MSC Summer Camp Day 3: Squid Guts

Well, here it is, folks.  The dream we all dream of:  squid guts.  Madison has been talking about this one moment all summer.  When asked about what she'd be doing this camp, her first response was dissecting a squid.  Forget the canoes, lighthouses, manatees, snorkeling, or looking for shells.  Nope, here she is, cutting open a squid.

This is her first dissection, and by the looks of things, not her last.  She wasn't squeamish, and even more disturbing:  she was actually interested.  This goes beyond the reason of Daddy or Mommy.  I mean, we're happy for her and all.  But dissecting things was never something we were curious about!  Of course she enjoyed being in the canoe more, but this was something that was somewhat interesting to her.  And here's something cool:  they used the squid guts as bait on their fishing trip!

Madison was fishing today with all the other kids.  She got some nibbles, but only two fish were caught the entire time.  The other item she caught:  the dock.  Apparently she wasn't alone in hooking the dock itself!

But as you know, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office, right?  Of course I'm right.  She had a great time.  And later on, she was off to the lighthouse itself.

Again, she got to do something that Mommy and Daddy haven't done yet.  She went up Ponce de Leon's Inlet Lighthouse.  Which is a mouthful, but there it is.  She was learning about lighthouses with all the others, exploring the museum areas, and of course enjoying the view from the top.  Here's a group shot of all the campers at the bottom of the lighthouse.

And here she is at the top of the lighthouse!

She has been having such a great time.  She got home, and we have to get to bed early tonight, because we're getting up early tomorrow to go snorkeling.  She'll love that.  Tonight, we did a bath, and she spent a lot of time drawing sea creatures like dolphins and sea turtles.  She's so into this week.

Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy went to Daytona Beach again, this time to go to Bubba Gump's for an anniversary dinner.

We went there during our honeymoon, visiting a Bubba Gump location in Lahaina, Hawaii.  Which was awesome.  This one was nice too, despite the amazingly limited gluten-free menu.  Mommy still enjoyed it, as did Daddy, who got largely grilled items.  Except for the shrimp macaroni and cheese.  Oh boy, was that good. Sure, I'm going to pay for it later, but it was pretty good!

We went to Cow Lick's again after that, and shared a mocha Sunday, with cappuccino ice cream with chocolate syrup and chocolate sprinkles and ... yes, it was delicious.  This is a great ice cream place.

As you can tell, we're having a pretty full vacation.  We all had a spaghetti dinner tonight, tried our best at Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and then it was pretty much time for bed.  No walking along the beach for Mommy and Daddy tonight:  there's another big storm coming in from the south.  Lightning flashing everywhere.  Hopefully all of this will pass overnight.  Our weather has been ideal lately.  Storms and such, but always at the most convenient times.  

We read from "The Gauntlet" again tonight, and there's the big reveal:  our mystery villain is... The Mandarin!  Now we're talking trouble.  We'll see what happens next.  Madison's eyebrows went up:  "I thought he wasn't real!"  Well, we're about to find out...