STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we took a fun adventure to the Strawberry Patch. This has been an outing we've tried to take 3 times. Thankfully the third time WAS the charm. The last 2 dates we chose were either on rainy days or just after lots of rain so we had to postpone so the ground could dry. So today was THE day we had waited for! Here is HC and her buddy, A, posing for a picture. L and JB
JB, A, HC and L - with baskets in hand and ready to pick their strawberries!!!!
The farmer was showing the kids the best way to pick the berries and he showed them which berries were the best ones to choose. Let the picking begin!
JB was a quick student! He quickly got the hang of things and his basket was heavy quickly.
HC had a great time! Sweet girl!
He's a natural I tell ya!
Berries!
HC picking some berries.
The berries were so juicy and plump!
Fun times.
CHEESE! We love STRAWBERRIES!
HC took a pic of me and JB.

Thankfully we left with some extra goodies too - some squash, zucchini, broccoli and onions! What a fun trip for some yummy goodies! The End.

A Tour of Our Local Grocery Store

I heart Publix! There's just something about this store - it is always so clean and the staff is very friendly! Not to mention the bargains, so when I heard our home school group was going on a tour of the place - I was happy to sign us up! Here we are as we waited for the fun to begin. Lots of fun stacking cans!
Then it was time to begin the tour. Our tour guide was Boston Charles! He was a great guide. He made the time fly by!
We split our group into 2 groups. Here's our group beginning the tour.
Charles was calling for one of our students over the intercom. I was so glad we got the fun guide!
And the moment finally came - the opportunity for us to see what lies behind the double doors! Woohoo! (Even though I worked in a grocery store while I was in high school, I still thought it was fun to see the back of the store.)
Here he was showing us how they stack the goods on crates and lift them on the shelf.
He demonstrated this cool gadget! He even beeped the horn for us.
We peeked in several coolers and freezers. He was thorough.
The kids all signed in/out for work. I'm afraid he didn't expect them to be so hands on! :) They enjoyed the chance to press the buttons. Hopefully they didn't sign anyone in or out.
Then one of the butchers brought out a live lobster for us to see. The kids loved it!
Here's one of the Publix crew stocking the bakery and we found out that the dolly is called a float.
They were given hair nets when we passed by the bakery.
JB was not interested in the hair net. But the cookie was a welcome gift.
We toured the upstairs loft - where the offices are and then....
black out! I missed getting a shot of the view but.... it was neat to be up there when the power shut off. The emergency generators had a few lights on before we knew it. What a fun time. After the tour ended we picked up a few groceries and we were on our way home. We found out a tornado had hit down the road when the power shut down on us. We safely arrived home and took a nap while waiting for our electricity to turn on. It was an adventurous time in the end! I love field trip days!

Post Office Tour

Today we had another fun day - a tour of the Post Office. Kristy read a book to us first - about the various methods of mail delivery over the years. Pretty large crowd huh?

Posing with their mail in hand.
More posing. They brought letters to mail on this special day.
Here we are in the back of the post office. Getting the inside scoop of how mail is sorted.
They were able to see inside this mail carrier.
And then they posed by a mail man on his way to deliver his pile of mail. They had a great time.
Then it was time to mail their letter.
One last pose with their coloring books in hand.
What a fun time.
After a group lunch we met friends at the park. The high was in the 60's!! Beautiful weather!

Goldilocks and The Three Bears

Today we had the pleasure of watching a play. The play had a little modern twist to it, they began the story with Goldilocks having trouble keeping her hands to herself at home. She played in Mommy's jewelry and broke it. She touched Dad's guitar and broke it. She dug in a bird's nest and took the baby bird from the Mommy. She took acorns from a squirrel. She ended in the Three Bear's home and you know the rest of the story. What a way to drive the message home.... "KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!" The kids loved it and it had a bit of humor for the Mom's too. SO much fun. Here's HC posing with Baby Bear: Here she is with Goldilocks. JB was glad to watch the play but not interested in posing with anyone. :)
JB was willing, although far from thrilled, to pose in front of the family portrait of the 3 Bears.
Here they are sitting with one of our home school buddies (above and below).
More home school friends! I love home school field trips!!!
Group shot.

We had such a fun filled day. Looking forward to our field trip tomorrow!! More fun is on it's way! WooHOO!!

A Very Christmasy Sort of Day Today!

It all began with a Homeschool Field Trip to see the play Dickens' Vest Pocket Christmas. This was SO fun! I enjoyed it so much. HC kept asking me if the Scrooge had Jesus in his heart yet. It was funny that she asked me that question repeatedly. I think she saw how angry he seemed and realized he might not know Jesus? I don't know but it made the play that much more fun - wondering what she was getting out of this. Such a GREAT play! Thankfully it wasn't too scary with all the ghosts. Here they are posing with Scrooge.
Here they are with Tiny Tim! HC was worried about his leg and worried if he died or not.
Then I decided that we would stop off and see Santa, since we were out. I LOVE to take them but HATE the crazy lines. Thankfully this year we chose a good time to go and the people were SUPER nice.
This Santa was so much fun. He talked to the kids and was very 'Santa like' in how he responded. Not in regards to 'ho ho ho' but in just enjoying kids. In past visits HC and JB would approach Santa and he rarely spoke, he ignored them really. The other Santa was a more handsome Santa, for the sake of photos, but not so fun to visit.
JB sat in Santa's lap for the first time ever! Normally I had to sit with them. Thankfully this year he was brave enough to sit with him without me. HC has LOTS of questions this year. Is Santa real? How does he visit everyone? (So far I just ask her 'What do you think?' when she asks these questions.) JB wanted to see the reindeer. He actually wanted to feed them. It was a fun visit this year.
While we were at the mall (I know - Christmas is near but....) I needed to pick up some earrings for HC. She has been wearing mine and I don't want her to lose them. So far so good but we've nearly lost them 3 times. So we picked up earrings for her and since poor CooCoo has been a bare bear for 2 years..... he was due an outfit. Lately we've needed to pick up something for HC and JB gets left out. Sure he didn't need an outfit for CooCoo but I thought he deserved one for all the many times he patiently did without.... without complaining! At the mall a girl curled HC's hair but we didn't spend $100 on the super fab curling iron. HC wanted a picture with her curls. After having her hair curled we ate a pretzel and headed home. Here's JB showing off CooCoo's outfit and HC sportin' those curls!

We are finishing the night off in style.... we are watching Polar Express and then off to bed! A VERY Christmasy day for our crew! If only it would have snowed! haha