St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Beach Trip

A few weeks ago, the kids and I headed to St. Augustine with our co-op for a field trip to the Alligator Farm. None of us had ever been to the farm so we were all looking forward to the trip.

With their friend, Hunter

We walked around the park and even got to feed the alligators in one area.

After we ate lunch, we went to see the alligator feeding. I can tell you, this would not be the job for me. Do you see this? The girl was actually in there with the alligators and threw whole (dead) chickens at them!

This one was swallowing his chicken.

Ben and Rosemary with the Marable’s before heading out.

From there, we headed to the beach for a bit. We were just a few minutes away from the St. Augustine Beach park so they changed into their suits then we headed to the sand. It was a gorgeous day out. I thought it a bit cold for the water, but the chilliness didn’t deter Rosemary and Ben from splashing in the waves.

We were surprised at the erosion. We were a sight shimmying down the drop. Charlotte preferred to play up by me, rather than down by the water.

Sand angels in January. It is hard to top that!

A Good School Day

This was a rare day where we didn’t have to go anywhere until after lunch. It was a really fun morning with all the kids working diligently on different projects at the table.

Ben was working on his butterfly life cycle project. He had to match the words and the picture and put them in the right order.

Charlotte enjoyed her first foray with Color Wonder markers.

Rosemary had a 100 problems on her math fact sheet. Those are doozies for us.

Rosemary’s Narnia Birthday Party

The day of the party we woke up and got to work finishing up the set up. Our parents arrived that morning too.

Ben, Rosemary, and, Charlotte spent most of the morning outside with the grandpas.

We ate some pizza at lunch.

Then Rosemary and I got our outfits on.

As guests arrived, they received their nametag and then were invited to walk through the wardrobe and enter Narnia. They enjoyed some tea and toast while we told the story up until all four of the children enter Narnia through the wardrobe.

From there, we headed outside for a scavenger hunt.

We had four teams. Their nametags had a star on them to show the kids which team they were on.

They had to find:

• Father Christmas’ hat
• A dagger
• A vial of medicine
• Two bows
• Six arrows
• Sword
• Shield
• Picture of Aslan
• Snowflake
• Map of Narnia
• Mr. Tumnus’ arrest warrant
• Sleigh bells

Each team worked quickly then we all headed over to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver’s house for more of the story using the items that they found on the hunt. We told the story from entering Narnia to meeting Father Christmas and receiving their gifts. After that portion of the story, we headed over for some archery.

Everyone got to shoot three arrows through the hoops. It was tougher than it looked, but the kids were good sports. And some were very good shots!

After archery, we headed to Aslan’s camp, ate some gumdrops, and learned what happened to Edmund, the stone table, and the battle.

After that, we headed to the porch for the craft.

Half got their trees and lamp posts glued to their lids while the other half got a scoop of snow in their jars. Then they switched and we glued the lids on. The jars were plastic peanut butter containers. The little ceramic lamp posts came from the Dollar Tree.

The tops of the lids read, “Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.”

Rosemary’s completed jar.

Those who were finished all piled inside Mr. Tumnus’ house.

Next, we headed inside to sing happy birthday to Rosemary.

Next, we went back to Lantern Waste to watch Rosemary open her gifts.

Rosemary got a great variety of fun gifts.

Then the kids headed back to the porch to eat their cake and drink their hot chocolate.

Before leaving, we had one final part of the story to tell. Everyone came back to the living room and they were crowned a king or queen of Narnia and each received a title. It was a bit tough, but we managed to come up with twelve titles. They were:

• The Magnificent
• The Just
• The Gentle
• The Valiant
• The Fair
• The Wise
• The Courageous
• The Brave
• The Mighty
• The Great
• The Strong
• The Invincible

Narnia’s newest kings and queens

Once the kids were picked up, Rosemary opened her gifts from her grandparents and we all visited awhile. Becky came up all the way from Orlando so we were able to catch up with her too. And the kids loved playing with her kids.

Our almost 7 year old.

We picked up the house then wrapped up the full day with a dinner at Sonny’s. It was a fun, memorable day.