The Everglades

What is a trip to South Florida without a visit to one of the greatest National Parks ever? Pretty boring, that's for sure! The Everglades is a one of a kind National Park experience. You really could spend days down there exploring- I think it would make a fun camping and biking trip once the kids are old enough to not look like such tasty morsels to the gators who call the glades home! We stuck to the Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trails which are always sure to please the tourists.

While we were out seeking the big thrills- the gators of course, we also happened upon some smaller creatures. Jack almost stepped on this snake on the side of the road as I yelled at him to stay on the path.



While I was reprimanding him, I was shushed by the photographer taking the picture of the Green Heron in the next photo.


We saw 6-7 of the gators sunning really close to the path. They weren't "big" according to the Park Rangers but they were big enough for us.

We missed any up close panther sightings (thank you!) but still saw enough to earn our Junior Ranger badges!

South Florida Trip

In November, we took a road trip down to Hollywood to visit Great Grandma Mil-Mil (as the kids call my grandmother). The children were delighted to see where she lived. Jackson had been there when he was a baby but Jane had never been. Grandma's condo is full of photos, artwork and mementos commemorative of a lifetime of travel and other experiences. My grandfather was a talented artist, utilizing all sorts of mediums from oil paints, copper and wood and it was interesting to see the young eyes take it all in!

While there, Jack begged Grandma to teach him to play chess, which she gladly did. The kids also were fascinated by her library-sale-salvaged encyclopedia set and had us looking up everything from Pocohantas to the Tower of London to Ibis. The Towel of London look-up was inspired by a teapot, of which Grandma Mil-Mil has 104, according to Jane's last count.

Also of great interest were the 6 iguanas we encountered outside the condominium. These are likely former pets released into the wild and we were excited to see so many in one place. Of course, we looked them up under "I" and found out they eat fruit and swim and are from South America. Everything is a lesson when you homeschool!

This is what it is all about!

Jane is reading to Jillian. These wonderful moments when the children are together, just enjoying being siblings, are what home- schooling is all about. You just can't get that in a classroom!