September's Come and Gone

I went through the camera to write our overdue blog post and found 1,001 pictures of. . . the dog.  And not much else.  Obviously the kids have been hard at work.  With two more weeks and a raid on the hubby's phone cam I've got some pictures of the craziness to share. 

Melty Fuzzlump

All Storm Troopers need bunny ears.

Lego Rainbow-o-saurus Rex

Birthday Girl!  Our last trip to Universal before the passes expire.

Steve & Chow-Chow approved of the accommodations.

Screened breakfast porch at the condo.  Ahhhhhh. . . .

Sopping wet at Harry Potter World

We came prepared to get wet the 2nd day and rode no water rides.

Birthday Party Grooves.  A houseful of pre-teen, giggly girls and a sleep-over, where very little actual sleep took place.

A day of ninjas, lego pumpkin patches, more graphic art, and some fall projects.

Our 'Princess Geta' waiting for the 2nd showing of the musical to start.

Holding down the seats.

August Busy-ness & Relaxation

With the start of the public school year things always shift-- lesson times change back to accommodate public school schedules, activities on hiatus through the summer start back up, not-back-to-school celebrations abound, our favorite spots become empty during the day again, and homeschool group co-ops get into gear.  It's always an adjustment of trying things out to see what we'll keep and what we don't, and how busy is too busy.  There have been several days over the past few weeks we've been gone from 10 in the morning until 8 or 9 at night.  I was so tired I nearly brushed my teeth with the disposable razor sitting beside the toothpaste.  I think that qualifies as too busy.  'Home' school during times like these is a misnomer.  We do more work in the car or the nearest library, park, mall, bookstore, etc than we do at home.  It makes the days at home very, very nice.

Teaching 'lessons' to beginning skaters.

Science lab.  The baby rats weren't part of the lesson, they have an animal area in the lab and were trying to find homes for them.  Tough to walk away from, very cute.

More science lab.  Fusbol is physics, right?

We also went kayaking again!  A whole day with the family, a trip down the river, and a delicious meal out.  The restaurant's entire dessert menu was even safe for the peanut allergic kiddo; so we all ordered and she got to choose anything she wanted, a very rare treat.  Her excitement was the icing on my birthday cake.  It was a wonderful way to end a day well spent.

Fresh water so there were alligators.  The man at the rental station told us a mama gator had a nest through one section of the river and had been bumping boats to warn them off.  We never saw her.  But the canoe crew crashed into a bank and startled a sleeping alligator.  It made everyone jump, including the gator. :)  We saw a couple of little juveniles in the water too!

The water is clear, but tea colored, and shallow.  You can see along the banks how low it is.

A little way down the river the kids noticed this lizard on my head and named him 'Captain Lookout', must have fallen out of a tree.  He rode all the way down with us.

The ramps in the background are to pull the boats over when there are spillways or little dams.

This river trail was wonderful; shaded most of the way down, lots of diverse greenery and wildlife, and the smell of campfire drifting in now and then.  Heaven.

Good day! :)

August Art

I'm not so good at taking lots of pictures so I'm filling in with ones we've drawn. :)  Earlier this summer we started using an online art class- just the basics of perspective, shading, horizon, etc.  The lessons are all 30 minutes or less (often less than 10).  The teacher is a cartoon artist and just the right mix of spastic creativity and information.  The kids love him.  They picked a few of their favorites to share.

Two lessons meshed into a reluctant alien blob babysitting a space hamster.

The two on the right, Kirdy & Nindra, are commentators who appeared in Lise's sketchbook a week ago.  They now show up to comment on every lesson.

This fuzzy guy at the bottom is the lesson, the rest are additions.  Bug's drawings have entire, elaborate stories by the time he's done.

We're also about half way through 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' and 'The Never Ending Story' (the book is much different than the movie- as usual).  We can't ever seem to read just one book.

Our history timeline is starting to take shape up the stair well; some of the only length of empty wall space we had left.

We've spent more time playing at the beach and avoiding hot places with no water.  We've tried to go snorkeling a couple of times but got rained out.  Or rather lightening-ed out.  We prefer not to be electrocuted.

Lise is practicing for a musical theater production in October.  Long hours sometimes.  She's teaching a very relaxed ice skating class for the homeschool group every couple of weeks.  And still animating away on the computer.

Bug's still hooked on Legos.  Learning how to do some pretty fun stuff with stop motion and building tricks.  Yesterday he made several puzzle chests that had to be opened by figuring out which pieces released the next ones.  Simple, but pretty inventive.  Hopefully we'll have some short flicks to share on our update at the end of the month.

July- pt 2

Picture heavy, word light. :)  Butterflies, a birthday, fishing, haircut, and ice skating.  What more could you want in a July?

We released the butterflies we watched change.  They are now happily at home in a local butterfly garden.

We'll watch our plants for more caterpillars!  I think we're addicted.

Family time.  Hubby took a day off and we headed for the art museum.

I came into the room to find them reclining. . . then I looked up.

A piece of what they are looking at.  The ceiling is beautiful!  We laid there and looked at it for a good, long while.

Sent off to fish for his birthday.

He caught one, but not of the pleasantly edible variety.  A few of the other guys on the boat caught fish they didn't want so we ended up with a great dinner!  Tuna, amberjack, and bonito!

Everybody has to see what the fish looks like on the inside.  Turned into an impromptu science lab of stomachs, gills, intestines, hearts, eyes, etc. 

In need of a haircut.

He said, "Short, please."  It was hard for me to cut off those floppy locks but he loves it.

Lise during group practice.  I'm so proud of her progress and determination!  She's come a long way.

July

In a bid for consistency I am going to try and post a few pictures and update around the 1st & 15th of each month- loosely.

This ought to help!  Waterproof, sandproof, dustproof, shockproof and takes some pretty decent photos when the photographer doesn't screw it up.  Still figuring it out, you'll see plenty of evidence.  After searching through cameras we settled on something that can go anywhere with us; beaches and 9yo boys are not exactly a camera's best friend. 

Fujifilm xp60 picture courtesy of Costco- where they are no longer in stock because Costco is like that.

The 4th of July was beautiful!  Some kind friends invited us to their hidden spot of firework watching excellence- we've been sworn to secrecy.  The weather was perfect, the company wonderful, the crowd minimal.  We picnicked while we waited and watched the barge being set up.  The fireworks went off over the intracoastal water between the palm trees.  It was a really lovely evening.

Lise is learning how to sew.  She made the top.

Glowsticks are a great way to keep track of your kids. :}

We've also got house guests!  Bought a variety of potted plants last year to harvest eggs from, it paid off.  It's always fascinating!  

In two weeks they go from the thickness of a toothpick to a pinky finger.  Voracious eaters!

Monarch Chrysalis

Same chrysalis the next morning.

Just emerged.

About an hour later, their wings fill out and they dry off.  They will be leaving for a local public butterfly garden soon.

We also invested in a wacom tablet about a month ago and it hasn't been put down since.  She loves this thing and is constantly sketching away.

Bug is up to his normal business.  I thought this lego mosaic was surprisingly beautiful!  I admire his tenacity, pieces that tiny do not make easy work and they exploded apart more than once trying to fit in the last piece.

So what have you been up to?