Day 10 - Bead Monkey

Hello All,

Today was a relaxing day.  After the Mall of America we needed a day to just decompress and relax a bit. 

We went to the Bead Monkey and met the owner Tina Lilja.  She took us on back and we started two classes.  One half of the room learned how to bead using a circular pattern (which is unusual for our students) and the other half of the room learned how to make a leather bracelet.  The majority of the beading side was girls and the majority of the leather side was boys. 



The girls beading side got pretty frustrated with the process.  It was pretty different from what they're used to.  They did one row and that seemed to go OK but the second row required a few more steps.  Half got frustrated and said no more and the other half battled through it.



The leather side (populated by the boys mainly) did alright with the leather and beading.  It was a struggle getting the beads on the leather sometimes but they got the pattern down pretty quickly and they were surprised by how much fun they were having. 

 

Everyone's pieces turned out really well!  Tina was around the whole time, helping out and telling stories.  It was a great morning of beading and learning.  Bernie and Cassius also participated in making the jewelry, Cassius was on the leather side and Bernie was on the beading side.  She helped out with the girls that were struggling with the beading aspect so that was nice to have another helper. Tina also had another worker from the Bead Monkey help out and it was nice to have many hands helping and keeping them entertained.  I'm a disaster with most things artsy so I helped manage and answer questions and of course take pictures :D


We had a lunch break at the DQ next door, always a favorite (who doesn't like ice cream?) and then headed back to the Bead Monkey for our afternoon classes.  This time it went opposite.  The 'boys' side ended up doing more beading and they all learned how to bead and make a circle, while the 'girls' side learned about metal wrapping.  Frustration levels rose quite a bit for the boys, learning how to bead with the tiny beads and a tiny needle.  Let me tell you, they all appreciate their aunties, grandmas and sisters A LOT more after having to bead like they do.  It's not nearly as easy as they make it look.  The girls LOVED the metal wrapping and made very unique necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.  Some made a few pair, getting really creative.  Tina showed them how to make a special necklace that had a birds nest looking pendant on it.  A few of the girls tried and did very well.



Overall, it was a lot of fun and all of the students were really surprised by how much fun they had.  Cassius and Bernie also had fun and made some fun jewelry for their kids, etc.



When everyone said their thank yous to Tina and her staff we headed back to the hotel for nap time.  Students were getting crabby and they just needed some major quiet time.


Dinner tonight was at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  I love taking students here because the restaurant is so funky and it's in a great part of the city.  They can see the dome pretty easily from there.  I also like taking them there because all of the food is new!  They have to try something different, though I have to say with this group they are WAY more open to new food than the other.  If I ask them to try something they will all at least try.

We got there and some of the students ordered Italian sodas.  This was a leap for some of them but I didn't hear any complaints...I think they liked them :D  Next, as a special treat, I ordered a few side orders of calamari.  They had all been wondering what it was so I surprised them with it.  Everyone had a few bites BEFORE I told them what calamari really was.  Most just shrugged and said, 'Huh' some twitched their faces a bit.  I reminded them that they liked it just fine before I told them what it was and they all went, 'oh yeah' and life was good.

It was a great dinner.  Everyone had something new that they really enjoyed.  There was lots of laughing and joking.  Some even dived in and had a little dessert.

That night we went back to the hotel and had a meeting about what we were going to do the next day.  All the students had to vote on a movie to see.  We were going to the Riverview Theater and they had four choices: The Sapphires, Oblivion, Oz the Great and Powerful and The Croods.  We watched all of the trailers for the movies, so they knew what they movies were about, and then held a vote.  This was important mainly because all of the movies were at different times so depending on when the movie was would depend on dinner and other activities.

Tomorrow is Science Museum, Como Zoo, and a movie!  Stay Tuned!

Day 9 - Mall of America!

Hello All!

Today was the big day of the trip....going to the Mall of America.  It's a very hectic and long day but it's also one that the students really enjoy.

We woke up early to make sure that we would get to the Mall of America with time to spare.  There was also some road construction between Duluth and Minneapolis and we wanted to make sure we wouldn't get stuck anywhere.

Our first activity was a behind the scenes tour at the Sea Life Aquarium in the mall.  We got there early so we all chilled out and waited for my mom to arrive.  She wanted to join us for a day and decided on the Mall of America day.  The students took bets on which direction she would be coming from, they couldn't get over how BIG the mall was!  She could have come from anywhere!



After meeting up with mom we got to meet our tour guide, Grahm.  We were still pretty early but he totally went with it and gave us an extra long tour.  He took us through the room where they do surgical procedures.  We learned that they just had surgery with a piranha that ate a bunch of rocks....and we got to see the rocks!   They also got to see the machine that dries out certain samples; they learned what a mermaids purse was.  He also showed them samples of passed animals like octopus, squid, etc.

Mermaids Purse

Next he showed us where they prepare all of the animals food in the aquarium.  They got to see everything from the sharks lunch to the jellyfish's meals.  There were a lot of questions and oohhs and ahhs.

The Lunch Menu for the Animals

Jellyfish Food

 




Lastly we took us behind the scenes of the big tanks.  We couldn't bring cameras but we got to see some animals in holding and what the tanks look like from above.  They learned a lot about how the aquariums breed animals, rescue them, or rehabilitate them.  Overall it was a great experience the students learned a lot.  Grahm was SUPER informative and did a really great job interacting with the students.



After the tour we went through the actual aquarium.  They got to touch star fish and urchins and sea horse crabs!  They also got to see the jellyfish exhibit and the rainforest exhibit.  There were a lot of new animals that they loved to gawk at.  We also found Nemo and Dory!  SO COOL!  The last part of the aquarium is the big tanks with the sharks.  Needless to say they LOVED that part.  Sharks literally swim right over your head.  Some were a tad freaked out but they all loved it and we all left with big smiles.




 

The Timberwolves were here!

 


Next on the activity list was Nickelodeon Land.  We had a few issues with getting our tickets (reservations were lost for a little bit) BUT we found them and the students had a blast!  Two solid hours of riding rides, drinking icee's and getting cartoons drew of them.  There was A LOT of screaming and shaking going on but it was worth it.  They all tried the rides and they ALL survived. 


Now everyone's favorite part....SHOPPING!  We split up into two teams and shopped our little hearts out!  Most of the students were broke in under an hour.  There was a lot of buying basketball hats, and new shoes, so that left little money for little else.  Mom and I took them to Claires (always a favorite) the Disney store, and a few other fun ones that are great to just walk through and see what's there.



It was a lot of fun watching them explore this GIANT mall and see all of the new types of stores.  Even Payless impressed them! 

 




By 7:30 everyone was dead and ready to be done shopping.  Cassius took some of the students to the car to drop off their bags before we went to dinner.  We all met up at 8 at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner.  It's a fun restaurant if you've never been.  They have thunderstorms every 45 min, which is funky and cool. 



There were a lot of exhausted people at our table by the end of that meal.  I was asked more than once if we could be done shopping after dinner.  Obviously my answer was YES.



We all said good bye to Mumushka (Mom).  There were a few tears because she was heading home and they only had two more days left on the trip.  We all packed up our vehicles and made our way to the hotel.  After checking in we found out they had no roll aways so Cassius and I got to sleep on the floor....boo....but we survived. 



LONG DAY doesn't even cover it BUT they learned a lot and got to experience so much it's totally worth it.  We just kept reminding our selves that we can die after the trip.

Day 8 - Can YOU identify a frog by it's sound?

Hello All!

So day 8 began like any other day.  We got up and OMG it was raining :(  Seriously, this weather is the total opposite of the last trip.   Well...as a wise lion once said, "Nothing ever happens the same way twice."  (BONUS to anyone who can ID that lion) but I digress...

Today was aquarium day and I have to say my favorite day of the trip!  I worked at the Great Lakes Aquarium for a few years, also volunteered before working there, and I absolutely love it.  

We showed up a tad early so I decided to take the group on a little walk.  It was foggy so we discussed that we were basically sitting in a cloud and discussed what that meant while walking towards Canal Park.  I took them to Vertical Endeavors (rock climbing establishment) to meet my good friend Amanda Lindquist and her class.  She took them there for their last day of school.  I was asked A LOT why I didn't bring my students there.  The simple answer is I figured we didn't have a disastrous moment with horsebackriding.....I didn't want to push my luck.  It'll definitely be considered for the next trip.



We eventually made our way back to the aquarium to start off our adventure.  We were met by Samantha and she took us back to the classroom to start our Herpetology class.  The main reason why Herpetology was chosen for their class was because our students have very little, if any, contact with these types of animals so we wanted to expose them a bit.  They have obviously seen them on the discovery channel once or twice, but touching a turtle is very different than seeing it on TV.



The class was fabulous!  The students learned how animals are classified to be a part of 'Herpetology,' they also learned about two major animal groups: Amphibians and Reptiles.  For Amphibians they were challenged to think about what they look like, sound like, feel like, and what makes then unique.  This really challenged them and there was a lot of group work and brainstorming, PERFECT practice for the school year.  After brainstorming they got to see if they could identify five types of frogs by their sounds.  The students learned that amphibians, like frogs, are easier to ID by their sounds because they camouflage so well.  Let me tell you, they had SO much fun learning the sounds and impersonating them :D  They also got to look at tadpoles and frogs within the classroom.  So Much Fun! 

The five frogs they learned to ID

tadpoles!

Next we learned about Reptiles and what makes them similar and also different from the Amphibians.  Again, a lot of excellent group work and brainstorming. They were really pushed to think and reason why things are the way they are.  Good Things :)   For the Reptiles, there were challenged to ID a certain type of turtle by using a specific key that asks questions and from the answers you can ID the animal.  There is a name for it but I can't remember.  I fail.

Looking at snake skin

They also got to meet Bob the Ball Python!  Bob is fabulous.  He has a really cool pattern that looks like ET's head.  Super Cool.  I've meet Bob a time or two from my volunteering and working there so I was really glad when Samantha brought him out.  Of course the students got to touch him and ask questions, another super fun first for them.  Afterwards Bernie went around and doused their hands in sanitizer....no bacteria survived....guaranteed!

 

ID'ing the turtle

All things have to come to an end sadly.  We said our thanks to Samantha and goodbyes and headed out to explore the aquarium.  I challenged the students to find 5 facts from the aquarium.  Our students have a hard time deciphering the difference between fact and opinion so this was a little exercise to work on it.  It again challenged them but eventually the were reading more and more of the signs and listening to either Cassius, Bernie or I when we would read facts out loud to them.  So cool.  They had so much fun exploring.  We spent a lot of time on the lock system of the lakes.  They thought it was fascinating.  We also spent a lot of time in the 'Master of Disguise' exhibit.  It's full of animals that use different camouflage techniques.  Lots and lots of fun.  We ended our trip by watching Mary Pensak teach a lesson on Brian their octopus. 


 

Trying to get the Macaw dance :)

Luckily I have friends in Duluth and one of my good friends and former college roommate went to Grandma's and got us a table, so lunch was actually possible.  It was also delicious.  I couldn't bring them to Duluth and NOT eat at Grandma's...it's illegal I believe. 

The Vista Fleet Cruise was next.  Unfortunately Lake Superior was too rough so we couldn't go onto the lake.  Instead we stayed within the bay and learned a lot of cool factoids about it instead.  I challenged the students to actually listen to the guy talking and write a few facts down.  My students are SUPER literal so I had to be specific, in the end I said two.  The guy who was narrating the cruise was hilarious and the kids figured out quickly that if they stood by me I would repeat was he was saying, because I was laughing and following along.  They enjoyed being out on the water and the weather actually shaped up and was pretty beautiful.  It was windy but the sun peaked out and warmed us up for a bit.  We also had to share the boat with another HUGE school group.  There were teenagers running around everywhere!  It's was pretty chaotic.  By the end of the cruise we were all huddled together, they were a bit overwhelming.




  

Got a tan from being outside on deck all afternoon :)

 


The cruise ended and we headed out for Park Point to go say HELLO to Lake Superior.  Now I mentioned that the day turned out pretty nice but it was still pretty windy.  Well that didn't bug our students one bit.  They headed out to put their feet into the lake.  They thought that when I said the lake averages 39-40 degrees that that was warm....well until they put their feet in and FELT 39-40 degrees.  LOL.  That didn't stop them from jumping in though!  Bernies daughter was the first to go in and carried on her sisters tradition from the last trip of being fully clothed.  Eventually everyone except one student jumped into the lake fully clothed!  It was insane!  There was a lot of yelling and squealing but they did it and I know it's a memory that will stay with them forever :)

 

The Girl who started it!

 

The problem with everyone jumping into the lake was that when they got out they were soaked and cold.  We had to get to the train station by 6 and it was 5:30.  Needless to say we sped back to the hotel like a bat out of h-e-double hockey sticks!  I told the students that they had to RUN to their rooms, quickly change, and run back if we were going to make the train.  They held up their end and changed in under 5 minutes!  It was nuts!

Running to the car....soaking

Before we knew it we were speeding to get to the railroad on time.  Unfortunately on the way to the train station we lost Bernie and Cassius!  They didn't see us turning off and kept going :S  It was pretty interesting: running from the parking lot, over I 35 to get to the train station, and trying to call Cassius and Bernie to turn around! 



We made it in time and Bernie and Cassius eventually did find their way to the train station.  We all loaded the train together and had a great time!  The pizza train is a lot of fun :)  We found a car with really comfy seats so Bernie and I hid in there and ate our pizza.  Eventually kids trickled in and I kept teasing them that we were in 1st class, they had to go back to coach :P  The back car was really old and had a door so you could step out and watch the world go by.  There was also a gentleman that was really interested in the village and the students.  Bernie and I chatted with him for a bit.


Overall, great idea to take the kids on the train.  It's a smooth ride so none of the kids felt sick and they all really enjoyed being on a train.  We took a picture by the train, with the conductor (sweet guy!) The best part was they just got a car with ALASKA on it...so of course we took a picture in front of that car. 



At the hotel the students went and swam in the outdoor pool.  They didn't get a chance to use the water park again but I think they weren't too scarred by this.  They all had smiles on their faces and they kept using the frog noises to speak to each other....cracked me up.

Tomorrow is Mall of America day....Lord Help Us.