May be quiet for a bit...

as we are winding down things around here and we will be taking a three week break from book lessons. Of course I am sure that we will still be doing lots of educational things that I can post, but with the new little one coming - NOT ME!!!, but my sister MC's of course - things will be a bit hectic to write posts. I will post pics for sure though as the wee one will be here tomorrow!

In the meantime enjoy the weather and have some outdoor science fun with these links -

• Backyard Science Activities for Kids
• Little Kids Backyard Science
• Some Great Space and Astronomy ones
• Cyber Field Trip Teaching Guide: How Ecosystems work

Also be sure to check out the GCK Nature Photo Journal as KM will be posting there as well!

Thoughts of upcoming weeks ---

My blogs may be short or far between over the next few weeks as we will be spending lots of time visiting and helping out with medical things in our "outer" family circle. I say "outer" family in reference to those who do not live under my roof. My family has so many layers, twists and combinations that it can get a bit confusing for those of us in the family never mind anyone on the outside looking in. I love all aspects of my family and of course want to be there to support them as much as I can.
On top of all the medical things going on, we still only have one car! Hopefully by Tuesday CJ's truck will be out of the body shop and I will be able to drive his little "BIC" car ~ we call it the disposable car, because he bought it last spring when the gas prices hit their peak for $600 and it paid for itself in gas savings over the truck in about 3 weeks time ~ which will make life a bit easier so that I won't have to keep juggling to borrow MC's car.
Speaking of MC, she is newly pregnant and moving on Halloween! So I am sure that you can only imagine what a stressed out ball of who knows what she has been as of late!

Okay - Enough with my ramblings!

We will be juggling our own - and others - doctors' appointments, 3 birthday parties, having SC nearly everyday, clubs and coop classes, our normal everyday stuff, and anything else that comes our way over the next few weeks!

BUT WE WILL MAKE IT!
We always do!
We will breathe through it...
and we will make it!

It won't be forever...

We are slowing down for a 2 week break before we get back to full-time schooling on the 29th!

I have been (and will continue) to be very busy trying to get all our lesson plans coordinated, planning out field trips, as well as helping with final prep for our local coop group!

So though I may post some pics here and there -I may be rather quiet for the next few weeks!

Hope you will all still be popping by in the mean time!

We are back from our WONDERFUL trip!!!

We arrived home last night and thank the heavens had a wonderful flight both ways and very little bad weather while we were there! We had some great adventures and learned some pretty cool stuff along the way!

Saturday we went to Pine Island and had a wonderful afternoon on the beach. As you can see it was a bit cloudy, but the most amazing thing happened. Gustaf was passing over the Gulf at this point and as we were sitting on the beach we looked out and saw these things that kept popping out of the water - then we realized they were dolphin fins! A pod of dolphins was swimming less than 50 ft off the shore! It was the most amazing thing! Of course we couldn't get close to them, but still - KM technically got to swim with dolphins!!! How cool is that!
You can't see them in the picture above, but they were swimming just past the landing near the signs.

KM has ALWAYS loved to make sandcastles and dig at the beach, but she decided to turn herself into a mermaid instead!

Sunday we went to the MOSI - in Tampa!

KM, my dad and his wife played a very large game of operation!

We played a few rounds of a great game show!

KM got to experience what it feels like to be in the center of a twister!
The wind speeds went up to 85mph!

We ended our day in their HUGE hands-on activity section called Kids-In-Charge!
This was the greatest kids section of a musuem I have EVER seen. It covered everything from magnets to air pressure, optical illusions to logic puzzles and everything in between!

Monday we hung around the pool area and didn't do much of anything - you just need those days sometimes!
Tuesday we were off to the Lowry Zoo for some close encounters with some amazing animals!

and lots of babies!

The meerkats were so cute!!! It seemed like their was always one watching you!

The lemurs have always been my favorites - I think because we watched soooo much Zoboomafoo when KM was little!
We fell in love with Manatees on our last visit and still think they are amazing creatures! We had the whole Sting Ray pool to ourselves! KM wouldn't touch one, but grampa did!

There were sooo many baby animals. It seemed like every turn we made there was another sign saying "New Arrivals"

All and all it was a great day at the zoo!!!

On Wed we went to do one of Grampa's favorite things - Bowling!
We are used to candelpin, but they don't even know what that is in the south,
so it was off to the big balls - Ten Pin Bowling!

Then we played in the small arcade for a bit!
Thursday was our last day in the tropics! (It was HUMID) so KM wanted to try some Shuffleboard! She did really well.
On the flight home Thursday evening I asked KM what her favorite part of the trip was -

Here response was playing the funny piano at the MOSI - turn on your sound:

Instead of playing different instruments, this keyboard played different bodily functions!

All and all it was a very good, relaxing, enjoyable trip! Just what we needed!

Away We Go!!!

We are off for the week to visit Tampa Grampa!!

We will be back with lots of fun pics!

I DID IT!!!

I am not really a spontaneous person, gee bet you couldn't guess that one! I am pretty sure most of you would not even consider what I have done spontaneous at all,but here in my world it is a huge event! I finally found tickets to visit my father in FL for a reasonable rate, so KM and I are leaving in two weeks! Now as I said to most of you that would probably be a reasonable amount of time to book a trip. However I am one of those annoying people who plans trips months in advance and would normally already be pretty much packed by now. I just could not pass up the deal though. I think the biggest reason it is such a good rate is that is over Labor Day weekend and around here that is "Back-to-school" time. So yet again I get to gloat about homeschooling!
So now my spontaneous self gets to take the next two weeks and plan out our spontaneous trip to FL, so that we can have some really good spontaneous fun!!!!

OK stop laughing now! I know it is sad to admit how much of a control freak I am!