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My insect and arthropod collection is growing quickly. I finally got a tailless whip scorpion. My superworm colony is growing. I even used it for a science experiment for my biology class. My hamsters are separated and enjoying their new cages.

Caligula Nero has been really sick but is starting to get a bit better. His hair is starting to grow back. He will be on meds for the rest of his life at this rate.

My friend Steven spend the night. We had a lot of fun talking about insects and going night collecting around the neighborhood and at the park. I stepped in a fire ant hill and got all bit up but I held it together until I got home and got medicine.  Classes start back at SPC soon. I have Bio 1 Honors, Chem 1, Statistics, Trigonometry and philosophy. It is going to be a rather challenging semester. Just look at all the calculators I need for my classes. No class uses the same one! UGH! Mom labeled them all on the back so I know which class uses which. With a hurricane approaching we had to check our supply lists. The water we had in the garage was past date so E and I got to jump on all the bottles before recycling them. We got soaked! I could not believe we had so much out of date water. We replaced it with a lot less this year. The Publix stores were even making hurricane treats. We bought a hurricane cookie cake!

Yet another crazy storm that we got NOTHING from.

We went to Homeschool Day at Kennedy Space Center. The entire event was FREE. This was a huge savings and some place we had always wanted to go. I loved seeing all the old spacecrafts. I remember being little and watching the shuttle launches. We saw one from the east coast but most from the neighborhood park.  Mom kept trying to push buttons! We rode a few simulators, toured the grounds, learned a lot and avoided yet another torrential downpour.

The weather was not in our favor but we had a great turnout for the annual 4-H open house. I helped run the archery range until it got rained out. After that I went out with my friends and some new kids and taught about insect hunting. 

The next week we had our annual awards banquet. I was co-MC with the rest of the youth board. I was in charge of passing out awards. This was a good job as I wasn’t feeling like speaking much. Our Insect SPIN Club won SPIN of the year as well.

We started archery back up and got to the field and it hadn’t been mowed in a few weeks. I got to learn how to use a lawnmower to make it tolerable for shooting. I am trying to do more in the kitchen lately. I am a pro at scrambled eggs now. Working on our insect collections. We went to a program on snakes at Brooker Creek Preserve and checked on our insect display for any repairs or updates. I loved the loved the little hognose snake. I upgraded Nero to a castle cage just like Caligula’s. He is much happier. We had our 4-H picnic at Walsingham Park. We played a lot of games and I lead a group of kids in insect collecting and ID. Matt and his Vargar, foam weapons, group came out too. That is always fun but exhausting. We played some DND at home. Mom tried to kill us all by ringing a bell. We saw Dr. Jamie Ellis speak at the Pinellas Beekeepers Meeting. We worked on our kitchen skills. We made panic breaded chicken strips and cheesy garlic carrots.  We went to ukulele with Grandma a few times. I am enjoying playing but just dont have enough time to practice lately. We have been worried about Nero. He has been sick. He has been diagnosed with mites and ringworm. Vet visits are very expensive. 

We have all enjoyed bowling a lot this summer with the all you can bowl pass. Making brownies and cookies for an outreach program at High Point Neighborhood Family Center. Yummy chocolate chirp cookies. Some of the camp kids learning about insects. They were a really good bunch. So much energy and desire to learn. The kids ate all the snacks! The girls were more brave than the boys. I was the Pied Piper for a few hours as I helped the kids find insects. One last family bowling day before the pass ended. Some more clean-up at the Ochs 4-H Property. I used a poll saw and trimmed the entire tree that we sit under during archery class. One last outing to the Replay Museum in Tarpon Springs for all day pinball and classic video games. Summer has some to an end and school starts this week. The fun never stops!