Almost done...

Well...I'm done grading my students' last papers and am bumming around until their final portfolios come in next week and will be graded at warp speed.

I'm enjoying how it's smelled like rain for the last few days...but I think we could use some sun now :).

I really should be grading papers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2pAgldNkI8

Ok, ok...I'm going...going...back to homework. :(

Weekday Adventures

This week Rob took some vacation days to chill at home. He hadn't taken any days off since Christmas, so he was in need of some relaxation days. This semester I don't teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so on Thursday Rob and I decided to go explore part of Des Moines that we hadn't been to yet. The weather forecast for this week has been very pleasant, so I suggested we have a picnic at a local park or go explore a local state park. Well we did both. We decided to check out Walnut Woods State Park (which happens to be on the southeast side of West Des Moines). The odd thing about Walnut Woods is that it's not all that far away distance wise, but requires you to take the long way around Racoon River to get there. So it took us a good 20-30 minutes to get there even though it's only about 5 or 6 miles away from our house.

When we finally arrived, the park was mostly deserted and clearly not ready for spring guests. The camping area was closed off with barricades. We found a table that overlooked the river and had our lunch, but the sun refused to come out. After a short walk where we got covered in gnats, we decided to cut our losses and head out. One cool thing at Walnut Woods was their grill attachments on their fire pits. Very cool...adjustable, mult-tiered, quite fancy.

After the park we headed to Southridge Mall. It was the one mall in town that we hadn't been to yet. There were quite a few empty spaces in the mall....but they have a Fashion Bug (which are hard to come by and as far as I know it's the only one in Des Moines).

We had a nice time. It was probably our last adventure until school is done...only 2 1/2 weeks left in the semester...off to grade stuff and record stuff and organize stuff...fun fun fun!

Happy Spring!

Today we had a day long soaking of light rain. Just the kind of spring rain that brings green grass and budding flowers if it would ever warm up.

Rob and I had a lovely Easter weekend at home. We spent Saturday shopping and had a lovely relaxing Sunday at home with a festive Easter dinner.

The Easter bunny brought me a special treat--a Chocolaterie Stam Easter Bunny. It is over a foot tall and comprised of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. He's almost too cute to eat...almost :). I broke off his ears last night...delightful. ;) I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend!