The Angel Forever

Reptile Ready

Posted on July 29, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The summer programs at our local libraries have been absolutely amazing this summer. I could not imagine what we would do if we did not have them to go to. While at the chocolate tasting experience, the librarian mentioned another event coming up. It was going to be Reptile Adventure with Jessica Shea. The description was “Touch a snake, pet a turtle, and see eye-to-eye with a South American frog.” Yes, Reptile Adventure was coming to help the kids learn and meet some of their friends.

NHL was very excited about the program, but JSL opted not to go. He was tired and stayed back with Papa to rest and relax. I thought this was an amazing opportunity to introduce the kids to the wonders of reptiles. I still remember meeting several snakes and other critters during a Girl Scout event when I was a child.

When NHL and I walked into the meeting room, there were several reptiles already out to greet the excited children. One of them was Plaid.

True story, NHL walked right by Plaid and did not notice him sitting there until he nearly bumped into him and it scared him. It was definitely a kodak moment since I had watched the entire event (wish I had my video camera turned on).

Jessica was so patient with the rather large and young crowd before her. She introduced all of her reptile friends that were visiting. Then the best part for the kids, every animal was brought around for them to get a close look, and in most instances touch. Here are a few of the reptile friends that came to visit:

The part that the kids loved, was the opportunity to touch and hold any of the reptiles that Jessica said were up to it. NHL did not want to hold the big lizard, but he asked to hold the spotted turtle named Seurat (love the name):

Then, we went to wait on line to hold the Python. NHL was not too sure about this, but he allowed the Python on his lap and was petting it while chatting away about snakes. A special thanks for the patience of Chris from the library. He was a rock star handling the reptiles and helping with the kids.

After this, we went back over to Jessica who had the Legless Lizard out. I was floored with what I witnessed. Without even blinking NHL picked it up and I got this photo to prove how great he did:

Yes, this truly was a FUN and EDUCATIONAL experience for everyone that was there. When it was time to go, Jessica told the kids to each take a special sticker. NHL did and was so proud to show it to others the rest of the afternoon.

Thanks to the library, we now know about another great business that helps to educate children in our area and may be a fantastic future birthday party experience. Can you imagine?!

So my question to you this week is inspired by our reptile encounter:

What reptile would you love to know/learn more about and why? Oh and no saying you don’t like them – you probably have never met any like these to appreciate them.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #162

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Aloha Friday Educational fun local event nhl photos summer

My African Trek Adventure Begins

Posted on July 28, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Have you ever wished you could go on an African Safari and watch animals running, eating, and playing in the wild? I did, but the reality is that going to Africa is not in my future right now.

Lucky for me, I was one of the lucky people that was able to try out the new Wild Africa Trek at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As part of the Saturday afternoon activities of Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, I had the chance to go on the adventure of my life. Of course, the biggest decision I had to make once it was finally time to go, which camera to take. With some major prodding from Ellen of Confessions of an IT Girl, I took TechyDad’s new DSLR along. Please note – this is his baby. Often times, the look of panic on my face is of ruining his new toy and not fear for my life.

We were picked up from the Grand Floridian Resort early in the morning. We took a back entrance into the Animal Kingdom. Before heading to Disney, Shannan, From Cribs to Car Keys, and I joked that we would hold each other up as we crossed the bridge and promised to keep each other moving. Here is Shannan signing her life away:

From here, our group was taken to the area to get weighed (there is a max here) and fitted with our Trek uniforms. No, they were not uniforms – just harnesses that had to fit just right for certain areas of the trek.

Later on there is a great shot of me from the rear where you can see just where this fun contraption goes. It honestly looked a lot more intimidating than it was. Once we were all in our gear, had our water bottles, we were ushered to the lockers. You are not allowed to take anything along on the trek that is not attached to you. Bye-bye phone, DSLR lens cap, and hello safari animal protection. Then, it was time to try the practice bridges.

From here, we were given some juice. You know this was just to test how good our bladders were since there are no restrooms for close to two hours while on the trek. This is where my pre-kid teacher bladder had to kick it back in. There was NO coffee for me this morning.

Once we were all set, the entire group stopped for a photo as we set off on our adventure.

Yes, the real fun was about to begin. We started by walking into the Pangani Forest area where anyone can explore. I was not going to include this photo, since my rear is quite visible. Shannan persuaded me with a reminder: “That harness totally made our asses look HAWT. So here’s the photo of our hawt derrières.

The time in the Pangani Forest area was to explore and check our audio. Yes, we all hate cute little ear pieces in so we could hear these two amazing tour guides that took us on our adventure. A huge thank you to Alex and Bethany for everything. They were so great knowing that a group of Social Media Moms was watching their every move.

At a point in the forest, we went off road to where only guests on the Trek are allowed.

This path was where you had to watch where you walk because the terrain got a little different. We were now in Africa and you never know what you may “bump” into.

Alex stopped to tell us about the fossil that was along the trail. We soon learned that it was from a hippo. As we listened, Bethany was snapping photos. One of the great perks of participating in the African Trek is that you get a Photo Pass CD of your adventure. If you ask, they will snap a photo of anything along the way.

Moments after this, we were hooked up with our harness to observe the hippos. I will save this for another post. Just an FYI, this was one of my favorite parts of the experience and one that I will never forget. Hungry, hungry, hippos really left an impression.

Have you ever been on a special tour at Disney World? If you have I would love to know. If not, which would you like to try.

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan, it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event.

Categories:
bloggy friends Conference Disney DisneySMMoms interesting me moments photos TechyDad travel

Kid Style Chocolate Blind Taste Testing

Posted on July 27, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Disclosure: This was a free event at a local library. Thank you to the amazing librarian for organizing this event. I know my boys had a fantastic time and we all enjoyed staying dry during the storm that passed while participating.

Categories:
brothers food glorious food fun jsl local event nhl summer Wordless Wednesday yummy

Tuesday Tales – Goodbye Borders

Posted on July 26, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

As a teacher, I received a lot of gift cards to the local book stores. The most popular, for a while, was Borders. I was able to go and shop for myself, my classroom, and my family. With my free Borders reward card and teacher discount, it was a nice place to go and play.

When NHL was little, we used to go to Borders and spend a lot of time there. He would wander around the store, practice walking, or nap in his stroller while I would gawk at books to use in my classroom. When we would go to our local mall, we would always park by Borders. The kids always begged for a new book. Sad to say that TechyDad and I often caved at the bargain book section – especially before a trip away.

When we heard that Borders was going to close and start to liquidate their inventory, we figured we would head over there to see what was going on. The first day of the sale was during the heat wave, so it was the perfect location to spend time walking up and down the aisles.

Something caught me off guard. NHL, almost 8, asked me why Borders was going to close. I told him that sometimes businesses are not able to stay open, so they are going to be closing all of their stores. He was visibly upset and told me that he was sad. He stood there in the store recalling times that we had gone there together. He remembered books that we had bought, events we had participated in there, and on and on.

We walked around looking for something to get the boys. I was intrigued with some math/reading books for NHL, but passed. Instead, we got him a new Sudoku book for the summer and beyond. Then, I noticed the Geronimo Stilton books from Scholastic. My eyes noticed the one on Niagara Falls. NHL eventually agreed that he wanted to try that chapter book since it looked interesting and very different. Then, it was time to find something for JSL. He fell in love with a Winnie the Pooh book about the new movie. I agreed and he is in love with the Read-Along CD. He has never used one of these before and loves the character voices telling him the story for independent reading.

I also picked up a non-book item for TechyDad. They had Envirosax. They happened to sell the Sesame Street variety there. I was in luck, they had one of the Grover bags left, so grabbed it.

While paying, it was sad to realize that this was the last time I will use a gift card at Borders. It may be the last time we buy something at Borders. Of course, the memories of the times spent there, and the books we will continue to read that we bought there will live on.

What memories do you have of Borders? Did you go to their Harry Potter or Twilight Parties? Will you be going to their sale to see about getting some books to put away?

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

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books jsl looking back nhl photos shopping TechyDad Tuesday Tales

School Supplies – Third Grade Take 1

Posted on July 25, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

In New York, we go to school until the third week of June. It seems like other parts of the country have been out forever by the time we are just getting started. Do not fret, we all have to get in 180 days no matter what. If we have too many snow days here, we will have vacation days taken away.

Of course, this also means that the week after the kids end school stores like Target, Staples, CVS, and others are starting their Back-To-School flyers. When we walk into their stores, it is like a school supply factory came for a visit. When I was teaching, I loved this time of year. There was just something fun about getting new items for my classroom. Now, it seems like a chore. I know that if I do not snag these bargains now, I may not get them again.

So here we are not even into August and most of my son’s school supplies for third grade have been purchased. The Tweets from people questioning my purchases were priceless since it was still mid-July when I was buying items. The reality is that a 25 cent poly folder is a good deal when they are normally more than a dollar each.

Here is the list that came home with NHL on the last day of school:

6 Folders and 6 Composition Notebooks (see colors) labeled with subject and first and last name: Black & White (2), Red/Math, Green/Science, Yellow/Reading, Purple/Social Studies, Blue/Writing. Plastic Folder labeled “Take Home” folder Psssst – I bought all poly/plastic folders since they were on sale and will last.
Looseleaf paper (wide line) – a constant supply will be needed At this age I fear how they may eat the paper. *sigh*
Pencils No amount specified – in 1st grade it was at least 5 and 20 for second grade. I know kids and they use a lot more than that. Lots left from my classroom to hand off to NHL’s teacher.
Erasers
Scissors
Ruler
Colored Markers, 24 box of crayons or pencils
Pencil pouch (zippered, soft kind)
Glue sticks Whoa – no number required. I bought 8 for now, but have others from sales in past years.
Three boxes of tissues
Two rolls of paper towels
2 Dry Erase Expo Markers
Old (but clean) sock (used as an eraser)
$4.00 for Homework Planners, to be sent in a separate envelope
$5.00 for National Geographic magazine My son is going to LOVE this!

Curious how this compared to previous years? Here are old posts

2009 1st grade – School Supplies – What’s on Your List?
2010 2nd grade – School Supply List 2010

NHL started this school at the end of last year, so I am not sure how this list compares with kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade in the building. I guess one day we will know with JSL. I recall, as a teacher, making my lists to send home to parents to buy. Now, I wonder how difficult of a task they may have had with certain items. Hmmm……

Love it, or hate it – what is on your child’s school supply list for the 2011-2012 school year? Inquiring minds would love to know.

I cringe thinking about next year because I will have a kindergarten kiddo and fourth grader to buy supplies for. Oy. They are growing up way too quickly. If anyone knows how to stop this, please let me know.