Science and swimming! What a day!

*originally written back in September! Forgot to hit PUBLISH!*

Our first official homeschool field trip was AWESOME!

To be honest, I was dreading the 2 hour drive. Right up until the morning of, in fact. But I really, really wanted to take the boys, and they really, really wanted to go. So after breakfast, packing some lunch, and loading the car, we drove to Juno Beach to meet up with some friends. It ended up being just a small group of four moms, our kids, and one other parent's kids, so I think there was right around 18 or so of us?

We met up at the park first, and let the kids run around and eat lunch. Then we walked across the road to the beach. The real beach, like at the OCEAN! (Like every other beach isn't a real beach, or something. But it is something special to see the ocean. It was all three of the boys' first time at the ocean. I'm kind of sad that Jason wasn't there with us, but it is what it is, and we will definitely go again. It was a beautiful stretch of beach, and hardly anyone was there. Well, it was the middle of the day, on a Friday, so...

After a quick picture,

we went back to the park, and to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center. The impending storm drove us inside, and we barely made it in before the torrential downpour started.

We walked through the visitor center and store for a while, before heading outside to wait for the rain to stop.

My phone battery was nearly drained, so I didn't get any pictures of the many sea turtles that we got to see. There were green sea turtles, and, I think, loggerheads.

Ethan liked seeing the turtles, but wasn't interested in signing up for the vet lab, and was being a bit camera shy. Not to mention it was terribly hot and humid out. Jackson was running around like a wild man, asking questions, playing in the little play area, and pointing out every turtle to us.


Alex decided to sign up for the vet lab, and really seemed to enjoy it. In it, each child got an "injured" plastic green sea turtle, that they had to take care of. They had to figure out it's injuries, name it, tag it if it wasn't, do "bloodwork", measurements, etc, and fill out paperwork, and listen to some facts given by the teacher.

The younger boys each chose a small stuffed animal from the gift shop before we left.

Time to go to the beach before our drive home. After taking what felt like forever to get Jackson to eat something, and then get him and I changed into our swimsuits, the four of us followed our friends back to the beach.

No pictures, because my phone was charging, and I was having too much fun swimming in the ocean with my guys! Between digging in the sand, and swimming, they all three had a blast. E made a friend while they played a game of sort of riding the waves. A and his friends made up a game to see who would be the last one pushed back to the beach by the waves. J and I swam together, and looked for shells. One of my mom friends caught a tiny crab, baby shrimp and even a itty-bitty fish using some sea weed. Nearly 2 hours later, I decided we had to call it day, as I knew they would be getting quite hungry, and J would probably fall asleep in the car before dinner if we didn't leave soon. We said our goodbyes, and after a quick rinse and change of clothes, we headed out to dinner. Several slices of pizza later, we were back on the road, and home by around 9pm.

I'd call that a huge success. The boys are already planning to go back, as a family this time so Jason can see the turtles and the beach, and when extended family visits, it's on our list of possible places to go.

More of our July

 One week after arriving, I decided to take the boys to Biscayne National Park, the one Jason and I spent a couple of hours at in April. It's close to the house, and so worth it. It was really hot that day, and the skies were clear. You could see across the water for miles!

If you look closely, you can JUST make out Miami in the distance!

The three boys sitting on a rock, after a long walk

One of many fish we saw

After spending an hour or so of walking the trail, we decided to go inside the visitor center. I didn't get any pictures of the displays, but the boys were all excited about them. We also got some activity books, including some for Alex to become a "junior ranger". Once the weather cools, we are definitely going back. They also have a book store, which was closed that day. When Jason and I were there in April (before they moved it to it's own area), I saw a bunch of different field guides and scouting books that I want to look at for school and scouts.

3 white ibises that were hanging around the neighborhood

Over the next few days, amidst all the other unpacking, we got our classroom/school area set up.

The first week in pictures

The nearby park, swimming lagoon and in the background Biscayne Bay. Our view at dinner.

A little friend (lizard) that made me jump out of my socks the second day in the house!

Alex and Jackson looking for lizards, butterflies and who knows what else.

Lizard in our yard

Movie night in the new house

Jackson digging in the sand at our first homeschool group beach day 7/10

Ethan and Alex at the playground in our neighborhood

Jackson on the playground

Jason and Jackson playing on a police car playset at the playground

Alex climbed the tree (with a little boost from dad)

Family game night

It was a pretty fun first week, getting settled in and making some new friends on that first Friday. We met up with a small group of moms and their kids from the homeschool group at the beach/swimming lagoon, where we played for a couple of hours. I could tell from the moment we met how laid back and nice they were. That's always a good thing!

More pictures and another post about the rest of our first month coming soon!