Hello, beautiful readers! Today is Day 29 of the
#RRBC 30-Day Blogging Challenge! I can't believe I've almost completed it. Only one more day to go!
I didn't win the lottery, and I owe, I owe, so off to work I go! π Last night, I stopped by my local food store to pick up bakery items they have to discard every night. Did you know that stores have to throw away bakery items when they reach their sale date? The food is still good for another week or so, but they are not legally allowed to sell them. There are a few local organizations that pick up the food to take to the homeless or nursing homes but not nearly enough, so good food is trashed every day. π’
Luckily, my local food store manager allows me to pick up some of the bakery items on a day when he has no other organization scheduled so I can use it to reward my students for reading. I mentioned earlier that I have competitions between my classes to encourage them to read and learn vocabulary. At the end of the nine week period, the class who has read the most words (on average) gets a desserts party. For this past nine weeks, it was my 8th period.
We have a food pantry in our school for some of our students who are homeless or whose families are struggling. I always leave some of the food at the pantry before going to my classroom. There is always more than enough to share.
My students were so excited today when they saw the amount of food I brought them. They swore to me they could eat it all, but as always happens, there was food left over. I will share the leftovers with my classes tomorrow so they can have motivation to strive to win for the new nine weeks.
After classes ended, I watched our first middle school boys' flag football team play their first game. It was so fun to watch them, especially since my son is one of their coaches. They tied 7-7, but it was a fun game to watch. Afterward, we went home. I cooked dinner, and we watched a show together. Then, I responded to other author blogs.
So, I've taken you all around the United States on my trips, but today I wanted to talk about exploring the state in which you live. So many people don't even know how awesome their home state is, and it really doesn't cost a lot to wander a little bit. I have seen a LOT of my home state, Florida, and I'm nowhere near done exploring!
My sister and I love to go camping with the kids. We have gone to the following campsites: Fish Eating Creek, Lion Country Safari Campgrounds, Port Canaveral Campsites, Westgate River Ranch, Peace River, John Dickinson Park, Highland Hammocks State Park, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. When choosing where to go, we go to the Florida State Parks Camping site. Then, we look for sites that have hiking and biking trails because that is what we enjoy doing most. If they have kayaking as well, that's a bonus. We also look at how far the location is from us, especially if it's just for a weekend trip.
We also enjoy visiting the Florida springs. We have gone to Rainbow Springs, Silver Springs, Wekiwa Springs, Ginnie Springs, Silver Glen Springs, Rock Springs Kelly Park, Alexander Springs, and Blue Spring State Park. We are still exploring. We also enjoy biking riding in our local area and have started using All Trails to find new places to visit.
I enjoy visiting local state parks as well, such as Oleta State Park, Everglades National Park, Tree Tops Park, and others. I've visited our local zoo, science museums, ice skating rinks, Jungle Island, the Miami Seaquarium, Vizcaya, Wynwood, and many other local spots. And of course, I've visited our beautiful beaches on both coasts.
I have taken my son to Sea World, Disney World, Busch Gardens - Tampa, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Legoland. We have visited Key West and St. Augustine. I've also been to the west coast and visited St. Petersburg, Siesta Key, and Naples. I've been as south as Key West and have visited many of the islands in between.
It saddens me when my students tell me they have never even been to the beach, and we live less than half an hour away from it. Step out of your houses and wander. Explore your local areas and venture a little further each time. If you have children, give them the gift of wonder by visiting new places instead of constantly going to the same place. Expand their experiences. Give them (and you) the gift of exploring. You never know what great places you will discover! π
Have you explored your home state? Did you find any gems? I'd love to hear from you!
~o~
Have you missed one of my blogs? Here is a recap:
Day 28 - budgeting and financial planning
Day 27 - travel planning
Day 26 - visiting Vermont
Day 25 - visiting Arizona, Nevada, and Utah
Day 24 - road trip to Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
Day 23 - a senseless death and holistic medicine
Day 22 and recap of week 3 - Alaska cruise tour
Recap of week 2
Recap of week 1