Year: 2016

We opted not to go to Key Largo but instead we booked a site at Turkey Lake Park in Orlando. It was a great county park. There were walking trails, disc golf course, a weird kids zoo and much more. We set up camp and headed to the Orlando Eye area. We have passes through January with our Legoland annual pass. It was a lot of fun to have Dad with us this time. We waited a very short wait and then headed up in the Eye!

I love looking at the digital maps and seeing what all is around me.

Next we visited the Sea Life Aquarium, also free with the pass. I am working hard at learning my fish species so I can do good at the Marine Ecology contest for 4-H coming up.

We met a wax Sheldon! We enjoy watching Big Bang Theory so this was a treat.

Dad had to work the next day so we left him at the campground. We enjoyed a day at Universal before the crowds get too big.

A day filled with Harry Potter, sugar and spell casting!

Of course there was Butter Beer Ice Cream!

In the afternoon we stopped in at Disney Springs to see the remodel and look at all the halloween decor.

It was a fun few days. We camp at Disney Fort Wilderness soon. We are looking forward to Halloween there!

We spent the day at Ochs Garden 4-H center for Drone Discovery. We love National Youth Science Day. This year we joined a county class instead of doing it just at our club level. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet a lot of other homeschooled 4H youth.

We have our new club shirts all tie-dyed! We all stand out well!

I did the projects on my own without Mom having to help. We made foam gliders and then practiced different ways to fold the wings and fly them.

Mom headed out in the morning for Georgia for a 4-H leadership conference. She got to play with snakes, take a long hike and learn about 4-H leadership.

I willingly went back to diving class. I loved going backwards into the pool. I am having good and bad moments as I adjust to this new activity.

We collected socks for a 4-H drive. B and I gathered 74 new pairs!

We also attended a 4-H Marine Ecology Clinic at Weedon Island. We played Marine Jeopardy, learned by exploring samples of fish and inverts. My favorite was the Jeopardy. I was really good at it!

We did a mock contest and then went outside and did some critter catching and dip netting in the water.

We started a diving program at Southwest Rec Center. I was excited to take the class but when I got to the pool I broke down and REFUSED to go off the board. After 45 min of negotiations I finally went off cannonball style. Then I hopped out of the water and raced up to the 3 meter and jumped off. The coach just shook his head and questioned his existence! I am a stubborn kid!

Back to school for us as well. I am basically doing mostly 5th grade work this year. I am enjoying the new Latin program and love learning new words. School is a lot harder this year and I am pushing back hard in true Emmerson style!

I love our new 4-H group. I am the treasurer this year and so excited that I can finally compete for colored ribbons.

We did fish printing at our club meeting. I loved this!

We gave log rolling a shot. This is something I want to do again but it is sadly over for the winter until the pool is warmer.

we are still diving until the air gets too cold.

As you can see, we have been quite busy!

We had a lovely time in Petosky, Michigan hunting stones and splashing in the cold water. It was time to say goodbye to Dad as he left for a work meeting. He will eventually catch up with is in Nappanee, Indiana at Newmar when we get the motorhome work done. On his way out of town we stopped off at Kilwin’s Chocolates for the factory tour. CANDY!

We had an excellent tour guide who really knew the entire process ins and outs. We watched a lot of the process through these glass windows but learned what goes into making their yummy treats.

Then we got to go on the actual production floor. We had to wear hair protectors and booties on our feet. Daddy even got one for his beard!

A reward after the tour and good-bye and safe travels to Dad. The ice cream is expensive but it is smooth and yummy.

We spent the next few days playing and then headed out to Nappanee. We luckily got a space in the main parking lot, set up and headed down to the Culinary Mill aka Coopers Commons. Mom and Dad have been talking about this place for a year. This is Rocket Science Ice Cream. The amazing base is flash frozen with liquid nitrogen! Fun to watch and delicious!

We enjoyed our time on the factory tour, no photos allowed! It was cool how they use air pads to float the motorhomes down the assembly line.

I spent a lot of time working on my petosky stone puzzle.

Dad got back in town just in time for the Apple Festival! We found great parking and walked the craft booths. The mexican restaurant was host to this years 7′ diameter apple pie.

We toured Amish Acres, it is within walking distance of the Newmar facility. We came over a few days to enjoy the place. We even got to take a buggy ride.

Wait, MORE Rocket Science? OF COURSE!

Our long voyage has drawn to a close. Tomorrow we pull up the jacks and get the wheels rolling south. We dive right back into life upon arrival! This has been an epic voyage but I think we are all eager to get home for a while.

 

We are at our last major stop on our grand voyage. We arrived in Petosky, Michigan just before a really big storm rolled in off of Lake Michigan. The lake went from glass to 6-7foot swells almost instantly.

After the storm we headed to the beach to hunt for Petosky stones that were washed up from the big waves. We had a lot of luck and found several as well as a lot of cool rocks with fossils in them.

I had a lot of fun using the spray bottle to squirt the rocks to make the hexagonal patterns show up. We plan to sand and polish several stones to keep. It is a lot of work. Mom already bought sandpaper for us to start.

Mom found a HUGE one! She has already started to sand her find.

We took our spray bottles down to the beach and looked all over the upper parts of the park. We found  few but the most were in the water and freshly washed onto the beach.