Duty Calls, Animal Education and A Nuclear Lesson

Well, it finally happened.

I was called for jury duty.

            

So we dressed nicely.

    


   Then all of us, L.J. too, headed to town.  We were told that kids weren't allowed in, so they sat in the lobby and waited.  They could hear a bit of what was going on since the doors were open for a bit. When they arrived to the part of being  excused, I raised my hand & stood.
Q: How can I be excused from jury service?
You may ask the Magistrate to excuse you from jury service if you can show good and sufficient reason why you should not have to serve. Typical reasons might include temporary or permanent physical disability, or women with children under the age of seven without means of providing adequate care while performing jury duty. Before you can be excused for one of these reasons, you may be asked to furnish an affidavit.
I informed the court that my kids are not under 7, but are 11 & 9 and in the lobby since I homeschool. The judge asked why weren't they in the court room and I informed him that the bailiff said no kids or they would be. He asked if I was the main education provider, and I said yes.  Then he asked if there was anyone else with us. "Yes. Today we happened to have an 18 month old."  He commented on how well behaved they are, since he hasn't heard any kids out there. I agreed and thanked him. He whispered to another person there and they excused me.
So when we left, an hour and a half later, it was question time, "What was it like?" "Were you scared?" "What happened?" and such.

Then we moved on to Martial Arts class, seeing about getting the MAC fixed, and a small grocery run.

The boys favorite day, 

Volunteer Tuesday!

Rainbow was sick and couldn't join us :-(

After a good cleaning job to get ready for the Open House.

It was lunch for us while socializing with Pierce.
I Love Goliath 'sitting' in the chair.

Then it was time for Animal Training. 

Tanya was getting boards ready for animal painting to, sell at the open house.

A friend from the Greenville Zoo, Dindy, came and helped.
She dropped a ball, the boys had to use a clicker and the boys had to click it as it hit the floor.
They had a bit of trouble at first then got it.

Here she goes more in depth with them.

Pierce~ trainer and Pumpkin ~ animal.
Pierce wanted to have him put all the office supplies in a pile, but Pumpkin made a pattern + sign.
That also has a lot to do with the training.  You are thinking one thing and the animal another.
Being flexible, taking notes on things (weather, items, actions, etc.), keeping calm and being positive are Very important!

 We also learned that it's important not to react to a reaction you don't want. Jumping, giggling, yelling and such will bring that negative action time and time again.

Loki getting ready to help.

 Loki has never worked with the stick before, but has seen other birds do it. 

 She had no problem catching on!

Discussing with Dindy on his choices of animals to train.
He's still undecided.

Pierce is also still learning and getting help with his iguana. 

Pumpkin decided he wants to work with Ziggy and train him.
Just 5 minutes a day is more than enough to train an animal.

When we were done volunteering we went to get L.J. from Sunshine's house and stayed for a bit.  The boys played with the neighbor kid  for a bit, and Fireball Coyote gave himself a mild concussion.  We didn't realize it till after practice at bed time.

Pumpkin had All-Star practice that night.

Wednesday

Was a field trip to Duke Energy, first their first Homeschool Days.

 When it came to class time, the boys were in two separate groups.

I stayed with Fireball Coyote & snuck in on Pumpkin at times.

Pumpkin's first part was a nuclear presentation.

The tour of how the nuclear plant works.
How Duke uses the lakes around us.

Atoms and how they are used.

Guess who made a new friend.

Craft time.

L.J. & I walked around the butterfly garden while Fireball Coyote crafted.

Meanwhile, some where in the group is Pumpkin getting pop bottle rocket making instructions.

I Love It!

Found him hard at work.
After this he took the tour of how the plant works.
Then part two of the presentation.

Fireball Coyote then moved on to Radiation Dress Out.

Cloth gloves, cloth booties, then cloth cover.

Rubber booties.

Hood, separate the two sleeves.

Put the rubber gloves on.
Coming off they say ~ "rubber (booties), rubber (gloves), hood, cover".
The very last thing is the cloth gloves.

Then Fireball Coyote had festival time, but not allowed it the bounce house.

Hanging out with his new friend.

Then it was Fireball Coyotes time for a smaller part of the presentation. 

And Pumpkin had dress out.

Near the end of Fireball Coyote's presentation time I noticed Pumpkin heading outside,
and I followed.

I missed Pumpkin and his friend having their rocket launched, but I got it coming back.

Here's a few others being set off.

Finally got Pumpkin handing one over.

I bought Wendy's for lunch and this was a 'prize' in it.
Look out Pinocchio!
(XL by request!)

Today, we're 'bums'.  Hanging on the computer, getting ready to watch our first episode of Scaly Adventures on our channel, soccer practice, and not much else.