Our last day at our handwork group

For the past year we have been meeting on Wednesday afternoons for our Waldorf Handwork group led by my very talented and wonderful friend Julie. The kids dyed wool, knitted dolls, made felt wall hangings, arm warmers from recycled sweaters, and the final project crocheting granny squares.

Crochet was not easy for me and once I mastered it with the help of  my friend and neighbor who also comes on Wed, I was able to help Ryan. At first he was reluctant to the idea and I did not push him. One day though , he finally decided he wanted to learn. He caught on pretty quick and finished his own granny square!

His square completed! I was so proud that he would actually ask to work on it !

 Adeline relaxing

 proof he is crocheting : )

 He was even so confident that he helped to teach a friend how to make a granny square!

 running around

 a little circle time. Adeline has come along way in circle. She used to cry and throw herself on the ground the second circle started which led to me taking her out and away from the group. Now that she is 3 she gets very excited about circle. I am sad this group is ending for us!

The kids sewed together all the granny squares everyone made into a beautiful baby blanket. One of the moms who was leading the younger kids in handwork just had a baby the other day and we made this for her sweet little boy! Everyone took such pride in this project! 

 My nutty little boy can surprise me with his determination and creativity! On a side note last night he found a recipe for brownies gathered all the ingredients and made his own brownies from scratch without my help!! I love this guy and I have no doubt when he grows up he will be able to take care of himself and do wonderful things!

Marineland!

We had an amazing opportunity to go to Marineland for an educational day with our homeschooling group and a great price! 

The kids met with the trainer 

Then they headed down to the beach for a mock dolphin rescue! How cool 

Look a beached dolphin that needs our help : )

stabilizing the dolphin

a successful transfer to the stretcher

then back up the beach to the treatment center

with the dolphin secure , we headed to the classroom for a slide presentation

Adeline enjoyed looking at the plankton

the main attraction. so cute! we were all in love with these dolphins

After the trip we headed down the road to the inlet and searched for clams

I only found one and the other moms ended up giving me their for a grand total of 4!

Sage found this really cool Atlantic cockle shell still alive so we brought him home to check it out. We were not successful in keeping him alive though. On the good side we were able to the creature living inside the cockle, something we have never seen before! 

At Marineland we were able to experience the dolphin encounter as part of our field trip! It was amazing being able to get so close to a dolphin, rub him and feed him.

working at the 4h table

Our 4h Marine ecology group had been invited to set up an informational booth at the Vilano plastic bottle boat race which was held this afternoon. It was just my boys and one other senior 4h'er. She did all the presentation work and did a wonderful job! We brought a table and the sun umbrellas : ) 

It turned out to be a fun afternoon. 

All ready to begin! 

They had a lion fish on display to teach the children about this invasive species.

There was also a demonstration to guess how long your trash lasts before breaking down

 They had a styrofoam cup, plastic bottle, napkins, rope and a newspaper. The idea was to place those items on the years you think it will take to breakdown. They also had some alternatives to show that are better for our environment.

Here they are preparing their topics of discussion. 

putting their knowledge to the test. They did great!

So the boat race. It turned out to be very cool and lots of fun. The third graders in the area made these plastic bottle boats big enough for their teachers to sit in and race. Even though we were not involved in the race it was very exciting!

 Each team paraded their boat to the starting area

 The teachers paddled the boats out to the starting line

 The pirate shot off the starting gun shot

 and they were off

 this one one - she was booking it too

A very fun day and a great experience for the kids. I think a homeschool plastic bottle boat race may be in order!