Gingerbread Houses

Every year, just before we break for the semester, our homeschool group gets together to make Gingerbread houses. This year, Claudia decided not to make one. Instead, she helped out at the craft table. I don't have a good pic of her at her station, but here's a pic of her right before we left.

Crystal Springs Preserve

We had a pretty cool day today at the Crystal Springs Preserve with our fellow homeschoolers.

We learned about...

SNAKES:

• Red touch yellow is a deadly fellow
• Poisonous snake bites look like a puncture
• Non-poisonous snake bites look like a V shape
• Rattle snake bites = 2 hr survival rate
• other snake bites = 20 min or longer survival rate

WATER:

• the shallower the water, the cleaner it is (good to know)
• put a plastic bag over the leaves on the plants to get water from them

Limestone is very porous - it's why we have sink holes in Florida :(

FOOD (you can eat):

• Saw Palmetto bark = protein
• Spanish Moss = no nutritional value

SHELTER:

• Saw Palmettos are awesome for shelter

SURVIVAL (you can only survive):

• 3 weeks with no food
• 3 days with no water

Here are some pics from today...

Their collection of live and dead animals was extensive. There was so much to see in their building.

Here began the lesson about snakes and limestone.

All of the kids were taken to a wooded area and given a pile of different sized branches and palm leaves to choose from. The task was to build a fort to protect them from the elements. Here's Claudia trying to build her fort with one of our other homeschool group members.

After the field trip, some of us decided to go shopping in downtown Dade City. What a quaint little town.

Circus Arts

Our homeschool group spent some time at Apollo Gymnastics. We had the whole place to ourselves, since we were able to go during the day, while most kids are in school. The kids had SUCH a great time! I would love to go back again.

Even I got in on the act!

Paper Bridge Design Challenge

We found this fun and easy science experiment/building project on Science Buddies today. It was a great little experiment to see what kind of bridge would hold the most pennies before caving in.

You can only use 1 sheet of construction paper, per design. Claudia only made 1 other bridge, but she gave up on that one pretty quickly, as she couldn't get the pennies to stack in that design. 

You start out with 30 pennies. Each penny represents 1 more person traveling on the bridge.

I won't give away ALL of the details about the project, but you can find it here at Science Buddies.

It was so sad to see the bridge fall. I'm actually not sure how it fell finally (cause it was pretty sturdy). I don't know if she knocked it over by accident or what, but it came down, without caving in...poop.

Clam Dissection (during co-op)

Today's Clam Dissection was pretty interesting. The kids' facial expressions were quite humorous!

Here's Claudia, wearing the apron that was made for her by our most fabulous of neighbors. She had no desire what-so-ever in wearing it, as she's 13 now and feels that everyone was going to make fun of her, but "I" couldn't resist, lol (she wasn't the only kid wearing an apron, btw). Oh, and it has her name embroidered on it...it's so cute!!

 

Penguin Pretzel Factory

Our homeschool group took a tour of the Penguin Pretzel Factory today. The kids took turns (in groups) going behind the scenes to see how the factory's pretzels are made (formed and cooked) and each kid got to make their own pretzel. To say that they were delicious, is an understatement!! They were scrumptious!! If you get a chance to check them out...you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Since Claudia loves to bake, she came prepared to make some pretzels, lol. She did so well, in fact, that talk of a job was mentioned...she's like a pro!!

This is only a portion of our homeschool group. We have a lot more kids, but this is the motley crew that we had today.

Ziplining @ TreeUmph

Today's motley crew...

Our homeschool group decided to go ziplining today at a place that recently opened up in Brooksville, FL, TreeUmph. We got an awesome rate, as we went on the day of their first "homeschool day"...yay!! There is another well known ziplining establishment in Dade City - I've never been there, but my youngest daughter (Sophia) went with a birthday party and she said it was amazing. Sophia didn't come with us today (she doesn't homeschool), so I couldn't compare the 2 places, but "I" thought this place was amazing! I don't think that any of the teens that went today, had ever been ziplining before, so there was some serious nervousness on everyone's part, but thankfully, they all got through it in one piece...Amen!

Claudia and Helaina - haven't started yet...just getting hooked up

Look at her go...

She looks like a pro!!

And there she goes...

Teen Progressive Dinner

Tonight was fun! Our homeschool group put together a "Teen Progressive Dinner". I had never heard of this, but the kids had a great time!! Details: there were 3 host homes involved. All the kids started out at the first house, where they were provided with an appetizer. At the second house, the kids were provided with dinner. The third house (our house), you guessed it...we provided dessert. Aside from the food, each host came up with 3-4 Minute to Win it Games that the kids all participated in. I was so busy taking pics of "everyone", that I forgot to take pics of Claudia alone, so I had to block out some faces (for privacy). There were some really fun games played this night. It was an opportunity for the teens in our group to get together OUTSIDE of Co-op and really get to know each other. Everyone went home happy...Success!

Minute To Win It Cookie Game: you had to start with the cookie on your forehead and maneuver it down to your mouth, only using your facial muscles - no hands...it was a trip!!

I think this was the Minute To Win It Stack Attack Game...it was crazy - it was harder than it looked!!

Strawberry Picking at Upicktopia

Today, our homeschool group went strawberry picking at Upicktopia in Masaryktown, FL. We've lived in this County for over 6 years now and I'm still finding these, out of the way, super cool places that I didn't know existed. We've been blueberry picking before and typically, these places sell other fruits/veggies as well, but this place was amazing! They have a crazy long list of fruits/veggies that they grow and sell on site. We walked through the rows of carrots, cabbage, broccoli and of course...strawberries. We didn't walk through the entire property, as some of the fruits/veggies aren't in season yet OR the recent rains had not been good to them. Upicktopia has quite the selection, if anyone wants to check them out.

Showing off her first great strawberry...notice the empty bucket, lol

Open field, with rows of goodies, just waiting to be picked.

The blueberries weren't ready for picking yet.

Nice sized chicken coop...about 2x the size of ours.

Actual strawberry picking in progress...

Helaina and Claudia with their baskets full of the tasty strawberries that they picked with their very own hands. Next week, they'll be making jam with some of these at Co-op. The rest will be used in our smoothies at home...Yum!!

Making Dinner...

Just an ordinary evening, making dinner at home. What's on the menu for tonight, you ask? She made yellow rice with red beans, pork chops and hand made tortillas...it was GOOD!!

Tortillas are made with a mixture of Maseca and water. You roll them into a ball, then flatten out (either by hand or using a tortilla maker). She flattens them by hand most of the time.

Use a flat skillet to warm up more than 1 tortilla at a time, otherwise, you'll never finish.

Come and get it...dinner is done! Yum!!

1st Official Dad/Daughter Date

Tonight, Claudia went out on her 1st official date with Dad. They had dinner at the Chinese buffet and went clothes shopping. It may not sound like an over the top evening for some, but Claudia loved having her dad all to herself. They both dressed up a little for the occasion, but unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of them. This pic is of Claudia and dad the day before.