Bush Gardens Tampa Trip #4

In March we bought season passes to Bush Gardens, as part of our Christmas gift last year. We bought them in March because my fil was coming to visit, and we wanted to be able to take him. So we have probably one more visit left, before it expires, and I am thinking we will go in January, because they have some awesome deals. Must be Jan-March are their quietest months, because they have discounts available. The next time, we will catch some shows and take the Safari ride to feed the animals. We went to the water park, twice over the Summer, as well. The season passes are a nice family gift, and we have done it for Seaworld as well. Only one we have not, of the big parks, is Disney. Still not sure if we will do Disney. We will take a year off from a season pass, and then decide the following year. The big cats were super active this trip, and the kids got some awesome shots, for their next fair entries next Fall. These pictures were taken with my cell phone, and have been edited, they are mine, not my children's shots. I don't edit their shots, they enter them as is. The weather was beautiful, and we had an awesome day. Though 7 hours of walking will make anyone tired. We slept real well, last night.

I don't usually do political rants on this blog, but there will be one coming up soon, on two different topics. Stay tuned.

Polar Express Pajama Christmas Party

Our Homeschool group was trying to decide on when to have a Christmas party, so I decided to have a Polar Express pajama Christmas party. It will be this evening, and Santa might just be visiting with the fire dept. Hope to get some cute pictures. The cups below are painted snowmen cups, that Caitlin and I did, for the party, with snowflakes hot glued on the back. DJ is making is homemade hot chocolate and I will be making popcorn. It should be a fun evening. Click the link to get the hot chocolate recipe that DJ loves, and is a big hit whenever he makes it.

My husband got today off, due to working too many hours, so we are officially on Christmas break as of today.  We are taking a nice long break, with some fun stuff planned.  DJ will have to read, A Separate Peace, as it is a library borrow and needs to be returned.  But other than that, no school.  It gives me lots of time to catch up on grading and planning.  Tomorrow we are off to Bush Gardens.

3rd Annual 4H Bakeoff

Our county 4H holds an annual bake off. This is the third year, they have done it, and the third year we have participated. It is not just for baked goods though. You can make a drink, appetizer, specialty desserts, and gift baskets. I really wanted the kids to do a gift basket, but neither had an interest. DJ knew right away what he wanted to do, homemade apple butter and homemade sweet corn bread. After reading the rules it said it must look Christmas like. How do you make corn bread look Christmas like. So we placed it in the Christmas tin. The apple butter and corn bread are delicious together. Caitlin waited until the last minute to decide. She knew she wanted to do a cake, but couldn't make up her mind for the theme. She finally decided on a Winter Wonderland cake, which to me looks more like Candy Land at Christmas. But, she worked real hard, made it from scratch, except the frosting, and it came out real nice. Now, we get to go see who won and eat all the goodies. YUM!!!!!

Did you know apple butter, has no butter in it?  It is more like a jelly than a butter, but it is so yummy.  DJ did not enjoy peeling and coring all them apples, lol!

Ancient Greek Architecture and Art

Caitlin has been learning about Ancient Greek Architecture and Art, this week, for History class. Today, she painted some Greek architecture in a painting called Sunrise Over the Sea.  We got the lesson through Lesson Pathways, but Crayola.com had the art instructions.  You can see her painting came out pretty good.  Youtube has a documentary on the Greeks, and I think I will have both kids watch it, when Caitlin finishes learning about the Greeks.  DJ is studying the Middle Ages, but he will appreciate the video too.  I will share it later, when we get closer to it.  I am trying to keep up with school, before Christmas break, so we can take off our full three weeks I planned to take off.  We will be doing two different hiking trips and Busch Gardens over the Christmas break.  Plus we are having a Polar Express pajama Christmas Party.  DJ will be making his homemade hot chocolate, and I am making the popcorn.  I am still thinking about decorations, and of course we are watching the movie, The Polar Express.  The next two weeks are crazy busy, but I will try to post the fun things we do, not the mundane textbook work.  DJ has to finish his formal letter, for Language Arts, writing a Legend for History class, and a book report.  All this week, probably tomorrow, lol.  The book he started to read online, A Separate Peace, went away, so now I have to wait for the library to tell me they have it.  I am stopping over there tomorrow to jog their memory.  He will be far behind if I don't get it soon.

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