So far, each morning this week, I've met this guy above. We'll call him Rocket, because why not. Yes, it could very well be a female raccoon, but the overall point is that each time we drop Madison off for Marine Science Center Camp, there's this little nature walkway/boardwalk that goes off into the woods, and then to a small overlook. It's not a vast overlook, but it's still out of the way enough to make the journey each time, and every morning after dropping Madison off, Daddy walks down, and so far he's been there each time. I'm actually writing this on Thursday (the day after), and yes, he was there even this morning. But that's getting ahead of myself. The point is, it's a nice little quite place where a lot of wildlife spends the morning either waking up - or in the case above, possibly does one last round before turning in for the day.
The overlook has some nice views, including this one above. It's the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, which Madison and her friends climbed today. She had another really active day today, starting out with a bit of salt water fishing.
She got a few nibbles, but no catch this year. She knows it's not the point to catch a fish, necessarily, but to be out there having a good time. She did just that. What did she use as bait?
Squid, of course! Today was the legendary day where she once again dissected her own squid. She and her partner - a new friend she's made from North Carolina - dissected a squid, just as Madison did last year. It's a big deal, almost a rite of passage for these campers. Some were pretty hesitant, but Madison dives right in there. Maybe we'll get her some squid to dissect at home! Anyway, when done with the biological discovery, the kids use the remnants to go fishing with. After a bit of fishing, the kids cooled off somewhere else, because wow, today was pretty warm. Firstly, they stopped at a Seven Eleven, because today's date is 7-11, and that's almost a near-holiday around these parts.
On 7-11 at Seven Eleven, you get free slurpees! The campers got free slurpees, almost the same time that Mommy and Daddy were out on the road, getting their free slurpees. And for good measure, on the way home today, we all stopped at another different Seven Eleven, and yes, we got more free slurpees again! Did you know they have a Cap'n Crunch Berry flavored Slurpee? Now you do, and yes, it was delicious!
Back to Madison's day at camp: they visited a small water park! Daddy wasn't sure where this was, but Madison had such a great time cooling off here. From the sounds of it, one of the vans the kids were riding in didn't have air conditioning anymore, so they had to roll all the windows down. On a day like today, that just means hot air running by you. So a water park was just the ticket for a day like today. She loves this sort of thing, and it was a new addition from last year, so it all works out. The kids were happy to cool off.
Here she is, using a fully armed and operational Nemo fish to blast one of her camping friends. They were having a great time. Madison wasn't shy about shooting just about anyone, either!
Here below is a sequence of photos of what you do on a really hot day like today:
Step 1.
Step 2.
Step 3.
As mentioned earlier, they also went up the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, and explored the museum there. This camp is just so full of activity for the kids. There are about sixteen total, and they keep them busy all day long.
At the lighthouse, the kids walked up all those stairs all the way to the top. Madison said she could see the condos - probably the ones where Mommy and Daddy were in - all the way from the lighthouse. It's the tallest lighthouse in Florida, so that seems reasonable.
She wasn't afraid to go up there, but she doesn't like looking straight down. We told Madison that this was all right - it's understandable to be a little nervous that high up.
The fun didn't stop there. When the kids got back to the Marine Science Center, they all gathered together outside (in the shade) to learn a quick lesson about aquifers. What's an aquifer? Well, it's fer a lot of things, right?
The bonus to this lesson was this: all the kids got to make their own ice cream aquifer afterwards, an edible aquifer! Madison never says no to ice cream!
After cooling off with some ice cream, the kids cooled off inside, learning about wildlife in Florida, including a special little friend here:
You can see it was a pretty full day at camp, and it's only Wednesday!
After we picked Madison up, and after the free slurpees, we went home, determined to get a little rest. It was a long and hot day, and Madison was up early and probably in bed later last night. Tomorrow, we get up earlier, because the kids are going snorkeling at Blue Springs again. So tonight, we had dinner, for Madison a pizza. And after that, a stroll along the beach again, just before sunset. It was nicer out there tonight, although the tide was pretty high. There are these rivers of salt water that form as the waves push over the arch of the dunes, forming miniature salt lakes further inland. These rapidly move with gravity, finding the best exit possible back to the ocean, and the end result is this rushing river separated from the ocean by elevated sand dunes. Madison and Daddy walked in the river, herding fish back towards the sea - we don't want to get caught out here, separate from the ocean in a drying tidal pool, do we? Mommy was inspecting turtle nests, although I don't think any are due to have activity for another week or two. That's okay - we'll see some turtles Friday. We'll also probably see our raccoon each day too, along with all the other birds at the overlook.
Tonight before bed, we were ready a little bit earlier. We read from "The Vile Village" and from the latest in the devotional, quite ready for a good night's rest. It was a pretty full day for Madison!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment