1 hour ago
I am still in vacation mode over here!
Everyone I know is back to school at this point, but we've been spending this week recovering from our trip to Florida! We had a wonderful time overall, aside from a few hiccups, and I wanted to record a few of the places we went and the things that happened before I forget. To keep this post manageable, I'm going to try to do it in bullet points and limit the photos. Here we go!
Miami
-We got a manageable flight that left around 6:30 AM, but the girls still fell asleep on the flight, so it was perfect! The boys watched movies and read books the whole way.
-We stopped at Delray Beach on the way down to Miami to look at the ocean before sunset. I personally love East coast beaches at sunset, the colors are so soft and pretty!
-Finally arrived in Miami at 11 PM, and realized that I'm pretty sure I booked us a night in a gang hotel, basically. That is if the gang tags in the stairwell, marijuana, and sketchy area were any indication. Plus the room wasn't clean - ah! Clearly I am not allowed to book bargain hotels anymore.
-Booked another hotel straightaway the next morning.
Everglades
-We went on an airboat tour with Coopertown Airboats, and we saw the Everglades! We all learned so much and saw quite a bit of wildlife and interesting plants - so fun! The Everglades are one of a kind, for sure.
Bill Baggs Cape State Park
-We checked out a state park that an old blog friend recommended to me, Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. It was wonderful! It had a lighthouse, iguanas were running everywhere and the kids were fascinated, and the beach there was probably the most beautiful beach I've ever seen! It was seriously a tropical paradise. I wish we could have spent more time there!
Boynton Beach
-Stayed the night in Boynton Beach, and then checked out the beach there the next day! The waves were not as calm as at Bill Baggs beach, but it was still beautiful and we enjoyed ourselves! After the beach we started the drive to Orlando.
-Car tire started losing air on the way up to Orlando. We called the rental car company so we could switch it out that evening. The whole process took three hours, and we were bummed that we didn't have time to relax at the hotel!
Seaworld
-We went to Seaworld the next day! I haven't been to Seaworld since I was a kid, and we all enjoyed it so much. We saw a bunch of see creatures (orcas, dolphins, seat turtles, manatees, parrots, a pilot whale...), and we really loved the shows!
-We got the meal deal at Seaworld, so we each got to order an entree, drink, dessert, and side every hour. We didn't actually eat every hour, but we could have. Mostly it was just nice not to have to worry about what we were spending!
-The kids rode their first roller coaster, and it also just so happened to be National Roller Coaster Day! How fun is that?
-They were having an extended hours day at Seaworld, so we got to see the Shamu Lights The Night show. They were trying to get everyone to dance for the "dance cam" (I'm glad I didn't end up on it, ha!), and all the big kids were dancing, but Georgie also really got into it. It was adorable! I'll always remember her little baby rhythm and dance moves!
-Realized the car tire was losing pressure again! We didn't want to spend another three hours of our vacation returning the car, so we just filled it with air every day for the rest of the trip. But I will never use that company again. Two cars with flat tires from the same rental car company is a bit much.
Kennedy Space Center
-We slept in the next day, had breakfast at IHOP, and then drove out to Kennedy Space Center. We figured we could see it in a half day, but we were wrong. I wish we had spent more time there, it was so cool! More to come in another post on that.
-We saw the building where rockets are built, which was huge.
-We saw the Saturn V rocket and the space shuttle Atlantis (both so huge!).
-We did a rocket launch simulator!
-We absolutely loved the whole experience, and I hope to go back someday!
-Saw a crocodile in the "wild" on the way home! Also saw a man lying on the shoulder of the road and flailing about, which was freaky. We called the Florida State Police so they could check on him, but it was really weird.
Cocoa Beach
-Beach Day! We did nothing but eat snacks and relax on the beach, and it was perfect.
-Saw a ton of brown pelicans catching fish!
-Back at the hotel, we watched Swiss Family Robinson with the kids as a movie night. I loved it as a kid too, but I am still surprised how entranced they were!
Disney - Magic Kingdom
-We decided to do one day at Disney, and the Magic Kingdom seemed like the most exciting park, so that's where we went. Oh my word, it was so busy! I don't know what I was expecting as far as crowds go, but my expectation was less people than...that.
-We met Rapunzel and Tiana, we saw Pooh Bear and Tigger wandering about. Pooh jumped in a water puddle right in front of the kids, and I tell you, that was a major highlight for them! And for me, because I loved to see them happy!
-Rode Dumbo, Teacups, Magic Carpets, the Barn Stormer roller coaster, and the Winnie the Pooh and Little Mermaid movie-themed rides. Saw the Monsters, Inc. show, and visited the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse!
-Lost various children three different times, once during the fireworks. Yikes!
Down Day
-After a slightly traumatizing Disney experience, we just took it easy the nest day.
-We visited an orange grove and fruit stand, and ate some pretty great barbecue for lunch!
-We went to see Dora The Explorer in the movie theater. I think the movie is a bit mature for our kids' age group, and it had some rather gross potty humor and magic/mystical stuff in it. We just glossed over all that, and most of it went over my kids' heads, so it was okay. We enjoyed just relaxing for a movie though! The kids watched the actual Dora cartoon later though, and I think we have a new favorite.
-Went back to the hotel and enjoyed the pool for the rest of the day!
Last Day
-We managed to squeeze a little bit more fun out of our trip before our flight, and we visited this huge McDonald's we kept passing in Orlando. That place was amazing! There were twice as many menu options as any other McD's I've been to, with alot of things that could be customized by their chefs. The play place was huge (largest in the world), and the service was amazing! They even had an arcade too. Can we get one of those McDonald's here, please?
We had such a nice time overall, and I'm so glad we got to go! Florida is not a trip we will be able to afford every year, so this was definitely a special trip. We got to visit the big theme parks, but I think our favorite parts were being out in nature in habitats that we usually don't get to see. There were hiccups, but I think we made good memories overall, and I think the kids will remember everything fondly! And that's really the whole point of vacation to me, just to make those memories together.
More photos (with better explanations) of all of us on Instagram, including really cute pictures of my kids, so if you missed it last week you can hop over there for more info about specific things we did!
Have you been to Florida? What were your favorite things to do there? This was just a small portion of all the options of things to see!
The summer is coming to an end, and in another week and a half, I will start my third (kind of fourth) year as a homeschool mom. I've been wanting to write a wrap-up of our last school year all summer, but the words have been eluding me. I know I grew a lot as a homeschool mom over the last year, but I've been finding it difficult to organize my feelings into easy-to-share points like I did after we finished first grade.
One thing I realized is that I probably won't ever feel like I've completely got this down. Last year was leaps and bounds more organized and productive than the previous year, but I still look back on it now and can think of a ton of things I'd like to do better as I look ahead to 2019-2020.
I still want to write these posts though, so I can keep some perspective. Every year that I've homeschooled so far, I've gotten a little better in small ways at staying organized, keeping motivated, and accomplishing the things I was hoping for at the start of the year. I know this year will be better than last year, and probably next year will be better than this year. That doesn't frustrate me, it actually encourages me. If things don't go exactly perfectly this year, which I'm guessing they won't, I know next year I'll just know better how to improve.
Maybe someday I'll feel like I've figured it out. Or maybe I'll almost get it figured out, and then have to add another school-age kid into the mix, and have to start all over again. My money is on that latter possibility.
(Me and the kids with their silly faces.)
Anyway, this is a little recap of the successes, failures, and areas to improve from our experience homeschooling 2nd grade and Kindergarten.
Wins
Poetry Tea Time
Last year we started doing Poetry Tea Time, which from what I can tell was first named by Julie Bogart from Bravewriter. It's basically the thing to do in homeschool circles these days (along with "Morning Time"), and after we added it into our routine last year, I could see why.
One day I just popped some popcorn, put a tablecloth down and lit a candle, and served the kids rooibos tea while we read picture books and poems. Even if I wanted to never do it again, my kids wouldn't have let me. They loved it. It was a great way to add a little fun into our homeschool routine, and what's the good of homeschooling anyway if you can't make it fun? We are definitely continuing Poetry Tea Time this year, and I'd like to up the frequency.
Memory Work
Last year I painstakingly planned out my Morning Time binder. Morning Time is when we sit down at some point in the day and go over memory work and Bible study together. It's a great time to make sure we are still learning the important things all together, and I love it for developing a family identity and culture within our homeschool.
Anyway, last year I selected several Bible passages I wanted the kids to memorize, organized catechism questions, and printed out hymns to sing, along with a schedule of what I wanted to work on each month. We didn't make it all the way through the binder, but we made it farther than I thought we would, and I am thrilled at the amount of memory work we mastered!
The kids now know five hymns really well, we memorized three Bible passages (thirteen verses all together), they can answer six catechism questions, and we have a few funny poems in our arsenal now. I am very pleased! This was all with not being the most consistent with Morning Time, so I'd definitely like to up my game this year and see what else we can memorize together.
Try Harder
Science And History Spacing
While I am overall pleased at what we accomplished with our science and history lessons last year, I have to admit that most of our learning came during designated weeks that I gave us to catch up. I did not do great at keeping on top of weekly science and history lessons and spacing them through the year that way. While it is 100% okay to do a more unit-based approach to history and science, or designate certain weeks or months to focus on those subjects (as we did last year), I'd really like to get more organized and disciplined in doing those lessons at regular intervals.
Morning Time Consistency
We did Morning Time an average of a couple times a week, and we accomplished so much even with that many days! I'd really like to make a focused effort to make Morning Time happen every day that we are working at home. We probably did morning time only about half the days that we could have, so I'd like to be more consistent this year.
Fails
Extra Skills
With my homeschool planning last year, I came up with a schedule to work on extra "fun" skills that I just want the kids to know. I had plans laid out for teaching them how to make certain meals, teaching them certain card games or hand-clapping games, etc.
Yeah, we didn't use those plans at all.
In my defense, when I was planning out the year, I didn't originally anticipate that we'd be moving, and that derailed my good intentions. So basically last year's plans are going to be pasted into this year's binder, and we're going to try again! Wish me luck.
I'm looking forward to the upcoming school year! I've got it about half-planned right now, and as soon as we get back from vacation this week, I'm going to dive in and get the rest of our plans ironed out.
Stay tuned for a post about our homeschool curriculum choices, and one about my current planning system!
Or you can also check out last year's posts about homeschool planning and 2nd grade curriculum in the meantime!
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