New Beginnings...sort of

So the school year has begun!!! We have been MIA from blogging for the past weeks due to professional development and training sessions. Our trip from Wisconsin to Texas took 3 very long days. Our first stop was West Memphis, AR. Not a whole lot of exciting things going on in West Memphis, but the hotel was nice. The following day we trekked through Arkansas and Texas to stay in Houston. We got a chance to see my dad which was nice, but called it a night pretty early since the following day we would be making the slow journey down to the Rio Grande Valley. We made it "home" around 2 p.m. only to find that my house had been re-arranged by my landlord's wife, our cable was out, and that my car wouldn't start. Luckily the car just needed a jump.

The following days were filled with professional development, getting used to the heat, and joining gyms. We are happy to report that not only have we joined gyms, but have been attending them somewhat regularly. The first day of school was fast approaching and before we knew it, Thursday had come!!! We were both excited to a certain degree, with the hope that this year would be better than the last. Things went pretty smoothly. Chelsea had 18 students in each class and reports to have had a good first day. Transitions were a little off, but overall much better than last year. The first day of 5th grade turned out ok. Compared to last year, no one cried, no one had a bathroom accident, and best of all everyone called me Mr. Ochoa or Sir. My homeroom class is filled with good kids with one or two chatters and one student who I know will be my challenge. My afternoon class got a little testy, but armed with the power to give detention this year, they shouldn't be a problem.

As far as cooking goes, we have made great meals, but unfortunately because of our crazy schedules we haven't photographed any of it, or many any of it together. :( Chelsea made a great black bean soup (recipe from Cooking Light) and I made turkey tacos. My favorite was Chelsea's soup. It had flavor and lots of good fiber.

Tomorrow begins the first full week of instruction. We are being optimistic about the first week and hope to celebrate next weekend with a trip to the beach to our favorite beach side restaurant. On the agenda this week: getting students reacquainted with Spanish and getting them invested in learning Spanish, learning place value, decimals, lab safety, and magnetism... We are both sure to learn a whole lot after this week.

Create your own visitor map!

Door County

So our last adventure before reality sets in was in Door County, WI. We started our trip last Thursday from Eau Claire and 4 hours later we arrived in Door County, where we stayed in a beautiful cabin! It was a huge house that looked like a chalet, only with way more taxidermy. It had a lot of space and best of all, a really big kitchen. (I'm not sure why the text is underlined...) Here is the photo story of our weekend!

The Master Chefs! Edwin made a fabulous chicken taco dinner for us on Friday night. Mom was his top sous chef.

On Saturday night we celebrated Andrea and my birthdays! What a treat :) The cake was a delicious surprise courtesy of Dan and Nancy!

No trip to Door County is complete without a meal at Wilson's. Brady hasn't yet fully realized the glory that is Wilson's ice cream. Don't worry, B-Man, your time has almost come!

Sitting down to a fabulous taco meal

Brotherly Love

We climbed to the top of the Observation Tower in Peninsula State Park!

Brady is not afraid of heights!

B-Man was very helpful in the kitchen

The group! I'd say Tim wins the award for tallest in this photo ;)

We had a fabulous time in Door County. Staying together in the cabin was a great way to maximize our time together! We played 500 and "Things", stared at Brady's every move, went mini-golfing, shopping and ate fabulous food! Thanks fam for a great weekend!

5 Year Reunion and Bayfield

After our trip to Minneapolis, we've fallen off the face of the blogosphere. By that we mean we haven't updated in a LONG TIME. We felt comfortable since we see most of our readership on a daily basis, but we recently found out our fans are more than we thought. Ergo, this post. So much has happened since Minneapolis so we'll fill you in on a couple of events.

The first was Chelsea's 5 year high school reunion. Here's Chel to give you the scoop. Hey guys- I'm tired so this is brief: We went to the Express baseball game, which got rained out in the 7th inning, and afterwards out to a few bars. It was fun to see people and catch up!! Pretty informal, but a good time!

After the reunion we've lounged around Eau Claire, doing pilates once in a while, playing catch, and watching A LOT of television. Anything to keep our minds far away from teaching. Unfortunately, we've caved in and begun doing some work for school. Chelsea has been working to get her classroom library funded (www.donorschoose.org/cbarnes) and I've been looking at math and science learning objectives. (This year I will be teaching 5th grade Math/Science... quite the change from Kindergarten).

Not to worry however, we haven't been working too hard. In fact, we've taken two trips to beautiful parts of Wisconsin. I've been to great places outside of Texas, and our trip to the east coast was wonderful, but I have to say that Bayfield and Door County have been memorable and I am lucky to have visited both. First we'll talk about Bayfield... you'll have to stay tuned for Door County!!

Bayfield was small, near a body of water, picturesque, and best of all full of great restaurants. We arrived on a Friday with hopes of having a good weekend. We started off at Ethel's, a small restaurant with lots of New Glarus brews, great Whitefish and delicious pizza. After we ate we made our way to Big Top Chataqua, a big tent filled with music and stories. It was great to learn about Bayfield's origin and culture throughout the years. It did not disappoint.

Our second day we squeezed in a lot of activities. We went to the Egg Toss restaurant for a great breakfast. We then went to Hauser's which is a berry farm that sells great blueberries, wines, and flowers. In the afternoon we took a boat tour of most of the Apostle Islands. It was incredible to be out on big water. Our day ended at Maggie's restaurant where we enjoyed yet another great meal. In fact we stumbled upon the birthday party of the owner of Maggie's and Egg Toss. She decided to hold her pre-party right outside our condo, making it perfect for people watching! Our final day we went back to Hauser's for some blueberries and wine, then to Washburn for a small breakfast and finally home. We had a great time and were ready for the next adventure: Door County!!

STAY TUNED