Closing Out November

I don't have a ton to report that isn't countries/home school  for the last couple weeks since we've been back from San Diego. We have had some pretty low-key weekends around here, add that to my camera issues, and my laptop issues (thank goodness it was just my charger this time) and blogging was not a top priority. 

But, it's the last day of the month and I try and make sure I'm all caught up for that, so I figured I'd fill you in. 

My mom, my brother and his family were down at Disney for Thanksgiving, so last Wednesday we braved the crowds at Epcot and joined them. 

We rode some rides, hung out in the fancy DVC Lounge (free snacks and drinks!) and visited my dad and Calib's picture on the memory walls at the front. 

We also ate our way around the world- including Norway, which we're using for a country meal when we get there. We even got Garrett to try some new stuff, including rice pudding- which he really enjoyed! 

At one point things got a little out of hand and Cort and Asa downed a packet of duck sauce. Cort killed Asa by the way, he was done with his packet in like a second. 

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving- and fun story, Asa and Calib inadvertently dressed exactly alike, down to the same shorts. 

Mom left Disney for two nights to come stay with us for Thanksgiving, so she got to be here for dinner. We also counted it at USA day, so she also got to vote on postcards. 

Of course, we all contributed to our Thanksgiving 'table cloth'-- it's actually a sheet we draw in every year. 

Then they spent the evening playing the game of Life. (It's the one board game I don't care for- well, that and Monopoly). 

The next day mom and I got some work started on the quilts we are going to make for everyone out of my grandmas clothes. Heading out to Joanne Fabrics was the only in-store Black Friday shopping we did. (We also stopped by Costco, but that hardly counts). 

We did get a lot of things online. Asa got me a killer deal on a new Samsung phone- the S8! It was half off, and it fixed my slow aging phone problem AND my camera problem all at the same time. I literally can snap a picture from my phone and have it on my blog in less than two minutes. It's AMAZING! (I took these pictures of the boys to show them how fast it works). 

We also had to go out on Monday this week unexpectedly to get Asa a new pair of glasses. His broke (literally in half!) and he was just sitting there. They were nearly 10 years old, though. Thank goodness for Lens Crafters. We had them just a couple of hours after we first went in. 

We also got a google home, which I am SUPER excited about. It recognizes up to five different voices, which is perfect for us. Not only can we ask it any home school questions (and play National Anthems to whatever country we're on), but you can call people from it, play games (like 20 questions and trivia games) with it, ask it the weather, set timers, hear whats on your google calendar and play music on it. The music is really popular here. It results in impromptu dance parties frequently. We've also been trying to stump it, but so far it's played every obscure thing we've asked for- including random cartoon theme songs from the 1980s. 

Our google chromecast will be here next week, and then we can even control the TV just by talking to it. The boys are really excited for that. 

We are pretty much done with the boys Christmas shopping, and we were pretty excited with all of our purchases including the phone, the glasses, the google home and an instant pot . I've toyed with an instant pot for awhile, but just brought it up to Asa a week or so ago when we were talking to our neighbor, Teresa. She talked it up so much, and managed to get for $40, with a little early Christmas present from my mom- so we were really excited when it came. We have cooked like every meal in it since it arrived- which is super helpful to Asa since I've been sick and it's SO easy to use. 

Teresa came over to give us some pointers, and while she was here she just offered to gift us a Kitchenaid Mixer. I was shocked,  and as someone who has been living without even the crappiest of handheld mixers for the last year, I was ecstatic. Again, I'm sick and miserable (see picture below), so I stayed behind while Asa went over to Teresa's to get it, and when they came back they had a bright red kitchenaid mixer in hand. RED, you guys! I would have picked red if I was buying one for sure. I am really grateful and so excited to use it! Maybe I'll finally be a baker! 

In other random pictures on Asa's phone, there was a cute one of me and Ellie on the couch. 

One from the new mini donut place that opened up right by our Publix (They were pretty yummy! And super cute!) 

And we got some more postcards for our project. This time it was one from my Aunt who went to China in October.  We even got a packet of a bunch of them from my college roommate who went to Europe, I'm hoping I'll feel better this weekend and me and the boys can go through them. 

Oh, and we had to powerwash the driveway. Hayden was excited about helping. 

That's it from here, I have all my blogs done- so I can move on to the next thing on my to-do list! 

Next Up: We're on to December and the Christmas Punch Board! 

Thanksgiving 2017: United States of America

We've toyed around with ideas of just when to do the United States Day, and we decided there was no better time than Thanksgiving. I mean, that's the quintessential American meal, right?  

I'm not going to go into details here, because we brushed through it super quick on Thanksgiving (I'm not so mean I make my kids do A LOT of school work on a holiday), and well, it's the last country I have to do before I'm all caught up on my country blogs. Maybe I'll come back and update with more detail later, but for now, I've got to be done blogging for my own sanity. 

Instead of focusing on the 50 states, we talked about the U.S. Territories of America Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S Virgin Islands. 

The boys made their United States postcards. 

Hayden drew the whole country with some icons worth noting. 

Peyton's featured a man on the moon, the Statue of Liberty, and the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Calib took a little from all over the U.S including the Hollywood sign and the cactus's of the west. 

While I did a quick lesson I did provide them with some snacks ahead of our big Thanksgiving dinner. 

Of course we had all the usual Thanksgiving food: Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, succotash, squash, sweet potatoes and rolls. 

This dinner earned six spoons up-- because my mom was here, and because it's Thanksgiving, who doesn't love Thanksgiving? 

A tradition at our house is to write on the Thanksgiving table cloth every year. I wanted to make sure I noted our 2017 project. 

Hayden took one for the team and colored in the whole United States, I hear the kitchen was smelling an awful lot like nailpolish. 

That's 154 countries down, 42 to go! 

Next Up: Norway 

Explorers Week: Ecuador

The last of our Explorer's is Sir Frances Drake and with him we paired the country of Ecuador. Sir Francis Drake was an Englishman, but the United Kingdom has long been completed. We went with Ecuador because it's basically the middle of the world (Mitad del Mundo). While plenty of countries straddle the equator, none embrace it quite like Equador, who's name literally translates into 'Republic of the Equator. 

Lets get through the story of Sir Frances Drake  as quick as possible. I have one more blog, plus a normal blog to get to- and I've literally been writing blogs ALL day (which is fine, because my voice is shot anyway). 

All you need to know about Frances Drake to really get him is this: 

He started out on his exploring journey by taking part  (with his cousin, I believe) in the trans Atlantic slave trade, bringing them from Africa to Spanish plantations in the New World. That, however was illegal. But, they got away with it.... twice. On the third time, someone gave them up and they were ambushed by the Spanish. 

And so, Frances Drake spent the rest of his life trying to take down the Spanish. To the British he was hero, their 'Sea Dog' who was claiming the world for the British and taking down the Spanish.  To the Spanish he was a pirate 'El Drague' or 'The Dragon' who had a bounty on his head. 

The Queen of England had taken notice of Drake's pirate ways of stealing gold and silver and any other cargo on Spanish ships, and was impressed. The result: she gave him a fleet of ships to go plunder the Spanish. He headed across the Atlantic to present day Panama, and did everything from killing Spaniards to robbing mule trains. He acquired so much treasure they had to bury some of it. Worth noting: on this trip he became the first Englishman to see the Pacific Ocean. 

So when he arrived back with all that treasure, the Queen was even more impressed- and commissioned him an even bigger fleet to sail around the world. Not many people had a desire to try and trace Magellan's route- as they saw how many ships and people came back from that. So Drake didn't exactly tell everyone where they were going until they had no choice. 

There were mutinies (and apparently he left one of his captains dead the same place in Argentina that Magellan did), and it was a rough trip. But ultimately Drake went through the strait of Magellan and up the coast of the Americas killing, pillaging and treating any Spanish settlement he found as terribly as he possibly could- amassing a huge amount of treasure along the way. 

He tried to find the Northwest Passage, but had to turn back because of poor weather conditions. He docked in present day San Francisco and claimed it for the Queen. He stopped in the Philippines and got spices, and headed back around the South Africa before arriving back in England. 

Three years after he left, Drake would  return home as the world’s richest pirate. According to one account, his financial backers received a return of 47 pounds sterling for each pound they had invested.

Long story short after that: 

The English rejoiced. 

The Spanish fumed. 

Queen Elizabeth knighted him. He bought a lavish estate (you can still go to today). 

He got put in command of the English Navy, and fought off the Spanish Armada (who were supposed to be invincible). 

He went on more missions. He plundered. He killed. He pirated the Spanish. 

And then he died off the coast of Panama of dysentery all Oregon Trail style. Sir Frances Drake was buried at sea off the coast of Panama, wearing full armor in a lead-lined coffin. Despite divers and historians looking, nobody has even found his coffin. 

The boys made their Facebook pages. 

And then we moved on to our country for the day: Ecuador. Obviously sitting along the equator you can have your picture taken as you straddle the line at the 'Middle of the World' monument in the capital city of Quito. It's like all those pictures you can take where two states collide only way cooler! You can have one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere at the same time.

Our landmark for this one isn't on the mainland of Ecuador, but 620 miles off the coast. The Galapagos Islands is considered one of the world's best destinations for wildlife viewing. The isloated terrain is home to many animals that can't be found anywhere else. Home to over 300 mammal species and over 1,600 bird species, the Galapagos Islands has more species of birds than North and South America (mainland) combined.

Charles Darwin (who Hayden shares a birthday with!) visited the island in 1835 with his observations there inspiring his theory of evolution.

Also worth noting: The Galapagos islands are home to the world's largest tortoises, including the Pinto Tortoises. The last one of them, affectionately named Lonesome George, died in 2012 at the age of 102 years old. He was considered the rarest creature in the world.

Other fun animals in Ecuador include the blue footied boobies. These birds not only have a funny name, but they do a funny dance with their little blue feet to attract mates. 

From the Andes to the Amazon, Ecuador packs a lot into its small 100,000 square mile size. 

Also, fun fact they became a country on August 10, 1809- my birthday (well, I mean my birthday minus 172 years). 

For dinner we had Ecuadorian Churrasco, which is basically a huge plate full of all kinds of different food. Plating was something that night. 

Plus, it was a lot for Asa to make. There is the steak with the fried egg, served with homemade fries and sauce (or Salchipapas) , Ecuadorian rice, salsa, Aji criolllo (a spicy hot sauce),  and plantains. 

This one earned 5 spoons up. 

We loved every bit of this one. Everyone cleared their plates. We were only split on the plantains and the sauce for the fries. The hot sauce was a little too much for me, but Peyton and Asa were fans. 

We colored Ecuador in a nice yellow color next to Blue Colombia and green Peru on the table. 

And now all the numbers are fixed and matched up. We're 153 down, with 46 to go. 

Next Up: It's Thanksgiving and the United States of America!