Walking with the Peabody Ducks

One day after Christmas, Jim and Noah took off for an all-day mountain biking adventure, and I was looking for something fun for a date with my princess. We decided on something I'd always wanted to do - go to the Peabody to see the ducks walk. It was so fun that we wanted to come back with Noah, so I scheduled them to be Honorary Duckmasters in early January.

This past weekend, we braved the sleet (yes, sleet) and drove down to the hotel, where they met Duckmaster Brooks. He shared a little history behind the famous Peabody ducks and explained how he gets the ducks down to the fountain in the hotel lobby every day.

From there, the kids each grabbed a special duck cane and rode in the reserved elevator up to the "duck palace". We walked the ducks into the elevator, and - when the doors opened - followed them (quickly!) down the red carpet to the fountain.

After the ceremony, Brooks told the kids a little more about the ducks and presented them with their own Peabody (rubber) duck and Honorary Duckmaster certificates. He was great with the kids and really made it a special experience for them.

If you'd like to treat your own little ones (or yourself) to this experience, you can reserve a spot by calling the hotel directly.

Little Runners will Love the Kids Fall Classic

Noah was so excited to hear about this brand new running event for kids from 1st through 5th grade sponsored by Front Running Sports in Lake Mary. Now I just have to explain to Ava why she can't participate (only open to kids in 1st - 5th grade).

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2009
Time: 8:00am start
Event: Kids Run event
Location: Sylvan Lake Park, Sanford

Participation Limit: Due to space restrictions this event is limited to 300 children so sign up early!

Registration: all registration fees are non-refundable
$10 through October 10
$12 October 11 - October 16
$15 Day of event - cash or check only

Register Online

Download Registration form
Kids Fall Classic Reg.pdf

Distance:
Distances will vary based on age division. Longest distance is 1.25 mile course. All courses are contained within Sylvan Lake Park. Each heat will be monitored with a lead and tail end adult.

Team Award:
A special team trophy will be awarded to the school that brings out the most participants.

Awards:
Awards will be given to top 3 boys and top 3 girls in each of the age group heats.
ALL children will receive finishers ribbons for their participation.

T-shirts
All registered kids will receive an event day t-shirt. All sizes will be youth sizes.

Age Groups:
1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade.
Each age group is separated into a separate boys and girls start.

Timing:
All heats will be manually timed. No official results will be posted. Time will be displayed on the finish line clock only.

Homeschooling in Orlando - ZOOm Air

ZOOm Air Adventures is an aerial adventure course at the Central Florida Zoo that will allow you to explore the tree tops from an animal’s perspective. You won't find a lot of information about it online, but I definitely recommend a trip there to check it out for yourself. Just be sure to put your child in closed-toed shoes (no sandals or Crocs allowed), because they are likely to want to start climbing right away!

We found ZOOm Air a little bit by accident - when we dropped our Styrofoam off for recycling earlier this summer, workers were literally in the treetops building the course. Noah was fascinated and insisted on doing it "right now", so I found an zoo employee to get the scoop. She told me that the course (not yet open at that time) was one of only a few of its kind in the United States and would include two adventures for adults and one for kids.

Today, we finally made it back to try it out for ourselves. After buying Noah's ticket ($12), we got him outfitted with a harness and were given instructions for navigating the course - mainly, he was to keep at least one safety hook attached to the cable at all times (in case he fell while he was repositioning the other one), and I was to follow him from the ground making sure he did that.

After that, he was off on the Upland course, which was a smaller practice course that was perfect for getting him used to the equipment and the process of moving his hooks one at a time. From there, it was on to the jungle course, which took the adventure to (literally) greater heights. While enjoying the view from above (and pointing out animals and waterfalls along the way), he navigated along a series of 19 platforms connected by suspension bridges, tightropes and other wobbly pathways suspended among the treetops - and capped off with a zipline-type swing to the final platform.

The kids' course is designed for children 36" - 60". Noah measured right at 46", and I really can't imagine anyone much smaller or younger completing the course. To think that Ava is already tall enough to do it is a little scary; I just can't imagine her being able to move the hooks on her own or having the focus to keep her footing. Maybe that's just the overprotective mom in me!

Parents must follow along from the ground, so closed-toed shoes are a good idea for us too. Many areas of the course are underwater due to rain, so I was very glad to have switched to running shoes from the white platform sandals I originally selected for the day.

Hoola Hooping Class

What a fun co-op we attended today - the kids got to make their own hula hoops! Noah fancies himself to be quite the hoop expert, so he was especially excited. Ava - to my surprise - was very upset that she was not able to keep the hoop up. I think I have a little perfectionist on my hands - oh, I don't wish that on her for anything!

The kids were excited to show their hoops to Daddy when we got home, and I tried showing Ava other things she could do with it - roll it, jump in and out of it, etc. She actually started having fun, and even got it to spin around her hips a time or two.

Sum Swamp Addition and Subtraction Game

I'm beginning to think that Teaching Tool Tuesday isn't the best idea - mainly because Tuesday night is my main night to work. This is the second week in a row I've missed actually getting this done on Tuesday, but better late than never I hope.

To say that Noah loves games would be a huge understatement. Noah adores games. He would play all day long if that were a possibility. Current favorites include Go Fish and High Card (which I like playing) and chess (which I do not).

For our spring session, I decided to tap into this enthusiasm with a few learning games, and Sum Swamp is definitely a winner. Players roll three die - two containing numbers and a third containing plus and minus signs. Formulate the die into a math problem, and when you figure out the answer, move ahead that many spaces. Special squares also utilize knowledge of even/odd numbers and introduce the concept of negative numbers.

So far, learning games have been a big hit! He can't wait to play, and I love watching him learn.

Fun Field Trip Ends Our Human Body Unit Study

The last planned activity for our human body unit study was an outing to the kids' races at the Watermelon 5K. Truth be told, we'd have been there anyway - unit study or no unit study. The kids love these races; Noah has been running them since he was two, and Ava started earlier.

Track Shack does a wonderful job with their events, and the kids' races are no exception. They are free events for kids 12 and under held in conjunction with local 5K and 10K races. Kids race in one of three age groups: 6-12, 4-5 and 3 & under. It's usually a bit chaotic, and they seem to pick the start locations and distances on the fly . . . but hey, did I mention it's free?

I didn't get to see Noah's race (due to the aforementioned chaos), but I was able to get Ava to her starting line on time. She is adamant about running by herself and often looks over her shoulder to make sure I'm not following her. And to my surprise, she's always at the front of the pack.

Both kids always agree that the race was not long enough and usually run back and forth to the finish line for 15 minutes after the race is over. As always, it was a great start to our weekend and a great tie-in with what we've learned about the importance of exercise!

Message in a Bottle Party Invitations

This has nothing to do with homeschooling, but sometimes my blog is like that. Much like her brother, Ava is a little fish in the water. So for her third birthday, a pool party sounded like the perfect plan. We're technically not supposed to have parties at our community pool, so we let her invite just a few friends to join us. It's especially hard with the second to not automatically invite Noah's friends or the children of all my friends to the party, but I try really hard to make it all about her.

We're doing a luau theme, and I put together these cute Message In a Bottle invitations. I know it's probably more Caribbean than luau, but I saw the idea somewhere and just had to try it. This morning, she helped me drop in the shells, then we stuffed in the invites. Again, Noah was itching to help, but I'm making a big effort lately to create moments that are just for her. I saved him one bottle to fill, but the rest were all hers.

Crafty Fun at Home Depot

Recently, Jim and Noah discovered the kids' building projects at Home Depot. Each month, they've been going on a Saturday morning to build the latest project - a car race track, a bird house and (this month) a wheelbarrow planter. The first time they went, Noah received a small orange Home Depot apron and each month he gets a new pin representing the project he just completed. He absolutely loves tools and building, so this is something he looks forward to all month long - and a great activity for he and Jim to do together.