Friday, March 9, 2012

Field Trip, Experiement, and Football

Wow, no posts at all in Feb, I'm sorry for my short hiatus. Feb was a rather rough month for me, and writing here just got pushed on the back burner. But I'm feeling inspiration again.

Late in Feb, we took the boys on an overnight trip to St. Augustine, Fl. On day one we visited the historical district, visiting a few of the shops and having lunch at the quaint Florida Cracker Cafe. I took the boys to see Castillo De San Marco, which I remember being much cooler from my childhood than it actually was. We also stopped in the Pirate Museum to check out all things Pirates. Nico was most excited about the prospect of staying in a hotel, and couldn't wait until 3pm to check in.

That evening, Nico and I took a Ghosts and Gravestones tour. We learned a lot about the history of St. Augustine, heard several ghost stories, and got to walk on the grounds of the Lighthouse, as well as enter the Old Jail (which is the most haunted building in the city). Lucas isn't interested in such things, so he and Timmy just stayed at the hotel.

On day two we visited Vilano Beach, before heading home. It was a shelly beach, and we spent a few hours collecting sea shells of various shapes, sizes and colors. I haven't figured out yet what we will do with all the shells, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

The other day, Nico asked what happens if you freeze water, that already has ice cubes in it? Will you still be able to see the original ice cubes, or will it all freeze together? He thought it would become one solid block of ice, but you would still be able to see the original ice cubes, as well as feel the bumps on the surface, because ice floats, so they would stick up above the rest of the ice. To find out, he set up an experiment by taking two cups of water, one with ice the other without, and freezing them. He checked on it several times, until both were completely frozen, and sure enough, you could still see the ice cubes trapped within the ice, and feel the bumps on the surface where they stuck up.

I've been looking for an activity to put the boys in, that wasn't terribly expensive, and would fit within my work schedule. I finally found it in the form of Flag Football. I registered the boys yesterday, and they have their first practice tonight. Both are excited, but Nico more than Lucas. He can't stop asking questions about the game, the rules, his coach, the other players. Even though they are in the same age division (cut off for the 8.9.10 age group was Jan 1, so Nico still counts as 7) I made sure to put them on separate teams. If they were on the same team, Nico would spend far too much time dictating to Lucas, and neither of them would fully enjoy the experience.