aaah, summer!

my dear, sweet michelle graduated from kindergarten on may 30th.  how quickly did time fly by?  i can still remember her first day at school and how excited she was.  she began the school year knowing very little, now, she can read, writes in cursive, and does addition and subtraction pretty well (better than i think i did when i was her age, math was never my strength).  =D  she has grown so much in 10 months and she can't wait to start first grade.

but first things first!  she has to enjoy summer vacation!  so we spent her first official day of summer vacation in palm springs...in 120F weather...we've never felt that kind of heat.  it really stings your skin the moment you step out of the car or an airconditioned room.  we waited until about 7 pm before we headed to the pool for a quick swim.  it did cool down  to about 102F on the 2nd and 3rd day.  


we stayed at the marriott shadow ridge...it's a timeshare property.  we are new 'owners' at marriott and it was our first time using our points for our trip.  when we arrived at the resort, i said to myself, 'this is why we bought this thing.'  it was nice.  marriott properties are always nice.  

this is the view from our balcony, 2 of 6 pools at the resort at dusk

fountain play area and a sandy pool for kids

the next day, we went swimming again in the morning and in the afternoon, when it got too hot, we went to the palm springs aerial tram to go up to mt. san jacinto where it was 30 degrees cooler and offers a spectacular view of the valley below.  the trip up the mountain was pretty scary if you're afraid of heights...which i am!  =D  but it wasn't too bad.  buhay pa naman ako! hehehe  so from below sea level up to 8,516 feet, we climbed.  well, the tram did the climbing.  the floor of the tram rotated so everyone had a 360 degree view on the way up.  

before heading up

don't look down!!!

at the peak.  my friend's daughter, ana, joined us for this trip. she's like a niece to me

the view from the top

when we got to the peak, paul wanted to hike.  me, not so much, so guess who won?  =D  my parents, by the way, were lured by the nearby casino and didn't bother to join us to the tram.  it was a good call.  they wouldn't really enjoy it.  my parents are...well, they're very, very weird travelers. =D  i guess, because they're really not travelers.  they don't seek new experiences that come with traveling.  they just go because paul, michelle and i were going.  they would be perfectly happy if they spent the weekend at home.  they go because i tell them they have to go and see different places.  

my lovely parents

it was a short but enjoyable trip.  we're looking forward to going back again someday.  =D

drying up after a swim.  doesn't take that long in 100 degree weather! =D

my little graduate