Farewell, Ocean

Here are some pictures I forgot to upload from the other day :)

I was sad to leave the ocean, because I liked it so much here, but I was honestly really glad to get back home!

Aquarium & fun in the water

Day two at the ocean: It was an early rise so we could make it to the North Carolina Fort Fisher Aquarium early that morning.


I was the happiest person in the world during this moment... you guys probably don't realize how much I LOVE marine life and sea animals.
They are just the coolest things, and plus, I've never been to an aquarium until now!! This was exciting!!!!

 


I was purely shocked at how super duper cool this was, like, words cannot explain how joyous I was.

I'm sure the majority of anyone who saw me, was under the impression I was mentally ill or something, because I was like a five year old in a candy store.








Eyes widen, jaw dropped, constantly running around, "MOOMMYYY LOOK AT THIS IT'S SO CUTE AND COOL OHHMYYGOOOD" honestly it was pretty ridiculous.

Haha okay, I'm exaggerated a little bit, I'm more calm and collected than that, but you get my point.

touching a bamboo shark

After going back to our room and eating some lunch, we headed out to a beach that was just a drive away. I was still astound by how soft the sand was, I had no idea it was so white!
I also was amazed at the fact the water of the ocean did not stop moving, it just didn't, there was constantly waves rushing about.

I mean I knew there was waves in the ocean, but little did I know it was a continuous waves and splashes hitting the shore of the sand.

I think the most excitement of swimming today was finding a starfish in the water. I put it on my hand, thinking it was dead, but little did I know it was actually alive! I went to show it to my dad, then as I tried to put it back in the water, it would literally not let go of my hand! I spent a total of ten minutes trying to get the starfish to un-stick from my hand. I have to admit, it was pretty funny :)

Meeting the Ocean

As of now, I am 15 years old and I've never been to the ocean - not even close. Southwest Virginia is the closest I've made it to the depths of the ocean blue. I mean, it was only just a few years ago when I left the Wisconsin/Illinois area for the first time in my life.

So this new life I am living is fascinating, because I'm seeing the country, even if it's just a small portion of it. I'm meeting people and experiencing new things, and that's pretty awesome!

touching the sand for the first time.
couldn't believe how white it was!

I was ecstatic for this trip to the beach, I honestly couldn't wait. Our destination was Kure Beach, North Carolina! The drive was long, but the place awaiting us was worth it.



Day one was just mostly chilling and hanging out, we got to our 'hotel' room late in the day and the only thing the boy and I wanted to do was get in the water!






Something rad was we got a hotel room, but it's wasn't like an ordinary hotel room, it had a kitchen and such, and we had a balcony overlooking the blue sea! It was like a dream!

Weekly Fieldtrip - Wilderness Road Regional Museum

I woke up suuuppeerr early at Meghann's house, needless to say I was pretty exhausted! We made sure to pack a lunch and we caught a ride to the community college with her older sisters, and from there we got picked up by Ginger, who surprisingly took us out to eat that morning, it was nice :) 







A whole group of us homeschoolers met at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum for our weekly fieldtrip! There was at least 30 of us in total, if not more, it was a huge group! 


"Located in an 1800's era house;  owned and operated by The New River Historical Society and contains local area books, records and exhibits." is just a brief description of where we went. 





The enormous old house is filled with tons and tons of artifacts that were from this area. We learned all about the people who lived in this area of Virginia, the clothes they wore, the food they ate, how they lived their lives. 

accurate representation of our relationship

some of the kids making butter!

After our several hour long interactive fun fieldtrip, we headed over to the park for lunch :) It made me really happy to spend time with friends! We all ran around and hung out for awhile. Meg, Austin (my boyfriend), Jess, and I went for a walk in the woods before Meggie had to leave :( 
Later on we played a game of catch and hung out at the playground before it was time to go home for the day.

homeschool train

Sleepovers with the Megster

Meghann and I had a sleepover...... yay!
 that night we marathon'd How I Met Your Mother, and we jumped on the trampoline until 1am! Plus, the deal with the bandaids was that Meg had a pimple she didn't like, so she wanted to cover it up with a bandaid, so I put some on my face too so she didn't feel so left out :)

And the 'war paint' was from earlier that day during History Class, haha.

boyfriend :)

This is Austin. 

we've known each other for so many years now, and one day I just thought whats there to lose? so we went for it. He was my first kiss. He holds my hand and makes me smile, he keeps me up all night IMing and we have fun. I love this kid.

Recent Pictures!

I got some recent pictures of myself, 

Just wanted to share! :)

International Dinner - Brazil

Once a month, a local homeschool family will host an International Dinner / Potluck. Each month has a different theme as well, and for September it was Brazil! The kids learn about the culture, fun facts and traditions of that country.

And each family who attends will make a traditional meal of that country to bring for the potluck. We made a delicious rice dish that I was very excited for! Everyone will grab a plate, and sometimes before or after food the kids will put on a presentation about that country and such.


Usually afterwards the adults get to chatting and the kids wander off outside! Sadly, I did not get any pictures of the food, but I got pictures of some of the kids playing a game on the trampoline!

By the time the night was over, about 8 families showed up and there was at least 14+ kids!

Weekly Field Trip - Wolf Creek Indian Village

Every Friday the homeschool group goes on a field trip, and this weeks pick was "Wolf Creek Indian Village & Museum" I was pretty excited about this one! I love learning about cultures in general, but Native American culture is something that has always interested me. I find it rather fascinating :) First my friend Meghann got dropped off at our house that morning just after 6am, and we left by 7am. (It's about an hours drive.)

It was very cold that morning... and while driving through the blue ridge mountains we entered a thick fog as we traveled to higher elevations.

 Our "tour guide" took us back to where they re-created an Indian village.
Using artifacts and knowledge they had of this place, they were able to reconstruct what a Native American village would have been like when they lived here over 500 years ago.

Some of the demonstrations were even interactive - we learned how to make arrow heads out of rock, and even how to sharpen tools the Native Americans would have used.

I thought it was awesome! Especially because it's like we got to reenter that time period and experience what life is like without our cool gadgets and electricity.

observing some of the pointy weaponry

 Inside the homes and buildings, it was rather dark, considering there is no light source other than the doors, or any light that could pour through the cracks.





Alongside the village is a creek, and alongside the creek are many walking trails, it was so much fun to 'get back to nature' and go on a hike.

example of pottery

 

 As you can see, we got to have symbols drawn on our face, Joshua picked a bear paw print!

One of my favorite bits of knowledge was learning about the foods and how they would preserve them the winter months, also ^^ how they used turtle shells to calculate months!

After this fun morning, once afternoon arrived we all went to the picnic area and had lunch! I sat next to my buddie Meggie and we ate goat cheese sandwiches! I then said bye to my boyfriend, since Meghann & I were heading to our bestie Jessie's house for a girl's night! I didn't get any pictures, but we had so much fun watching movies and hanging out, listening to music in our pjs! :)

Ruh-roh...

Clear the roadways and the sidewalks, Leah is behind the wheel!

Weeeee just wanted to share that! :D