Schooner Freedom, St. Augustine

This was the first field trip of the year with the Arlington Explorers home schooling group.

First off, let me say that I am not overly fond of water--in fact, being on any boat scares the dickens out of me. So why did I plan, of all things, a boat excursion for our homeschooling group. Honestly, at the time, I don't know. But as it got closer to the day of the field trip, I got more and more excited. We were going to be on the type of boat that was used during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. How cool would that be? Still I was a little apprehensive--but we were going to have fun.

Before we even got on the boat, we got to see dolphins in the water. OK, the day was starting off good.



As I met the crew, I was starting to feel even better. The crew was fantastic--they mingled with the kids and let them help with some of the tasks of sailing a schooner.





My family had an experience that they would never forget.


By the way, that gorgeous woman is my mom!

Curly and Angel got to hoist the jib sail. Curly said that it was real hard to pull. Oh, we also learned a way to remember the sails: JIB STAYS beFORE the MAIN. I think I got that right--I will have to ask Curly in the morning.



Curly asked Captain John about the knots on the boat. He said that he tied most of them.



He then called her to him to show her how to tie a hitch . . .



. . . and splice two pieces of rope together.


The Captain and Crew are wearing Naval Uniforms (I don't remember the year).



He gave Curly the task of splicing two pieces of rope together



SUCCESS!



Even my husband enjoyed talking to Captain John.

THANK YOU CAPT. JOHN, SARAH AND THE REST OF SCHOONER FREEDOM CREW FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!

If you would be interested in experiencing the Schooner Freedom yourself, you can contact them at (904) 810-1010 or at schoonerfreedom@aol.com or check out their website.

All I want for Christmas is . . .

My Two Front Teeth . . . and a couple of bottom teeth, too!



Another sign of my little one growing up. About a month ago, Angel lost quite a few teeth. I was a little worried because she had these gaping holes in her mouth. But I was told not to be alarmed. It is a month later--she turns 7 in a couple of weeks and, much to my relief, her teeth are starting to grow in.

Have some wonderful things I want to blog about . . .

but they really wouldn't have much impact without the pictures. Finally, I was able to buy a cable off ebay. This is the first time I have bought something like this from ebay so I pray it goes ok.

As soon as I get my cable, I will show you my youngest without her teeth. It is too cute. Also, the girls catching a rainbow, Jaguar game fun, Curly's Lego creations, our field trip to the Fort Walton Armament Museum, our wonderful trip to Saint Augustine and the absolutely fantastic time we had on the Schooner Freedom and the Castillo de San Marcos and, of course, pictures of the modified workbox system I am using for homeschooling this year.

Hope to be blogging with pictures within 7 to 11 business days. :-)

Strategies for Addition and Subtraction Facts from Math Mammoth

Last Weekend

Last weekend, we went with my mom to go see a preview of the new TinkerBell movie: TinkerBell and the Lost Treasure. I will say I enjoyed the movie, but the highlight of my trip was meeting the man who did the voice of Yakko Warner, Rob Paulson. By the way, he did a couple of the voices for the TinkerBell movie. It was so cool because I introduced my girls to the Animaniacs a couple of years ago and Curly picked them to watch a couple of days before the trip. We had no idea that he was going to be there. I think my girls were the only young ones who cheered when they introduced him as the voice of Pinky and Yakko Warner.

He started asking where people were from first "United States", "Canada", then "Mexico, Panama" and then he completed the song. Curly was so excited because she remembered this song from the day before. Then we got to meet him in person and get his autograph. He was so sweet with the girls.



I wish I could show pictures of the weekend but my USB cable to my camera broke and I have to order a new one before I can download my picures. BUMMER!

Art Azurdia "The Unequaled Greatness of The Son of God"

Amazing! Worth the time to watch.

First Official Day of School

YEAH!!! We had our first day of school and me and the girls had a great time. I did not take any pictures. My camera did not have batteries and besides I was having too much fun. See you all later.