Author: laurie

This was the first year I was able to attend Bug Camp at UF. I absolutely loved it. B and I got put in separate groups so it was nice to have some time away from him but still do the same stuff. There were about 30 kids in the program this year. We did a field research project where we tried to attract ants with cookie crubs at various plotted locations in the woods. Our team was called the “Mighty Mud Daubers”. I didn’t like the name but I helped to make the logo and color it in. We discovered that the campground was a huge hotspot for insects after dark . I caught a cool katydid and a few long horned beetles. I loved having help with a butterfly I caught. I couldn’t get the wings to relax. I learned how to use a syringe to rehydrate the joints. I made a few friends. We got to dissect a grasshopper. I thought this was really fun!  My collection grew a little on the collection trips but I had more fun seeing what everyone else was catching.

I loved the trip to the new bee building. We got to work some hives and learn all about the process used for collecting honey from the hives.
I got to try on all the bee gear! One day we took a trip to the Florida Natural History Museum and visited the butterfly rain forest. I love the atlas moths! We spent a LOT of time out in the NATL. I walked into one plot and vanished. I was able to keep my net high in the air so Mom could keep track of me! I collected lots of caterpillars and wore them around the rest of the day. I even brought along food for them. Some of my new collection. The giant Hercules beetle I purchased with bug bucks that I earned at camp. B and I did some aquatic collecting. I got to hold a scorpion. I really want one as a pet! We had a fun day at the Santa Fe River for aquatic collecting. I really got into it and was out in the middle of the river in no time finding hellgrammites, baby dobsonflies.  We found a nice nitrogen ice cream shop in Gainesville when Dad got back up with us. We enjoyed a huge sweet treat before the wheels rolled north on our summer journey.

This month has flown by so quickly. Mom and Dad got all fancy dressed up and went out to an awards ceremony for Dad completing the Citizens Academy classes he’s been going to for the last few months. We worked together and replaced the faucet in our bathroom. It was all gummed up and leaking. We went bowling a few times with the Kids Bowl Free summer program. We spent a day at Homasassa Springs Wildlife Park with Grandma Susie.

It was raining when we arrived so we had to wait a little while to take the boat out to the park. You can park closer but we like the boat part!

The rain stopped just long enough for us to enjoy the boat ride. The park was empty due to the weather. We saw lots of wild birds and turtles. The parks caged animals were barely seen, probably because of the rain. I walked finny walks for the entire time at the park. We eat out for lunch and I had calamari. My calamari was sorted with the calamari sorting hat. It was a Gryphensquid. 

Well, since B broke his bed, Mom and Dad decided mine was at risk of the same issue down the road. I was jealous of Bs new bed as well. So when B and Mom cleaned his room, Dad and I went to Ikea and I picked out the same bed for my room. After a few long days of cleaning and purging my room was all set. We said goodbye to a lot of stuffed animals. The rest are all crammed into pillow cases and stored under my bed. Mom hid them all with the lego bins. We still have a few more projects to pull the room together. It is really neat and organized for once!

We entered the contest on a whim. We knew we wouldn’t have a lot of study time with our travels and wrapping up school. I did find time to work on it a bit. I really enjoyed learning more about plants. I even added a few new ones to the garden! The contest was hard but I had a great time! I struggled with the judging but I am not sure why. I really thought I followed the directions but guess I needed to learn more about it. I cam in 2nd place. I missed 1st by one point! Oh well. All the ribbon winners got to take home a plant s o that was really the highlight of the event for me. Our team came in first place too!

I had a lot of fun and I THINK I want to try it again next year when I have a better chance to study and prepare.

We enjoyed a week of ukulele music with Grandma Susie at the library. We took a class for a few hours daily for a week and then had a concert at the end. I loved play on my new uke. I did not enjoy the song writing part of the class. I wanted to write about sharks but the other kids wanted to write things that weren’t true about shirts, you know MYTHS! The verse turned out okay but I still wasn’t happy.  When we graduated the program we went to Build a Bear to celebrate a fun week. B and I got jigglypuff, a pokemon.