War Birds

The WWII Wary Birds came into town again. This was our second time seeing them.  However, I'm not a "been there, done that" type of person.  Generally, I feel like, if something was great once, it may be even better a second time....especially if the kids are older!  Of course, I was right :) haha.  

We do not have a strong military history in our family.  The closest direct family members who served were my grandfather, the kids' Great-Grandfathers.  So, the military is not always at the top of our family discussions.  However, I want the kids to grow up with a respect for those who serve and a better understanding of our country's history. So, I am grateful for events like these.  Events where they can touch, feel, and attempt to imagine what it may have been like.

Fun with great friends!  

Bryson and Ty met up with us...this is their "scared face"

Due- that tire is as big as they are!

The kids found a veteran and came out him with a booket full of questions.  As always, he was hesitant to answer at first.  However, he quickly realized that the kids were sincere in their questions and they chatted for quite a while.  I am so thankful for veterans who are willing to pass their stories on to us.

Imagining take off in these "seats"

A few weeks later, we took an hour to walk through the military museum.  We met this nice man who served in Vietnam and other areas around the world.  He was FULL of stories and information.  I really think it made his day to share his stories with the kids. 

This is a beautiful memorial.  This State of Florida flag has nearly 2,000 miniature USA flags in it, each one representing a Florida resident who died in Vietnam, or was a MIA or a POW.  It's quite a powerful display.

Solar Competition

I randomly saw an ad for a solar competition and decided to look into it.  An FPL solar facility was hosting the competition for their grand opening.  It seemed like an excellent learning opportunity.  So, why not?

Nicole invited a new friend, Cecilia, to participate with her. They decided to compete in the solar cooking competition which judges you on your solar cooker and your food.   Together, they spent one day a week for about a month building solar cookers and testing them out.  Both also worked diligently at home to fine tune their cookers.

Cecilia's family had much better success than we did.  With the help of her mom and dad, they were able to build a beautiful solar cooker that got up to 300 degrees!  We couldn't get ours over 150 degrees :(

It was time of dedication, despite our constant failures.  Nicole (and I) built  8 or so different ovens...none of them worked.  Until...until we tried a funnel design using a windshield cover from walmart.  Unbelievably, it worked!  We got our quinoa to cook in just about 2 hours.  Quinoa never tasted so good!

The girls met at the competition near Bradenton, FL at 8:30am and started their prep work.  The competeted against 20-something other teams in the area.

They cut their veggies, cracked their eggs, and set it all up.

Then, they sat and waited.  While waiting, they were interviewed by judges on the design of one of their cookers.  They checked out the other competitions taking place and the nearby solar fields.

With their veggie frittata done cooking, the moved it into the warmer (otherwise known as Nicole cooker that won't get very hot!), and started making the lemon cupcakes. They quickly put them together and placed them in the heated solar cooker.

About an hour later, 6 beautiful cupcakes were ready to be topped.  The girls began to hustle to plate their food for the taste test.

They prepared three plates for the three judges.  One was a local chef, one was a local news anchor, and the other....well, I can't remember what she did :)

The girls stood in front of the judges, explained their food, and answered their questions.  The judges were quite impressed and said, "This is the best thing we have tasted all day". This was after the high school and middle school teams went!  The girls were so incredibly excited!

We had to wait about an hour for the announcement of the winners.

The girls won 3rd place in the solar cooking design.

And FIRST place in their food taste!  Woohoo!!!

They won a total of $400 to split to be used for STEM classes or supplies for school...and they were invited to participate in the state wide solar competition in May!

This was not an easy project, in fact, it was much more difficult than I anticipated.  We had to persevere through failures, and revamp our ideas over and over again.  It was hard.

But it paid off!  What a great experience.

Oh yeah....AND, the girls had a little article written about them in a local parenting magazine.  That is super fun too!

Children's Business Fair- Round Two

The kids' very favorite activity last year was the Children's Business. Fair.  As soon as it was over, they started plans for their booth the next year.  Well, it finally came!

Hannah started working on her business back in December.  She made "Busy Bags", quiet bags of games for toddlers.  She diligently worked, a little bit at a time, for several months.

Jeremy's business was one of the sponsor of the event.  So, even daddy had a booth to man!

Hannah's display.  She had two tables set up and used Orange and Blue as her colors.  

A sweet surprise visit from Papa.  I'm thankful he is around and enjoys supporting the kids and our shenanigans.

Nicole was going to make some pillows, blankets, and hand sewn toys.  However, she got really sick that week and couldn't complete them.  So, she set up a Lilla Rose booth.  It was the busiest day she has ever had, and she did it all without my help.  It was amazing!  She nearly sold out of several sizes of clips!

The judges were visiting with Hannah.  She did a beautify job explaining her business.  

Such a great job, in fact, that she won $50 for "Most Marketable Business"....in other words, hers was the one chosen for having the best real world business potential.

There were 90 booths of children at the event.  Amazing!

Hannah's Busy Bags.

Pizza Palace- includes a full menu of pizza that the children have to put together.  The kids count the topping and follow the directions.

Waffle Weaver- totally her idea.  Weave the ribbon of syrup in and out of the waffle holes

Fish Forever, magnetic fishing in a bag!

Nathan sold his paper airplanes again.  I guess I don't have any pictures of him.  Sorry Nate!

The kids were also featured in a local magazine!  How cool is that?!?