Continuing where we left with my last post, we actually made a second visit to the Sewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center. Since we had missed the Red wolf feeding on our visit the week before, we made a second trip out to the center to see the feeding. It was fun and educational for the whole family.
Also in April we spent a day visiting Isa’s future new Spanish class. She was welcomed right in and got to participate in everything the class did from learning in the classroom about plants and their parts to digging and planting them outside. We look forward to potentially enrolling her in this class for the 2016-2017 school year.
At the end of April we made a trip down to Jax to celebrate a special birthday & retirement with family. We had a wonderful time and of course the kids also enjoyed spending time with their cousins.
While we were in Florida we spent some time at the Florida Agricultural Museum. At the museum the kids got to see lots of horses and other farm animals. We took a tractor tour, toured old preserved buildings, and the kids got to ring the tower bell on one of the buildings. The kids also had the opportunity to feed the chickens, see their different colored fresh laid eggs, and operate an old (manual) water pump. The kids had a lot of fun, especially with the chickens and water pump.
After the museum, we took a quick trip over to Ft Matanzas where the kids enjoyed the ferry boat ride and exploring the the fort.
On our last day in Florida the kids went to the playground where they met up with a gopher tortoise and Isa logged her first pool time of the season.
An ongoing thing with Isa this spring has been watching the fascinating changes of different outdoor creatures. She has watched the tadpoles turn into frogs in our nearby pond. Catching, observing and keeping the little frogs in a small container at home for a day before releasing them back into their natural environment. This process has been repeated more times than we can count. In addition to frogs, she’s also kept different types of grasshoppers and lizards as well.
She’s also been lining the tummies of our semi-resident geese who are all too happy for a handout. This also became an almost daily thing.
Another creature observation endeavor we’ve embarked on is raising caterpillars into butterflies. We got the kids a butterfly garden complete with live caterpillars. We talked about and observed the caterpillars every day. Watching them eat and grow and grow until they formed chrysalides. Eventually emerging as new butterflies for the kids to feed, observe, handle and release. What a wonderful experience for all of us! I hope this is merely the first of a long annual tradition in our household because it was such a treat.
Later in May we attended Miss Isa’s dance recital. She did wonderful despite her stage fright and received her first trophy. She made us all very proud.
At the end of May we took a trip to NC where we kept plenty busy with new adventures. Isa went trail riding with Mom and Dad on horseback in the mountains. She had so much fun, as did we.
Also while in NC we hiked a trail to Linville Falls.
Another side trip while in NC involved a day spent at Dollywood. This was a first for the whole family and we all had a wonderful time. We also discovered that little Miss Isa is quite the roller coaster enthusiast, braving (and thoroughly enjoying!) coasters that I thought would be too fast and scary for her.
Our reading lessons have continued on and Isa amazes me every day with her progress. She is reading short stories on her own every day and some books too! We are very proud of her.
This week Isa’s participating in her first summer camp & Mr X is starting a summer gymnastics class which I’ll share more on in my next update. Until then, a couple of candids for you!
