Turtles, Dolphins and Ants

Brett just finished his first week of diving in Florida. The type of diving they do for his new company is different than what he is used to in that they don't use SCUBA, they use surface-supplied air. This requires different gear than SCUBA (which by the way, stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus). With surface supplied air, you wear a 35-pound helmet that is connected with air hoses to the boat on the surface. The benefits include continual voice communications with the surface, so you don't have to remember all the numbers or details about what you are inspecting, you just talk and the note takers on the boat write it down. Also you can stay down longer and aren't limited by the quantity of air you can carry yourself. Brett was nervous before this week--helmet diving can be more claustophobic and you don't have access to your nose with your hand, so clearing your ears is more challenging.

Happy to report that he really enjoyed it. He was able to figure out the new equipment and be productive right off the bat. He likes drysuits a lot better than wetsuits, and even though it is pretty warm water (50-60 degrees), you start getting cold in a wetsuit when you stay in the water for 3 hours. The ear clearing went fine, although he did have to work at it a little bit. The visibility is pretty good compared to what he is used to, and he saw fish, eels, shrimp and most exciting of all, dolphins and porpoises. The dive team is inspecting Blount Island Marine Terminal--if you look at a map of Jacksonville it is an island in the NE area of the city. There are wharfs all around the island--it is where the container ships are unloaded and processed.

Back at the hotel, Maya and Jonah and I have been amusing ourselves with the little ponds out front. There are ducks, geese, heron, turtles and fish, and we have seen some beautiful birds we don't recognize. There are some large fields close to the hotel, great for throwing the ball for Banchi and exploring for flowers and pinecones. The kids made a fairy house in a big tree, complete with moss which is abundantly all over the foilage here. It has been sunny and warm, temperatures near 70 degrees, and fun to be outside more than usual this time of year. Banchi doesn't know what to make of the turtles--he is very interested in them, I think in the sense that he doesn't know how to categorize their scent.

For some reason, there are anthills everywhere. Jonah enjoys poking them with a stick and watching a plain looking sandhill turn into a bustling city of ants when he steps on it or breaks open the hill. Maya does not like this at all, in the extreme, and it tends to make her stay on the sidewalk or beg to go back inside when she sees all those ants exposed. Jonah has figured out this is a really fun way to get at his sister. Ah, the joys of siblinghood.

We found a Pump It Up with an open playtime, and the kids also took a science class at Eco-Ed, a science/homeschool resource center we stumbled upon. The class was about Air--they made frisbees and spinners and had marble races. It was cool. They are signed up for a solar craft class and a volcano class next week. The library here is full of great activities and resources. Unfortunately, since we can't show a permanent address we are again limited to 4 books per checkout. Are they insane? I just put 20 books on hold that I have been trying to get for school history...I guess we will just have to go to the library every day. I have considered going to every branch in the system until some manager takes pity on us and lets us have the 50 book limit that a resident gets. Oh well.

Speaking of school, I bought Jonah some kindergarten workbooks, mostly because I can't seem to keep him occupied while Maya is doing her school work. He is just like I was--he says "I can't stop doing my workbook!" as he keeps asking for more and more pages to do. It is pretty funny. Maya is mostly into craft-type things, art and making things for her dolls--she enjoys the history projects and likes to do workbooks for small time increments or she gets bored or distracted. Here is the note she left the tooth fairy:

"Dear Toth Fary Than you for the money. May I have my toth back? xoo Maya"

It was pretty cute.

At night we have been playing Hearts with the kids. They sort of get it...will keep working on it.