Teen Social

Oh, my!  The years have flown by and now my little girl is almost a teenager.  Ugh!  How did the years go by that fast? 

Egee attended her first teen social for fellow homeschoolers.  It was an informal get together with other preteen to teenage homeschoolers and she was excited.  An opportunity to make new friends and hangout without little ones running about.

The event was Christian based and fully chaperoned.  Most parents dropped their children off and went on their own date night.  We were no exception.  She was in a safe environment with plenty of kids around her age to interact.  No need for Mom and Dad to stand around and gawk. 

Two hours passed quickly and when I arrived to pick her up, she was wrapped up in fun.  Hopefully, new friendships blossom and she continues to meet more homeschool kids her age.  She can't wait until the next one!

Home School Jamboree

We attended the first annual Home School Jamboree last week.  There was a great turn out and plenty of things for the children to see and do.  It is wonderful to live in an area that has such a supportive home school community.

The children enjoyed learning about the local police department's motorcycle patrol.

The fire department had one of their fire trucks to explore.

EMS had an ambulance for the children to look inside.

There were games, face painting, art demonstrations, hula hoops, and a mini soccer field.

There were several groups handing out information on clubs and classes for home schooled children.  It was nice to see how many activities are out there that I didn't know about.

Overall, the jamboree allowed us to interact with others that share our interests and have fun!

Second Saturday at Roper Mountain Science Center

We decided to go to Roper Mountain Science Center's Second Saturday program.  We have never been and between dance, baseball, and basketball our Saturdays are mostly full.  Not knowing what to expect, I anxiously took note of the weather forecasts.  I didn't want to get soaked if the program was mostly outdoors.  Luckily, the rain did not materialize liked forecasts and I didn't have to worry.

We brought along a friend on our excursion.  Little Man's friend A-Man.  The boys had a great time at the event.

We walked along the nature trail to the Life Science building.  We explored the different classrooms and their contents.  The first one was filled with animals and plant specimens from around our state.  Live reptiles and insects were housed in displays for the children to look at.  Tanks with fish, turtles and even an alligator delighted the children.

A beehive was in one area for the children to look into and see the bees busy tending to their various hive jobs.  We eagerly searched for the queen.  We found her!  She had been marked with a dab of green paint.  A clear tube allowed us to see the bees go outdoors to collect more food.  Pictures were displayed along several tables of the bees and close ups of the hive.  This was all very interesting because we have a neighbor that keeps bees.  Now the children know a little more about the hive and process.

Stereo microscopes were out for the children to observe dragonfly larvae.  Everyone loves looking under the microscope!

We explored the touch table.  Two turtle shells were present.  Little Man asked about the differences and we noted how the box turtle shell had two hinged areas to pull himself tight into the shell; where as the aquatic turtle shell did not have hinges.  We felt the snake skin and wool from sheep.  We looked at the fossilized sea shells and the regular shells.  The table had many interesting things.

Next, came the marine life room.  Various aquariums held tropical fish.  Each display was interactive.  The boys darted from one to the other.  That's okay.  Next time we come it won't be new and more time will be spent learning more.  There were also touch tanks!  We were able to touch a sting ray, horseshoe crab, hermit crabs, and sea urchins.

We finally made it into a reptile room.  There were many different reptiles on display and some were out for the children to touch and hold.  Egee and Little Man were excited to touch the reptiles.  A-Man not so much.

We walked through the rainforest room.  It was very humid and warm.  The room was filled with different plant specimens and nicely done.

Our last destination inside the biology building was the critter room.  The children delighted in the baby mice and chinchilla on display.   They all held the baby mouse and didn't want to put it down.

We finally made our way outside to the living history farm.  We walked in the garden and around the pond.  We looked into the old school house and played old fashion games of graces, ring toss, hoops, and darts.

We visited the barn and the farm animals.  The children helped grind corn and pump water.

We watched wood carving and leather crafting demonstrations.  The children learned about different tools used for each.

Lastly, we made our way to the cabin.  Inside were more games played long ago.

The children had a wonderful time and we only saw a portion of Roper Mountain Second Saturday.  Good thing we have season passes to go back and explore next month!

Summer Beach Trip

We try our best to get to the beach every summer.  It just isn't summer vacation without a trip to our beloved Low Country. I have tried to move the trip to September, but the children's sports and dance schedules just aren't allowing this to take place.  Egee's dance started up early in July and really kicks in for August.  Little Man's schedule for baseball starts to take off around mid to late August.  Therefor, we packed the bags and set off for beach fun in mid July.

We tried a different condo this trip.  Basically, we didn't get the one we wanted because of the last minute decision.  We missed our view of the ocean.  However, it was a comfy condo and we still had a great time.  Of course, I plugged badly for hubby to think about getting our own place down in the Low Country.  I told him it didn't even have to be ocean front.  I would settle on a place with marsh views and deep water.  He would just have to get me a boat to putter around with.  He laughed.

We spent the days by the pool and evenings on the beach.  Little Man tried to skim board.  Although, surf fishing became his passion during this trip.  Hubby bought them gear and the two fished.  Egee likes to walk the beach and play in the water.  MeeMee just did whatever the grandkids wanted.  Isn't that always how it is?

We brought the filtered flashlights out and went crab watching.  Little Man had a blast.  Crabs are so much fun to watch!

We spent a morning at Hunting Island enjoying the larger waves and shell hunting.  Little Man and Hubby tried surf fishing along the jetty.

We relished in fresh shrimp from Johnson Creek Tavern and Gay's Seafood.  Then finished out the trip with a stop to Boondocks for crab legs!  My how the kids, MeeMee and I love our crab legs!

Unfortunately, the week of carefree island life ended and the reality of going home appeared.  I guess it will be time to plan another trip soon!

Clay Camp

Little Man has developed an interest in pottery.  I'm not sure where this interest has come from, but he asks constantly about using a potters wheel. Egee is always my artsy one.  She made sure I knew she would want to participate when I found a pottery camp.  I want to try and allow the children opportunities to tryout their interests, so I began my search for a class to do just that.

I searched and found clay camps that were an hour or more away.  This would not work for our schedule.  Prices were outrageous for other pottery camps.  Maybe, some one income families have the means to spend over two hundred dollars a child for a one week, three hour class.  This one can't!  However, with hours of searching I finally stumbled upon a little gem near us!  East Main Arts was offering a kid's clay camp that included the use of the pottery wheel.  The price was very reasonable and the time fit our schedules.



The kids are having a blast at camp!  Ms. Ellie is wonderful with the children.  She has taught them so much about the art of clay.  The two hours they spend at the studio is fun and creative.  They both can't wait to show me what they have created and tell me everything they learned.

I can see us spending much more time at East Main Arts and letting the children explore their artistic side!

Trying To Get Caught Up

I have neglected writing posts, lately.  The intent has been there, but the time has not.  Life gets in the way and unfortunately the blog is on the lower priority list.

Here is a run down of the happenings over the past month.

My mother had foot surgery.  Hopefully, it will help her walk better.  The kids and I love taking her on outings and trips.

 We told her she has a Frankenstein foot now!

Samson has grown by leaps and bounds.  We had him neutered and he never new what happened.

Coming home from surgery...he is still drugged.

 Samson and Sally B resting after a long day playing in the snow.

We have attended various classes and field trips.  Egee enjoyed the puppetry class at our local library.  They are working on creating a play to perform later in the year.  Little Man had fun creating a boat and seeing how much weight it could support.  They both enjoyed the Youth Theater version of Cat in the Hat.  We also took in the local art gallery and science center.

Building with legos at the Science Center.

Learning about Leonardo DiVinci at the Science Center.

 Mr. Jack instructing at the Landrum library program.

 The girls are designing their boat.

Little Man busy working on his boat.

Cat In The Hat performance.

The kids have had play dates and sleep overs.

Little Man is playing basketball and between practices and games, we are always on the go.  The team is learning more and getting better with each game.

Egee is doing great with the clogging.  The director of the school gave her a high compliment on her natural ability to clog.  She couldn't believe she has only been clogging since October.  Of course, this brightened Egee's day!

We experienced two snow falls this past month.  The massive snow storm was last week.  Luckily, we did not lose power!  Then to top off the crazy weather week, we felt the shock of an earthquake 100 miles down the road!

Ginger bread muffins and wassail make a cold day warmer!

Now, we are all recovering from head colds.  Hopefully, I won't take as long to post on our adventures in the coming days.