras in mid-air.

we bet yoU That If you were with us you would have jumped into this nasty brown water with us. (For the older readers: try to decode a secret message in that last sentence)

After 5 waterfalls, lunch and geocaching (Lynnsey never leaves the house without her gps) we took to the Philippine Sea.

Where's Baldo?

A cement diving board...was more than inviting for the boys. They didn't heed the no diving sign on the cement pillar.

Baldo tried to photoshop a tan on Stan, but gave up...just too white he said.

Here's a synonym for synonym...fearless.

Here's a synonym for Baldo...Crazy.

Below is the "picture of the trip." No photoshop here...just one amazing camera. (The Canon t1i)

Weekend adventures are in the forecast so bunker down folks...it's about to get crazy on Guam.

SLIS: Teamwork, Teamwork!

Divide and conquer.

These words of advice have saved me a lot of stress over the years. My most recent teamwork experience was with my 8th grade Language Arts team last school year. We planned the majority of our lessons together and divided the workload for the preparations. Our team leader could often be heard saying "work smarter, not harder," and as a result we taught an enjoyable school year with success. Since last school year I moved to a new school (on the other side of the world) and miss the teamwork I experienced back home.

According to Irwin's presentation on teamwork, some people have a hard time trusting in teamwork. In my current teaching situation, this is how I feel, mainly because I don't really know my fellow 10th grade English teachers. I recognize the sadness of this situation considering the fact that we are nearing March with only three months left in the school year.

In his presentation, Haycock emphasizes the need to plan, plan, plan in order to succeed as a team. From my experience when I am prepared for a team meeting, we have a good time. When I didn't prepare everything I needed to prepare, our meetings were less productive and more frustrating.

The advice given to us by Haycock and Irwin lessens the anxiety I feel when knowing group projects are on the horizon.

GO TEAMS!

Pretzel Party

Pretzel, pretzel, we want a pretzel! Thanks to Baldo's newly found culinary talent, we have been enjoying some pretty fantastic treats.

Tonight's spotlight: the pretzel

My boo is head-over-heels in love with pretzels and often dreams about the twisted carbohydrate dripping with gooey nacho cheese (although I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind swimming in a pool filled with nacho cheese). So one night he decided to make some. He did the research, found a recipe, stumbled upon a few secret tips a voila! We were in pretzel heaven.

(you can wipe the drool from your mouth, it's okay)

They were a hit. I believe all 8 were gone by the next day.