Volcanoes at the Beach

It's back to just the five of us here in Florida, it was a nice visit with mom but after visitors and a theme week that lasted something like ten days, it's time for us to get back to normal and into a routine. Before mom left she wanted to hit the beach so it was a beach day for us on Tuesday. 

I took that opportunity to take Science to the beach, after all it was still Science Week. We had a lesson on volcanoes (not that Calib needed it since he did his project on them). But, we used toothpaste and a cup of sand to simulate magma. (It comes up and breaks through the sand, a pretty good visual for kids) 

Then we talked about a couple different kids of volcanoes and built models of them on the beach. Peyton had fissure volcanoes (which is more like a crack in the ground). We used a sand toy for the volcano model. 

Hayden had a sheild volcano, they are broad and low. I brought a soup can for the middle of his. 

Calib had a Cinder Cone Volcano, which is the classic steep volcano. We used a water bottle for his. 

We talked about how each volcano would erupt. (I was hoping my choices for containers would help them to erupt true to their kinds). We filled the containers up with baking soda, and then I let the boys each pour in some vinegar. 

It actually worked out really well. Calib's cinder cone volcano spewed the lava higher than the others. 

While Peyton's bubbled up from the ground just like a fissure volcano. 

Haydens tipped over the top and the lava spread out far and wide, just as a shield volcano would. 

After our lessons, there was rock throwing. 

And castle building. 

Even sting ray spotting! (Don't worry, we did the stingray shuffle) 

Peyton, Calib and I decided to walk down to the rocks to see if we could find any crabs. 

No crabs, but we did spot ANOTHER sting ray (in 8 years living in FL, I've never seen a wild sting ray until this week and we saw two!) 

We also sat and watched four dolphins playing out in the gulf. I couldn't really get a picture, but you could see them so well, they were jumping high out of the water and blowing out their blow holes! 

Then Peyton found all kinds of schools of fish in the rocks. 

When we walked back, mom had made quite the rock wall. 

Meanwhile, Hayden found an action figure and decided he was a pirate and we needed to make him a ship. 

It was a fun day at the beach, and we stole some sand to bring home for Calib's science project volcano. 

He filled it up with baking soda ahead of Science Project presentations. 

We finished up our first chart of Disney wait times too. We're working on another one for a little more data. 

Hayden had family night out at the library, so we went out to do various Thanksgiving and Halloween crafts. 

Then we finally had the boys give their presentations. 

Hayden went first, and discussed his Gummy Bear Experiment. 

Then Peyton shared his geodes project. 

And Calib exploded his volcano. 

Awards were given out. Calib got second. 

Hayden got third. 

And Peyton got first. He knew the most about his project. 

There were some good rewards to be had. 

We had a low country boil dinner, per moms request. 

And we played some games before mom headed home on Wednesday morning. 

By Wednesday, I was pretty over doing stuff- and wanted to just relax. Even the pets got on board with that. (This is Sophie licking Dipper who's laying with Deleno) 

It's not all been lazy either, we got around to holding our Super Saturday for the month a few days late. 

We dropped our Plinko chips and played some Jeopardy. 

I added the new category of 'Things I never get right"

And Asa was the host this time! 

We've also had some LOVELY weather-- like leave open the back door lovely. Dipper and Maybel are fans for sure. I'm hoping it sticks around for our next home game. 

Asa also took me out for date night. 

And today I hit Costco, Target, and Publix. Target was my best trip though- $22 for all of this! 

Asa made awesome pork tacos for dinner tonight, and then for dessert we had 'dutch babies', some very yummy desert in the cast iron skillet. 

That's it for our week. It's been a low key Friday evening, with Peyton off at the Halloween Party at the library and the rest of us catching up on Survivor (not a bad season so far!) We might have some things going on tomorrow, but I also have tons of stuff to get done at home, and I have the sniffles- so we'll see. 

Next Up: Let's hope for the Bucs first home game win of the season! Either way, tailgating will be fun!