(As portrayed by Mom & Dad)
Mom was able to get in the water on day two. She was the first off the boat to make sure she could avoid the seasickness today. We saw more amazing creatures under the sea!
We started with a beautiful stingray!
We were all excited to see Mom and E in the water with us!
Big burr fish!
Hard to see but this is a nurse shark!
The jellies were HUGE!
The motley crew! What a great weekend!
Day one started with a horrible storm passing through just as we were to board the boat. We waited it out and got soaked anyway. We boarded, geared up and headed out to the first dive spot. The waves her massive, maybe 10 feet, and the boat was tossing all around.  Mom got seasick, a LOT! Emmerson got frightened of the depth. Dad ad I took the first dive ourselves. Emmerson did so the second dive of the day but mom was entirely too green to try. 
The first dive was a shipwreck with about 100 foot visibility. We were about 40 feet under water! 
Below are some photos taken with out new underwater cameras. We will get better at photos over time but not bad for our first go at it!
The above is one of my favorites! It was amazing under the water!
The colors were so striking considering how deep we were!
This is a stoplight parrot fish!
A closeup of a Christmas tree worm
The wreck was amazingly clear!
Mr. Keith, our instructor!
Emmerson did get in the water the second dive and had a blast!
E got his open water certification! YAY E!
We took a leisurely drive down to Miami for a dive trip this weekend. Mom rerouted us off the road onto a 17 mile dirt road straight through Big Cypress. While we didn’t see the alligators and pythons we hoped for we say lots of epiphytes in the cypress, ponds of fish and a LOT of suicidal grasshoppers dotting the road. A storm was fast approaching so we only stopped for a few photos! There were HUGE gar in the water behind us! 
We started back to school this week and I am diving into some harder subjects. I am taking Physics and Latin 2 through FLVS. I will have two college level classes at SPC that start next week. I also am wrapping up Algebra 2. I enjoyed teaching Emmerson some of the new things I was learning in Algebra 2. 
We took a break mid-week for “Wildlife Wednesday”webinar on sea turtles. 
We tested a theory that cats will sit in invisible boxes. We were right! Thunder quickly found the invisible box and sat for quite a long time. 
We had a NOT back to school party for homeschoolers at Airheads trampoline park. I loved the obstacle course and the new climbing walls. 
We keep getting political flyers in the mail and sat down each day to read them and compare them to the others. We decided who we would vote for just because of the ads! Some were really mean! E is holding one that his a gun and each bullet was a different issue and the last bullet wasn’t labeled but had a line drawn to a photo of President Trump. We all felt this was uncalled for. We looked forward to the mail each day to analyze the next set of campaign ads. 
We worked on depleting the supply of smoke bombs and leftover fireworks. We painted the driveway with the smoke. 
We reset up the bird feeders and are doing an observation project for 4-H with the bird and squirrel feeders. 
Type type typing away for my new college classes. I have to do SO much writing but I am finding out my writing skills aren’t terrible, just slow! 
I was elected president of our 4-H club Earth Explorers for this year. I hope to be a good leader! 
We wrapped up our final dive and got certified at Rainbow River with Mr. Keith. E is one dive short but will get it this weekend. The river was cold but we had on wet suits. We saw lots of fish including some rather large gar and a massive soft shell turtle. My highlight was holding shiny muscle shells in front of the fish and watching them nibble at them. I am really enjoying out new adventures under the water! 
My coach, Rick, got some photos of me doing squats this week. I am getting stronger all the time. 
Mom had to go to a training out of town for 4-H so E and I went to Grandma Susie’s for the weekend. We went to the movies and saw The Meg! 
We hiked at John Chestnut Park and searched for beetles and millipedes.
We spent HOURS in the swimming pool splashing around. We had a wonderful time at Grandma’s house and really treasure these times with her. I know we are growing up but will always enjoy time with Grandparents when we can!