On talk like a pirate day, everyone at James' school could wear pirate costumes for school. James was okay with just wearing a hat, but as he walked up to school wearing it he kept almost taking it off. I think he was nervous about looking silly until he saw how many other kids and teachers were dressed up :)
This is his class in their pirate gear. They also colored pirate hats to wear if they didn't already have one. James is in the back right of the picture holding his paper hat on top of his real hat. So silly!
James' yoga teacher got a grant for an industrial Vitamex and has started making smoothies for the kids at lunchtime. Eventually they will be available to buy it with their school lunch but she wanted everyone to get a chance to try a sample and see how much they like it first. She is going to test out different flavors every Friday, this time it was orange julius. Yum!
James is hiding behind the lunchbox :) He said that he liked it, but that he doesn't want to buy any.
For Aviation day, a group of retired pilots did a flyover over James' school. They did some cool formations and then later in the day they did a presentation in the cafeteria for the kids. James said that they talked all about how much they have to practice so they don't crash into each other :)
They also got a visit from a helicopter and two helicopter pilots. This one they got to watch come in and land in the PE field. Then they got to go up to it and see all the controls and ask the pilots questions. It was an exciting day!
James' class with the helicopter:
Seabiscuit really likes to sleep and hang out in his doghouse. At his previous home he dug himself a burrow that he would sleep in so we weren't sure if he would want to do the same thing, but he seems to like it in there.
We are trying to get the iguana and the little tortoises more sunlight so we have been putting them outside during the day in their new pen Anthony built. They seem to really like the fresh air and fresh grass.
James got to watch the first Gator game of the season with me and he was really getting into it with me. He even told me that when he retires from being a police officer or a firefighter, he wants to be a Gator football player. I told him maybe he could be the kicker (trying to avoid brain damage here!)
On a trip to Walmart I let Rett try one of those claw machines they have in the front by the vending machines and he actually won! He got out this crazy zombie stuffed animal. Super creepy.
Since the hurricane, our farm vegetable box delivery had to be suspended for a few months while they replant. So I went to the produce stand for the first time in forever and I went a little crazy buying all kinds of vegetables that we haven't been eating since we've only had what is in season locally for so long. I spread out all the veggie ends and peelings between the chickens and the tortoise and they were loving it:
The chickens have learned that when they see us outside we usually will have some kind of treat or food for them, so if you go outside they will run towards you as fast as they can. It is so cute! I got a short video of one of them doing it:
I had never heard of this before this year, but apparently picking saw palmetto berries is big business around her. The saw palmetto plants are all over the place and during the few months of the season you can see all kinds of people on the side of the road picking them. There are a few stands set up close to us where people buy the berries to sell to the factory that uses them for vitamins, and a friend of ours tried it out. She picked a bunch of them from plants in her back yard and she said she made $50! So of course, we had to give it a try. First I walked all around our yard to see if we had any. I found this guy hiding behind a palm frond, but no berries :)
Next I went over our back fence to check out the 7 acres behind us that belongs to our neighbors. She invited us to go back there whenever we liked, so I didn't feel like I was trespassing. After walking around for awhile, I found the jackpot! Look at all of those berries, all on one tree! It was exciting!
James really wanted to pick berries with us (especially since we told him he could keep some of the money for his piggy bank) so when he got home from school he helped me cut them down and bring them home.
James took my phone and got a picture of a gopher tortoise nearby:
And a picture of his nose apparently :)
There were quite a few downed trees and this one's root system is up in the air. It was pretty cool actually!
After Anthony got home, we took a walk down our street to see if we could find anymore. We found a bunch right next to the railroad. Anthony got right in the middle of the bushes and started cutting branches out, no fear!
Rett got out and walked so there would be room for James to drive the berries home.
Once we got home, we got all the berries off the branches and took them down the road to the buyer. We ended up with $30 for just an hour or so of work. It was so much fun! We ended up going out and looking for berries a few more times before everything closed for the season. Now that we are more familiar with it, we can't wait for next season!
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