Turtle Mound
These kids are sitting on top of a huge mound of oyster shells. If you use your imagination you can visualize some Timacuan children hundreds of years ago on the same mound. This is where they piled their empty shells. At one time the mound was 75 feet tall. It is thought that they would use this mound to escape the storm surge in a hurricane. I told the kids that the next time we would take kayaks and gather our own oysters, eat them and throw the shells on the heap. You know a re-enactment of sorts.

Just playing around with Connie's website - picturetrail. Fun stuff!

What a fun day...Jack and Leah spent the night and we all went ice skating. Jess leaves tomorrow and we will really miss her. As for this evening... well they are all hanging out in the kitchen together. They cook and eat and look for more to cook and eat. I guess it's the Italian side. I think I will go see whats on the menu.

Jessie's here...and that's always a good thing.

Ashley's friend Alex took this photo of her on the wall in the backyard. I liked it so here you are. Hope you like it too.

Pinewood Derby!
Andy's car won first in design. ( second row second to last car ) He called it THE FORCE and it had a little Yoda guy driving. Jack had a race car style and it was extremely fast. (blue car third row) Both boys had a great day at the races!

With courage, strength and true de-vo-tion, Columbus sailed his ships numbered three. Rocking tossing ov-er the o---cean, Nina, Pinta and Santa Ma---rie.
Ok so that was pretty much all he accomplished but that doesn't make this little ship any less cool. This is the Nina, and she is a caravel. A caravel is a small compact ship that was used to explore coastlines and rivers. There were no quarters below so the men slept on deck. Apparently traveling the 29th parrallel is fairly pleasant and they had little weather to contend with. Hmm. I wonder if they had sunblock. Made entirely by hand without the use of power tools this is said to be a close replica of the Nina. The dingy was made by a 14 year old apprentice while his family built the mother ship. The kids (Andy, Jack, Leah and Will) had a good time climbing around on this boat, helping raise the sails and pretending to stear the dingy.

Poplar Place Farm Horse Trials

OK, if these two look cold it is because they were. The temp was 28 degrees, with a 30 knot wind and snow flurries. This farm is located on Pine Mountain in Georgia. Phanny saw steep hills for the first time and seemed to like them. On cross country she raced up a huge steep hill, jumped a roll top at the top and landed heading down the hill on the other side. Kind of like a roller coaster. She loved all of the excitement and new jumps but questioned the need to go in the water jumps. (She prefers sunny days at the beach for her swimming.) There were riders from all over the globe at this show because Fl. and GA host the winter shows. Kim Severson and Winsome Adante were there (Ash has a poster of this team on her wall) and Ashley was able to sit at the water jump and get pictures of her coming through the water. Apparently Adante doesn't mind the cold water.

Friday night
good friends
and all weekend to
recover.

Ashley News:
Ash has been riding everyday to get ready for her 3 day horse trial at Poplar Place Farm. Marcelo Barros, 4 time olympian is working with her. She calls him Mr. Pain, but she says it with a smile.

Tournament Champions!
Lake Mary wins against the Seminoles in the final game. Austin was named all-tournament player.

Cub Scout Campout:
Disneys Fort Wilderness is a plush campground that sits across the lake from the Magic Kingdom. These are photos from our 'not so remote but really fun' campout.


The deranged looking man in the pool is our cubmaster Pete. Let's just say that once he stirred these boys up, everyone in Disney knew we were there.
Honestly we did not see this sign until we were leaving the area. We just thought it was very cool that Disney would have such an awesome treacherous trail.
You are supposed to say "I love bunnies" when the smoke burns your eyes. Don't look at me! A WeBeLo told me that.

Of course Leah and Ashley had to thoroughly comb through things at the Trading Post. Oh and guess what, they don't trade things there. Tanner and Andy tried to trade their sweatshirts for some hats and the lady just stared at them.

Freshman tournament news:
LMHS won their games against Oviedo and Lake Brantley. They will play Seminole HS this evening at 7:30. The team is currently at the movies watching some inspirational b-ball movie and gorging themselves at Subway. I am sure this is how the pros get psyched for their games. Updates later...

This is a photo taken during the warm-up before Lake Mary's game with Seminole High. The season is coming to a close with one game left on fri. and a freshman tournament on the weekend. We were very happy with the way Austin was coached and the program was handled. Hats off to Lake Mary HS for that. As a matter of fact we started the year toying with possible prep school options for Austin and ended up being more then happy with his first semester at LMHS.
GO RAMS!

Homeschool perks

Running out in the rain because you feel like it.

Its always something...

These two caught the clown bug at the circus. Greatest Show on Earth? You bet!

Uncle Jack gives the kids some guitar tips.

Boys at the beach..

Sea Horses!

I know that I have to look twice at these two with their new looks. I thought I would help everyone else out with an updated photo.

First show of the season went well for Ashley. Her Dressage score was a personal best and her stadium was very well ridden. Cross country was a little tricky but had some brilliant moments. This pair is really coming along. This photo is a favorite of mine from a clinic last season. My camera battery went dead. (I actually think it was frozen.) Ashley, Leah and I were up before dawn and headed to the show. When we arrived there the grass was white with frost. Not too special for some but a little strange for us. It crunched when we walked.
Good job Ashley!

Taking things apart...


Andy gets to dissect a flower while poor Ashley is at school dissecting frogs.
We all know how she feels about frogs. Lets try to be nice to her this afternoon.



ribbit

Things you can do when the waves are small.

Sand fights (of course this is Ashley's choice)


Bamboo tug-of-war. (point of the game...unknown)






and for Adam



flipping off the dunes is fun.


Watching him is fun for everyone.

Who needs waves anyway?

This is exciting!
Austin was recommended for membership on a delegation of student athletes. They will travel to Holland as sports ambassadors to compete in the Youth Friendship Games. The program was set up by President Eisenhower to promote world peace. 7000 student athletes from around the world will be involved. We dont have many details as yet but will keep everyone updated.

Over the woods...

and through the river...

looks like show season has arrived!

Happy New Year!