Smores!

My kids LOVE smores! Dad got out the sterno can to toast the marshmallows, but Chase saw a recipe to make them in the microwave on the marshmallow bag. Yippee! Less mess. At least until you eat them. Carys had chocolate all over!


Can you see it on her eyelid?


Speaking of Carys, she has been having bad dreams during her naps recently. They wake her up, but she's really still half asleep. If you've gone in to comfort her, she'll fall back asleep with you hold her. Gerren really loves her most of the time. He specifically requested this picture!

Poor Neglected Blog

When we got home from the timeshare, activities were in full swing. We had something extra every single day this week. Whew! Greg was also home all week on the computer looking for a job. Unfortunately, he's not had a single interview. Please pray for a job for him and for my attitude which is NOT good.

I'm teaching Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance class to 12 homeschooled high school students this fall. We had our first class this week, and it went really well. I'm looking forward to the rest of them. Chase had her first girl's choir practice and guitar lesson this week (thankfully we had paid in advance for the semester of guitar) and got to go over to a friend's house Thursday afternoon.

Here are the promised pictures from our timeshare finally!

Dad supervises the construction.


Carys enjoyed the beach more this year than last.


What a little model!


Landon really enjoyed fishing again this year.


This was the only kind of fishing Chase did.


We went to the Southwest Florida Museum in Bradenton one day. It includes a planetarium and aquarium. We got in free with our reciprocal museum passes.

We got in on the feeding of the 61-year-old manatee, Snooty. The girls listened attentively.


I love these photo ops!

Timeshare, Tim Hawkins, Etc.

We're at our timeshare on Lido Beach in Sarasota this week. I brought the camera but forgot the cord to connect it to my computer. So, I'll have to post pictures later. Greg is going home tonight or early tomorrow morning. He only had 2 vacation days to use. Friday is his last day of work as he has been laid off. The company he was working for has laid off close to 30 people in the past 22 months. They just have NO work. He has been franctically searching for a job (well, as frantically as possible for Greg, who tends to let nothing faze him).

Tim Hawkins, our all-time favorite comedian, has a new video out. It is TOO funny! I thought I'd post it here for all you faithful blog readers who may not have seen it.

First Week of School

Well, we have completed the first official week of the 2009-2010 school year in the Meahl Household. Last year I remembered my own advice to get a rolling start rather than jumping in with every subject after having 2 months basically off. It worked so well last year that it became a permanent part of the plan.

So, we started all the subjects that have 180 or more days in their schedules. That includes all of our Sonlight stuff and a few other things. Landon started everything except his dual enrollment course. Chase started about half of her subjects, and Gerren started less than half. He adds two subjects this coming week, and he's already complaining. :(

We'll add a few more things the following week. Then we have a week off to spend at our timeshare on Lido Beach in Sarasota. When we come back, we'll be doing all subjects. Perhaps that's just as bad as jumping in full force at the beginning of August! :)

Last Day in Illinois

Today is our last day here. I spent the morning doing laundry and chatting with my sister, niece, and nephew. We spent the afternoon driving around and looking at all the changes that have occurred here in the past 10 years. It's really amazing and sometimes hard for me to find my way around.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Yum! Now I'm spending the evening catching up on my blog and getting everything together to pack in the morning. It's a little more complicated since some of us are staying at Grandma and Grandpa's and some are staying in a hotel. Hopefully, we'll make it home with everything we brought with us!

St. Louis Science Center

On Thursday, we headed back to St. Louis to the Science Center. Entrance to the Science Center is free, like the zoo. However, also like the zoo, it costs a lot to do anything special, including $6 to park. We have a Family Pass to a museum in Florida called the Charlotte County Historical Society. It is a pass that has a reciprocal agreement with over 300 museums around the country. The perks of this pass included free parking and free admission into the Lego Mindstorm exhibit, the Discovery Room, and the Ends of the Earth exhibit.

The Ends of the Earth exhibit was about the North Pole and South Pole. It had this scale for weighing polar bears, then you could compare your weight to a polar bear's weight. Landon weighed about the same as a female cub.



Penguins were a popular topic in this exhibit, and the girls enjoyed the Penguin Slide.


We didn't find the penguin costumes until they'd been down the slide a few times already.


Landon, Gerren, and Greg went to the Lego Mindstorm exhibit while Chase, Carys, Grandma, and I went to the Discovery Room. The boys divided into teams and competed against one another to build robots. They said it was fabulous and came out wanting to buy some Lego Mindstorms. I looked at them on Amazon.com. Whew! They are expensive!

I was SO impressed with the Discovery Room. I have been to many science centers all over the country, and this particular exhibit/room was the best I've ever seen. Part of the success is due to the fact that it's a controlled environment. You have to have tickets, and they only sell so many for each session. You have 45 minutes in the room for your session. They had centers for everything science I can imagine, and they were perfectly suited to preschoolers and young children.

This book display was provided outside the room while you waited to go in, and there were book displays all over the room to go with each center.


Grandma and Carys play with Melissa and Doug magnetic wooden dolls (like paper dolls that you dress up).


Chase, Carys, and a new friend raced cars down this hill.


This dollhouse, and a Thomas train table, were Carys' favorite things in the room.


Chase played with tangrams and wedgits at this table.


This water table was a pretty big hit, too. Chase used it the way you're supposed to--to build rivers through the table.


Carys mainly played with the fish and boats in a little corral she made.


They had a great time!

St. Louis Zoo

We went to the zoo today. I LOVE the St. Louis Zoo because it is free! It used to be very inexpensive to do everything there, including park, because you could park on the streets. However, that's no longer possible, and they charge you $11 to park in the lot! I have connections, though, and we were able to park and ride the train for free. Thanks to the donor who shall remain anonymous. :)

Gerren took most of the pictures today, although Greg took some as well. Gerren shot this group photo when we first got there.


The boys look at the seals and sea lions.


Greg took these great head shots:
Chase


Landon


Carys was not impressed with the smell. LOL!


We rode the train.


Greg and the girls rode the carousel.


Chase poses with her flamingo pose in front of the flamingos! :)


Some goofy children tried on these hats in the gift shop!
Goofy child #1:


Goofy child #2:


Gerren took a lot of animal pictures, too, but those just weren't as interesting! We had a good time despite the heat, but I think Carys enjoyed it most of all.