Homeschool week 3 in review

Well, we are now done with our 3rd week of homeschooling activities. Here's how this week panned out.

Beginnings -- We discussed police officers and traffic safety. Also, we made fingerprints using several different methods -- or played CSI as Brian called it. Caleb reviewed the letters "s" and "n" and how to properly write them in uppercase and lowercase. We added the word "sit" to the "-it" family, and we were introduced to the "-in" family by learning, "in", "sin", and "tin". He also learned the words "here" and "is." The use of a "period" was also introduced and discussed. Caleb ended the week by reading a book called Grandpa's Bible which used and reinforced all the words he's learned so far. We are very proud of his reading and how it's progressing.

Math -- This week we reviewed counting up to 20, patterns, and shapes. We also learned one-to-one correspondence, fewer, same, and more.

Bible -- Caleb memorized Psalm 136:1a, and he learned the 5th question in First Catechism.

Extra stuff -- Caleb and Brian have spent some time playing with and learning more about the hermit crabs. Brian's been reading on the Internet, and he lets Caleb help implement what he learns. They've changed their diet, learned to bathe them, and cleaned out the hermit crab haven. They surely are interesting little creatures, and Caleb is fascinated by them.

Homeschool Week 2 in Review

Well, it's taken me longer to get this review in because it took us longer than a week to finish the lessons. Caleb started complaining of his ear hurting the Thursday before we left for Myrtle Beach. So, I ended up taking him to the doctor and taking a few days off from homeschooling. Turns out it was most likely a crick in his neck rather than any ear problems. Fortunately, it was better before our vacation.

With that said, here's a look at our last week of lessons:

Beginnings -- We were introduced to the Hunter family, and we learned about fire safety. We learned how to write letters "i and t" (uppercase/lowercase) and their corresponding sounds. He learned the beginning of the "-it" word family by learning the word "it."

Math -- We continued to review same/different, and we learned about patterns.

Music -- We learned the difference between loud and soft sounds.

Art -- We learned about secondary colors by experimenting with oil pastels.

Bible -- We reveiwed First Catechism questions 1-2, and we added questions 3-4. His two Bible verses this week were John 14:15 and Colossians 3:20 (this one is VERY important as we struggle with this sometimes).

Extra stuff -- He finished up his last session of swim lessons, and we prepared for our upcoming beach vacation. Caleb also attended a camp Monday-Friday at the Museum of Aviation titled "How Many Senses Do I Have?" He had lots of fun learning about the five senses and meeting/playing with new friends.

Caleb continues to surprise us with homeschooling. Granted, we both have our moments, but we're getting through better than we thought. Continue to keep us in your thoughts/prayers as we continue this venture.

Jump, jump, jump

We put Micah in his Jumperoo this evening, and we weren't sure if he'd know what to do or not. Well, he soon proved that he's a smart little cookie. He started jumping and just smiling away. Here's a little video...it's amazing how BIG he is now.

Some beach souvenirs...

Well, how can you leave the beach without a few souvenirs? Answer -- you CAN'T!!! But -- you don't have to bring home LIVING souvenirs like we did. Yep, that's right...we added to our family while we were away on vacation. No, I'm not pregnant (I think I'd SCREAM in shock being as my tubes are tied...lol). But -- we did increase our family by 3...3 HERMIT CRABS! We are now the proud owners of Tiny, Teeny, and Surfer. These are Caleb's pride and joy! He LOVES them. In fact, we all find them pretty amazing little creatures. They're pretty fun to watch. So, upon our arrival back home this afternoon, Caleb and Brian headed off to PetSmart and Walmart to pick up all the necessary supplies to create a nice little haven for our newest family members. And -- here they are...

Caleb helping get all the supplies ready for his hermit crabs.

Some of the many supplies needed to create the hermit crab haven.

Colored rocks washed and dried? Check!

Brian and Caleb pouring in the sand so the crabs have a place to burrow.

Caleb helping Brian pour in the rocks.

The haven...complete with all the necessary supplies + 3 hermit crabs.

Tiny (think that's the right one) is checking out the swimming pool.

Teeny and Tiny check out their new home.
Surfer decides to take a stroll across the bridge (this was neat to watch).
Surfer (can you tell he's active) decides to climb up the climbing wall and hang out. Teeny and Tiny look on in amusement. LOL!

Riding in the car...

Micah is such a trooper. He has been so well-behaved throughout our vacation. He's been content in the van for all the rides, he's been happy during all of our excursions, and he's been content at the condo. Granted, he does have the occasional screaming outburst while we're eating (it never seems to fail...he always does this when we're eating out), but other than that, he's been a GREAT vacationer. We're so proud of him. And -- everyone loves him. He's always getting adored when we're out and about...how can you not with his BIG baby blues??? Can you say future heartbreaker? Are we really ready for that? LOL! Here are a few pictures of our precious baby boy (notice that he's now able to hold onto toys and bring them to his mouth...a favorite place. LOL!).

Fun in the pool

We decided to let Micah have some fun in the pool today as well. We weren't able to stay in too long though because a huge storm was brewing. We're glad we got out when we did because there was an awful downpour later in the afternoon. Micah LOVED the water. He had a blast in his little float.

More time in the ocean

Well, since we're leaving tomorrow, we decided to head back down to the ocean for one last playtime in the ocean. The waves were HUGE, and they were pretty powerful. This upset Caleb because he wasn't able to spend much time on the body board. But -- the waves were knocking him down, so he soon gave up. Micah even got to enjoy some of the ocean water. It was nice because the tides would create a shallow area that the kids could play in until their hearts were content (or their parents told them otherwise). So, we could let them play without fear since it was shallow and separate from the HUGE ocean. They had a blast. Here are some pictures of our fun in the sun.

Courtney and Caleb looking for fish and seashells.

Micah's first time in the ocean.He really liked it (you can't really tell by his expressions).

Caleb, Micah, and Sherrie having fun in the water.

Brian and Caleb are pretty intense about something...

And now we know why...they found a lobster claw.

Go Fish

Ever since we started planning our vacation, Caleb has wanted to be able to go fishing. Well, we were worried we weren't going to be able to fulfill his wish, but after some Internet research (thank goodness for the Internet), we found the Cherry Grove Fishing Pier. It was actually only 7 minutes from where we were staying. So, this afternoon, Brian, Charlie, Courtney, and Caleb headed to the pier for some fishing. They had so much fun, but I don't have many pictures because Brian's hands were nasty. I stayed back at the condo with Micah, so I wasn't there to help with capturing the memory. But -- they all had fun. They caught some stingrays, baby sharks, and they were able to see a giant turtle, a school of stingrays, a shark jumping out to get a fish, and some dolphins all while fishing. They didn't keep any of the fish, so Caleb got the job of throwing them back (I'm sure that was enough fun for him). So, as a result of all the fishing, Caleb now wants a "REAL" rod and reel for his birthday. We've already let Uncle Daniel in on this little secret, so keep watching...

Caleb and Courtney watch as the gentleman releases the stingray they caught.

Charlie holding one of the baby sharks.

Caleb getting a closer look at the baby shark.

Alligator Adventure

After playing putt-putt and eating supper, it was time to meet Dave, Wendy, Courtney, Charlie and Diane at Alligator Adventure. This place had lots of alligators (hence the name), but they also had other reptiles and a few mammals. The kids had fun, and they were even able to pet some of the reptiles. This place also houses the largest alligator in captivity (Utan), and he's HUGE!!!!

Two tiny alligators

HUGE alligator

Look at the mouth on that thing...

Another big gator Some sort of crane

Micah asleep during the alligator feeding

Baby ducks

Beautiful macaw

An albino alligator

Micah woke up just in time for the Reptile show

Caleb touching a blue-tongued skink

Caleb touching a python (he actually went for the head...silly boy).

Caleb wrestling an alligator statue.

One last picture before heading to the gift shop for souvenirs.

Jungle Safari Putt-Putt

After not having much fun playing putt-putt at Dragon's Lair, Caleb wanted to play somewhere different. So, we drove up and down the road looking at all the different places so he could choose his FAVORITE one. He finally decided on Jungle Safari, and he had fun. It was a much better course, and it made for some great pictures as well.

Brian and Caleb sitting on the zebra.

Sherrie and Micah on the zebra.

He's a good little golfer.

Brian getting ready to take a shot.

Look at the concentration (I'm sure his tongue is out...lol).

Family portrait inside a gazebo.

Pavilion Nostalgia Park

Before we got to Myrtle Beach, we took advantage of some ticket savings. The tickets we purchased gave us entrance into the Aquarium, one round of Dragon's Lair putt-putt, 5 tickets at the Pavilion Nostalgia Park, one hour at MagiQuest, and one entrance into an Imax 3D movie. So, today we decided to head to Broadway at the Beach to use up the rest of our tickets.

First, we used up our ride tickets. Caleb LOVED the swings. He wanted to ride them over and over again. After riding the swings with Brian, he decided to ride the Caterpillar with mommy. This ride was soooo rough, but we both managed to make it through. Then he wanted to ride the HUGE pirate ship. So, mommy was the lucky adult supervisor AGAIN. Let me tell you...I'm not as young as I used to be, and I feel it on these darn rides. LOL! They are not the same as an adult...my stomach is not what it used to be. After finishing up on the pirate ship, he headed over to the teacups to use up his last ticket.

Next, Brian and Caleb played a round of putt-putt at Dragon's Lair. They enjoyed it, but they didn't have as much fun on this course as they have on others. Micah and I just chilled in the air conditioning for a bit.

After doing some shopping for shoes, we headed off to our IMax 3D movie. Caleb decided he wanted to watch Sea Monsters. It was right about time for Micah to eat, but luckily he ended up falling asleep. We all got ready for the movie, and it was cool at first. Caleb was so funny trying to reach out and touch the 3D objects. After a while though, he got really tired and ended up falling asleep. So, both of our boys slept through most of the movie. In fact, Brian dozed off some as well. LOL! Can you tell that we've been very active and it's starting to wear on us? LOL!

With all of our tickets used up, we headed out to grab supper at Olive Garden. But -- the wait was sooo long, so we went back to the condo. We met up with Charlie and Diane, and we all went to grab some supper. We were going to go to TGIFriday's, but their wait was outrageous as well. So, after much discussion, we ended up going back to Olive Garden. We still had to wait, but we figured we'd wait for food we KNEW we would enjoy rather than taking a chance at TGIFriday's. Our wait was worth it, because we all enjoyed our food. Then, it was back for more R&R at the condo.

Caleb and Brian getting ready to go for a swing.

Caleb and Sherrie waiting for the Caterpillar to start.

Sherrie AFTER the Caterpillar ride.Caleb and Sherrie waiting for the Pirate Ship to begin (we sat in the back).
WAY up in the air...this ride was a bit much for me in my old age.
Caleb going for a spin in the teacups.