Friends, fun and other random happenings here ...

 So many fun things going on and I'm trying to play a little bit of catch up ... as always.  Our week has been relatively quiet.  Its been odd having Rebecca gone.  Just having the 4 younger ones and things seem so quiet.  We've also had few outside commitments so we've been home a lot.  Its been a great week for getting some school work done!  We've been able to Skype with Rebecca several times and while brief, they have been wonderful.  I love that we can see and talk with her while she is so far away!  A real treat and a blessing!  I'm very much looking forward to having her home soon!

Last month, I was able to spend a week end with some dear friends.  Some I've known for many years - since about the beginning of my homeschool journey and some just for a few years.  It was relaxing, encouraging and just fun!

 Isaiah got braces.  He actually only has them on 6 upper teeth and is only expected to have them for 3-4 months.  It is trying to correct a problem with his bite.  He has been great about taking care of them and watching what he eats.  I think he looks pretty cute too!

 On the first day of spring, we headed to Rita's Italian Ice (right after Isaiah got his braces).  They were giving away free ices.  I loved that they were gluten-free!  Its fun to have a treat that we can all enjoy!

 Just had to show off this cute hairstyle!  Rebecca does the cutest things with Eliana's hair!  I'm so glad that Eliana has a big sister to do these fun and cute girly things with her!

 Adorable, right?

 It isn't easy getting her to sit still for this either!  LOL

 We celebrated Joe's (Christopher's roommate) birthday.  It was so much fun to have Christopher, Joe and 3 of their friends over for dinner.  This is what a crowd at our house looks like.  

 Eliana really enjoys playing with Joe and she clearly has something important that she is telling him here.

 Fun playing with Joe!

What a great group of young men!  We laughed, played and had a fun time with all of them.  (For any of you that may read this, please come back soon!)

 Its nice hearing the piano played as nobody here plays it much any more.

 Of course we had a birthday cake!  Happy Birthday Joe!  Thank you for sharing your day with us!  We are so thankful for you!

 Did I mention how much we enjoy having these guys over?  I'm so glad that we live close enough to get to know some of Christopher's friends and to have them home for a meal.  :-)

We also celebrated my Dad's birthday.  Rebecca and I were able to make a quick trip to Charlotte to spend some time with Dad on his birthday.  We had a birthday lunch at my sister's house.

 I'm blessed to have an amazing family!  I thank God every day for my family!  I love you Mom and Dad!

 Eliana and I attended a tea party.  A mom of another little girl Eliana's age invited several little girls with Down syndrome to come to a tea party.  All of the girls are about 5-7 years old.  She thought it would be nice for them to have some girl time.  It was a really fun morning!  A beautiful table!

 And delicious foods!  All of which were safe for Eliana to eat.  It really touched my heart that she went to all of this effort to make sure that Eliana could eat whatever was being served!

 Doesn't she look like a little lady?  *grin*

 This is a gluten free doughnut!  One of my friend's friends bakes gluten free goodies.  She also teaches classes.  I'm hoping to be able to go to one in the future!  I would love to learn how to bake really good sweets like this!

 A table full of beautiful little girls.  All loved and cherished.  Little girls that enjoy dress-up and tea parties and dolls.

 It was a fun morning  spent with friends that we don't know well, but would like to get to know better.  I wish we didn't all live so far apart from each other.

This post feels very random and like a bombardment of a whole lot of different things.  Kind of like my life.  My life is quiet some days and loud on others.  Busy and calm.  Stressful and relaxing.  Lots of variety but through it all, I'm blessed beyond measure.  I'm thankful for family and friends.  For good health.  For God's love.

Blessings
Leslie

Centennial Wildlife Field Trip

We had a beautiful and warm day for our field trip to NC State's Centennial Campus.  We split into 2 groups and for a change, I went with the older group!  The younger group stayed on the site and did some nature programming on insects.  

There are also things to see inside the building that looked neat.  Love the door!

I only got a quick peek at them though. I was chosen to go with the older students because of my big van!  :-)  

We were meeting at an off-site location to learn more about telemetry.  We first listened and learned about what they were doing to track turtles.  It was neat to learn more about how turtles respond when their habitat is changed.  They track the turtles over time to see what their movement patterns are in the area.

 If you look at the map, you will see a cluster of blue dots in one corner of the land.  This is a turtle in his native habitat.  The yellow dots represent a rescued turtle that was found hurt near a road.  He was brought here, but this was not his native habitat.  We wandered over much of almost 90 acres looking for his home!

 This is the tracking device that emits a signal when you are getting close to the turtle.

 We walked up a path and then headed into the woods.  There were 3 students with the tracking devices looking for a turtle.  Each turtle had a different frequency.

 When they got a signal, the students with the tracking devices would spread out around the area to then try to pinpoint the turtles location.

 As you got closer, you could hold the transmitter closer to the ground for a more accurate reading.

 It isn't as easy as it may sound!   The turtles were all buried beneath leaves and dirt!

After the first turtle was located, a new set of students took a turn at finding the next turtle.  

Rebecca and Hanna decided to work together as a pair which took a lot of good communicating!  Helps that they are great friends!

We kept walking and looking.

Until we were close.

And it still wasn't easy.

Do you  see him yet?

Now?  Buried in the leaves?

This turtle is right where she is pointing and touching the shell.  I had no idea that they could hide so well.

And little did we know that the 3rd turtle was going to be the best yet at hiding!

Some sister play time.  This helped a lot because Eliana was kind of cranky.  We later figured out that she had been glutened (mildly???) with chapstick!

Friends.

Looking, but no success.

Its just sweet seeing my girls playing together.  Rebecca waited a long time for this sister.

Finally the last turtle was located.  After much looking.  Under the log!

What a fun group to spend the morning with!

When we finished, we headed over to nearby Pullen Park.  We hadn't been there since it has been renovated and it looks great!  We had a picnic in one of the new shelter areas.

Then rode some of the rides.  Merry Go Round.

Eliana was actually a little scared on the ride which is quite unlike her.  It made me wonder if being glutened leaves you feeling a little off balance in any way???  Anyone know?

And of course the train around the park!

We ended the day by visiting Moonberries for frozen yogurt.  It was a wonderful treat after a warm day. A delightful day of learning, laughing and just having fun!  Looking forward to our next field trip day ... tomorrow!

Blessings

Leslie