We are a homeschool family planning to travel the U.S. We hope to have an awesome time, but it is very time consuming. We hope you enjoy our page. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 7 Jul 2009 19:28:00 -0500 Tue, 7 Jul 2009 19:28:00 -0500 wow alot more has happened since my last post. Me (Shelby) and Kyle Finished second in our baseball season and 3rd in the Play-offs. Kyle Received a superior rating at MPA. Kyle Played with the Middle School Honor Band, but unfortunately  I did not make the HIgh School Honor Band. Easter was a lot of fun we had our cousins matthew and Becca come stay for the weekend and then the Big easter dinner with all the family On Easter Sunday. Unfortunately we had an unexpected death in the family on 4-22-09 My Aunt Matthew and Becca's mother Elizabeth Burton passed away. We all had a ruff time with the death and miss her very much she will always be remembered and Loved forever. In May kyle and I performed at the Kravis center both with kyles middle school honor band and both of us with the Palm Beach County Philharmonic orchestra. We both also had our end of the year testing on and before my aunts death, but we passed with flying colors. Kyle and Shelby both did very well shelby was placing her reading in the 12th grade+. Our summer plans did not go as I said in the last post We had one week of summer band camp. The Tom took Kyle and Chris to Busch Garden while I stayed home with my mom due to an eye issue. They found a cholazion which is a cyst in my right eye. I went to the doctor that week and they are giving me till next week to heal it if I don't which its not looking to good. I will either having to have it sut out or injected with a steroid. June 21st Fathers Day Kyle left for a music camp at southeastern University in Lakeland FL, and Chris and I left for Tallahasse, FL for a camp at the capitol with 4-H called LEG we stayed in the FSU Dorms. We all had a lot of fun and learned a lot. After that we all have just been chilling at home and hanging with friends and having band sectionals. Tomorrow I leave for UF BAND CAMP I will be gone till the 17th. AT the moment I am working on 4-H books that are due very soon. I am really looking forward to Band camp and can't wait. Chris will be attending a camp the week after I get back but I am not allowed to say what at the moment I will blog after he gets back. Kyle's birthday is then on JULY 24 he can't wait. once Chris gets back Both him and I will be going to compete at State 4-H competitions with our public speeking talks at week we call Congress. We are looking forward to having a fun filled week and hopfully winning states!!!! We then will get a guest that I met at Leg that is coming to stay for a week also meanwhile kyle and I start up marching Band and the Boutons are coming into town for one of there sons baseball tournaments so as u can see it will be a very busy week.... Chris will then leave on the 10th to go to Ohio to spend sometime with some Famliy he is looking forward to chilling out and working with Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim. and is excited to visit the Gayrage again lol inside joke... Kyle and I will then still be in Marching and school will Start TUesday the 18th and we will also being regular band classes and regular marching season. I will also be playing soccer this year again in RPB at the rec center. I am looking forward to that since i took off last year. We will also be joining back up with the Youth orchestra of PBC Philharmonic.. farwell for now I will blog after a lot of thi happens to tell you how it all went lol THE BURTON'S---Shelby... GOD BLESS----Also could you pray for Seth Bayles a friend of ours he is 8yrs old and has an unknown illness. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/706015/ Tue, 7 Jul 2009 19:28:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/706015/ A lot of music oppotunitys have been coming up for both Kyle and Shelby. Kyle and Shelby both did Solos at solo and ensemble and got Superiors (the highest rating). Shelby then went with her band to FBA MPA (music performance assesment) and they received a good (3 on a 1-5 scale) That really isen't what they had expected but they were prepared for it because they did level 6's in music which is the secone highest type of music on a 1-7 scale. Kyle will be going to MPA with his band on Saturday tomorrow and we hope they will recieve a Superior. Kyle has been asked twice to play on Palm Beach Island through the Boys Scouts which is an amazing opportunity. He has done one of those gigs already and enjoyed himself. Shelby had a band bbq and they earned a lot of money and had a lot of fun. Shelby and Kyle will now begin getting ready to try out on April 16th for the Palm Beach County Honor Band. They both made it last year but Shelby will now be trying out under the HS honorband so its a lot harder. Shelby is now beginning to work on the HS bands Blast show which is there indoor marching show for all their end of the year concerts and 8th grade recruiments. She will be involved a lot in that. Shelby and Kyles first baseball game is tomorrow Saturday but Kyle will not be attending due to his MPA. Shelby is also starting Leadership training throuhg the band to become a band officer on Tuesday. Chris has been involved in school and umpiring. If he is not doing school or work he is hanging out with his Girlfriend Brittany. Shelby and Kyle also have been doing a lot of concerts threw orchestra. They were both offered a chance to go to Tanglewood intitute this summer in Boston with the Boston Symphony Orchestra but turned that offer down till next year because of marching band. During the summer they will be doing marching band and then during there month break of marching band they will be going to FSU summer band camp, Pensacola Christian College Teen Extreme camp, Belle Glade 09 camp, misions trip with church, and a few others if time alots. We are still unsure on which ones and when. Life is going great and the kids are staying very busy as you can see will keep you up to date as much as possible. We Hope everyone is doing great and staying happy and healthy. God Bless The Burton Family. also none as the Loxahatchee Clan. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/666007/ Fri, 6 Mar 2009 16:19:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/666007/ We have been home now for 5 and 1/2 months wow. It doesn't feel like that long. As soon as we got back we had to jump right back into regular life again. That was really hard for all of us to adjust. Shelby started in the marching band the day we got back luckily it was cancelled so she didn't have to worrying about that. everything cam on to us so fast we never got to sit back and think about all the memories we had or the wonderful trip God blessed us with. Shelby has finished marching band season and is now in concert band season still very busy though. Kyle is still doing band at Osceola creek staying busy also. Chris is doing lot's of school and recently got a girlfriend named Brittany. all the September birthdays were great Shelby had a surprise birthday Chris went to Disney with his dad and brothers and Linda and Tom both turned the big 50. We have a new addition to the home which was added a soon as we got back and that’s Linda's Grandmother Gertrude who we call Mutti and she is 101. She is doing very good, but it took her awhile to adjust here. Shelby's Marching Band went to State Championships in Tampa and won a State Title. They were police escorted home and were all over the news, radio, and newspapers. She had a blast an will never forget her experience with her first year in marching band. She also did not march because she did not know everything because she was gone the whole summer, but she was put as a color guard as a jack-in-the-box. She had fun but did not like the dressing up and make-up part, lol. Thanksgiving was great Donna and Samantha my mom's sister, and their families came down. That was very fun because the kids had never spent time with Samantha’s kids and didn’t really know their cousin. They connected right away though. The Christmas Holiday was very busy we had a lot of family issues also. Christmas did turn out rather nice though. For New Years all the kids went down to their grandparents to spend some time their. Everyone’s new year has been going great and the kids are doing awesome in with their grades in school. of course still home schooled, lol. We have recently been finalizing our videos we took this summer, getting pictures developed, finally having friends come over to talk about our trip, and even looking back through the kids journals. Wow has God done amazing things in our life since the start of our journey to Alaska and now. Shelby and Kyle our now just starting baseball season, Shelby for the last year and are also busy in band working on their solo's for solo & ensemble and festival music for music MPA festival coming up in February. I can not believe how much time has passed. This summer we have decided to stay home and relax, lol although Kyle and Shelby will not have much relaxing time. They will both be involved in Marching Band this summer and also on their month break from Marching they will be going to music camps and other camps. The SFF is in it's last couple day’s here, but we were very involved this year volunteering. It was the first year we did not put any animals in. We will try and update you on our lives and also if we ever may take another trip we will also let you know, lol. God Bless All and Hope Everyone is Happy and Healthy. LOVE ALWAYS, THE BURTON'S http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/651401/ Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:25:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/651401/        We got home to sunny (and HUMID) South Florida Friday evening, unpacked the car and crashed. Saturday we did not go anywhere but to church. Boy am I having a hard time adjusting to this humidity--and I was born in Miami. I have been spoiled now that I have experienced other weather patterns besides South Florida.        We spent a couple of days at Mammoth Caves National Park camping. Deer are everywhere--hang out right in your campground! We took a walking tour for 4 1/2 hours in Mammoth Cave itself. Very Cool. We all liked that--well, Shelby is still thinking about that. We also took a boat tour on an underground river--freaky--they say Jesse James hid out there. We also went to Abrahan Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home. After Kentucky, we stayed with an old friend of mine from high school in Hickory, NC, then off to Raleigh, NC to spend some time with the kids old youth pastor. He left their church about one year ago. They all had a great time with him. We also visited their old teenage babysitter who teaches school in NC now. Wow, was that a shock--she aged !! She is now 29, no longer a teenager ! Where have I been !       We spent some time in South Carolina and North Georgia visiting friends and family, and then it was back down into Florida. We visited some more old friends and then dropped in at Tampa and brought Brianne home for a few days. Coming full circle, two cracks on the windshield, alot of nicks on the hood, and 19,000 miles later, we are all home SAFE. Thanks be to God.       Thank you to everybody who housed us along the way, and my husband who funded our trip--The Burtons, Linda, Christopher, Shelby, and Kyle   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/576481/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/576481/      South Dakota is wonderful !!! Highly recommend it as a trip. We went to the Crazy Horse Memorial where I talked to a Lakota Indian for awhile, Mt. Rushmore and Sylvan Lake where National Treasure 2 was filmed (Sylvan Lake area and Custer State Park--just beautiful), and Keystone town where Carrie and Mary Ingals lived for awhile--Carrie was town newspaper editor. In the town of Custer we sat in town and listened to local folk singers and blues ( old timers born and raised there--still singing all about the old times). Took a trip through Deadwood to visit the graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock. The old town was restored and still stands, so does the saloon that he was shot in.     Badlands National Park. I was going to skip this, and how I am glad we didn't. Nothing like it !!  We got in there at sunset and witnessed a wicked storm come through. Even had some tumbleweed blow into us. Slept in the car because of the lightning. The sky cleared up and at midnight none of us could sleep.  We all looked up to see the sky filled with stars--never in all of my life have I seen this view. There was no light anywhere--pitch black--every star was visible. There was no room in the sky for one more!! Incredible !! The next morning we saw the park at sunrise--wonderful!! Definetly a DON'T MISS. Also was able to view a mammoth dig site.       On our drive to Minnesota we stopped at 2 more Little House on the Praire houses, and a mall stop in Mall of America. Wisconsin was next with a visit to an old friend of mine and her family--Julie Bayles. Julie's church friends put us up over night---Thank you to Anita, Pam and Roy---our stay could not have been more blessed !  It was a wonderful blessing to make new friends. Next we drove through Chicago with a quick view of the Sears Tower and the waterway before it was off to Ohio where we have spent the last 6 days. Tomorrow we will venture through Kentucky with a couple of days exploring Mammoth Cave and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace. God is good. All is well. Thanks for visiting our site--Linda http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/569065/ Sat, 2 Aug 2008 14:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/569065/ After a great time in Alaska, it had to come to an end. We drove 10 hour days for 4 days to get back through Canada and cross the border into North Dakota. The border guy gave us a little trouble, but we made it back in. We were glad to leave Canada; none of us really liked it. Way too expensive !! Drove straight down through North Dakota, to our destination--the Black Hills of South Dakota. Very different here--very nice people too. We saw Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, took a historic cave tour with lanterns in Jewel Cave (second longest in world), went to a mammoth dig site, hiking, driving looking at ALOT of buffalo, deer, burrors, and marmots running wild. Tomorrow we head to historic western town of Deadwood and then the Badlands. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/564863/ Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/564863/  It's really cold. I don't know how I lasted 5 seconds in here. I was in there about 5 minutes. It was COLD. I couldn't feel any of my body http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/561179/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/561179/ Denali was wonderful. We had a CLEAR day for a change and we were able to see all of Mt. Mckinley !! We were told that only 20 percent of the visitors see all of Mt. Mckinley because of cloud cover. On our bus ride we also saw bears, one wolf, a marmot, moose, caribou, and eagles. After Denali we drove to Fairbanks,Ak and stayed there for the night. The next day, Sunday we went to Pioneer Park and went to this place called 40 Below Fairbanks. Fairbanks gets to 40 below, so they show visitors what it is like in this. It's a place were you go in a freezer and it's 40 below in there. Kyle, Chris. and Shelby went in and FROZE. We had a fun time hammering nails in with frozen bananas, watching the water we threw in the air evaporate, and sitting on an ice chair. I was frozen; my cheeks were as red as a cherry. After that, we went to the North Pole. It wasn't really anything special ,just a building  with alot of Christmas things "Santas House", and then a little reindeer farm.  On our next journey we stopped along side the rode and picked wild strawberries. They tasted very good, but are tiny. That night we stayed in Palmer,AK. Today we made our way back to Seward to get the fish Chris and my dad caught. We put it in a cooler and tied it to the roof of the car because there was no room for it in the car. We were also able to see another glacier that is 3 miles long. We stopped in Tolsona right outside Glennallen for tonight. Yesterday they had a bear walk right through the campground and they have not see one here in 3 years. We are now working our way out of Alaska into Canada and then South Dakota. After tomorrow we may not have phone or computer service for as long as a week. We will keep as much contact as we can. God Bless, Shelby and The Burton Gang http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/561178/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:29:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/561178/ We made our way first to Valdez and checked out the area. We then went to Anchorage on Tuesday and spent the day there. At 12:30am we picked up my dad from the airport and stayed  in a hotel that night. The next day we went to Seward. There we went on a 5 hour  boat cruise and saw otters, whales, sea lions,  dall porpoises, puffin birds and got an all you can eat salmon and dessert buffet. We had alot of fun and that night we stayed right off the water at a campground. The next morning Tom and Chris went halibut fishing on a 12 hour charter boat. Linda, Kyle, and Shelby went fishing off the banks and also to Exit Glacier. At Exit Glacier we decided to take a short cut back instead of back through the rivers.  We climbed up a rocky mountain.  After Shelby had a slight slip on the rocks, we found another way to get back to the trail. That night we drove to Moose Pass and stayed there. Today we drove to Denali National Park. We stayed at Grizzly Bear Campground. Tomorrow we will take an 8 hour tour bus ride threw Denali National Park. All is well-nights are always cold and the daytime temps. reach 65. We love and miss all you guys. God Bless, The Burton's  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/560064/ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/560064/ Check out photobucket.com/burtontravelers for pictuers of our trip. When you get to the site click on the burton trip album. The pictures are from the middle of the trip, but we are working on more. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/558581/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 23:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BurtonTravelers/558581/