Field Trip to Fort Clinch and Little Talbott Island State Parks

I am so happy we bought a Florida State Park Pass. I think we have used it six times already, and this Friday we are taking another field trip to Paynes Prairie. Last Monday, all of us, even the hubby, took a trip to Amelia Island. On Amelia Island there are several different state parks, plus Fernandina Beach, a small town on Amelia Island, that I just fell in love with. Anyway, we decided we would visit two of the state parks all in one day. Why? Because some don't allow swimming, and everyone wanted to swim. In the end only Caitlin swam, lol. Fort Clinch, we visited first. Fort Clinch is a beautiful state park, with lots of trails for hiking, and biking. The canopy entering the park was just beautiful. The Fort itself, was not included in the price of the state park. It was 2 dollars per person, which is still a great deal. The museum part of the fort was small, but the 12 min video about the fort, was awesome. The fort is not handicapped accessible, at all, but you could just stay on the lower levels and be fine if you needed to. I didn't post all the pics, because it takes too long, and I really think anyone reading this should visit this park, and get some of your own, hint hint.

Little Talbott Island State Park, has a huge beach, and it was very clean and quiet. Of course it was a Monday afternoon. The surf was rather rough, and ooh the water was cold. If it had been just a little bit hotter, all of us would have swam, but it was only 75 and just not warm enough. Except for Caitlin, lol, she swam. We walked the beach, collecting different shells, that we hadn't found before. I have some projects in mind for them, and they are currently cleaning in 50/50 solution of bleach and water. We even found large Sand Dollars, they were broken, but we have never found any before so that was exciting.  We got to take a ferry ride, back in town, and ended with dinner at Olive Garden.  All in all a beautiful day!

I still have a bunch of experiments to share, and I hope to get them uploaded soon.

Field Trip to Ichtucknee Springs

Since we finally got our year long state park pass, I want to be sure we use it. Since it is still the school year, we can do a field trip here and there, at least once a month. Today, we traveled to Fort White, to visit Ichtucknee Springs. This spring was named an official historic landmark in 1972. The spring itself is not that large, but the main activity here is the tubing down the Santa Fe River. We did not tube today, but we will definitely return to do so. For Christmas, DJ and I both got water proof cell phone case covers, specifically rated for underwater images. Much cheaper than buying and underwater camera, if they worked. Since his phone was getting replaced anyway, that same day, we used his phone as a guinea pig. It worked amazing, not even one drop of water got in there. Now we need to find some Manatees, lol. If we get to Fanning Springs, before it gets too warm, we will almost certainly see at least one there. This was our first time to this park, and the weather was spectacular. We walked a one mile trail, down and back, and that was just super nice.

I have been slacking on the blogging, again, my apologies. Just been so busy. I will get the Physics activity posted this week, and will probably have another at the end of the week.

Last Visit To Saint Augustine Beach For This Summer

My Father in Law, made it safely from NY last evening. We went out to eat to O Sole Mio, in Newberry, which was delicious as usual. It was late, so he only visited for a bit. Today, we took him to Saint Augustine Beach. He loves the ocean, and it was a beautiful day. It was exactly high tide when we got there, so the waves were high, and rough. The guys had a blast getting beat up in the waves, while Caitlin and I enjoyed to more calm waters at the edge. We found some more cool shells, and went to dinner at Outback Steak House after. Everyone is tired, and ready for bed.

Tomorrow we will hang at the house, swim in the pool, and Dairy Queen for ice cream. Oh yeah!

It Was A Good Math Day!

We had Run Club, but we mostly walk these days, this morning. So, I had to squeeze in an hour of lessons before and then regular schedule after lunch. It went OK. Caitlin did Easy Peasy days 102 and 103, minus the Math, because she is not quite ready for that yet. However, the Reading and Writing went very well today, on Easy Peasy. She says she doesn't like it, but I don't believe her. For Math she did her addition flashcards, which she did very easily today and I am glad for that. I want her to be faster, not just right. She did a page of 3 and four number addition problems, which went smoothly. She got a few wrong, but she is getting the hang of it. She did Psalm 23 copywork, and played a fraction game from Easy Peasy just earlier in the 4th grade school year.

I have pretty much decided, that for this Summer, I will be getting Life of Fred for Caitlin, and Rummy Roots for both kids. Both of these are fun ways to learn, and I have friends that use them, that say they have so much fun they don't even know they are learning. We always do Math, and some other lessons over the Summer, but this year I am getting specific. Our evaluations are set for July 16th. If anyone needs an evaluator, mine is awesome, and looking for more kids to evaluate. She is in Levy County, so if you are in the area, and need an evaluator, message me.

Tomorrow we are going to the new Train Museum in High Springs. It is not very long, but expect lots of pictures, and a trip report on DJ's blog.


DJ got all his assignments done, even with the shorter class times.

Fossil Digging Field Trip #2 and What We Do With Them

Today we went digging for fossils, for the second time. Last time was in November, and the water was cold then, but let me tell you that was nothing compared to today. It was 40 degrees when we left the house this morning, and that water was bone chilling cold. However, it is a fairly shallow creek and we found a nice sunny spot, where the water was at least bearable.  Plus it has been such a wet winter, I was hoping it would have stirred up lots of good stuff.  Boy did it, and we only kept some of it.  I always find tons of shells, but since they are all the same I only took a couple.  Last time I only found one shark tooth, that was not very big at all.  I found some nice size ones this time, but my son and our friend found two huge shark teeth.  I mean huge.  Also of interest was manta ray jaw bones, some white rocks with blue spots I found some of those last time too, petrified wood, and a rock that actually had a shark tooth fossil embedded in it with other fossils too. 

So, now what do we do with these?  I use them for various crafts, three of which you can see below.  My kids have not attempted the resin craft yet, but they will be doing it in April.  Resin does have some safety issues that you have to follow, so I know some people use Modge Podge.  I have never tried the Modge Podge method.  I myself, am fairly new to resin, but I love it.  You can go to my other blog, http://www.melissasjewelryandgems.blogspot.com to see all my resin, art, and crochet craftiness. 

The kids can also read about fossils, why are there so many fossils in Florida, and the laws on collecting fossils.  There are very strict laws on fossil digging, not really the digging, but the keeping of the fossils.  Also what makes Petrified Wood.    This is a fun way to learn some cool Science, and enjoy nature.  We will definitely probably go back again.  The little area where we dig is so beautiful and peaceful.  The blue piece below is actually resin with blue food coloring and a shark tooth in it.  It is really cool.  It will be in my Etsy store soon, as my son found a bigger one today and will be making a piece of his own with resin.  The clear piece has a shell, that stone I told you about, and part of a shark tooth I think.  The top piece I used one of the shells I found, put a little hot glue in there and a coral flower then poured the resin in.  It will be a pendant eventually.  All of these were made from our first time digging.

Digging For Fossils at Alfred A Ring Park

On Friday our Earth Kids group went digging for fossils at Alfred A Ring Park in Gainesville. The kids of course love all the field trips we get to do, but this one was especially neat. Florida used to not be a land mass, it was under the ocean. Then millions of years ago, when whatever happened, happened, Florida rose out of the ocean to become a peninsula. All the sea creatures that had died and been buried at sea, now can be found by digging for them in several fossil digging areas in Florida. There are very strict rules for digging for fossils. The most important being if it is state owned water, you can not keep vertebrates other than shark teeth, and you can not keep human artifacts such as pottery or flints. Hogtown Creek is not state owned water, so we didn't have to worry about that. We did not find an plant fossils, at least I didn't. The kids were mostly seeking shark teeth so they might have put them back. I found lots of shells, and one big shark tooth. I found a ton of manta ray teeth or jaw bone, since they don't really have teeth. I had one jaw bone that fell apart before I got it home or got a picture of it. I found some really neat rocks as well. The two that I liked the most, was a white one with blue specks, kind of looks like Medusa Quartz if anyone is familiar with that, and the other was mostly blue with tiny white specks on it. Alfred A Park is a lovely little park, with picnic area, small playground, clean bathroom facilities and hiking trails. I believe we will be going back just to hike in the near future. I have other pics, but on the other computer. This was a most enjoyable field trip, and the weather was perfect. We have collected shells from other trips as well.  When we get enough and the time we will be doing various crafts with them, including wind chimes and jewelry.

Park Day!

We have not had a park day in a while, but today we did.  It was beautiful weather, though a bit warm in the sun.  Thank goodness for shade.  First we did our Run/Walk group.  I ran the other day on Monday some, and I was paying for it.  I am almost 44 and my body was revolting.  I think I better remember to stretch if I am going to run rather than walk.  Wow!  After we went to the park, where we meant a new member to our little group, and they were very nice.  We did not traditional school lessons today, but tomorrow we are back to the grind.  I hope the weather is getting lovely for all my cold weather friends.  I am working on a field trip to a place called Millhopper, and a butterfly farm I believe for May. 

Fun At Dudley Farms

Yesterday we all went to Dudley Farms Historic State Park. It is a working farm from over 100 years ago. It was given to the State of Florida, from the Dudley family and is run from their will. Unfortunately as I blogged before, it is one of the 19 state parks nominated to be closed down. I am not sure if this is why there were only two staff people working, or because of the holiday, but we were not able to enter all the buildings or see the usual goings on. Yet it was still interesting, and educational. There was a nature trail, which is the picture of my children standing next to a beautiful old tree. The majestic turkey was amazing, and no he is not smiling. Seems he does not like his picture taken. He was ruffling his feathers, in anger at me for sticking my camera over the fence. Isn't he a beauty though? See that old stove, isn't that cool. I think I would like one of those. As you can see the weahter was splendid, and thank goodness I did not see any snakes. Some really big spiders that DJ had fun taking picture of with his new camera. Caitlin gathered acorns, for the squirrels. All in all it was a wonderful day, and we can count it as a field trip, for school. I hope everyone had a wonderful Friday, too.

Field Trip To Shired Island on The Gulf Of Mexico, Madagascar 2

Friday November 7th, was our Ocean Field trip, to Shired Island. Shired Island, is on the Gulf of Mexico, and about 1 hr from our home. It is sort of secluded and quiet, and as you can see from the pictures, a beautiful place to visit. It was 80 degrees, with no wind or clouds, absolutely perfect for a field trip. Because we went about an hour after high tide, there were tons of sea shells to pick. They are soaking in bleach water, to use for crafts. We did not get to see any Horseshoe Crabs, which are usually abundant, at this location. We did see some Blue Crabs, that had been caught, in a trappers cage. They were young ones, and can get to the size of dinner plates. We saw lots of birds, a small jelly fish, some fish, and some small crabs. The Pelican was camera shy and would not let me get a picture of it. All in all, it was a great day.

Yesterday, we went to go see Madagascar 2 Escape to Africa. It was cute, and Caitlins first trip to the big movie theater. She was good, until all her snacks were gone, and then she wanted to go home. I still think the first one was better, but this one was good too.

Tomorrow is a Half Day, and here are our lesson plans:

Writing: Write about your field trip to Shired Island
Reading: Read Chapter 5 of Pirates Past Noon
Finish Planets themed unit
Math: Division
Spanish: Food and utensils
Fire Prevention: Write about having an escape route
Science: Life cycles of animals
Arts and crafts: If time permits draw Pichu, and turkey craft
If we do not get to arts and crafts, they will be added to another day.

Thanksgiving Dinner, No Serious Posts Today

I am taking a break from serious topics, and there certainly are plenty, and taking a lighter note today. Tomorrow is test day, so I have no Lesson Plans to post. It is freezing here again, in N Florida, and my hands are frozen, so I am typing with mittens on. Actually, I seem to type fast with them on LOL.

I am one of those strange people that plans 30-45 days ahead, for big events or meals. This probably stems from all the years of getting paid every two weeks, and having to plan or have no money to buy what you need, when it is time to make the big meal. My mom was here last Friday, so we went over the menu. We decided we wanted to try a few different recipes, and foods than our traditional Thanksgiving menu.

Turkey, of course, made with maple syrup butter. This will be our second time doing this kind, and it is delicious. I highly recommend it.
Bisquits with gravy- my mother hates store bought bisquits, I hate making them from scratch. So we compromised and she will make the bisquits and I will make the gravy.
Mashed potatoes- pretty much a given
Sweet Potatoe Casserole- this is a new addition to our menu, so I am looking forward to this.
Coleslaw- Cabbage salad whatever you call it. I am making it different this year. Cabbage, carrots, chopped cooked bacon, ranch dressing, possibly onions and red peppers. Does that not sound great. This will be another new try for us.
Cholcolate pie, instead of apple pie. Everyone loves chocolate and apple is just getting old
Some kind of Truffle my mom is making, I am sure it will be awesome.
Rolls with butter
Green beans with onions- Instead of the traditional green bake, we are going to do a all year favorite. Fresh green beans, sauteed with onions in butter, and extra virgin olive oil, with just a splash of red wine vinaigrette.
Stuffing, of course.
That is it, unless we decide to add more things. That is plenty for 5 people, and one dog. Have you started to plan your menu yet?

Our Ocean field trip, which was scheduled for earlier in Sept, has been rescheduled for next Friday. Hopefully it will warm back up, or I might have to order a snowsuit to wear. We hope to find some cool shells, to use in various arts and crafts projects. My mom will be going with us, as my husband has to work, and she knows the way to the specific part of the Gulf she likes to go to. We will have a picnic lunch, and just enjoy the beauty of the Ocean.

Yesterday, I posted we were finally making the Paper Mache Pumpkins, yeah ok. It was a big mess, and a big pain. They were white balloons, and we just ended up painting them orange, and then painting funny faces on them.

Long Leaf Pine Forest Virtual Tour/Field Trip

Take a field trip, to a Pine Forest, without even leaving your home. As I have stated previously, I spend lots of time, looking for interesting, and cool things to enhance mine and your homeschooling experience. Check out this free site and take a virtual tour of the Long Leaf Pine Forest. This could be integrated into a science lesson plan, about Forest's. Go to http://www.auburn.edu/academic/forestry_wildlife/longleafalliance/ecosystem/virtualtour/tour.htm There is a slideshow option, or automated tour. Be sure to check out the links at the bottom, they take you to info about the various plant and animal life that live in the forest.