We had the state traditional match this weekend for 4-H Archery. I actually shot really well and managed a 2nd place finish. I was super excited to have competition! 
Everyone from out county placed in the contest. 
Our regular club is having fun with shooting as well. I really enjoy this program and am looking forward to it being a full time club next year. 
Earth Explorers helped with a coastal dune clean-up at Madeira Beach. We collected nearly 100 lbs of trash! 
We also learned about microplastics through a citizen science program. We sifted thought he sand at the tide line and looked for plastic fragments. 
That afternoon we went to Grandma’s house to go swimming. We ended up hunting for bugs for a while. 
We had some family game time, with Thunder supervising from the middle as usual! 
Over the weekend was the district 4-H council meeting. E and I both went down to Manatee County to help with the clean-up. We collected over 300 punts of trash! 
I found some cool bones fo a raccoon skull! 
We also enjoyed an educational hike learning about the restoration of the state park. 
We bought some inexpensive pots at the thrift store to melt bismuth. 
We used the old grill side burner to heat the bismuth and try to make crystals. 
We got a few nice crystals but not what we really thought we would get. We will try again another time to do this again! 
Hedgie seems to be perking up but is still loosing weight and having tummy issues. I am still worried for him. 
We went to Mocassin Lake Nature Park for our Forest Ecology class and learned about the local flora and fauna. We even saw a white peacock! 
We have a great group! I am so excited for the contest in April. 
There was a weird sward on insects on a tree. I need to research these! 
Hanging with the adults talking trees. Sometimes better than hanging with my friends. 
I also got to help the other kids study she of the samples that we have. 
This is the busiest part of the 4-H year. We are go go go with events and activities through the end of April!
Some ideas of reusable containers to avoid more plastics going to the oceans or trash are:
Reusable straws
Reusable tote bags
Reusable water bottles