Author: laurie

We had our 4-H Forest Ecology meeting this week t Mocassin Lake Nature Preserve. We saw a beautiful white peacock in the wild too! We learned a lot about the preserve and then took an excellent hike to see different plants and trees and learn about the wildlife that they have on the premises. I loved the bird of prey area with all the rescued birds. We spent some time over at EPCOT while Dad was out of town on a work meeting. We enjoyed the Flower and Garden Festival. I LOVED all the topiaries! We got to stay over one night at a hotel! It was super fun at the pool and playgrounds. I loved the huge pool and a giant water slide! B was tired and went back to the room to clean up and I found out there was unlimited s’mores on the pool deck area! I called B and told him to get back quick! We enjoyed many many s’mores!

We had a great time and really enjoyed out little get away. We stopped at Ikea on the way home since the traffic was horrible! We brushed our teeth after all the yummy treats!

We had a super fun service project with our 4-H club today. We went to Maderia Beach and helped to clean trash out of the sand dunes. We collected over 100 lbs of trash in an hour. We also did a citizen science project of microplastics! After class we went to Grandma Susie’s and went swimming. We ended up hunting bugs instead! We had some down time and family board games this week. The weekend wrapped up with a day down in Manatee County for 4-H working with Keep Manatee Beautiful to do a state park clean-up. Our group collected nearly 500lbs of trash! After the cleanup we enjoyed an educational hike around the park and learned about how they are trying to restore the park to a more natural state. They have a huge invasive and non-native plant issue. We also worked more on our bismuth block. We used the old grill burner to head the bismuth and tried to make crystals. We didnt have the best of luck but it was a lot of fun trying!

Mom drove B and I up to Gainesville for the 4-H State Traditional archery match. We went up the night before so we spent some time at the Florida Natural History Museum. We got to see the new traveling exhibit called “The Scoop on Poop”. It was all about animal scat! We looked at scat under a microscope to see what different animals produce. We played lots of interactive games. We explored fossilized poop. We raced dung beetles! Afterwards we wandered the main museum and enjoyed some of the newer exhibits. We all really liked the scientific magnetic poetry set. We made some funny poems! I was obsessed with this wall of lights. It too us about 20 minutes to get all the lights to red. People kept walking by and turning them! UGH! We ate lunch in the NATL and hunted bugs. Sadly we didn’t catch anything but we had a good time reviewing plants and trees for Forest Ecology. The archery tournament was on Saturday. I am really getting much better with my shooting. This is the first year there have been other kids in my bow class so I am enjoying having some competition! I got 4th place but was very happy. I probably would have shot better but I was having fun talking with old and new friends the entire time! 🙂

We had a great outing with our 4-H Forest Ecology Team today. We learned a lot about local flora and fauna. I really enjoyed showing all the new kids different trees and plants. I even found some insect damage to teach about.

We saw lots of baby alligators! The mama gator was nearby and keeping a close eye on her little ones. Find me in the photo! I was mad because people were blocking my access to climb the tree. Once everyone got out of the tree I had my turn and was much happier! We also went to the Florida Aquarium for Open WaterSchooling day. It is a day just for homeschoolers where we learn about their different programs and get to do some really cool labs. I enjoyed watching the squid dissection. They had a camera so the entire thing was projected up onto a bg screen. I was right up front so I could see first hand though!

It was a beautiful day for playing outside. We knocked off school early and went out and made a solar balloon we had sitting around. I filled it with air and tied it off. We tied a string to one end and waited. The sun heated the air and it eventually starting floating. So cool! We eventually tied it to the mailbox and laughed as people drove by staring at our giant floating trash bag! This weekend was the Florida State Fair. We enjoyed a morning of donuts, animals and fair fun! I always enjoy the butter making and the OJ making stations. We also attended the Mardi Gras parade in Dunedin. Our friend, Ms. Gail, lives on the parade route so we sit in her front yard. We had a great time shouting and screaming for beads. I kept sneaking my leg under the barricade to get the ones people missed. When the parade was over the police officer gave me permission to cross the barricade and pick up stuff in the street. I wandered about 1/4 mile down the road picking up everything! Every one was laughing at me. But I got so so many beads! My haul!