Field Trip Week/Luokkaretkiviikko

What a week!!! I think we gave a whole new meaning to the term "homeschooling" this week. We were barely home! It was a fantastic week of learning, fun and friends. {And this week we will sleep.}

On Monday we met friends at Legoland, and despite the doubting expressions on the first photo, it was a great day. We had never been to Legoland before despite the boys being huge lego fans when they were younger (I can't believe that phase is pretty much over now - they built with legos for years..). At regular prices our family would have had to pay close to $550 for one day, not including the water park admission. Yikes! Thankfully Legoland has homeschool days, so we paid $86 for the whole day (for the six of us - the Captain had to work). And that included parking, and a locker rental, since we brought our own lunch and drinks. Score!!

We knew the park is geared toward younger kids, so having that expectation helped everyone have a good time. The boys explored the park on their own all day. We (us girls) hang out with friends some, explored the park on our own some, and Little Miss and I ended up taking a wild roller coaster ride, too. Terrible! Whee!!!!

Missy wasn't feeling well, so we ended up leaving early. Still, what a fun, full, exhausting day, lol.



Tuesday we recovered from our Legoland day. I was so tired Little Miss ended up doing most of her school on mama's bed. Of course we had to go swim for PE.



On Wednesday morning we were able to get school work done, too. After lunch Little Miss and I dropped two boys off at film making class, and did not only one, but two field trips during class!

We first visited Sunken Gardens, talked to the birds, saw flamingos, enjoyed the lush gardens, until we saw a snake freely roaming around, and then decided to go visit Great Explorations children's museum. No pictures from there, but we had a great time playing, and actually plan to go back next week.

On Wednesday our teens also attended youth group, and the Captain, Little Miss and I attended Prayer and Praise service at church.




Thursday morning we packed up our crew again, and headed to Tampa. Florida Aquarium had a $5 homeschool day, so naturally we had to take advantage of that (normally around $20/ticket). Met a lot of homeschool friends there, too.

It was well done, there were tanks with sharks, sting rays, and all kinds of various sea creatures, but they also had a Wetlands Trail, exhibiting native fish, snakes, alligators, turtles and river otters that live in Florida's freshwater rivers and swamps.



Fridays are are homeschool co-op days. We get up early, and enjoy beautiful sunrise colors as we drive to our church for classes.

This Friday I attended a class, also. Information on dual enrollment - high school and college for high school years. A lot of great info, a lot to digest. The Captain and I went on a date to go over some of our options. Would we need to settle down for a bit, or will we find a way to continue our travels, and still do dual enrollment? Praying for wisdom..



By Saturday morning I was ready to hibernate a month, but dragged myself out of bed. We had decided to go back to Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter, before CMA closes for filming of the sequal.

So glad we went!

Since our last time, they have had changes: Panama passed away, and Winter and Hope were moved to different tanks (maybe their older ones, now remodeled?). You could see them so much better now. We happened to be there during training, which was very fascinating. Here is a short video.



In the first photo Winter doesn't have her prosthesis, but in this middle one she is having a training session with her prosthetic tail. You can see a video clip here.



And in this last photo her tail is off again, and she is given a reward of fish - not herring though, we learned she really doesn't care for herring:)

The Captain and Mr. A joined Little Miss and I this time. We did the behind the scenes tour, again. What a great place!

After CMA we headed to church for Saturday night worship service. Today, Sunday, we have already been to the beach, and once I hit 'publish', we'll head back out there for a second swim! Having a quiet day feels so good after such a busy week.

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Meillä on todella aktiivinen viikko takana. Maanantaina kävimme Legolandissa, keskiviikkona Sunken Garden-puutarhassa, lastenmuseossa, sekä kirkossa. Torstaina kävimme Tampan akvaariossa, perjantaina oli kirkossa ryhmäopetusta kotikoululaisille (sekä yksi oppitunti vanhemmille lukio/yliopisto-opinnoista), me vanhemmat pääsimme treffeille myös. Eilen kävimme katsomassa Winter-delfiiniä taas, ja iltakirkossa. Tiistai ja tämä sunnuntai ovat meidän rauhallisempia kotipäiviä. Kiva viikko, mutta huh kun on poikki!! Ensi viikolla nukutaan:)