Author: Mom

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!

We had the first of our certification dives today at the Hudson Grotto. This is a 130 foot sinkhole filled with low visibility tannin water. You had to go out to the barrels and defend to a platform at 20feet deep. E got scared but I enjoyed looking at the turtles and fish so I was good.  Mom, Dad and I all did our dives. E will have to do a make-up dive since he refused to go under in the tannin waters.

We opted to skip out on the last day of the HOP and spend some time communing with nature. We all needed this, badly! We found Clarence Fahnestock State Park and plotted out a nice 6-7 mile hike. The weather was amazing! We grabbed our bug collecting gear, water and snacks and hit the trail. The first stretch was along a long lake. Soon we were deep in the woods and in our happy places. We checked for life in the creeks. We climbed all the rocks we could find. The trail was smooth in parts but the vast majority was a moderate hike. We were rewarded with glimpses of ponds and lakes scattered along the trail. The Old Mine portion was flat. It was weird to think that rail lines used to come through this area. It would have been very difficult for them for sure. There were many beautiful small flowers dotting the paths. Smiles, real smiles, all around as we took a break and looked out at another lake.  Back to the hike. One segment parallels the Appalachian Trail for a while. We always love when we get to walk parts of the trail. The trail dropped us out on the road a 1/4 mile from the car. We survived nature, like there was any doubt! It was nice to escape the crowds for one final day before we head back towards home. We wrapped up the day with a stop at one of Dad’s old favorites, Dr. Mike’s Ice Cream. Dad had their famed chocolate lace. We all enjoyed the sweet treat!