I am wildly behind on blogs. We've been up to a lot in the last two weeks, and tomorrow (some of us) are off on another adventure for the weekend, so I have to get at least a little caught up. (Update: I started this blog before our weekend out, but then never finished it, and now I'm behind even more!) The only September blog I did was part of our Disney Quest when we finished up at the Animal Kingdom, so I'm backtracking a bit here.
So when I last really left you, we were saying goodbye to August. Asa and I did go out to collect my free birthday burger before it expired.
But now, it's September which means everyone is back to school and we have the pool to ourselves again! It's so glorious to go to the pool midday and have both pools to ourselves!
I've even gotten Calib and Hayden to go with us a couple of times now that the pool water isn't bath water and it's not crowded.
It also means that hurricane season is in full swing here. Though it's been pretty quiet here, we did have one little scare- and I say scare because there was a gas and water shortage way too many days out- before any sort of path was even close to set in stone (or as close to 'as set in stone' as these things get). But here's where I get annoyed- we were a week out from a hurricane that everyone admitted was super unpredictable. But, we were in the cone. And suddenly there's a million old guys at the gas station filling up way too many 5 gallon jugs, and no water to be found at any store. And, I am not the least bit concerned because I know how much these things change. But I still have to fill up my gas tank and buy the water on the OFF CHANCE this thing 1. comes our way, and 2. is intense enough to knock out electricity and water. To give you context in my 13 and a half years in Florida I have had to properly prepare exactly ONCE, and even then I didn't need any of it.
So, the gas is still a thing, but I went ahead and ordered water cubes for our hurricane kit (again, something I've never had to use). But this way if one is coming for us, I can wait until right before and fill these up on my own. No more bottled water hysteria for me!
September also means we are back to school work. I like to wait until after Labor Day to really get us going. Again, Calib and Peyton have college classes, so we're pretty much done with me teaching them (at least in the 'traditional' school sense), which has been a bit of an adjustment. I decided to come up with a board for Hayden, so I could list things he needed to get done. I came up with using the cork board above the chalk board, and putting his work for the day on those. When he's done with it, he takes it down and puts it in the little basket on the wall so I know he's done with it (especially with the self directed stuff).
Besides things like workbooks, apps, Khan Academy, and even chores- I have all kinds of alliteration special project days.
So, naturally we have things like Music Monday, and Math Monday (for new concepts, and projects), and Measurement Monday (we're working on some geometry).
On Tuesday we have fun things like 'Ted Talk Tuesday'!
And 'Tinkering Tuesday' for STEM challenges. He didn't LOVE trying to figure out the pringles ring. But, someone had left open a container of pringles and they were all stale, so I figured it was the perfect use for them.
Plus all of grandma's blocks come in handy for some STEM challenges as well.
Wednesday was pretty easy to come up with some special things. He doesn't enjoy Workbook Wednesday all that much.
But we're bringing back Waterstraut Waffle Wednesday and he sure loves that. Fun fact: the day we brought back Waterstraut Waffle Wednesday, it came up on 'my memories' of little tiny Hayden helping make waffles.
We're only doing Waterstraut Waffle Wednesday if everyone is home. You know, teenagers, they're hardly all around at the same time. So far we've done it twice. The first go around we just used a regular old mix and Hayden had some trouble. Apparently he read it as 2 and 1/3 cup of oil instead of 2/3 cups. But, you know, learning opportunity. We fixed it as best we could- but the next week he did much better, and we even added mix ins. We did blueberries, chocolate chips and even pumpkin! Then Calib said we should try apple jacks, so we obliged. I didn't eat any of them, but everyone else said they were actually tasty.
For 'Word Wall Wednesday' we're making some pennants with Latin and Greek root words.
Thursdays we just have some things like 'Thankful Thursday and Thinking Thursday to work on our gratitude and critical thinking skills. While Fridays we have fun stuff like Film Friday where we get to watch a documentary (mostly Planet Earth), which is actually kind of a hit with the kids who don't even HAVE to watch it. Flashcard Friday isn't as welcomed, though. We also have things like 'Flag Friday' to review our flags and 'Fun Friday' when we finish a unit of something and we're ready for things like Jeopardy.
But the most exciting thing of them all is Finer Things Friday. How many of you watch 'The Office"? I mean, basically everyone, right? In my house it is pretty much a staple. Someone is always watching it, it seems. Hayden is a big culprit (although Asa and I watch it almost every night right before bed- we even have a Google home shortcut that when we say 'we're getting tired' Google turns The Office on Netflix on (what will we do when Netflix gets rid of it next year?!?!))
Anyway, since Hayden loves The Office, I thought I would create a 'Finer Things Club' in an effort to get him to read some books he might not otherwise read- and Asa and I would read it along with it so we could discuss the book and the themes and such at Finer Things Club.
Our first book was Animal Farm- we read it one chapter at a time, and Hayden I would have 'Finer Things Chapter Review' at the end of every chapter so I knew he was picking up on the right things and following it all. But you guys, we started out pretty easy with Animal Farm and I think it's excellent reading for the times we live in. Sure, everyone talks about 1984, but this is an easier read and just as noteworthy.
We finished it on Thursday, but we were leaving mid-day Friday. Hayden begged to have Finer Things Club anyway, so I put it together. My mom was kind enough to bring us one of my grandma's old tablecloths and napkins, since I didn't own anything like that (we're uber casual people).
And then I got out all my fancy dishes from my grandma's house too (no paper, or plastic, or work talk allowed!) and made us some finger food lunch foods.
And we discussed Animal Farm. Hayden is actually a big fan of this new Club- after all, it's very exclusive.
We've also got another super fun side project going- we're learning about everything listed in Billy Joel's song 'We Didn't Start the Fire'. I have made all these little printouts, Hayden has a quick lesson and then makes a post card and writes a paragraph about it on the back. And of course we listen to 'We Didn't Start the Fire'- but with the volume at 40 percent, in case Asa is on a call with the office door open, of course.
Also worth noting September means the return of football season, which also means the return of the Sunday taco bar at my house.
Because football is better with nachos, burritos, tostadas, and mango salsa. Especially this year. We are on a roller coaster ride people. One week we're terrible- the next week we pull out a surprise win. I try and stay realistic, but Asa and Calib really ride those highs and lows. I mean the Bucs won a Thursday night game IN Carolina (which they never, ever do- it's historically embarrassing) and they beat the 3-0 Rams IN L.A. Like, what?!? But, they also lost to the Giants and the 49ers. So, you know. Not awesome.
Speaking of the taco bar- Asa and I were headed back from Disney late Saturday when Calib called and said he was heading to Publix after work so he wondered if we needed anything for the taco bar. He picked up cookies- and two packages since they were BOGO and then when I asked how much I owed him he was like 'don't worry about it.' Older kids are kind of awesome. He also drove into Tampa to have lunch with his aunt and uncle who were in town and asked me where a good place to eat was- when I suggested Datz, I said if he was going all the way down there though, he could swing by and pick up some 21 seasoning salute at Trader Joes- so he brought me back a bunch! I use this stuff on everything. But, I don't get down to Trader Joes as often as I'd like, and I'm really hoping they build one up here eventually. They've built like everything else.
Hayden isn't super big on watching football but he will hang out with us and have tacos. Plus he's been reading the Harry Potter series again in his free time, so he just curled up with his book while we all watched the game.
Football season brings back with it Fantasy Football. Peyton, who won the literal 'toilet trophy' for coming in last place last year said he wasn't interested in playing again, so we needed someone new for our league. Cort and Garrett teamed up to join our league, and when we were in Ohio, Uncle Asa told Garrett he wanted to see trash talking videos on his youtube channel. Asa subscribes to his channel so we were all sitting at dinner when Asa got an alert that Garrett had posted a new video titled something like 'Why my team is better than my uncles'. So of course we had to watch that, stat.
And then of course, Asa had to make a response video.
Where he basically just said how Garrett's players sucked. But, since the taping of the video, Garrett has proved he is pretty dang good at Fantasy Football. He scores like a million points every week. I haven't played him yet, but he's going to destroy me.
September also means Swaptember! That's where if you have a zooTampa, Mosi or Florida Aquarium pass you can get into the other places for free. Calib and Peyton were busy- but Hayden came along to the aquarium with Asa and me. We haven't been in a few years and the touch tank that used to hold horseshoe crabs now has jellyfish! AND YOU CAN TOUCH THEM!!!
They felt harder than I imagined they would. But, super cool addition. Five stars. Would recommend.
We got there early and we didn't have too many crowds to deal with until we got towards the end of our visit. We did get to see lots of fish and animals though.
We even got to check out the coral farm that's been nationally recognized for their work in trying to restore coral reefs around the world.
Of course we also stopped by to pet the sting rays.
We had the whole trifecta of touch tanks when we stopped by to pet the star fish and sea anemones.
Overall, a super fun trip to the aquarium!
Of course if you're down by the aquarium at lunch time you might as well walk over to Sparkman Wharf to grab something to eat. There's something for everyone. Hayden got a hot dog, while Asa and I went to Flock N Stock for the Dixie Chick sandwich. Two words for you: Pimento Cheese. It's SO good. There's a lot I want to try there, but I keep going back to that sandwich.
While it is still hot here, the sun has lost some of it's intensity, and the humidity has plummeted. This means it's generally been really pleasant outside.
Next time we're at Sparkman Wharf, I am saving room for a Whatever Pop, and maybe trying the guava pizza at 4 corners if it's still there (it could be a seasonal thing).
Also, since it's been awhile since I last blogged, you might have missed Calib getting Peyton a job. Now I've got two kids making pizzas.
And when they both work, I have a third kid hoping to order pizza! Which, I mean if it's just the three of us, one pizza will do us.
Things have been a little busy around here, but Asa and I have managed to squeeze in our usual weekend bike rides here and there.
We also had a visitor, and I'll get to that blog soon too. But, my mom was here for a week. Everytime she visits, she takes us to Costco and tells the boys to pick out three things, which turns into 10 things (because, grandma math), and then as we're leaving she says to me 'are you sure you have enough freezer space for all this'. So this time, I'd been telling the boys for weeks to empty out the freezer and we finally did it with two days to spare. We also sent her a picture to let her know we were on our very last can of Tony Packo's sauce, so of course she came to our rescue with that too.
Calib soaked in the last few mornings he had left in his room before she arrived (he give up his room and bunks with his brothers whenever mom comes to visit).
And when my mom arrived she came with Peyton and Hayden's fair checks from all their winnings. Hayden racked it in with $132 (Plus they sent him an extra $5 because they had missed his sewing best of show).
While Peyton earned himself $46.50 from photography and flowers.
They used that money to fill up their CEO Taku meter. I think I posted this already- but the boys knew to go to the latest gaming tournament they would have to bankroll the operation, and so they pooled their money to pay for their passes, and the hotel.
The day after mom arrived, we did our pilgrimage to Costco, and it was a biggy!
Forget about room in the freezer for all of it, we hardly had enough room in the car!
But the freezer did get full!
I will blog the rest of mom's visit soon- but I still have to get to our last day on our Disney Quest. And now I have CEO Taku, too. It might take me a few days to catch up. But, at least my September happenings will be in the September tab.
As always, I leave you with some cute puppy pictures from the last few weeks.
They've had a thing lately where they just lay and stare at the door whenever anyone is gone. It's kind of sad, actually (notice Ellie is missing- she won't leave her spot on the couch just to stare at a door!)
Next Up:
More rewinding back to finishing up our Disney Quest!
