By Holly Giles | Great Outdoors , Motherhood
This is our first season of playing a sport. Grant wanted to try soccer this season, so we joined our city’s league. I wish someone had told me about the secret soccer mom society before I showed up in my grungy shorts! Our whole family showed up for the first practice like it was the […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Great Outdoors , Recipes , Simple Living
You are invited to a Blueberry Pickin Party! The boys and I went to pick blueberries for the first time and invited a few of our friends along for the fun. In our area of Florida, there are scads of places to go, yet we never seemed to make it out during the season. It […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Great Outdoors
Taking a road trip with just one of my boys does not happen often. I took advantage of an opportunity to take Grayson to several state parks and to Alabama to see my grandmother and to reconnect with my firstborn. Whenever we hit the road, we have our Florida State Parks Passports in hand to […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study , Recipes
Our Field Study Part One was about a field trip to the strawberry fields. This season we used the strawberries to make Jam. Grayson and Grant can get overzealous when it comes to picking berries.They took off down the rows and came back with their shirts full. Before I knew it, we had $30 worth of […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , popular , Recipes
In my book, Blaze New Trails, I devote a chapter to U-pick farms. I share how food can teach math in a hands-on way. Two families joined us and we jumped right into strawberry math at Oak Haven Strawberry Farm. Our goal is to find out how many strawberry plants are on the farm and […]
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By Holly Giles | Family , Florida , florida vacations , Great Outdoors
Camping Trip As we head out this weekend on another camping adventure, I thought I would continue our adventures from last year. In part one of camping, I talked about the truth of family camping. Now I will share our run-ins with critters and nature as we venture on exploring Fort Desoto in Florida. This […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , florida vacations , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Florida Manatee Florida manatee show up in the springs of Florida from December through March. During the winter months, manatee move to warmer waters and a large number of them find their way to Blue Spring State Park. We have been taking Grayson and Grant to the park to see Florida Manatee since they were […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors , homeschooling , Nature Study
Science in your backyard Around here, backyard science need not be planned. On any given day, it falls from the sky or slithers by for us to take notice. Why not seize the opportunity. On this day, we were reading on the couch when a loud thud hit the back window. As we searched the deck, […]
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By Holly Giles | Florida , Great Outdoors
How do I plan a Family Camping Trip? The anticipation of cooler days is approaching. Our annual fall family camping trips come to mind. This past spring, we seemed to hit a camping marathon, three trips in five weeks, that left me pondering the ideal versus the reality of family camping trips! Just the word “camp” sounds fun doesn’t it? […]
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By Holly Giles | Field Trips , Florida , Florida field trips , Great Outdoors
Alexander Springs Last week we had family in town. My husband’s Aunt and Uncle from Tennessee were here for a few days. We decided to cool off at Alexander Springs. We were going to meet them at spring, which is located in the Ocala National Forest. The Forest was established in 1908 as the FIRST national forest […]
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