Sharks, The Duke and a Lighthouse, Oh My

The water on Dauphin Island was very murky the week we visited.  The captain of the Duke told us that they never get very clear water down there but that week was exceptionally bad, and was related to the crazy tides they were having.  This brought on the conversation of sharks. I get a bit scared when I can't see my feet in the water.  I will swim in creeks, ponds, and lakes with murky water back home where I am sure there are no alligators or sharks, but NOT oceans.

What is it?  Shark or Dolphin???!!!  We had seen so many dolphins while swimming, beachcombing, and enjoying the beach; however, none of them acted like this. 

"The Duke"

Wishing us farewell as we leave the Marina

 These two are enjoying the ride

 
While we were on the boat, we visited the lighthouse.  He informed us that the water is around 26 feet deep around the lighthouse and only 8-10 feet in depth in the bay. Near the lighthouse, the Captain told us that it is a major hangout for bull, tiger, and black tip sharks.  He also said that it is an excellent place for fishing.  I was amazed at the current.  We were told it was about 10 knots.  It looked very dangerous.  The lighthouse was built in 1838, was rebuilt in 1873 and then taken out of usage in 1933.  The lighthouse used to have a sand walkway to get there but Hurricane Katrina wiped it out.  Now it stands alone.  It is a federal offense to step foot on the rocks because the town does not want it vandalized. 

 You can see the current around the lighthouse.  It was pretty strong!

Up close view.  Too bad this lighthouse is no longer lit.  I would imagine it would be a beautiful sight.

We had a ton of fun on The Duke.  After talking about sharks and seeing the lighthouse, it was time to put out some shrimp nets.  After the nets were put out, they were drug for about 15 minutes.  The nets were taken out and dumped onto a touch table.  All dangerous creatures were removed and all passengers were able to look at and even touch the catch.  There were so many starfish that we each came home with one to dry out and keep for ourselves.  There were plenty of small fish which the kids got to throw to the birds and dolphins.  There were some squid that inked all over the place and some hermit crabs.  Overall, it was a blast and the kids learned a ton about ocean life. 

 

My family with my brother and his girlfriend on the tour

 The birds were hanging around to catch some of our catch from the shrimp nets

 Lots of interesting finds in the nets

 Squid!

 Our Starfish

 Sea anemone

 Dolphins were hanging around waiting on the kids to throw over some of our catch

Overall, I highly recommend this tour.  If we would have done it earlier in the week, I would have booked the fishing tour and the sunset tours with them as well.  Overall, they had excellent customer service.  One thing I would have liked is if they had waters and snacks for sale.  We had to bring our own.  To reach them for pricing and booking, go to www.actionoutdoors.org 

XOXO...Becky

Sea Lab and Bird Sanctuary

Dauphin Island is home to the Sea Lab and a Bird Sanctuary.  Both were a fun time and I would recommend them if any of you ever visit the island. There isn't much for kids to do on the island other than the beach and one putt putt place.  The Sea Lab and the Sanctuary are something to do when the kids get a bit worn out from the beach.

The sanctuary is off of Bienville road and it is recommended to have something to drink and I wouldn't go in the hottest part of the day.  This is a physical activity and not for those in a wheelchair.  There is not cost for entering the park and parking is limited.  We didn't see any birds but we could hear them.  We aren't avid bird watchers, by any means.  We found an eagle's nest (we think). We ran into a couple that were finding Geo Cache.  They found one under a log and just had to put their name down.  The highlight of the park was Gaillard Lake.  It was home to many fish, turtles, and an alligator.  The kids LOVED seeing the alligator and it was very active the day we went.  We saw it eating things, chomping with is big mouth, and going under the water and putting on a bubble show.  After we saw the gator, we left.  There were quite a few trails but we opted to head back to the condo. 

There were so many turtles! 

 I wish my camera lens would zoom a bit more.  We still

aren't certain if this is an Eagle nest or not. 

This guy was pretty hungry and gave us a show!

 Of course we had to get a family selfie!!!

The Sea Lab was very interesting and we learned a lot about the local sea life.  I loved that it had some hands on activities for the kids.  I was disappointed at how small it was.  I expected it to have much more to see than it did.  The girl at the counter taking our money was not rude to us, but was not very personable.  The cost for adults was $11 and children, seniors and students were $6. The price wasn't bad at all.  We walked around and saw all we could see.  The kids loved it and they especially loved the touch tank.  There was a sting ray, a conch, and some hermits that they could pick up and explore.  Outside there was a touch tank with some more sting rays and a manta ray.  The rays felt like rubber when we touched them.  It was a neat feeling.

They had some Lion Fish so that the children could be

educated about some of the invasive species in our oceans.

All three kiddos were getting a kick out of touching the rays

 We didn't know what to think of this creature.

XOXO...Becky 

Dauphin Island Sea Glass

So, my Husband really got into sea glass while on Vieques.  He is a hunter and is a bit competitive, so I'm positive that he got into it because of those qualities.  While on vacation in Dauphin Island, he was bound and determined to find some sea glass.  I just wanted to sit my bum in the sand, but he wouldn't let up.  I had told him before we left that one of my sea glass books mentioned the island as a place for sea glass.  As soon as we got there I had already blown it off because of the white soft sand.  I assumed we wouldn't find much.  You know what they say about assuming things.  He searched and scoured the internet until he found a blog.  The blog is www.christianson5.wordpress.com and she talked about finding sea glass on the island.  Brad came to me ecstatic and said we had to go check it out right then.  So up I got out of my comfortable beach chair and we made our way to the condo.  My brother and his girlfriend decided to tag along because they had never heard of it before, and they were intrigued.  The spot the blogger spoke about is the east side of the island across from Fort Gaines, and it mentioned lots of creepy crawlies on the rocks.  When we got there, all I saw was numerous fishermen and huge boulders lining the beach. Once I got close enough, I could see the bugs crawling.  I was very hesitant.  After only a minute or two, Brad yelled that he found a piece.  The rest is history and I threw caution to the wind and decided a few creepy crawlies wouldn't stop me from finding some sea glass. I found many pieces in various stages of tumbling.  We had to teach my brother and his gal how to tell if glass has been tumbled enough and what to look for.  It didn't take them long at all to start finding some awesome pieces!  We searched for about 45 minutes and decided to try it again the following morning.  As we were leaving, Brad happened to run into a fisherman who asked what we were doing on the rocks and what we were searching for.  Brad explained that we were looking for sea glass and the fisherman told us about a beach as you are leaving the island to the right of the fisherman's pier.  Well it was game on, then!  I was getting excited and the thoughts of sitting on my bum disappeared rapidly.  The following day, we left to find more sea glass.  We started on the bridge and found the pier.  We looked to the right and all we noticed were private property signs.  Brad went to the pier office and asked where we could go along the beach for some beachcombing.  The cashier explained that we needed to drive just a few hundred feet past the signs and that we could park along the road and look for glass to our heart's content.  We found a lot of great pieces along this stretch of beach as well!  We had to dig through some shells and search in more rocks, but it was well worth it.  I wasn't ready to go back because we were doing so well, but the NO-SEE-UMS got to us and we quickly decided we had enough.   

   I didn't take the best of pictures, but some of my finds include a crab leg, a star fish, some shells, driftwood, some tile and lots of sea glass.  The blue glass you see in the picture is not tumbled enough.  It is still somewhat sharp and shiny.  Blue is so rare that I couldn't bring myself to throw it back! 

This is the picture I took after Brad found the first few pieces at the beach across from Fort Gaines

XOXO...Becky

A Very Busy June 2016

I have been a slacker.  I have been working nonstop, we have had cheer competitions, gymnastics, basketball camps, the end of school, camping, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and TWO softball teams.  I just cannot seem to stay caught up!  For this post, I'm just going to post a few pictures of my busy life!  Later this month will start my vacation!  We are going to Dauphin Island, so look for some of my posts later!  I'm excited to go somewhere other than the panhandle in Florida! 

XOXO...Becky

St. Louis Zoo

I absolutely LOVE this zoo.  It is inexpensive and has so many different animals.  This was our second trip here and I still feel like we saw new things we didn't see before.  The park is very clean and well maintained.  You can tell the animals get stellar care.  There was a little bit of construction going on within the park while we were there.  I'm not too sure what kind of work they are doing, but I'm assuming it's a new exhibit or an update to an old exhibit.  The animals were active because it was a nice spring afternoon.  The snakes were even moving around quite a bit.

This park is free and you only pay for parking.  It is an awesome cheap day trip.  When you get inside the zoo, it gets a bit more expensive.  The drinks are expensive if you do not purchase the refillable plastic cup.  We bought one and all four of us drank from it.  It's just spit shared between family and as long as my kids don't get floaters in the cup...then I'm good.  I'm positive I'm exposed to more crap as a labor and delivery nurse than I will be exposed to with my own kiddos. Brad and I didn't get anything to eat but we did get the kids some lunch meals.  They weren't too badly priced as far as places like these are concerned. 

Overall, the animals were great and we had a blast!  I highly recommend St. Louis Zoo!!! 

XOXO...Becky

Indiana Military Museum

Our son Braden loves all things military, so when the opportunity to see a WWI reenactment, we had to make sure Braden got to go.  We surprised him early Sunday morning on March 20th.  He didn't know where we were going.  He figured it out when we got to Vincennes and got to the museum.  The first thing you see when you arrive is a Navy Airplane and many tanks and vehicles used in the military.  He was getting excited.

We saw this plane when we first got to the Museum.  Of course we love it, because it's a Navy plane!  Our oldest son is in the Navy so we are a bit partial to this branch :)

 Braden cheesing and excited about what we have planned for the morning!!!

The reenactment portion was decent.  It was interesting to see the outfits, the authentic military camps, and witness the history of how fighting was back then.  The group tried to make it as real as possible.  Quite interesting.  Once the reenactment was finished, we headed to the Museum to check out all of the authentic military pieces.  There was quite a bit to look at.  I would say that if you are interested in military antiques and vehicles, you would need an hour or so to see everything.  Outside, they have many military vehicles and planes.  They also have authentic military bunkers that you can take a little tour through. Overall, this was a nice little Sunday morning/afternoon trip!!!  Check out their website Indianamilitarymuseum.org if you get the chance!  They may have some upcoming events you may want to check out! 

We took this picture in front of the George Rogers Clark Monument along the Wabash River

Gorgeous picture of the Wabash River and my kiddos

XOXO...Becky

 

Grant's Farm

Grant's Farm

This is a selfie from the bridge that takes you into the park.  They had a nice creek under the bridge. 

        Grant's Farm was packed full of so much fun, history, and surprises.   We found out about this place from a fellow cheer mom and when I looked it up, I saw that it wasn't that far away from where we were staying and we could make a quick trip from there, to the zoo later in the afternoon.  I also noticed from their website that it was free.  The only thing you have to pay for is your car, no matter how many passengers.  That fee was $12 per vehicle and they accept debit cards.  We got there about 15 minutes after it opened and the road leading to the park was packed.  I knew as soon as we pulled up that we should have been there well before it opened and that it was a very popular attraction.  There is a park across from the farm.  Many people were parking and walking in.  It's quite a long walk but if you want to get some steps in, then there ya go!  It took us about 30 minutes to actually pay and park. We were getting a little nervous about this.  We wondered how packed it would be once inside.  Once we got parked and got our sunscreen on, we headed to the line.  It was a huge line up to the entrance.  There are porta-potties and it wasn't a problem to get out of line and have your significant other wait for you.  Of course, the kids had to go.  We waited about 30 minutes.  Once we got close to the front, they had a photographer take a family picture for us. We are always a sucker for these, so more about them later.  When we finally got to the front, we boarded a tram.  The tram took off and we went through a large metal gate.  Inside the gate were red deer, buffalo, elk, and many other grazing animals.  The kids loved being in the middle of them.  We got a brief history lesson about President Grant and the Busch/Budweiser Corporation and how they are tied in together.  We caught a glimpse of the mansion, which was magnificent.  I suggest googling it so you can see what I am talking about.  The tram dropped us off at the park after a 15 minute ride through the huge pastures. We didn't get any pictures while on the tram.  We were too busy checking out the animals and didn't want to miss any of it. 

        Once at the park, we bought the kids a $5 voucher a piece.  This ticket included a ride on the carousel, 2 baby goat milk bottles, and a snow cone. We went out to see all the animals this park had to offer.  We saw camels, horses, goats, elephants, many types of birds, and much more.  The parrots were probably my favorite. We got a pretty good video of the parrot shenanigans.  Enjoy!!!

        The snow cones were great and the carousel was alright.  The goat bottles should have been done as soon as we got the vouchers.  By the time we went through the park and got the bottles, the goats were basically passed out in milk comas.  We have goats so this part of the park was not as exciting for us, but come on...Baby goats are always cute and entertaining no matter what!

Sophia found a hungry baby!

Milk Comas

Braden finally got one to try some of the bottle



        In the food area, there is plenty of little souvenirs, food, and the Clydesdale stalls along with some historical information.  Did I mention the free beer?  Brad didn't have anything to drink and I only had one.  I tried their new rootbeer, which was actually pretty tasty.  You see, I'm an extremely picky drinker.  I like on the rocks and something fruity where I can't taste too much alcohol. 

        After we got done roaming around for a bit longer, we got back on the tram and made our way to the front.  We purchased our picture, which was $20 and headed toward our car.  Next to the parking lot is the Clydesdale pastures.  We walked through there and checked them out while they were grazing.  We also snapped a picture of the kiddos. 

  Overall, this is a relatively cheap attraction with a lot to do in a few hours. I would think that it could be done in about three or so hours and you would have seen everything.  If you are there for the free beer, then drink up and enjoy for a few more hours :) I will post some random photos below...

XOXO...Becky

 Free Carousel Ride...A bit old for it, but who cares :)  Are we ever too old?

They were a little scared to turn their heads for me to get this picture HAHAHAHAHAHA

Nope...this isn't the zoo!  It's the farm!!!

Six Flags St. Louis

This past weekend we went on a little weekend trip to St. Louis for a cheer competition for our little girl.  It was an exhausting and expensive weekend, but well worth it.  Sophia ended up getting 2nd place.  She was performing a cheer duo with another little girl.

You all know how I feel about the selfie!  I love them!  I love them because we can all be in the picture together!!!  The left picture is of us arriving at Six Flags and walking to the Amphitheater where the event was to be held.  An arrival time of 6:30 am makes for a long day of cheer!!!  Sophia is on the right showing off her 2nd place trophy.  She had already changed out of her uniform because she was getting too hot, but she's pretty cute!!!

Let's focus on Six Flags now, instead of my family ;)  We were not that impressed and probably would not plan a return trip to Six Flags unless we have to go for a special event like the cheer competition.  It is expensive, the rides aren't that great, and it really wasn't that well maintained.  We paid around $100 for Sophia.  Fine.  She was in the competition and they have to make their money.  This included a meal.  For myself, Brad, and our son it was about $170.  This also included a meal.  Parking was $10.  We booked everything online so it would save us a few bucks.  When we got to the venue, I'm glad we did because the parking was double at the gate.  So for four of us to go to the cheer competition it was almost $300.  Generally, tickets are $42.99 for general admission and $20 for the parking.  This really is not that bad considering we pay $38.99 per person every year for Holiday World.  Holiday World has the water park, drinks, sunscreen, and parking included, though.   The cost of food was outrageous, as well.  Brad came back with three small drinks and paid almost $20!!!  Later we found out that you could purchase a plastic drink container with the Six Flags logo and get free refills.  We did this for the second round of drinks.  A dry, stale pretzel with cheese was $6.99.  Yes, we could have packed lunch and eaten in the parking lot, but really its just too much of a hassle early in the morning with a sleepy cheerleader to get ready. 

Old Time Photo...Gangster Style

I am very hesitant to put my kids on rides by themselves.  In fact, this was the first time I ever had.  We put them on the Colossus, I believe is the name. I didn't want to ride, nor did Brad.  It spins, goes up and down, sideways, and upside down.  No thanks.  So we stood in line, finally got on the ride and we put them into their seats and exited to watch.  I stood where I could watch the attendant fasten them in by pushing the bar down.  I am a nurse, and I was getting a bad gut feeling.  I was having palpitations and getting a little stressed while waiting on the attendant to come around.  The buzzer went off, and the bar lowered.  The kids were able to push theirs down and two helpful people beside them pushed it even further down.  Then, the buzzer went off again and the bars raised.  Then I really got freaked out.  I was praying they weren't going to start the ride.  I was about to go in and grab my kids.  All of a sudden, the attendant started exiting everyone because the ride had a malfunction and a check engine light had came on.  I'm glad my kids didn't ride.  I knew my gut was right and I should listen to it more often.  After that, we decided to keep it mellow.  We road the Hall of Justice Battle for Metropolis ride, which is basically a ship/ that swings and moves back and forth and takes you down a virtual path.  We watched Batman and Superman apprehend Joker while we rode in a car and "helped" by shooting the henchmen.  This ride was pretty neat.  It was probably our favorite one. 

                                                 Notice Brad is the winner...Of course :)

We bought a family photo pass to get the picture above.  It cost us about $50 to get old time photos and all digital downloads from the park that day.  This wasn't that bad of a deal, really.  We got the old time photos, the ride above, and a family photo at the front entrance.  I'm always a sucker for pictures of my family.  Below is the front entrance photo.  Not too bad! 

Cleanliness...The bathrooms were clean.  There were plenty of them scattered around the park.  There were a ton of sticks and leaves and junk around the buildings.  It seemed that they had not really cleaned or maintained much after the winter, before the opening of the park.  We noticed a lot of people walking around smoking, which was rude.  I did see some designated smoking areas, but not many people seemed to be utilizing them.  I suppose I sound like I am complaining a lot.  Maybe so, but I have been spoiled by Holiday World.  It is always spick and span clean and who can't resist free soft drinks?!? The  workers that we saw at Six Flags were all very friendly and helpful.  This was very nice.  About three different times, we were standing looking at our map and I'm sure we had confused looks on our faces.  Workers stopped every time and asked us if they could help direct us.  It was very nice. 

XOXO...Becky

P.S.  Don't decide against Six Flags just because of my own personal opinions!  Go try it out for yourself and then let me know what you think!!!