Playdoh Day!!

It's time to make 5 different kinds of Playdoh, thanks to New Young Mum. I found her pin on Pinterest.

Claudia had a great time making her playdoh. This is a project she's been wanting to do for awhile. She was like a little kid again...it was super cute to watch, lol.

                                  

           

                   

And who was the winner, you ask? Which one did she like best? Glitter Playdoh won!!

Baseball Game - Field Trip with Funcation Academy

I'm going to admit it...I don't care for baseball, I'm sorry, but I don't. My girls, on the other hand, were all over it when I asked if they wanted to go see a live game. We went to see the Tampa Bay Yankees vs. The Blue Crabs (who knew we had a Yankees team here...I'm so pitiful, lol).

Here's our baseball adventure...

Sophia wanted the pic with the mascot...she hunted him down - it was funny.

The stadium is beautiful. Sadly, there weren't a whole lot of folks watching that night, which was perfect for us, because we could sit wherever we wanted...yay for us!

There were fly balls all over the place. Sophia was DETERMINED that she was going to have one. She kept moving around from section to section waiting for her chance. Finally, a ball comes flying into her section and what happens...a grown man goes after it, even though he sees her ALSO going after it. Seriously?! Well fate stepped in...the man was about to grab the ball, when it dropped down a row and slid practically right into HER hands...yay!! She was CRAZY excited!

In true fashion...the child won't sit still for a pic...sheesh!

At the end of the game, Sophia was able to get her ball signed by one of the players...Success!!

 

Spring Co-op - Week 12 - Owl Pellet Dissection

Owl Pellet Dissection is what was on the menu for today's class...yum!

 

Spring Co-op - Week 11 - Tin Foil Art

Today's Co-op was full of color, as the kids created Tin Foil Art. I got the idea from my favorite idea spot, Pinterest - I used the instructions from this pin: Modern Tin Art. There are so many ways to do this project, but since our co-op class time is only 1 hr long, I stuck with the simpler project.

The kids came up with some great stuff, but I don't want to post pics of other folks' kids without their permission, so :(

Here's Claudia at the start of her designing.

 This is her finished product. Pretty cool!

 Here's a very colorful swirl done by one of the mom's in the group. She's so creative!

Spring Co-op - Week 10 - Pasco Posse

The fabulous Pasco Posse came to visit us at Co-op today. The Posse arrived with 5 beautiful horses, each with their rider. They gave us a rundown on how many horses they have, along with how many paid/volunteer positions they currently have. Each posse member comes to the organization with their own horse (usually).

The youngest member of their posse is 14 years old...that's so awesome! The Posse attends many outdoor festivals and they work security in mall parking lots during the busy Christmas season.

Claudia is not terribly fond of horses, so she didn't want to be photographed with them. Sophia, on the other hand, is not shy in front of the camera, lol.

For more information about the Pasco Posse, please visit their website at https://pascosheriff.com/news/pasco_posse/

Spring Co-op - Week 9 - Rock Painting

Today's co-op class was Rock Painting. All the kids had a great time - they brought out their creative sides.

Materials needed:

• nice flat, clean rocks - we used River Rocks (you can purchase a bag full at Lowe's or Home Depot pretty cheap)

• permanent markers, paint pens (Amazon) or paints/brush

• newspaper (to cover your area while you work)

• magazines (if your kids prefer to pick out a pic to paste on)

• modge podge (to seal the drawings) - there's a cool glitter kind!

Here are the finished products. Some kids drew directly on the rocks, while others chose designs from a magazine and pasted them on. It's amazing to see what each kid considers art. They came out pretty cool.

Blueberry Picking - Field Trip with GGM

Starkey Blueberry Farms

We had a great day picking blueberries today with friends from our homeschool group.

She looks soooo excited to be here, lol.

 

Christopher Columbus' Ships

Today, we had the pleasure of having a tour of the replicas of 2 of Christopher Columbus' ships - the Pinta and the Nina. We learned that:

• The Santa Maria (no replica was available due to its size) was the largest of the 3 ships
• The Pinta was the next largest of the ships
• the top layer of the ships are called the"poop deck", because they used to make "Pupa Dolls" out of rope and have them blessed before each voyage. These dolls were then nailed to a post on the top deck, hence the "poop deck". The poop deck, by the way, was located at the rear of the ship, so that when the crew members had to relieve themselves, the air was moving in the correct direction to get rid of the waste.
• Speaking of air movement: we learned that due to Columbus' extensive experience as a sailor (he started out sailing on ships when he was only 14 years old), he knew when the winds would be blowing in the direction he needed to go. He always had the winds blowing from behind, in order to navigate the ships properly. His previous experience gave him that advantage.
• Columbus was 42 years old when he started out in search of America. His age was a big deal back then, because most people didn't live that long in those days.
• The crew members were mostly teenagers, starting as early as approx. 13yrs old
• The youngest crew member was the "cabin boy", who was approx. 9 yrs old. The cabin boy was the most popular person on the ships, because he was the one who got to go all the way to the bottom of the ship (maybe due to his size, is what I'm thinking). He got to see everything that was kept down below, so he knew exactly what they had and where it was.
• the ships did not have steering wheels - they navigated direction using the compass and the "Tiller", a very long piece of wood that turned the ships in different directions

• These were the symbols for King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of Spain

• A list of the crew members on Columbus' voyage

• The compass that was used

•  My girls boarding one of the ships

•  Claudia on deck

•  A list of the ship's provisions. 

•  Columbus' voyages

• The Hold is where the sailors kept all of their best goods: food, water, dry clothes, their most important stuff. Their "most cherished" items were always their maps/charts. Since the maps/charts they had were usually their only copy (no Google back then, lol) - they guarded them as prized possessions.

•  Claudia, with her cousin, Madison behind her - ready for lunch

•  Sophia and her cousin, Hannah - at the end of the tour

• We took some great pics, but way to many to show, sadly
• All in all, this tour was very insightful - lots of good information - definitely worth checking out, if it comes to your area
• For more info, check out the website for the Columbus Foundation at www.thenina.com

Limericks

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, Claudia set out to write some Limericks about her cousins. Here are the results.