I am posting this today....even though it happened last summer, we are headed out to this little piece/peace of heaven in just one short week.....
Today my four year old is singing "going to the beach, going to the beach, going to the beach next week" to a catchy tune I recognize but can't name. Kind of like people you see from highschool, but more on that later.
Recent Adventures
Laguna Beach, Florida A few seasons ago we decided that we wanted to study Marine Biology. This can be a challenging endeavor with children from the age of 14 down to three, but alas I decided I was up to it. The first step in this process was finding a good guide. I tend to be more of a do it momma than a be lectured to momma so textbooks are not usually my first choice. I was surprised to find…..http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/apologia.htmlSo, with that we began adventure. It wasn’t long into this small chapter of our Science Ed. did we realize we were going to be forced to go to the beach and discover this for ourselves. Our first trip was to the Tampa Bay/Clearwater area. We went in February so the weather wasn’t expected to be great. However, the family was blessed with 3 balmy days in the 7o’s. The bug had bitten. We all had the chance to really see the tide changing during the day, taste the salt water, and watch glorious sunsets over the water.With resolve we returned home to Memphis, studied for a few more months and in August we were off to Laguna Beach Florida. In laguna beach we saw a shark on the very first day just a few feet from us. We weren’t afraid, the memory of all of our study kicked in and Sarah Kay (6th grade) reminded us that we were more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than a shark, I must say that wasn’t much comfort with the shark in the water just a breath away from my children.The second day of our trip started with exploration. We found two great sandbars right there on the beautiful emerald coast of Florida. While wading out the children and daddy all found a quick sure step into the world of snorkeling. Treasure found included sand dollars (live ones),hermit crabs in the natural habitat (not the plastic habitats we are used to seeing) and hundreds of small (palm sized fish) that swam around our feet constantly. On the last day Donnie shared that the sand colored flat things swimming away when we kicked up sand were probably rays of some sort (glad he waited).On the third afternoon of our stay our cottage neighbors arrived with a few hundred pounds of Mahi-Mahi and Red Snapper. The language barrier was quickly crossed and all of us had a blast watching as the fish caught just off of the very coast we had been enjoying was prepared for dinner. We even saw one that was snatched by a shark on the way out of the water on the way to the boat (as evidenced by the remaining head). It was at this point I was decidedly set against seeing anymore sharks near our feet. The best part of the entire evening was being able to watch the sweet lady of these hungry fisherman cook up the fish, whole (with the eyeballs and all) with a dash of garlic and served with fresh lime and homemade Mexican rice. They then sent plate after plate of fish home with our greedy little hands. A blessing indeed.The pike family is studying birds next….watch out Audubon Society here we come.
Recent Adventures
Laguna Beach, Florida A few seasons ago we decided that we wanted to study Marine Biology. This can be a challenging endeavor with children from the age of 14 down to three, but alas I decided I was up to it. The first step in this process was finding a good guide. I tend to be more of a do it momma than a be lectured to momma so textbooks are not usually my first choice. I was surprised to find…..http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/apologia.htmlSo, with that we began adventure. It wasn’t long into this small chapter of our Science Ed. did we realize we were going to be forced to go to the beach and discover this for ourselves. Our first trip was to the Tampa Bay/Clearwater area. We went in February so the weather wasn’t expected to be great. However, the family was blessed with 3 balmy days in the 7o’s. The bug had bitten. We all had the chance to really see the tide changing during the day, taste the salt water, and watch glorious sunsets over the water.With resolve we returned home to Memphis, studied for a few more months and in August we were off to Laguna Beach Florida. In laguna beach we saw a shark on the very first day just a few feet from us. We weren’t afraid, the memory of all of our study kicked in and Sarah Kay (6th grade) reminded us that we were more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than a shark, I must say that wasn’t much comfort with the shark in the water just a breath away from my children.The second day of our trip started with exploration. We found two great sandbars right there on the beautiful emerald coast of Florida. While wading out the children and daddy all found a quick sure step into the world of snorkeling. Treasure found included sand dollars (live ones),hermit crabs in the natural habitat (not the plastic habitats we are used to seeing) and hundreds of small (palm sized fish) that swam around our feet constantly. On the last day Donnie shared that the sand colored flat things swimming away when we kicked up sand were probably rays of some sort (glad he waited).On the third afternoon of our stay our cottage neighbors arrived with a few hundred pounds of Mahi-Mahi and Red Snapper. The language barrier was quickly crossed and all of us had a blast watching as the fish caught just off of the very coast we had been enjoying was prepared for dinner. We even saw one that was snatched by a shark on the way out of the water on the way to the boat (as evidenced by the remaining head). It was at this point I was decidedly set against seeing anymore sharks near our feet. The best part of the entire evening was being able to watch the sweet lady of these hungry fisherman cook up the fish, whole (with the eyeballs and all) with a dash of garlic and served with fresh lime and homemade Mexican rice. They then sent plate after plate of fish home with our greedy little hands. A blessing indeed.The pike family is studying birds next….watch out Audubon Society here we come.
POST NOTE- We never really got to the birds (we did go to an Audbon site and spent an entire day with the naturalist). We instead, studied Astronomy this year after a short science break.
We will be in the salt water in one short week.
1 comment:
Dropping by to say hi! looks like loads fo fun in Florida last year.
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