Pirates Homeschool Too

We've been remiss in picture posting.  Bug dropped my little point and shoot camera. . . face down. . . on the tile floor.  The shutter won't open and close; the camera won't turn on.  It's kind of not a super sad thing.  Our old camera had no battery.  It's so old tracking down a replacement battery wasn't easy.  I'm thinking I can justify a new camera about now ;)  But that means I also need the time and patience to learn how to really use a good one, or I need my dad!  Camera woes aside, here's a brief recap of some of what we've been up to.  When I get the phone downloaded I'll post a few more.

Pirate wars.  A cruise down the intracoastal, some science and history and a lot of drama. :)  The good kind.

See the retreating pirate?  He was a good sport and soaking wet by the time the 'battle' was over.  Note: *when attending water battles a sword is pretty much useless.

Human body studies, amongst many other things.

Assembling brains.  It now adorns our bookshelf in the front room; along with alligator scutes, crawdad exoskeletons, snake skins, tree sap, rocks, and who knows what else.  I drew the line at dried out worms.  It's the 'science display and specimen' area for the kids; they drag all kinds of things in. 

Easter 'baskets'.  We've never really done baskets.  We often do paper mache eggs that the kids decorate and leave out for the bunny to fill.  Except on years when we don't get going a month in advance, then they resort to posterboard eggs. :)

Bunnies at the Fair.  So cute.  So hard not to come home with one.

They both got to participate in a fire safety demonstration, climb on some very old fire engines, pet the animals and have a back-lot tour of an amazing model train set-up.  Elephant show, pig races, old time village, military helicopters.  Fun day!  And free to boot.

An alligator scute.  These are the bony plates under an alligator's skin.  They provide protection and help with the cooling-heating.  Kinda cool.  Somebody at the fair gave it to the kids.

Out With the Old & in With the New

 A quick wrap up of December.  It's the season most Floridians (and half of New York and New Jersey) live for!  Beautiful, no mosquitoes, no hurricanes.  We're trying to take full advantage of it.

Bug went fishing at a party with dad.
 

My mom came for a visit and we got to show her around!  Which included a rehabbed sea turtle release back to the ocean- so beautiful.

And kayaking her arms off.   

 
 Turns out the dog also enjoys being out on the boat.  Who knew?

Hubby came home with a hibachi and a whole bunch of seafood for Christmas dinner.  Yum!  Lobster, grouper and scallops.  Tasty.

The kids Christmas morning with some of the loot.  He asked for an old school Lego Volkswagen camper and she asked for an ipod touch.  The times, they are a changin'.  

The flannel came from JoAnns-- just in case you love it as much as I do.  There isn't much that can convince me to fraternize with my sewing machine these days.  Tie-dyed flannel pajama bottoms were worth it.   

And, of course, our yearly excursion to see the first sunrise.  I don't know that the kids appreciate being dragged out of bed so early but I sure enjoy it.

We hope your year brings the love and comfort of friends and family, an abundance of simple joys, and moments of true happiness.  We love you all.

Going to War

We took a field trip to a Civil War camp today!  So much fun.  They had different people spread out through the camp with displays: dress, soldiers, provost, medical tent, blacksmith, rations, weapons, implements, etc.  We watched them make horseshoes and load canons (which were l.o.u.d.).  They explained battle and life during those turbulent times.  The kids got to try on clothing and ask oodles of questions.  Lise even got the much coveted honor of firing the musket.

Hanging out with people who are passionate about their hobbies is so much fun.  We had a great time and worked up quite an appetite.  Went down the road for a picnic and did not share with the alligators. ;)

November Wrap-Up

November kept us on the go.  There was the holiday ice show Lise performed in.  Lots of fun!  A clip will be posted as soon as we get our copy of the program.  And yay for having our Saturday sleep-in mornings back.

We kayaked with manatees!  It was crazy windy and cold but the kids stuck it out like troopers.  We all had a great time.

Celebrated Bug's birthday at Disney!  They give all the birthday folks a button to wear and then everyone through the park wishes them 'Happy Birthday'.  He loves it.  And he loves to look for all the other people who share his birth date and send the greeting along.

We finished off our history cd's in record time and started them over again- lots of time in the car.  History has spawned lego sculptures; including this arena for gladiators. 

The kids built toothpick bridges in STEM class.  They worked in teams and had accountants, engineers, builders, etc.

We were out one week with the flu and by the time we got back Lise's team had gone $250,000 into debt-- it so happened that the only person who wasn't sick on her team that day was a 7yo with a fondness for buying paper to draw blueprints and calculate things on. ;)  Being the accountant for the team she was devastated and felt personally responsible.  She also believed the bridge would fail because the supply company decided 'no more debt' and all teams had to finish their bridges with just the materials they had on hand.  Their's was far from complete and they didn't have many supplies.  It was a good lesson in team work, and how things sometimes don't go as planned, and choices when you find yourself in that place.  She pulled herself up, determined to make the best of it.  They had a lot of work to do.

In the end their bridge tied with another for the bridge that held the most weight without collapsing.  They were all ecstatic; even more so because of the obstacles they overcame to construct it.  I was really proud of the way they handled the setback.  And it was so much fun to watch all the kids test their bridges out!

Florida Fall

The kids and I went to a garden today and thought we'd post a taste of autumn in our neck of the woods.  It's the season Floridians (and migrating New Yorkers) live for.  The bugs are dead (mostly), it is cool enough to open windows at night, hurricane season is pretty much done, and peak bloom is on!  We may not get changing leaves and wood smoke, but nothing says fall like coconuts floating in a pond.  Right?

 

Popping bubbles.  lol  He looks like he's doing the mambo.

A cannonball tree.  They grow on branches that hang from the limbs.  Pretty cool.

Cannonball Tree Flower

This is what most of Florida looks like- in a very manicured way.

Wish the color had come out better on this one, the water lilies are lavender.