Oceania

We have been learning about Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, and all of Oceania.  

Aquarium of the Pacific

We spent a day at the Aquarium of the Pacific to get to know the Pacific Oceans inhabitants a little better.  They were having a homeschool day for a discounted price- $6 per ticket versus $26!  I love it when deals like that happen when it is at a place that goes along with what we are studying!

Cutest Pink Octopus...

Learning about Plankton...

Charity was in heaven at the little outside play area...

Petting sharks and sting rays, Oh my!

We met up with the "V" family.  Field trips are always more fun with friends!

Monica is known as the"bird whisperer".  This lorikeet just climbed up onto her shoulder!

I had the kids each choose a fish from the Tropical waters near Polynesia to do a little report on.  Tanner choose this leafy dragon sea horse... 

Hunter choose a pretty orange and black fish called an Achilles Tang 

and I think Charity colored every fish in the tank.  

They really got into this little assignment!

Fabulous Friends...

We invited our friends, the "T" family over for dinner.  Lilo was born in New Zealand, has Samoan heritage, and also lived in Samoa.  Their family was soooo nice to teach us A LOT about their heritage!

Lilo brought a lot of Samoan artifacts to show the kids...

Don't mess with anyone holding this weapon!

 The kids dressed in their traditional dress (they are great at Polynesian dancing!)  Here the boys are doing their Haka faces!

 They taught the boys the Haka Dance!

Sienna doing poi balls...

I think Hunter liked the poi balls more than the Haka Dance!

 Charity liked the poi balls because they were pink!

Pacific Islander Festival

The next day we headed to San Diego for the Pacific Islander Festival in San Diego where we got to try mini bananas….

 Meet Miss Polynesia first runner up...

See some model huts from the Island of Chamorro

Do some art from the Cook Islands...

 Play in the Pacific Ocean..

and practice our Haka face some more!

We also watched lots of Polynesian dancing, enjoyed the Island music, and ate like a Polynesian!  

Too bad a field trip to the actual Polynesian Islands is not in our field trip budget.  I would even settle for the  Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii!  Oh well, I still think the kids got a lot of good "Being There" experiences!

Fun at the Beach

Our friends the "V" Family were camping at the beach and invited us out for a night!  They were staying at Doheny Beach, right on the water!  The boys had a great time running around and the girls sat and dug in the sand most of the night!  It was a very pleasant evening!

LA County Fair Time!

Petting Zoo...

Pretend Farming and Shopping (we do this every year, even with the long line!)

Mr. Muscles!

Charity got her picture taken with Real Royalty-Miss American Honey Queen!  Who knew you could be crowned a queen because you are a good beekeeper!

Goat Milking...

The boys had a fun time playing robbers on this Wells Fargo wagon...

 The Chinese Gardens was one of my favorite exhibits...

Sitting at an old desk in the Old School House…  There was a dunce cap in the corner and I was telling my kids what it was for and some other kid asks, "Did you have that when you were little?"  I assured her I was not that old!

Nasty Fair Food.  Tanner and Ladd look forward most to their lunch at the fair.  They scout out the most disgusting, artery clogging, meal they can find before they choose their perfect cuisine.  Tanner choose bacon wrapped shrimp and Ladd had a colossal size corn dog also covered in bacon.  I packed my own lunch!

We survived the massive HEAT and had a great time on our annual trip to the Fair!