SeaWorld Career Camp 2007 Part 1

We picked KJ up from SeaWorld bright and early this morning. WHY do they make you pick campers up at 8:00am? We left the house at 4:15 this morning after not getting in from a party and hitting the sack until 11:00. Needless to say, David and I both had a nap this afternoon.
Anyway, the rest of this post will be dictated to me by KJ. (I type faster.)
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On Sunday, my dad and I made the 4 hour drive to San Antonio in 3 hours. After a bit of searching and tire screeching, we made it to SeaWorld. We got checked in all right, and made it through the airport-like security check (no, they did not strip-search us). I got settled into my bed in the dorm, said good-bye to my father, and then I was on my own. I went to the cafeteria and sat there watching as more and more people came through the doors. After sitting in the same place for an hour and 45 minutes, we finally had everyone. In career camp, there was a total of about 26 girls and 8 boys.

By that time it was about 5:30, which meant we were going to see "Shamu Rocks Texas." This show was awesome! They had really good music blasting through the speakers while the orcas (killer whales) were doing flips, splashes, jumps, and anything the trainers would let them, including splashing the 52 degree salt water on the audience. The show was complete with the hi-tech Hollywood effects including fire. There was a camera hanging from the ceiling of the stadium zooming in on people dancing in the audience. You could see them on the big screen.






The picture below is of a trainer riding a killer whale.






After the show and meeting some new people, we went back to the dorm. Lights-out was at 11:00.

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Monday - Polar:

The night before, our counselor had informed us on what we would wear for Monday: tube socks that go up to my knees, mud boots, sweat pants, camp T-shirt, hoodie, thread gloves, winter gloves, and greens (protective rubber overalls). It was 90 degrees on Monday so we were all a bit sweaty. Our cameras were the only things we were allowed to take in with us to the polar building. We had an employee talk to us about penguins and she answered any questions we had. Then we stretched for we would be shoveling several pounds of snow. It was extremely cold in the penguin exhibit. There were two snow machines and the snow came from the machines and out through two holes in the ceiling making two large piles of snow under them. So our job as campers was to shovel the snow and move it to uncovered areas of the exhibit like grating and concrete. After about 30 minutes of shoveling, the piles were gone and I was afraid my hands would look like my gloves (our gloves were black), because I was really cold. We put our shovels back on the rack and started preparing the fish for the penguins. Luckily, my only job was to set out the food trays for the penguins. Everyone else behind me had to fill the trays with fish. And then my favorite part, playtime with the penguins. I went outside the exhibit and got my camera. I hurried back inside and was trying to catch a penguin. This specific penguin did not want to be touched so he waddled away, and I went after him. I finally gave up after chasing him around the exhibit, and instead found a penguin that was pretty sweet.




This is a Chinstrap penguin. They are very tiny and aggressive (so he was trying to bite my camera).


This Rockhopper penguin is going to bite me.





All these penguins are full grown. They're just different kinds of penguins.





These are baby King penguins.





That's a handsome Rockhopper.





A Rockhopper eating fish.





Another Rockhopper (it's my favorite penguin)





This penguin is rolling in the snow.





After playtime with the penguins, we learned about the puffins. After that, we went back to the cafeteria where we ate lunch. After we ate lunch, we went to AET (I don't remember what that stands for but it has something to do with birds.) After AET, we went to the bird house where we learned about birds. After the bird house, went on JTA (Journey to Atlantis). It is an awesome ride, the first of its kind in the U.S. You're in a boat going up a roller coaster chain. When you get to the top, they spin you until we're backwards and then the boat drops down a hill backwards. Then they spin us again until we're facing forwards, and we go down a hill that's almost vertical landing in the water with a ginormous splash.

After JTA, we had our review for the day, and then our evening activities (arcade, rides, hanging out).

Well, KJ was off to SeaWorld Career Camp on Sunday. He called Monday night talking a mile a minute about how great camp is. I've been working Zoo Camp this week and coming home exhausted every evening. I'm also having a good time, but boy, is it hot and humid!

I found this video on another site. I thought it was a spoof at first, because people being this full of hate just seemed too crazy to be true. Unfortunately, after visiting their website and reading some news stories, I realized that they were for real. *sigh* They probably homeschool.

Happy 14th Birthday KJ!

My baby is 14 today so I made a video to celebrate KJ's life so far.




The back ground song is "Like a Mother Eagle" from Sue Young's "From The Mother :Songs of the Sacred Feminine" CD. I highly recommend that you go buy it right now. I met Sue once when David and I took a chanting workshop with her. She is a wonderful woman with a true inner beauty.

I've been playing with PhotoShop instead of doing dishes.

Uggg, I don't know why the post below is formatting strangely. I keep fixing the spacing, but it just keeps changing back.

Whew! We had a fun-filled, but busy weekend. On Friday, we drove to Dallas where we met up with my brother-in-law, Casey, to pick up my niece, McKenzie. Then McKenzie, KJ, David, and I were off to the Science Place to see Body Worlds followed by the Human Body at the IMAX. We got McKenzie back home around 8:00 where *surprise* her parents agreed to let her come home with us. David practically had to take a blood oath to watch over McKenzie, but she got to come. It was after midnight by the time we got back to Waco so we all just collapsed into bed.

Saturday was a shopping day. We fortified ourselves with lunch at D's Mediterranean Grill before hitting Army Navy Surplus, Book Rack, Paper Bear, Golden's Used Books, Bankston's, and Books A Million. (sensing a theme here?) After that, KJ and McKenzie spent every free moment reading. We had to buy 2 copies of this book so they could each have their own to read and discuss with each other.

On Sunday, everyone came with me to the zoo. McKenzie helped by chopping produce for the education animal diets. KJ and McKenzie both misted the reptiles, kept an eye on Petunia, and entertained Moe. (David was here for all this too.) We wandered the rest of the zoo, had a snack, and came back home for more reading.

Monday started with a phone call to KJ's doctor to discuss KJ's worsening eyes and the possibility of pink eye. This was followed by a quick stop at the pharmacy for very expensive allergy eye drops (Patanol) and we were off to Scarborough Faire. It absolutely poured on us, I'm talking flash flood type rain here. We all were soaked to the skin and covered in mud up to our ankles, but had a good time anyway. There was one act that I did NOT like at all (turtle exploitation), but will have to post about it later.

This is awful. I especially like these quotes.

More than 600 academics have signed a petition warning parents and teachers that students who accept the arguments the Creation Museum presents as scientifically valid are "unlikely to succeed in science courses at the college level."

"What's wrong with the AIG museum is that it's presenting religious views as if they are science when they are not," said Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, which launched the petition.

"The science in the museum is so inaccurate it's really going to further undermine the public understanding of science in the United States."

Does anyone remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where he says, "I'm such a maroon?" (instead of moron, don't want you to think I can't spell)

Well, that was me this morning. David had just left for work and it was just starting to get light. Except for the occasional crow from Paul, the house was completely silent. No drumming, no television, no music playing, no washer or dryer running, even the a/c was off. I actually stood still for a moment just to listen to the stillness. Can a person even do that, listen to stillness I mean, or have I been reading too many overly descriptive books? It's just so rare for the house to be as quiet as it was this morning. If nothing else, I'll usually hear the hum of the computer fan.

Anywaaaay, back to me just standing in the kitchen listening... I heard a rumbly noise. What is THAT? I heard it again, it sounded like a low growl. I looked out the door, nothing. I looked out the window, nothing. I heard it again. It sounded like it was coming from right under me! There must be an animal stuck under the house. I thought we had all the openings blocked up, but something must have found a way under. I walked into the living room and heard it again. It must be following the sound of my steps, gosh, I hope it's not rapid... Then I felt something...my stomach was churning.

*Mental slap upside my head*

IT WAS MY STOMACH!!! I had some heartburn and was a little nauseous when I had gotten up so I chugged some Maalox. (Yesterday's eating-fest in Austin had disagreed with me.) Apparently it was doing something to my stomach, because the rumbling and growling were LOUD.

I'm such a maroon...

I can't believe I laughed at Dy.

Look who landed in my backyard last night.


The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks dropped by to say hello.


...and then they were off.

Homeschool Graduation Party

I thought I would post a few more pictures, as bad as they are, of the homeschool graduation party. I photoshopped them, but I could only do so much.

These are my best friends. From left to right - me, Debbie who is Rodney's mom, Kerrie-Ann who is Elora's mom, and Tense who is Brock (the graduate), Trevor, and Kara's mom


This is KJ dancing with Elora.


and KJ with Elora again...


and Rodney, Elora, and KJ (the 3 muskateers)

Best Mother's Day weekend ever

I had the best Mother's Day weekend ever!!

On Friday, I got a massage and David and KJ gave me some turtle-shaped bath oil beads and a new turtle charm for my necklace.

On Saturday, the son of some good friends of ours graduated from homeschool. The local homeschool group had a beautiful ceremony for 12 seniors that made both me and David cry. The family also had a graduation party for their son that evening. The party was so much fun! It was also a dance and you will never believe it, but my darling husband actually danced with me. (even more than once!)

At one point, the dance caller asked everyone to dance with their mothers. KJ danced with me! He was so handsome and sweet that I was teary. (The party pictures didn't come out very well due to poor lighting and lots of movement.)

Then on Sunday, drum roll please.....................this happened....................

These are NOT my hands. KJ washed the dishes!

And the award for most comments goes to.............J-Lynn at The Snarky Side.

I forgot to mention that David won a painting at the zoo's Beasts and Blooms Earth Day celebration.

The painting was done by Zoe the elephant as one of her enrichment activities.

KJ got a haircut and contacts today. The contacts are a trial pair to see if he can handle them or not. After the ordeal he had getting them out tonight...we'll just have to wait and see. KJ has informed me that "drummers look good in black."

Go McKenzie!!!

McKenzie is my sister's oldest daughter. She will be 13 on June 6 and is finishing up 7th grade. Last night she called to tell me that she was commended on her Reading and Writing TAKS tests. These are Texas tests, but it means that she did VERY well on the tests. She has also been selected to take AP American History and AP Language Arts next year. Woo Hoo McKenzie!!

She has dyslexia and has worked really hard to get where she is now. I remember my sister working with her on sight word flashcards during the summer.




I remember when she was getting extra help in reading and was exempt from the Reading TAKS test. Over the past few years though, she has turned into a reading machine and especially likes historical fiction. Go McKenzie!!


She has conquered her dyslexia and now her genius shines through! AND McKenzie also plays the heck out of her clarinet! **sniffle** I couldn't be prouder of her if she were my own child.

Mother's Day - a whine

Yesterday, KJ asked me if David would be back in time to take him shopping for my Mother's Day present. (David's out-of-state on business.) I said that he would, but that all I wanted was for someone else to do the dishes that day. This is the same thing that I ask for every year and it has yet to happen. Last year, I didn't do the dishes that day, but no one else did either so I just had more to do the next day. *sigh*

In the past 4 and a half years, since David and I married (and I no longer had a dishwasher), I have been the sole washer of the dishes. When I had sinus and septum surgery, and was in massive pain, the dishes stacked up waiting for me to get better. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy being a homemaker. I love my husband and son dearly and want to provide them with a semi-clean environment...but I don't particularly enjoy housework. I get in a cleaning mood sometimes, but most of the time it is just a labor of love on my part. I don't resent them or anything like that, but I wish that someone else would do the dishes one day a year.

Gotta run, I'm off to do the dishes.

Correction: I just remembered that my mom or dad (can't recall who) did the dishes when they were down visiting once. They snuck it in on me. I didn't want them too.

Talk about good timing. My pictures and photo CD came in the mail today.








KJ is on the left.




KJ is on the right.

I forgot that I DO have a picture to post. A photographer has been taking pictures of the fencing team. I didn't want to post this one that he sent me until I had actually paid for my pics. I'll have more when I get my CD.

Absolutely nothing interesting has been going on around here, nothing, nada, zilch. KJ and I have both been sick with some sort of coughing, chest congesting, snot-producing illness. It stormed pretty much all week, so the grass is growing at an alarming rate. It was a transition week school-wise. KJ finished several Spring subjects, and we are now moving into our Summer lite-school schedule. Like I said, nothing going on.

I do plan to go buy new batteries for my camera though so at least I can give you some pictures to look at.

Things I've either said or heard over the past few weeks

"If you don't want to cut open your own head, you can just look at Ryan's brain." - said by me during the science group's frog dissection

"Do we have any k-i-t-t-y-f-o-o-d?" - David "No, but we have t-u-n-a...why are we spelling for the cats?" - me

"That's a good possum." - David to Petunia

"Is this safe? Are we grounded?" - KJ to me as we were leaving the house during a terrible thunderstorm

"You're in charge of the fire while I mow." - this is only unusual because I said it to KJ

"No, you can NOT put gasoline on the fire. It's burning just fine." - also said to KJ