It's been just over a week since I last blogged, and since then the Bucs have lost.. twice. It's not a good time to be a Tampa Bay fan. The good news is the Rays haven't been eliminated from the playoffs. The bad news is they have to have a play in game tonight. We're hoping for the best.. and bracing for the worst.
Last Sunday though, I threw together a taco bar for our football watching. It was a huge hit with the family, and something I will definitely do again. I didn't have to worry about lunch or dinner. I just put this all out and they ate all day.
After spending most of last weekend working on the October calendar- I finally got all of that squared away. I keep looking for a good pre-made calendar I can buy, but I've found I get what I want if I just put it all on a poster board. It's annoying to make the lines, but it works- and it's only 30 cents for one!
In addition to all the home school October stuff I've gotten a jump on, I'm working on fall cleaning the house. I like to do it in the fall as opposed to the spring because we're home all winter to enjoy it (as opposed to the summer), and it gives me a chance to take stock of what 'winter' clothes the boys have that still fit them. It took me all day, but I did get our closet cleaned out. I'm embarrassed of the before picture, but the after is pretty awesome. If it's one thing I love, it's organization. Oh, and I even did the thing with our hangers, where you turn them all backwards and in 6 months if you still have anything backwards it's time to get rid of it.
In home school this week, we finished up our germs chapter. I used a spray bottle and some cocoa powder to simulate a sneeze, and to show the boys how germs spread. After their hands had been 'sneezed on', they touched something, then I would touch it, then I'd touch something else.. and the cocoa powder would be on everything. It was a good visual for them.
And we took stock of our bacteria we'd been growing for the last two weeks. The boys swabbed all kinds of things in the house, and we determined the winner for the grossest was the front door (bottom middle). Peyton was then super grossed out by all the door handles, and happily ASKED if he could wipe them all down.
We did our usual workbook type activities too. Grandma even sent us some more workbooks, and I finally pulled out the crayola dry erase set I had gotten on clearance at Target for Hayden.
Also a Target clearance item: Hayden's new journal. It writes in all kinds of fun colors.
Mid-week we were feeling a bit cooped up. It had spent days raining, and so in a break of the pouring down rain we went down to the park to play.. and to run through the puddles.
Hayden ran a little too hard. But then, it's Hayden and can be expected. I told him it was fine, he could go home shower and put on his pajamas (even though it was only 2), and he was pretty happy with that.
Thursday we hit the Great Depression on the timeline. I've been trying more hands on activities, so when I found a recipe for depression cake I knew it was a must-do. There was no milk, butter, or eggs involved. And you made the whole thing in a cake pan.
It turned out ok. Frosting probably would make it better, we topped it with powdered sugar like they would have during the depression. Peyton didn't like it at all. Asa, Hayden and I found it ok. And Calib finished off the pan, happily. He loved it.
Fun Friday this week came with the usual activities: our brown bag book club, a virtual field trip (to The Colosseum!), friday journals, and plinko. But, we also threw in some extras. The Mr. Potato Head Spelling/Vocab quiz was a hit. Every time they got one wrong they had to take a part of the potato head away, until they spelled it right. (For Peyton it was a vocab word). Oh, and they also had an ABC photo scavenger hunt which they had to take a picture of something starting with every letter of the alphabet. They got really creative, and worked together. It was a hit too!
Also, my dog is funny. He was interwebbing.
Saturday we took advantage of another Swaptember opportunity and went out to the Aquarium. There were so many people there, we kept telling Calib how cool it would be if he was home schooled and we could make week days our weekends to avoid crowds. He's not biting... yet. Anyway, the aquairum was super fun. We hadn't been there in awhile, so we got to check out the new horseshoe crab petting area.
Then we checked out some the classic exhibits.
The boys found the touch tank not nearly as exciting, since we found all the animals in it out in the wild while on the Pacific Coast. But they did get to pet a sea cucumber- and that was new! I had no idea they were soft. I thought they'd be hard like a starfish. weird.
We were disappointed the upstairs of the dome area was closed, but I'm sure they're doing something cool with it. We did enjoy the usual florida wildlife area, and Calib didn't even get scared of the free roaming birds-- progress!
Our last stop inside the aquarium was the new and improved sting ray touch tank.
They also have two sharks in the with sting rays. Hayden wouldn't touch it, but everyone else did.
We stopped outside for the boys to play in Explore-a-shore, the water play area. Peyton was not keen on the crowd, so we got a frozen strawberry smoothie and just stuck our feet in. It was nice and refreshing!
On the way home we had some errands to run. Unfortunately, those errands took us past the stadium as the USF Miami game was coming to a close, and traffic was an absolute nightmare. But, we did eventually make it to whole foods to use our $10 coupon. Asa's making his pork chops this week, I'm very excited about them! And, we discovered whole foods on the weekends has a bucket of wings for $10. We picked some of them up for dinner while we watched the Gators game that night. They were delicious, and the Gators won! Oh, and we also stopped by Joanne Fabrics where I got my 15% off educators discount, and we all picked out buttons for our planet project. As Asa said 'That was fun.. or at least as fun as picking out buttons can be'. I appreciated his help for consulting on size and color.
By the time we got home, it was dinner and game time. And then I realized we should take our Happy Birthday GiGi picture, so we didn't forget on Sunday since we were out to the game. It took a few tries, but I got it all in. Happy 92nd birthday to my grandma!
Sunday it was off to the Bucs game, and we were really hoping for a better outcome, better weather-- and a better experience than last time.
We got better weather- sort of, it depends who you ask. It was sunny. Like, not a cloud in the sky sunny. Which made it HOT, HOT, HOT. I reapplied 50 SPF THREE times and STILL got sunburnt.
The boys tried to stay cool with lots of ice, and water. Including hiding ice cubes in their hats, and dumping water on their heads.
By half time we decided to head in to where the concessions are to get some relief and some shade. That Florida sun, even in September, is REALLY intense. But, we knew what we were signing up for. And at least this time there were no weather delays.
And the experience was so much nicer. I mean, the stadium was pretty empty. But it was also almost totally void of the opposing teams fans. And the ones that were there, were nice, and civil and not obnoxious.
The loudest the crowd ever got probably came from them keeping us updated on the Rays score. So, that wasn't a good sign. The Bucs lost again, in a heartbreaker. Ugh. I just want a win. Or a 'Tank for Teddy' shirt.
And at least we got to lose in peace this time. Oh, and thanks to them benching our previous starting QB, they were reselling the cups from last week. Even though they're all 'collect all 10' (a new person every week). Asa did get to go down to the season ticket counter and they gave us one. But, by then Asa was in no mood.. and totally sunburnt. Someone should have reapplied like their wife suggested :)
We came home and watched some more football, and had dinner that I had put in the slow cooker. Peyton at least was happy. As a Broncos fan he's got everything to cheer about!
And as the night went on, someone got redder and redder. He was not happy it's an in the office week and he had to wear pants.
Up Next: Food and Wine Festival!! My fav!!
