Oggling

We've been out oggling kayaks!  When you live in a place riddled by waterways and surrounded by ocean taking up a water sport makes sense, no?  They allow you to get back into places you can't walk or drive, close to manatees, dolphins, small islands, etc.  I think kayaking is the Florida version of mountain biking and since there are no mountains here to bike, it's a good alternative for us.  The kids are all for it, it's the hubby I've been trying to convince for a few months now.  Paddling around with our friends made that easier. :)  I think he's sold.  We've still got some research to do before we buy anything, including figuring out how to lug the things around, but I haven't been this excited since I bought my first Cannondale!

Kickin' back

 Thanks guys!

Exploring

Our friends were down in the lower keys on vacation and we got to go visit over the weekend.  Happy happy!  It was so much fun to spend time with them.  We talked, and laughed, and ate (lots :), puttered around in the kayaks, and stayed up way past bedtime.

The only pictures we got were from the moving car on our way down.  The highway out over the ocean was a unique drive and the water was beautiful.  We will definitely go back and explore some more!  Hopefully with kayaks in tow. 

We came home from the keys, slept, washed up, packed up, and the kids and I left again on an impromptu venture with our homeschool group.  They had, by chance, come across a university run program that offers a book based everglades camp to school aged kids.  And it was free to boot because of a grant.  Another group had canceled and they needed to fill spots up quickly, so off we went.
 

We bunked in barrack style 'cabins' with about 40 beds per building; miraculously nobody in ours snored!  What are the odds?  We ate smores, fished, canoed around the lake, and the kids got to try their hand at archery.  We learned a little about the local wildlife and a young boy who was one of Florida's first pioneer settlers.  It was more than a little chaotic and scheduled to the minute-- literally, bathroom breaks were on the agenda.  And, while we had a lot of fun and the people running the program did a great job of keeping it running, I was glad to be packed up and heading home once it was over.  I can add 'communal camp limit = <24 hours' to my list of things I learned this week. :}

Tomorrow we are back to plan 'A' standard days- school, wandering somewhere, unpacking boxes.  The weather has been cooler, windy, and overcast for the better part of the past couple of weeks.  Glad to have the warm and sunshine back!

Rites of Passage

A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another.
- Wikipedia

It makes me laugh when I watch the roller coaster patrol measure up each new hopeful kid close to that 'gotta be this tall' line.  I wonder how many kids wear their thickest shoes?  You know that line; you measured up sometime as a kid too.  It's the age old amusement park rite of passage.  And for some reason the Monty Python Black Knight bridge scene plays along while I sit and watch and all I can hear in my head is a British, "None shall pass."   

Our two are tall enough and old enough to ride on their own!  No measurement necessary, they whiz right on through.  I'm grateful because now when my world starts spinning I can sit and wait for them to show back up. . . or upside down depending on how long it's been since my last ride.  Times for instance like the other day when I tried to get off the first coaster of the morning and the platform wouldn't hold still but everyone else seemed to be able to walk across it just fine. :}  In my defense said coaster was Expedition Everest and goes backwards loopy fast in the dark.  Really fun!  I did it again.  

Unfortunately my only rite of passage seems to be right into the 'old fart' category.  I've never been good at things that move fast, or in circles.  Meclazine and I are fast becoming friends whenever our family hits amusement parks, or airplanes, or wheelchairs-- if I'm conscious you won't get me into that last one.  Come to think of it, I bet the street price of Meclazine in an amusement park is pretty high!  I won't clue my kids in, they are very eager and enterprising.  I think I'd like to not get banned from Disney.

We stayed at a Disney property this time thanks to a promo.  Rooms were c.l.e.a.n. and the grounds were fun!

Throwing grapes for the bird. . . who my camera was not fast enough to catch. . . so it just looks like everyone's going 'what the?'  She was excited to be part of the show.

Play a game and wear them out!  I'm thinking giant, concrete checkers have merit and are a worthy investment for every mother of young boys.

My camera doesn't do the bus justice.  It's so fun and colorful!  I know it's just a snack vendor at an amusement park but I want it to be my next home. 

The rest of our week was pretty normal-- eat, sleep, shower, clean, seatwork, errands, grocery shop.  And now we are returning to that regularly scheduled program.  Hope you have some fun planned for your week!