Author: Mom

We spent several days at Blue Spring State park camping. We had a fantastic wide campsite in a quiet wooded campground. We enjoyed getting up early in the mornings and going to the springs to see the manatees. Many were up in the springs because the temperatures were so cold outside.

Friday we drove up to DeLeon Springs to go to the Old Sugar Mill pancake place. We had fun making our pancakes at our own table.

We explored De Leon Spring and tested the water temps.

Back at Blue Spring we hiked the boardwalk trails for a few hours and then headed out on an eco tour.

We had a two hours tour up and down along the St. Johns’ River. We saw a lot of wildlife including birds, alligators, turtles and fish.

Saturday was dessert for dinner. I had a rough day being a pre-teen and waffles helped make my attitude go away

On Sunday we got up super early since it was so cold out and headed out to see the manatees. The spring head was full! There must have been 15 in the waters playing and splashing. It was quite a site!

 

 

 

We spent many hours reviewing and studying for the Marine Ecology Contest. We had cards and games all over the living room as we worked on our reviews.

We headed over and stayed in a hotel before the contest. Mom took us to Disney Springs to wander around and get some wiggles out.

The next morning was the contest. We had two intermediate and 1 junior team this year! We certainly are growing.

We all had a great time. The contest was a lot harder this year at the intermediate level. We hoe to do better next year!

Trying to destress after the contest.

Our team didn’t get any awards but E got 2nd place for his level.

When we got home the next day we went out and bought the fishtanks we have been dying to get. We have both been saving for a long time.

I worked on a DNA model to unwind more.

My eye got all puffy and I wasn’t allowed to participate in diving class so I hung out and played with “E” while Emmerson was at diving.

We celebrated our hard work int he marine contest with a trip to the beach to do a clean-up and go critter catching! We netted a LOT of cool sea life.

I just love these old urchins. This one had all the mouth parts intact.

This was also the week of the Country Fair. We helped set up on Thursday and then came back on Saturday and ran our club table.

I got 2nd place in my age group for a photo I took of Emmerson with his rocket.

Friday Dad was off work so we went over to Legoland to enjoy the day. I was excited to drive the boat and ride the many coasters.

 

Another night we drove out to Disney Springs to see the holiday trees all decorated. We had to act our a scene at each tree.

We finished our swing/play set in the backyard. I love the swings.

We have convinced Dad to go for long walks in the evening and go Pokehunting. We have been enjoying the Dunedin Causeway and Safety Harbor Marine areas.

Our club had the last meeting of the year and we took some cool group photos. We are all excited for January.

And last but not least, the cats are getting to big for the cat tree!

 

We spent the halloween weekend camping at Fort Wilderness Campground. We don’t have park passes right now but spent some really fun time at the campground. We decorated for Halloween with a few cute inflatables. Some people really go all out.

We enjoyed several nice meats out. Artisit’s Point was our first night. We were all dressed nicely. It was weird getting back after dark and tine doesn’t change for a few days.

 

Saturday Mom took E and I to Gainesville for the 4-H Forest Ecology Clinic. We learned a lot about identifying new species of plants. I moved up a level so this year will be challenging.

We enjoyed some time in the pool at the campground and scootering around playing pokemon Go.

E loves being dunked into the pool this way.

We loved the campfire sing-a-long as always!

We had a blast the the Hoop-de-Doo Review dinner show. I was a bit embarrassed but played along!

We ran into old friends, Nick and Callie, on the night before Halloween and we met up again on halloween for trick or treating. I was a dark wizard and E was Kilo Red from Star Wars. This was the first year we went trick-or-treating without Mom and Dad. They stayed back and passed out candy while we explored on our own. The campground is always our favorite place to trick-or-treat.

 

 

I was excited to get our new National Park quarters from Grandma Jo and Grandpa Howie when we saw them over in Orlando this week. I set right to work reading about the new parks and quarters and putting them in my big book.

This week was jam packed with 4-H. We helped out with the St Petersburg Science Festival School Days program with Mr. Sandy.

I talked with youth about the four principles of flight. I had a lot of fun but learned that talking in front of noisy kids is very hard!

The next day Mom and I went to a local church carnival to do a craft and spread the word about 4-H. Mom let (made) me run the booth unless it was really busy, then she helped out.

Soon I was a pro at guiding little kids through the puffer fish craft project.

Up next was a field trip to PJs Oyster Bar to learn about seafood.

We learned about the origins and preparation for lots of fishy products.

What a great club! I love our new club a lot!

On the way home we stopped at Ward’s Seafood Market to try to ID fish in the displays. I did fairly well.

Some fried shrimp as a reward for a great behavior and long day.

 

We took a few days off of life and headed to Turkey Lake Park in Orlando for camping. We were going to head to the Key Largo but the drive was daunting and Dad had to work some.

We arrived and set up camp and headed to the Orlando Eye. Our Legoland passes get us in for free right now. Dad had never been so it was great to have him with us. There was virtually no line!

I love the view from up high!

The passes also get us into the Sea Life Aquarium. This moray eel was super playful and we got a really close look from inside of the bubble.

And the trifecta wrapped up with a trip to the wax museum (also free) and me meeting my idol, Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory!

Oh, and Katness… I do enjoy Katness! (Hunger Games)

Dad had to work the next day so Mom took us to Universal and we did all the “kid things”. This included the Hippogryph coaster many many times.

We practiced out wand skills around the Harry Potter areas.

I love the stage shows!

More spell casting.

Butter beer! I really worked up an appetite for butter beer!

We visited Disney Springs (former;y known and Downtown Disney) and saw all the cool halloween decorations.

We enjoyed the next day with Dad and Mom at Universal and then headed home to unpack and put Luna back in storage for a few weeks.