{"id":1113,"date":"2016-05-30T23:18:04","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T03:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.wordpress.com\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2016-05-30T23:18:04","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T03:18:04","slug":"greetings-from-the-sunshine-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113","title":{"rendered":"Greetings from the Sunshine State!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greetings from the Sunshine State!\u00a0 This is on of the most anticipated events of the year by many Florida\u00a0homeschoolers, the annual FPEA Convention!\u00a0 One jam packed long weekend with too many things to\u00a0do but there is always something for everyone from\u00a0workshops to the exhibit\u00a0hall,\u00a0from the kid’s program to all of the extra activities that are planned, all the way to the homeschool graduation on Sunday!\u00a0 By the time you read this post I will already be home from our annual homeschool convention!<\/p>\n

This year we decided to stay at the Gaylord Hotel, where the convention is held.\u00a0 Usually we stay off site and drive over after breakfast.\u00a0 When we went to the fall\u00a0conference last year we stayed at the host hotel and we realized how much easier it made everything.\u00a0 We slept in later, didn’t have to deal with parking in morning, and it was so nice to be able to walk from the hotel room over to the conference.\u00a0 The fall FPEA conference is tiny compared to the convention.\u00a0 Usually, my husband and I attend the convention without any kids and make it a couple’s weekend.\u00a0 This year, since we had to bring one of them for something homeschool related, we decided to bring the other two older kids.\u00a0 My mom kept the youngest two for the weekend.\u00a0 They were happy to have grandma over with them to play.<\/p>\n\n

There was a long line to check in.\u00a0 While we were waiting a magician from the hotel stopped by and played some games with my girls.\u00a0They enjoyed the card tricks he did for them and it helped pass the time.\u00a0 There were multiple people out there entertaining other guests waiting in line.<\/p>\n

Once we got our luggage and settled in we went over to the convention center to pick up our ID badges and then went over to the pool\u00a0to get our arm bands.\u00a0 Since the FPEA convention\u00a0is a huge event they use arm bands for the pool to easily identify who is allowed to be in the pool area.\u00a0 If you lose your arm band it is expensive to replace it!!\u00a0 ($50).\u00a0 Don’t fret if it falls off (unless you lost it).\u00a0 They will replace it free of charge providing you bring the broken one to them.\u00a0 After we got our pool bands the girls went with Daddy to the water park and I went over to the convention center to go to the exhibit hall.<\/p>\n

I highly recommend that the first time that you attend\u00a0the FPEA convention you should make plans to go to the exhibit hall on Thursday evening.\u00a0 It is only opened for a few hours in the evening but well worth it.<\/p>\n

There is not enough time in the weekend to do all of the workshops and look through all of the booths.\u00a0 I do also recommend purchasing the audio files of the workshops.\u00a0 There are tons of awesome speakers every year!\u00a0 I listen to the workshops throughout the year.<\/p>\n

I made it through about four aisles before my crew was through playing in the water park and was ready for dinner.\u00a0 My girls did not want to leave the exhibit hall without first saying hi to their Spanish Teacher Se\u00f1or Gamache from La Clase Divertida.\u00a0 We\u00a0looked up where\u00a0his booth was and the girls met him.\u00a0 La Clase Divertida is a video based program that teaches elementary school children Spanish.\u00a0 They LOVE this program.\u00a0 We still have a few more lessons to complete in Level 1 but we will continue on with Level 2 when we are through.\u00a0 Here is my review of La Clase Divertida.<\/a><\/p>\n

After we left the exhibit hall we went to dinner\u00a0at Chipotle and then over to\u00a0Publix to get\u00a0breakfast food.\u00a0\u00a0Food here at the hotel is very expensive.\u00a0\u00a0The guests staying at the hotel use the same parking lots as those who are at the convention for the day.\u00a0 We would have to sit in all of the convention traffic just to park.\u00a0 Not worth it!!\u00a0 The girls are so thrilled that they are staying at a hotel that has a water park.\u00a0 One of the girls excitedly told the cashier that we are staying at a hotel and there is a water park.\u00a0 The cashier asked her which hotel we are staying at and she replies, “Orlando”.<\/p>\n

When we arrived back at the hotel a spot close to one of the entrances was available and we took it.\u00a0 Parked just a few spaces was this truck.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1338\"<\/p>\n

Hello to whoever owns this truck!\u00a0 I wish I would have seen you on the road because we would have honked and waved!<\/p>\n

After we came back to the hotel for the night I looked through what I had picked up at the booths.\u00a0 I rarely purchase anything on the first night.\u00a0 I use this time strictly to visit booths, look around, and get their catalog or any other information.\u00a0 When I look through everything I will write down anything I know I want to buy and the prices, make a note of any questions that I want to ask a vendor, and things that I want to go back to look at.\u00a0 I saw a couple of vendors that I thought the girls will enjoy seeing but they were ready for dinner by the time they caught up with me tonight.\u00a0 Snce I only got through\u00a0three aisles out of sixteen it looks like I will not go to as many workshops (sad face) so I can get through the exhibit hall\u00a0but I know I will be able to catch them on audio at a later date.<\/p>\n

Everyone is all settled down for the evening and are asleep.\u00a0 I wanted to blog for a few minutes before heading to bed myself.\u00a0 The mornings do come fast and will be, as usuall, non-stop from the time we get up in the morning until we are ready to go to bed.<\/p>\n

Have a great evening!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings from the Sunshine State!\u00a0 This is on of the most anticipated events of the year by many Florida\u00a0homeschoolers, the annual FPEA Convention!\u00a0 One jam packed long weekend with too many things to\u00a0do but there is always something for everyone from\u00a0workshops to the exhibit\u00a0hall,\u00a0from the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homeschool-2"],"yoast_head":"\nGreetings from the Sunshine State! - From Crayons to Keyboards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Greetings from the Sunshine State! - From Crayons to Keyboards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Greetings from the Sunshine State!\u00a0 This is on of the most anticipated events of the year by many Florida\u00a0homeschoolers, the annual FPEA Convention!\u00a0 One jam packed long weekend with too many things to\u00a0do but there is always something for everyone from\u00a0workshops to the exhibit\u00a0hall,\u00a0from the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From Crayons to Keyboards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-31T03:18:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jenn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113\",\"name\":\"Greetings from the Sunshine State! - From Crayons to Keyboards\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/img_1338.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-31T03:18:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#\/schema\/person\/facc961ab057ee8d72f937e35c1652a2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/img_1338.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/img_1338.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Greetings from the Sunshine State!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/\",\"name\":\"From Crayons to Keyboards\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#\/schema\/person\/facc961ab057ee8d72f937e35c1652a2\",\"name\":\"Jenn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92308aa68755ea840e7bc71785099ada73dcf5121e92efd88b99948f5b542a49?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92308aa68755ea840e7bc71785099ada73dcf5121e92efd88b99948f5b542a49?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jenn\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Greetings from the Sunshine State! - From Crayons to Keyboards","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Greetings from the Sunshine State! - From Crayons to Keyboards","og_description":"Greetings from the Sunshine State!\u00a0 This is on of the most anticipated events of the year by many Florida\u00a0homeschoolers, the annual FPEA Convention!\u00a0 One jam packed long weekend with too many things to\u00a0do but there is always something for everyone from\u00a0workshops to the exhibit\u00a0hall,\u00a0from the...","og_url":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113","og_site_name":"From Crayons to Keyboards","article_published_time":"2016-05-31T03:18:04+00:00","author":"Jenn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jenn","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113","url":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113","name":"Greetings from the Sunshine State! - From Crayons to Keyboards","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/img_1338.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-31T03:18:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#\/schema\/person\/facc961ab057ee8d72f937e35c1652a2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/img_1338.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lifeofahomeschoolmomma.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/img_1338.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?p=1113#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Greetings from the Sunshine State!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/","name":"From Crayons to Keyboards","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#\/schema\/person\/facc961ab057ee8d72f937e35c1652a2","name":"Jenn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92308aa68755ea840e7bc71785099ada73dcf5121e92efd88b99948f5b542a49?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92308aa68755ea840e7bc71785099ada73dcf5121e92efd88b99948f5b542a49?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jenn"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crayonstokeyboards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}