Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tales of a Third Grade Classrom: I Hop into the Play! #treefrog #rainforest #australia

Hey, kids!

Check out this photo I found from last June!


Mr. H's school was doing a play during the first week of June, and I sneaked into the scene here with Clara! Clara was playing the Green-Eyed Tree Frog, and because they LOVE rain, I plopped right in! Green-Eyed Tree Frogs have a mating call that is the loudest when it rains, and it is called their "rain call". They're totally cool animals!

Want to learn more about Green-Eyed Tree Frogs? Visit the National Geographic page about them here! And I even found a whole bunch of neat photos of them, here!

I sure hope I get to play a part in next year's play! I wonder what the school will be performing next? It's so fun! :D

See ya around!
-LR

Monday, July 29, 2013

Around the World with Little Raindrop: I Go Cruuuuuisin'! #CarnivalCruise

Hiya Kiddos!

Today I am going to tell you all about the time I went on a CRUISE to Mexico! Miss Melanie's Mommy and Stepdaddy were going on a cruise last April, and they asked if I would like to come along. Of course, I said "YES"!

First, we went to the airport to get on our plane to Miami!

Take me to Miami, babyyy!

But then, due to bad weather, our flight was delayed. What a BUMMER that was. So we flew straight to Key West, and met up with the ship there instead!

I wonder how big a whale's tail is compared to our boat's tail?

A view of the dock at Key West from the deck of the ship!

Little me and Mr. Alan!

Little me and Ms. Wendy!

And we're off! Look at that gorgeous ocean!

Ms. Wendy, can we go down the slides?! PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE???

Towel animals, everywhere! An elephant and rabbit...

...and a crab...

...and a toad...

...and a cute little puppy in our room!


We had some fun relaxing on the ship. But the next day, it was time to visit Cozumel, Mexico! Yahoo!

The ocean is a great thinking place!

Look at all those wonderful clouds! I wonder if one of them is MY cloud?

Almost on the shore!

Ohhh, the waves are so pretty!

This what our boat looked like from the shore. It was SO BIG!

It was SO hot out, I had to stay in the shade every chance I got!
I didn't want to evaporate on our trip!

I had to stop and water the bushes before we did ANYthing fun.

Sorry for the crooked photo... I'm not too good at taking pictures!
But look at that cool water fountain! Isn't it so fancy?

It's always nice to stop and smell the flowers!

I love the feeling of sand between my... er... toes!

Sea Turtles are one of my favorite ocean friends!

Can you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?

What's a Zonkey, you ask?
Well, it's a mix between a Zebra and a Donkey, silly!

Next we visited Punta Sur National Park, which is a protected habitat for so many unique plants and animals! In fact, it has 5 different kinds of ecosystems within it! Neat, huh?

The water habitat here is perfect for crocodiles to live in!

Not a good place for swimming, that's for sure!

Whoa, that guy is BIG!

Somebody needs to turn his very large frown upside down!

Ms. Wendy and I shared a buggy ride!
But I'm so short, you can't see me inside.   :(

We saw the mangrove forest, a really important kind of ecosystem
that supports LOADS of wildlife and plant life, too!

This place might look barren and old, but it's chock full of life!

In fact, click on this link to learn more
about the importance of the mangrove forests in Cozumel!

Wow, I wonder how many fish live here?

What a beautiful sight!

Uh oh! Sorry, I got my thumb in the way of the lens...

That's a cool little bush, isn't it?

Here I am in front of some ancient Mayan ruins, called "El Caracol".
This building was used as a hurricane detector, WAY before you were born!
Even before your grandparents were born, too!

Hey, I think I see something there...

Wow! It's a giant lizard! Whoa, he sure is huge!

Then we went to see the Faro Celarain Lighthouse.

Gosh, and I already felt short before this!

This is the view from the lighthouse.

Look how blue and beautiful the water is from here!

Hmm... I bet there is a coral reef living in that water.

Aha! I was right!

*sigh*

If you want to see more of the animals, plants,
and gorgeous scenery found in Cozumel,
check out National Geographic's page here!

The sun was setting, and it was time for dinner...

...and I got a strawberry slushie for dessert!

We sure had fun in Cozumel, but we were POOPED! The next day was a fun day at sea, but all we did was rest...



It was a super duper fun trip! I had seen cacti in Texas, and palm trees in California, but I had never seen a mangrove forest before! It was totally cool to learn just how important the different ecosystems around the world are. AND how a little raindrop like me can help make those systems thrive!

And of all the fun things we did on this trip, do you know what my favorite part was?




Yep, you guessed it! Being surrounded by friends and family! Hey, look, everydrop's waving goodbye! Goodbye, see you all around and around and around!

Keep that water fresh and clean, kids! Until next time...  :D
-LR