Sunday, October 13, 2013

The Rest of the Story...

I can tell you that the remainder of our trip was incredible!  We had lots of fun and made many memories.  Unfortunately I didn't take the time to write about each day and now have lost the details. Even so, I wanted to share the photos from the remainder of this trip.  It was amazing!


We looked for Halloween Costumes


We played at the Children's Museum

 






The Black Town & Country Passed 100,000 miles


Enjoying some Desserts


Waiting at the Airport for Daddy to Arrive


Riding the Ferris Wheel with Grandma and Grandpa



Enjoying a Meal Together



Hands-On Learning at Myrtle Beach State Park



Playing at the Upside-Down Building  (WonderWorks)





Surprising Grandpa and Grandma with a Fast Boat Ride


Playing with Balloon Launchers


Huntington State Beach




Saying Goodbye


Grandpa Meindertsma flew down so that he could drive our van home.  That allowed Daddy to fly home with Mom and the kids.  We were very grateful!



Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Myrtle Beach State Park


Oh my goodness!  I cannot believe its taken us this long to check out the Myrtle Beach State Park.  It was wonderful.  Besides the beach and fishing pier, they have a playground and an ice cream store.  AND the very best is the Nature Center that hosts educational classes for kids.  You can get the schedule off the website since it changes each month. 
 
But this morning as we were preparing to leave, I realized I had printed September's schedule and today is indeed the first of October.  So instead of the original plan, we stopped in today to watch them feed the aquariums.  It was fantastic!
 


They fed a shrimp to this blue crab... if you look closely you can still see it in his mouth.  So cool!

There was an area with puzzles, blocks and chalkboards for the kids to play.
 
Since we had missed the Reptile class (from September) the ranger was willing to share with us.  She even gave us the handouts and answer keys that would have been used in the class.  Apparently, she is available to answer questions and help in any way you need every Tues - Sat in the afternoon. 
 
Tyler is pretending to be a branch so that this corn snack will wrap his tail around his arm. 

Tyler was a little jumpy, but still brave enough to touch the snakes!

Miss Jessica took lots of time to answer all of Tyler's questions.
 
This little guy was pretty cute... but he moved MUCH faster than the first snake we saw. 
 
After stopping for a treat, we walked the fishing pier.  We saw Jelly Fish and Jelly Balls floating in the water at the end. 
 
It was a great afternoon and definitely worth the small cost of admission.  We are already planning to go back and Tyler has started a list of questions to ask Miss Jessica.





Monday, September 30, 2013

Afternoon on the beach

After a quick lunch we headed out to the beach to burn off some energy.  The kids had a great time playing in he water as the tide came in.







Alligator Adventure

As a friend told me "only a Yankee pays to see an alligator"... well its taken 7 years but today this Yankee broke down and took the kids to Alligator Adventure.  It is a 15 acre park featuring mostly alligators, but also monkeys, bats, turtles, parrots, and kangaroos.


When we first walked up, we decided to pose for a picture but he statue.  THEN we noticed, the monster turtle standing nearby.  These turtles grew to 600-800 pounds... the kids were very impressed.


Sammy loved posing next to the statues along the path.





The highlight was watching them feed the alligators.  Here are some of the fun facts we learned:

  • Alligators do not eat during the colder months which is possible because their metabolism shuts down.  They can go an entire year without food if necessary.
  • It takes 5 days to digest even the smallest amount of food so they are cyclical eaters and do not eat every day.
  • They may only eat 50-70 lbs of food in an entire year.
  • The can jump out of the water about 3/4 of their body length using only the force of their tail.
  • After losing a tooth, another grows in within 5 days.  
  • Alligators can go through 2000 teeth in a lifetime.

Aquarium

After we finished our schoolwork we met Uncle Roger and Aunt Gretchen to visit Ripley's Aquarium. Its one of our favorite places to visit even if the kids move through the exhibits rather quickly.