A Weekend at the Beach - The Tortuga Music Festival

Over the weekend, I worked the 3rd Annual Tortuga Music Festival.  It is a HUGE two day, multi-stage concert held on the sandy beaches of Fort Lauderdale to help raise awareness for ocean conservation.  The music is primarily country with a little rock tossed in for good measures.  A portion of the ticket sales are said to go "helping our oceans."

The first year Kenny Chesney and Eric Church were the headliners with 19 other artists.  I heard that over 25,000 people were in attendance!  Can you believe it?

I enjoyed that first year, but I was shocked at the amount of trash that was produced AND left behind.  I wished I had taken pictures.  Considering this was supposed to be an ocean conservation awareness event, the amount of trash left on the beach and overflowing trash cans was overwhelming to say the least.  Also there was absolutely nothing (that I saw) that discussed ocean conservation.  Big disappointment!    It was mind blowing!

The second year was even bigger with Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Hank Williams, Jr., Train, Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington, Ziggy Marley and many, many others.  That year drew over 45,000 people!

This year was a-ma-zing!  Again it was a two day weekend and was SOLD OUT!  They estimated that over 75,000 people were in attendance.  There were three stages again with 26 acts: Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Jake Owens, The Band Perry, Little Big Town, and Sam Hunt were the names that I was familiar with.  My brother exposed me to Zac Brown Band and I love them so while I was helping under the first aid tent, I was singing along to most of their songs.  Don't judge, you know you would too!

This year the trash left behind was at a minimum.  There were volunteers picking up trash, emptying trash and recycling recepticals and at the end of the night, it really showed.

The first aid tent in which I worked was a hopping place but who can complain when you are able to spend the day on the beach?

They dropped a few names to encourage people to come out again next year...how about Blake Shelton and Tim McGraw?  Can't wait for next year!

I'm waiting on some pictures from a friend so check back soon!

Betcha Didn't Know This...

If you're like me, you hate cleaning.  There are always dirty dishes or laundry to do.  The toilet needs to be scrubbed or the trash needs to be taken out.  I am always looking for a good excuse to put off housework but for the life of me am still looking for a good one - the right one.  Until now...

Today you have a reason to do absolutely no housework because today, April 7th, is No Houswork Day!  Did you know about this fantastic holiday?  I didn't either until a few years ago.  Why this day is not more widely known is beside me but I will do my part to spread the word and I hope you will too.  I'll shout it from the rooftops, post it on Facebook and Twitter.  Everyone should know that there is one day that for 24-hours, you are exempt from doing any housework.

So what are you going to do with all this time on your hands?  Don't even think about making a list of what you need to do.  Don't even think about going onto Pintrest and find time saving creative ways to clean stains out of clothes.  Do something fun.  Do something for yourself.  Hop on over to Mommyish and read the list Bethany Ramos compiled called "100 Awesome Ways To Celebrate NO Housework Day by NOT Doing Housework."

Right now I should be doing at least one load of laundry, sweeping or mopping the floor, or cleaning my desk.  Instead I am taking time to write this informational post. (Plus my desk will easily take at two days clean, maybe three.)  It's also my crafting station so you can just imagine what I am going to have to deal with.  So I am going to go grab my book, my sunglasses and a tall glass of Grandma's Tea and go sit on the balcony.  I might even listen to some tunes, take a nap or binge watch Netflix!

(Source image: https://dbdazedomain.wordpress.com/)

April STEM Challenge - The Cup Pyramid

This was an interesting challenge.  I had seen it done before but I remember it taking much longer than it did these kiddos!

The Challenge:  Using a rubber band and some string, students will transfer plastic cups from their current configuration into a pyramid.  

Each team (four students) received a rubber band, four pieces of string or yarn (24 inch lengths), and six plastic SOLO cups.

The ultimate goal was to see who could do it the fastest without touching the cups with their hands.  We had five teams and each one came up with the same procedure!  They began by tying each piece of string around the rubber band.  Next, the worked together by grabbing a string such that when all strings were held, students can stretch the rubber band. They all worked together to to “grab” each cup, one at a time, and moved them into the configuration of a pyramid.

It was really neat to see how well they worked together and how quickly they were able to put together their pyramid.  All teams were done within 30 minutes!  (Which is why there are NO PICTURES!)