I'm happy to report, we're back to having us all under the same roof. Phew! That was a long 16 days. The last week or so, we haven't done a whole lot that's super exciting, but tomorrow we start our Olympics, so I wanted to get the blog all caught up.
Fort Waterstraut is still up (I said we should take it down for the Olympics and everyone was sad about it, so then I said it could stay up until I need to start packing away home school central, so it's bought some more time. I did however, use our wood burning tool to commemorate the summer of the blanket fort. That way when it comes down, we can display the entry board. And, if we put it back up, we can use the board, and add to the tallies.
We also had a sleepover night in the blanket fort. I pulled out the air mattress, Asa took the couch, and Peyton and Hayden took the floor. There was netflix watching and snacks. It was all very fun.
We also had free tenders coupons for PDQ. So one day we found ourselves going out to lunch for something like $12.
Sunday was LameCon at the Rec Center. I didn't get to go because of issues with one car (holy crap, can the house hurry up and get bought so we can get a new car! Ours are REALLY showing their age lately), but Asa took Peyton, Hayden, and their two friends, Mark and Maddie.
Meals with only four people have been a little tricky. You know how when you get your hair cut, and you keep using way too much shampoo? That's like cooking without Calib here. So, we tried to go with things that came in packages of four: chicken, burgers, the like.
And the first of our boxes have been packed. In the next couple of weeks (probably just after the Olympics are over), we're going to do a garage sale (my very first one!), so we're sorting through lots of stuff with sell, keep, or toss. I'm trying to do a box or so a day, and get some bags of trash gathered up every trash day. I guess it's a good thing it might be awhile until we get into the house, it's going to take FOREVER to pack this place up.
So, the Olympics. You guys, I love the Olympics. And you might remember, during the Sochi Olympic Winter Games we did a whole project, (and she's back to linking!) complete with events wrapping into home school projects. We're back at it again for the summer olympics, so I've been hard at work with that.
In case you don't remember, each of us get a country that we learn about, and report on (during the first half of the Olympics)- and then we take turns having that country's day (during the second half of the Olympics). We also hold events, and dish out medals for each one. There's a few different ways to get medals, and each medal is worth points. You get medals for how you place in events, and medals for how well your country does. This year, there is a third way to get medals, but I'll get to that in a second.
Anyway, the five countries are chosen by me, because I want the projected medal counts to be about the same (so nobody has an unfair advantage), but then dished out totally randomly. This year the countries will be: Cuba, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, and South Korea.
First, I needed a board to keep track of our winners for events, so Jeopardy had to go. I needed the space! We don't have a medal ceremony until the end, when the totally tally between countries and events will give us our gold, silver, and bronze winners.
I have one board for keeping track of the country medals, and one board for the final tally.
But the middle board will see all the action, with the events listed. Some days we'll have one event, some day's we'll have more than one.
The daily board will let the boys know whats going on each day, so they know what to expect for the day, and they can check the current leaderboard.
So, I worked on what each event will entail, along with constructing the template for what I want the boys to learn about their countries.. We're going to do something similar to our Rome pizza boxes for each country. I also got a book about each one out from the library, so they have more than just the internet to look to for their research. The envelopes below contain the random countries they will draw, and each country will come with it's own file folder.
Inside the file folder, there is a breif info sheet on the country, and a sheet on cuisine. (They will have to pick a recipe for when we celebrate their country).
There's also an array of images. We're going to use these for our pizza boxes. (You'll have to wait and see how that turns out).
Each day during the first week, we'll do a different part of our pizza box/research project. There's all kinds of components, but broken up among the week, it's not that much work.
But the first week of the Olympics isn't only for studying our own person countries, and getting our projects done. Each day we'll celebrate a different continent. I've worked hard to give each continent it's own bag. There's some information and recipes in each one, along with snacks and such for the boys to try. Asa and I have spent the last month or so looking for things made in various countries for each bag.
But, new this year is a third way to earn medals! Each continent bag contains five trading cards for the us to make. For Africa, they will be making trading cards of Uganda, Gabon, Nigeria, Algeria, and Morocco.
So, they will fill out these trading cards, and then throughout the Olympics they can trade with each other. Whatever trading cards are in your possession at the end of the Olympics are yours. And those countries medals will also be added to your tally. None of these countries are expected to get too many medals (or any at all), but we'll see how it impacts the results.
I hope that all made sense! I wanted to explain all of that before we got to the Olympics tomorrow, so you kind of knew what was going on. Anyway, between the continent bags, boxes for moving, and things we've collected for the various events- my room is a total disaster (and I didn't even share with you the other half which is currently home to laundry mountain that I hope to tackle this evening). But, I keep taking deep breaths and telling myself this madness is all temporary.
Ok, so you saw the Olympics board in place of the Jeopardy board. It's not in the kitchen, because that's taken up by something else I'm working on-- The Candy Bar Election! We've got a lot there we've been working on, but we're hoping to get a video up tomorrow to explain the voting process, and then get you guys to voting for our primary election.
We've divided it up into four weeks, as to not get overwhelmed. (You know with the Olympics and packing and- oh, my Birthday Olympic Weekend Extravaganza- I have nothing else going on). So each of those four weeks, we'll have different states voting.
Our first set of states info sheets can be found on the corkboard, divided by whether or not it's an open or closed state. And then we've got our next three weeks on tap (also divided by open and closed).
We did finally get our last of our three part mini series up, when we got the neighborhood kids to help us out.
We filmed Calib's parts ahead of time, so he could make an appearance even though he wasn't here. And Peyton and Hayden did theirs as usual. And by usual, I mean it took like 20 takes. But don't you worry, a blooper reel will be coming your way when all is said and done.
Oh, and we're also working on a Candy Bar Election website. So, you'll have that to check out the candydates. It's going to be amazing. And hopefully up by Sunday when voting begins--- ekk! There's SO. MUCH. TO. DO.
One thing off my to do list- the boys evaluations. Every year I make them their own special 'yearbook' photobooks. And this year, they are AMAZING. I tried to give a nod to everyone's birthday, their favorite thing they did, and the Easter Egg Roll.
We got their evaluations done, and when to turn them in. We should be getting our home school cards soon, and then we'll be all good for another year.
Since we were right across the street from our probably new subdivision, we decided to stop by- and try and find the backway down to the library and such. And look! The For Sale sign is down, and the Contract Pending sign is up! We also had the inspection this last week. There are no major issues, we've got plenty of years left on the roof and AC, and the stucco looks good. There are however, three minor issues: And one of them is that we might have inherited a cat. So, there's that.
Speaking of animals, holy geez, was Ellie extra pouty that Calib left her. She just whined, and pouted for two weeks.
On Monday we got to get Calib from the airport, but we decided to make some stops in Tampa first. We checked out the Publix Greenwise market for the first time(Think Whole Foods and Publix have a baby!), and it was my favorite grocery store ever. We got to pick up a few more things for our Olympic bags, and we also got stuff for a picnic dinner.
They have a reasonably priced hot bar, plus a salad bar, so we all picked from there. And then we got a dessert from the bakery.
Then we went down to Ballast Point, which we've heard is a major Pokestop hub. Residents are complaining and trying to get it taken off the Pokemap because so many people are flocking down there at all hours of the day. So we KNEW we had to check it out (at normal park operating hours, of course). As soon as we pulled in, we were dodging people with their cell phones out. This picture doesn't even do it justice. There were people everywhere hunting Pokemon.
It's actually a lovely park though! It's right on the water, has a pier, a place to put in boats, and a nice view of the Tampa skyline.
They also have a splash pad, and a really nice playground, so Hayden and I did that.
....While Asa and Peyton hunted Pokemon. Peyton loved it, he's already asking when we can go back.
We picked up Calib from the airport on the way home(And totally ran into the Olympic Rugby team for New Zealand in the process), and we were back to a Party of 5. We went out for summer of shakes to celebrate.
Everyone was super excited to see Calib- he was back all of 15 minutes before neighborhood kids were knocking on our door to see him. Ellie is probably the most happy though. And, Calib and I finally swapped our phones, so we have the right ones again. Which means he gets to start Pokemon hunting at night with Peyton and Asa too.
Asa is in the office today, but took tomorrow off, what with the first day of the Olympics. I'm going to try and get a blog up every couple of days, so I don't get too backlogged. So look for me around Sunday evening. Because Monday starts my Birthday Olympic Weekend Extravaganza- where my birthday, and Olympic events collide. It's going to be amazing.
Next Up: Olympic Mania!
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