A Simple Day Discovering Nature

Yesterday, we spent the day at the nature center and the beach. Relaxing and spending time in nature. My Mom also spent the day with us...that made it even more special. We toured our hands on nature center and visited the new creatures there. The kids love the sea turtle...now there is a baby hatchling there too! Also a baby puffer fish we got a kick out of. Our alligator has grown by leaps and bounds! Turning 2 years old in September, we started out with the alligator being so small and the staff having to find him and get him out to show us. Now he is almost aggressive. It's interesting having been able to watch him grow the past 2 years. The staff informed me he is getting too big and he will be transferred to a bigger facility. Then our nature center will again receive another baby alligator.

After the nature center, we headed down to the beach. It was a hot day. The ocean was calm, almost no waves, some swells. It made for a great day. My son is so anxious to find a treasure at the beach!! We started digging in the sand. It's been a while since I was digging on the beach....the kids usually do that with friends. I was committed to my son's goal - to find something today! So we all sat around a hole we made digging in the sand. No luck. We finally got hot and went into the water. Since there were no waves we easily slid our hands along the ocean floor and by the day's end found sand dollars, a hermit crab, and a few unidentified sea creatures....we believe they are some type of snail. We put them in a bucket with some ocean water and studied them. The kids (and adults) were fascinated! They just loved watching our new found friends. The day ended and we sent our friends back home to the ocean. I love days like this.....great company, surroundings, weather and treasures! A day of spending time together discovering nature.

Day Camps

My kids each spent this past week at a day camp. That's something new for us. We always attend Vacation Bible School every year. My kids attend and I assist. That is where my son and I were this past week. This year though, my daughter expressed an interest in Camp Invention. We agreed to let her try it this year. It was a big leap though as it is all day....until 3 pm. She did really well, loved the camp. I could see those long days were tiring her out. The camp ideas spilled over to home. Friday night, the kids spent an hour and a half at the kitchen table with Dad. They were each taking apart hard drives and checking out all of the cool things inside. There are some powerful magnets in there! There was a downside to this investigating, my son somehow got away from our group with a screwdriver. Later, I found several of his Hess trucks with the wheels off and screws laying on the floor. =)

Traveling, Sickness, Birthdays, Baptism & Dance Recital....some weeks just aren't simple!

Traveling, sickness, birthdays, baptism & dance recital.....that about sums up this past week in our lives. We traveled to see family and attend our niece's baptism. The week we visited turned out to be a highly celebrated birthday week in the family. We arrived safely....it was really a "planes, trains & automobiles" adventure. I drove with the kids a few days earlier. Hubby flew up a few days later. We picked him up at the airport and headed over to the Italian Market in Philadelpia. We visited there. Picked up some fresh produce, then headed over to Washington Avenue for some fresh Philadelpia soft pretzels. Yum! We celebrated a different family birthday on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Why not just one big celebration, you ask? First, that would be too simple (just what I would like!). The birthdays were in different families. One was a cake one night after dinner for my father-in-law. The second was on the other side of the family for my sister. We had all of the cousins together too for that one. The third was back on the other side of the family. Following a reception for the baptism. It was her brother and both sides of that family were together for a much welcomed change. Thank goodness I didn't indulge in cake every day! Yikes, I'd be in trouble!
The day after we arrived my daughter complained of a sore throat, which lead to a fever for 2 days. Poor girl. She's rarely sick. It seems when she does get sick, it takes her down. I took her to the doctor's a few days later when she started with ear pain. Diagnosis: Ear Infection.
We traveled 850 miles to family for a short visit and a baptism. Then we all returned home together. After driving 1700 miles round trip, then another 100 miles to the airport to pick up hubby's truck we arrived safely at home. Later that afternoon, I took my daughter to her dance recital rehearsal in town. On the way, about 6 miles from home, we got a flat tire!
It was an eventful week. The recital was last night. The van now has a spare on it. I will be getting two new tires this week. We got our fill of family, visiting and birthdays. Now we can sit back and relax...back to living more simply......