Cape Fear Botanical Garden Field Trip

Luke had a field trip just after his birthday. The first grade went to the botanical gardens. We had a beautiful day for a field trip, and the temps were perfect. Ironically, Alex had a field trip on the same day to the bowling alley. He also had a great time. I am glad I can help with field trips, even if it means I miss one due to multiple trips on the same day!

Luke's class first went to the soil presentation. Initially, I wasn't sure how interested the kids would be, but our instructor was great and kept the kids really interested. 

The kids loved learning about the layers of the soil.

Luke's table loved the compost.

Like dug "critters" out of the compost.

In line with his class

After soil class, Bill, a master gardener, took out group on a nature walk. He was awesome with the kids and pointed out a lot of cool things for them.

Great day on the Cape Fear River

Bill showed the kids all the things you can find under rotting logs. Luke loved it.

Bill also showed them different types of birds' nests. We really had a great time with Bill.

Class at the turtle pond

Luke with his buddy for the day

His class

What a beautiful visit to the garden. We love to go there and will be back soon!

Luke's 7th Birthday!

Luke turned seven on April 7th. He had a Spider-Man party over that weekend with a few friends.

I made a cake for his actual birthday, a couple days after his friend party.

Presents ready after school

Grandpa and Grandma came over to go out to dinner with us. Luke's pick was Red Robin.

Another surprise visitor for Luke's birthday was Daddy!!!! He drove down from Virginia just to have dinner. He had a full day of class and a three hour drive, but after being deployed for Luke's birthday last year, he didn't want to miss this year.

Madison with Grandma

My girl

Luke was delighted they brought him a sundae. 

He gobbled it up!

Turtles

Luke completed his first major school project, which he turned in at the end of March. First grade at his school studies Australia for their global geography component, and within that, they have done a big science study on animals and such local to the continent. For his project, Luke chose to further study flatback turtles. He loved doing his assignment; he has never been this excited about any assignment, and he turned it in a week early. His hard work paid off, and he got a 103 on his assignment (bonus points for extra info). Good job, Luke!

Spring

While it hasn't felt like it the past few days with the freezing temps, spring has arrived.

We got the garden planted two weeks ago. The monsoon rain lately may have washed out our seeds. We will see if they survived soon.

Peppers and okra 

Tomatoes

Cucumbers and yellow squash 

Cucumbers and acorn squash 

Our Superhero

Glad Captain America is here to watch out for us.

Skate Night

The kids' school has skate night every month, and weovr to go. The progress they have made is awesome. They all have roller blades and all skate well. Many kids there can barely stand up, so we can definitely see how going each month has been a good learning experience. 

Madison's Room-In Progress

Madison's room has taken some time, so these are just a couple pictures. I will take and post some new ones since it is now finished.

Jonah was quick to hop on her new bed.

She loves having her own bathroom.