Month: June 2017

Our passes expire in a few weeks and we wanted one last day. We arrived early and rode Kong Skull Island a few times. Then a few trips on the pteranodon flyers, probably my last since E is almost too fall for it and I can only go since he needs a taller person to ride with.  We explored the Jurrasic Park area, always my favorite.

A few trips on the Flight of the Hippogryph in the Harry Potter area.

The train we took both ways just to say goodbye.

I insisted that we ride ET. The ride was down but we got to wait in the cool line inside. ET never says my name… he called me FRIEND! GOODBYE FRIEND!

We wrapped up with several rides on the Storm Force Accelerator and called it a day.

The real storms were rolling in and we had a long dive home. It was a great way to wrap up the Universal Passes. I hope we can get Disney passes again someday.

 

 

 

We made it home in time for my friend Zoe’s 12th birthday party. We had a great time at Lakewood Retreat swimming, ziplining and playing fun games!

On the way out I found a cool star rock. I opted to keep this one and will hide a few in the world to replace it.

Mom took us to the beach since Dad was in DC for the week. We went shell hunting at Honeymoon Island State Park. It was a beautiful day and not too hot. The beach was shockingly empty.

We played with the coquina clams for a while. I love watching them dig.

The storms started to roll in so we left earlier than planned.

We stopped at the nature center, always a favorite. We checked out their shell collection and compared some of the ones we weren’t sure about.

At home we made a LOT of slime. We used elders glue, baking soda and contact lens solution. We added food coloring as well.

I have also been really working on my insect collection. I have been collecting for years but 4-H Has given me the opportunity to learn to pin my collection and display it. I am going to enter into a contest this year!

We had our first marine ecology meeting before the official start in the fall. Mom wanted everyone to get a jump on the studying while we were away for the summer.

We rescued some io moth caterpillars and are raising them. I am hoping to add a new moth to my collection. We let many of the caterpillars go on the hibiscus outside and just kept a few to raise.

 

 

We took Grandma Susie to the Art of the Brink with us. It was an awesome showing of Lego creations by one artist.

I loved all the art reproductions.

My favorite was the SCREAM!

 I love the Egyptian items a lot.

Breighton imitating art.

A model of the place we visited. There is ever a model of the model in the model! I was impressed!

This is called Hugman.

The line to get in was insane by the time we left. They let people use blue umbrellas to keep off the sun!

 

 

 

We loaded up the 15 passenger van with 15 passengers and all their camp gear. This was no easy task! We are off to Camp Cloverleaf Lake.

 

We successfully made it to Lake Placid for camp! Even in time for lunch!

I had a great time with my 4-H friends and family. I made some new friends and had a lot of fun. I took air rifle, outdoor adventures, and a few others classes. My favorite was air rifle even though we really only got to shoot a few times.

I had a few classes with Emmerson and we had a great time hanging out. It was a much nicer group of people and no bullying at this camp!

 

 

 

We have a family of screech owls living in the palms in the backyard. Mom was finally able to get some good photos.

This we think is the male owl. It is an adult but tiny. The males are usually smaller than the females.

Click to see the photo larger and look at those talons! EEK! He looks skinny but isn’t. They can stretch tall to better blend in with tree branches.

This we believe is the female. She is puffy and larger. She is always on guard near the babies.

This is puffy baby #1. It isn’t very visible. The babies sleep in the fronds a bit deeper.

This is fluffy baby #2 and #3. #2 you can see the beautiful eyes and face! To the right in the photo is #3 blending in well and out of focus.

We had enjoyed watching their head bobbing and learning to hunt. We think they are about 5 weeks old as they still haven’t gotten many adult feathers. They fly floppily but are becoming better hunters. They have moved from lizards and bugs and even to a field mouse! Let’s hope they keep getting the rats too! It is possible the babies can stay as long as October! Fingers crossed they all keep thriving!