Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is the imitation of a sound in words.  Examples are buzz, splash, hiss, woof and meow.  It is my five cent teacher word.  Another example would be Screeeechh.  That was the sound of our summer abruptly coming to an end.

The kids started school this past Monday.  We were cruising along full speed enjoying our summer and BAM! (another example of onomatopoeia) we hit a brick wall.  It was time to go back to school.  I am always a bit sad, boo hoo, when the kids go back.  We had a fun and relaxing summer.  It was the first time since we have lived in Georgia that PK was home for the summer.  Since his days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, it is rare that we all have a day off together.  The kids being off during the summer gave us some family time.

This is what Aaron thought about going back to school and his first day of middle school.  Whaaa!

Nahhhh.  It wasn't really that bad.

Rachel was all smiles.  She has been ready to go back since we came back from Florida.

Here is the two of them together.

Then there was Hannah Banana.

She has Stacy Anderson this year.  Stacy is a friend of mine and was the supply teacher in Hannah's first grade class a couple years ago when her first grade teacher was on maternity leave.  We were so hoping Hannah would be in her class again this year.

I don't have a picture of all three of them together because I took Hannah and went straight to work.  The preschool teachers had to work setting up classrooms this week. 
Our students come back next Monday.  PK took Rachel and Aaron so they wouldn't have to get to school so early.  It was pretty emotional for me.  It is the first year I didn't see them off for their first day of school.  Of course, it didn't bother them.  After this week, I will drop them on my way to work.  Next year they will all be at different schools. 

The girls have had a great first week and I expected nothing less. The big surprise?  Aaron actually likes school.  It isn't the smiling from ear to ear excitement the girls have, but for him, it is great.  I am so thankful to see it.  He has a couple male teachers which I think is helpful.  He also said he likes moving from class to class. 

They Will Stink

Aaron is in the middle of two of his Scout buds.

Aaron left for his first full week of Boy Scout camp this morning.  He has gone on several weekend trips as a Boy Scout and countless as a Cub Scout.  This will be his first week long trip.

He was not nervous at all.  He loves it!!  The boys were limited to bringing just their footlocker.  They will be sleeping in platform tents and eating in a cafeteria type setting so that saves them from packing some of their gear.

Yesterday, I helped Aaron pack.  Oh...my...word!  He spent most of the time digging through his room hunting for items such as his compass, water shoes and personal first aid kit.  When he comes back from this trip, I am going to help him unpack and then we are going to put all of his gear in the footlocker.  Next time he is packing for a camping trip, he will know where everything is.  P.K. said the next time he has to pack, Aaron will do it himself and then we can check it afterwards.  Sounds like a plan to me.

Of course, he will leave out what I would consider essentials like clean underwear, soap and toothpaste.  I packed him lots of extra socks and underwear, but I know he won't change them as often as he should.  I told him to brush his teeth every day, but, again, I know he won't.  He also has soap, but I'm quite certain he won't use that.  When I go to pick him up on Saturday, I know I will want to tie him to the top of the van to air him out on the ride home and to keep the smell from permeating the inside of the van. 

I also know he will have a great adventure this week.  Each time he goes to a regular weekly meeting or goes on a weekend camping trip, he learns new skills and can explain them in detail.  I know this week will not be any different.  Plus, the camp has a Slurpee machine and the Scouts took along enough cash to buy two a day.  What could be any better?

600 Steps...'Bout Died

As a family, we like to explore the outdoors.  We decided to take a day to hike Amicalola Falls in the north Georgia mountains.

The hike is gorgeous the entire way.  We followed the stream that runs down from the falls.

Aaron and Hannah especially like climbing on the rocks.

Just ignore what this sign says.

When they saw fallen trees they wanted to climb out on them.  Aaron and Hannah were a bit timid, but were more brave with P.K.

To get to the bottom of the falls we had to climb 175 steps.

It took me a while to catch my breath once we got to the top.  P.K. waited for us to climb to the top to get a picture.  He kept telling me to get the kids for a picture, but I couldn't talk to do it.  Ha!

Once we enjoyed the view at the base of the falls, we had 425 more steps to make it to the top.  P.K., Aaron and Hannah went first.  Rachel and I stood and thought about it for a while, but we finally made it.

The view from the top was gorgeous.  I thought the walk back down would easier, but my legs were like jello.  We decided to try the restaurant at the lodge after our hike.  We were seated by the window that takes up the full wall.  It was also a beautiful view of the mountains.  The food?  Let's just say it wasn't nearly as good as the view.

Gator Hunting

Three years ago, the kids and I went to visit my friend Sonya who was stationed in Florida.  She took us to an area of the Everglades that was teeming with alligators.  I knew I wanted to return while we were in Florida this year and I wanted P.K. to be there with us this time around.

I emailed Sonya (who is now stationed in Germany) and asked her if she remembered where she took us.  She didn't, so I chose one of the areas on the east coast as that is the side where she lived.  As soon as we arrived, I knew it wasn't the same spot. 

We skipped the visitors center and drove into the park.  Our first stop was the Royal Palms area.  We were disappointed that we didn't see one single alligator.

We did see this cool heron.

It flew away while Rachel was trying to strike a pose.

There was a very small gift store at the Royal Palms area.  We went in and talked to the lady working.  She said it was too hot and if we wanted to see alligators we would have to come back in December or January.  I knew that wasn't one hundred percent true because Sonya took us in July.  P.K. suggested we head back to the main visitors center and talk to the rangers. 

We didn't see live Florida panthers which do live in Everglades National Park, but we did find the next best thing outside the visitors center.

A Florida panther statue.

The rangers said if we waited until it was later in the day (it was about 4:30 at the time), we were more likely to see some. They also said if we drove all the way down to the Flamingo area we might also see crocodiles and manatees.  We decided to watch a movie about Everglades National Park at the visitors center.  It was very educational and we all learned something we didn't know.  One thing we learned is that the stuff that grows on top of the water is called periphyton.  The ranger in the movie encouraged park visitors to pick it up, squish it and smell it.  P.K. kept saying the ranger said to taste it.  He knew he didn't, but we all thought it was funny.

Another thing we learned in the video was how very small changes in elevation affect what plants grow.

We left the visitors center to head about 30 miles into the park to the Flamingo area.  It is the farthest south we could go in the park with the exception of the campground.  We decided to stop at almost all of the marked areas on our way.

Hannah made the first animal sighting.  At the visitors center there were buttons we could push.  Each one played an animal sound and showed the identification.  From that, we knew we were hearing baby alligators in the area.  Hannah spotted a baby alligator.  It was probably about 18 inches long and about a year and a half old.

Another area had a small pond.  We came across a sign that said not to go beyond that point because it was a protected bird nesting area.  By the looks of this feather, something went past that point.
It was probably about 6:30 before we reached Flamingo.  We were not disappointed, as another visitor almost immediately pointed out two crocodiles swimming around the marina.

This one stood sunning on the opposite bank.

PK and the kids enjoy ice cream while they watched the crocodile sunning on the opposite shore.

After we spent some time at Flamingo, we decided to head back to the entrance and since it was cooler out we stopped back at Royal Palm.  The sunset was gorgeous.

We walked out the path and I had my eyes on the water.  Aaron was about three feet in front of me when he spotted this pair of alligators just off the walk.  He was no farther than a foot from them when he saw them.  He claims he wasn't at all afraid of the gators, but when I gasped I almost gave him a heart attack.  Well, I almost had one when I saw my child a foot away from two eight foot plus alligators!

We also saw a lot of swamp apples.  Aaron and Hannah thought these were cool as they heard about them on one of their favorite shows.

This sweet girl wanted her picture taken with the sunset in the background.
We left the park very excited to have seen some great wildlife.  It was over a two hour drive back to Marco Island or I think we would have gone again.  Maybe we will make it back on our next trip to Florida.

Fishers of Men

And passing by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting nets into the sea for they were fisherman. Mark 1:16

This isn't going to be the theological post it seems.  One of the fist day we were on Marco, we were at Tigertail and saw men casting nets to catch mullet.  The fish were jumping out of the water and the men were catching them with ease.  Aaron decided right then that he wanted a net like that to go fishing.  PK bought one for Aaron and Hannah and took them fishing.  This is the same lagoon where we crossed to go to the beach (stinky yucky water).

Hannah asked this blue heron where she should cast her net to catch fish.  I guess he lied because they only caught sea grass.

He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

PK and the kids did not haul in fish in their nets today, but the memories are numerous.

Camping Hannah Style

Aaron and Hannah built a fort in the dining room of the rental house.  Then they decided they wanted to sleep in it in their swimsuits.  What happens on vacation, stays on vacation (or at least goes no farther than the blog).