BURTON 4H CENTER - TYBEE ISLAND

Carter has been studying wetlands at co-op. I really wanted to go somewhere that he could see a wetland "hands on". I was thinking about places that may have programs relating to wetlands here in Savannah and I found Burton 4H Center on Tybee Island. This place usually only does group outings, so I thought I might organize a small group homeschool field trip. Here is our small group:) HA! We had about 37 children in all and about eight adults. WOW!!
This little plant is know as "sea pickle". Yes, you can eat it and yes, we all tried it. It really doesn't taste bad - it is salty and crunchy. Our guide told us that very "fancy" restaurants sometimes put it on the top of salads. Mmmmm . . . marshy, wetlandy, sea pickle!!

These are some great pictures of periwinkle snails. Yes, these snails are edible and no, we DID NOT eat them!! These snails were all over the spartina grass in the marsh that we walked through. These snails cling to the grass or shells like you see above. They respond to vibration as the tide comes in and we were told that if we put them on our neck and hum, they were know to come out of their shell. No luck for us, though. None of us got to see a snail out of it's shell. It was too cold!!

COMMUNITY SERVICE

At our co-op this year, I offered to teach a Community Service Projects class. I had really tried to get the kids at the After School program involved in Community Service when I worked in Spartanburg, and I thought I could help some of our students here in Savannah as well. It was a GREAT class. In these pictures, we are at America's Second Harvest, donating all of the canned goods (and money) we collected at co-op, for the Souper Bowl of Caring. We collected over 200 canned and boxed goods and around $82.00. I was so proud! Here are Carter and Cooper getting their goods to "stock the shelves"!!
O.k., I know this is a posed picture, but isn't it cute? Cooper is such a Community Servant!!
Here is part of our homeschool co-op who went with us to stock the shelves. I had ten children in my Community Service Projects class, but we had several more just come to help! It was great!!
O.k., another posed picture of a great Community Servant, but isn't he cute, too? He did not take Community Service Projects class with me this year (as I have a rule that I do not teach my own children at co-op - you can ask me about that later). I am probably going to enroll him and Cooper in the Community Service Projects class next year at co-op, since it is such a great class. Just FYI, I will not be teaching the class next year:)

SAVANNAH OGEECHEE CANAL

This is the Savannah Ogeechee Canal. The boys and I went on a trip here to have a nature walk as well as to fulfill some requirements for Carter's Georgia State Parks Junior Ranger Program. Isn't this beautiful? It was a chilly day, but it was so serene.
These are some of the Cypress "knees" that we saw along the way. Carter and Cooper love these because we saw a lot of these when we went to Okefenokee Swamp. They have remebered them since our trip there and they remind me each time we see them what they are!! They love showing off their smarts!
We reached the end of the canal, where the canal opens into the Ogeechee River. It was so pretty at this spot. We visited the museum before we left and the guide there told us that when the weather warms up, you can see a lot of native wildlife around the canal. As she said this, I was thinking in my mind, "FIELD TRIP"!!!
As part of the Junior Ranger program, we went on a plant scavenger hunt. One of the items we had to find was spanish moss (which is not really a moss, but a flowering plant). Carter and Cooper love spanish moss because they like telling the stories they have heard about bugs being in the moss. Boys . . . they love bugs!

TENNIS

The boys both took some more tennis lessons in January as a way of keeping active during the "cool" season here in Savannah. They loved it! These pictures are from some one on one sessions. The trainer was trying to help the boys with their backhands, volleys and forehands. Tennis here in Savannah is great. There are a lot of programs for younger kids, which is a blessing as Cooper wants to do whatever Carter does!!

IGLOOS AND INUIT FOOD

Here is our finished igloo. It took a very long time to create this masterpiece. We had to build the igloo two layers at a time. When the two layers were finished, we had to let the icing dry so that the sugar cubes would set up before we started another layer. Carter finally got to take his igloo to co-op on Monday and everyone thought it was great. He had a lot of comments on how "cool" the igloo was!! He was really proud of his work. I think it was good that it took a while as it was a good lesson in patience for us all!!
These little cakes are bannock bread. Bannock bread is a food that is common among the Inuit peoples. When Carter was studying the Arctic Tundra biome at co-op, they sent home a dry mix for this bread. We added the wet ingredients to the mix and made this pancake like bread and fried it in a pan with a little oil. It was really good. Carter, who is a notorious picky eater, loved it. As I always say, food can be a great learning tool!