Several of our kids were able to release the birds once they had been banded. Bri looks a little unsure in this picture because the bird before this one bit, not her, but it did bite the man who is helping her. She got to release a hummingbird. They caught the birds in nets that are so thin you can't see it until you walk into it. The birds fly into the nets and fall into a pocket where they are taken out and checked over and banded. Some have bands from other banding areas and that is noted too so they can see how far the bird came from.
Another new experience, at least for Bri was fishing. This is a picture of her fish, she caught 3 by they way. This is a pin fish and she was very proud! She was not sure she would want to fish, but she found out it was a lot of fun, but she has no interest in eating it. One of the dads there was a big fisher and told them we could fry them up for dinner, Bri thought that was horrible. Luckily none of her fish were big enough to fool with. She used squid for bait which I thought was gross, but she actually did not. She told me, "mama, all you do is cut up the squid and hook it". Okay Bri I'll let you bait my hook with the squid. Of course one of the teens was down there with the little girls and came back saying Bri had her eyes covered saying I don't want to see you kill it, no blood please, and the other girls crowding around trying to see and nearly pushing each other into the water. Since we had a pier onto the bay at our campsite every night was fishing time, then campfire and s'mores. Since we usually walk the beach and go crabbing at the beach this was a new experience and was a lot of fun for everyone!
Okay one afternoon while we were at the beach Barbie and I went for a walk. I left my camera behind and the teens grabbed it and played around. I'm not complaining, I got pictures without asking, begging, or chasing them down. In this picture they have buried Kaitlyn in the sand, but I think they may have gotten a little carried away since I can't even see her.
This is my favorite picture! Alex actually tried to put Dalton on his shoulders, but he could not hold him up. There are also several more of them doing various poses on the beach. This group of teens were quite entertaining at any given moment.
There were tons of shells that were whole on the beach, so of course Bri went shell hunting. This is her showing me one of her shells. She even found a whole sand dollar, but as hard as we tried to keep it from getting broke, it still broke three times. Next time I'll take a shoe box just for the delicate shells.
We also saw this ship that washed up from the last hurricane. It as huge! They say it was a Union ship burned during the Civil War, it definitely looked like a ship that had been burned. If it is from the Civil War era it is amazing that the wood has not rotted and there are no barnacles on it. It was absolutely cool to look at though. We found several pieces along the beach and further down the beach found some in the water still. The State of Alabama does not have any money to deal with it so they plan to just let it wash back out.
This picture was taken from the top of Ft. Morgan on the bay side. Way in the distance is the Dauphin Island bridge. Standing on top of the fort you could see why this was such a good spot for a fort. You had a perfect view of the bay on one side and a perfect view of the gulf on the other. We had a very informative guide for this tour. He told us that the government still has a clause that if they ever need the fort again that it would have to be surrounded to them. That is why nothing is built close to the rode going down to the fort so that the street could be widened and the necessary equipment brought in. Another interesting thing he told us really brought home how hard it was for women many years ago. He told us that the army had laundry women, but they had to be married to an army man to do the laundry. If her husband died she had 3 days, 1 to mourn, 1 to bury him, and she had better be married by the 3rd day or they threw her to the street with her kids. I'm glad I don't live in those times. He also showed us the sleeping quarters of the men, the had 12 bunks, but 24 men lived in the room, which meant they slept 2 to a bed, and it was a twin size bed. Of course he told us that the men in this fort did not really adhere to that because of the climate of the area, so some of the men slept on the floor because it was just too hot to share a bed. Remember they had no air conditioner. We also saw the killing field and murder room, which was kind of creepy to be told you were standing in the middle of the killing field.
On Wednesday we drove down to Pensacola to the NAS Museum. This museum is on the naval air base. It is a great museum, Eddie and I had actually taken the kids several years ago, but they did not remember it so I took them back on this trip. They had a blast checking out all the airplanes, helicopters, and even a replica of an air carrier. There were many new things added since my last visit as well. They had a really moving POW display, it actually brought tears to our eyes to read some of the things. One picture actually did make me cry. The kids got to climb in a lot of cockpits and they enjoyed that immensely!
Before heading home on Thursday we went to Mobile to the U.S.S. Alabama. When we went into the gift shop we found a POW from World War II in there. He spent several minutes talking to our teens about the war and life. He was such a nice man. He told them that lying never pays and they should not ever do that. He lied to get in the army at 16 and at 17 he was a POW. He told them that it took him 30 years to forgive the Japanese for the things they did to him and his fellow POWs, and that he forgave them 23 years ago and it helped him finally heal from the war. He realized that he was hurting himself physically and emotionally by not forgiving them, that the Japanese were not suffering at all. He said he had even recently gotten a Japanese car. He was selling a book about his experience and we got an autographed copy of it. Alex spent the first 2 days home reading his book and really enjoyed it. He said it was quite gory sometimes, but he really saw the war in a different light than any textbook he has read about it. If your interested his website is http://www.hellsguest.com/.
It took us several hours to tour the ship, which the kids found very interesting that the fort they men slept 24 men to a small room and the ship had several sleeping areas with wall to wall bunks, of course the officer quarters were where they would have rather been. The ship held 2200 men and was like a city on the water. Then they toured the submarine which only slept 65 men. They found the difference very interesting. We went from the top of the ship, as in as high as they let you to the lowest level, as in engine room low.
Another new experience, at least for Bri was fishing. This is a picture of her fish, she caught 3 by they way. This is a pin fish and she was very proud! She was not sure she would want to fish, but she found out it was a lot of fun, but she has no interest in eating it. One of the dads there was a big fisher and told them we could fry them up for dinner, Bri thought that was horrible. Luckily none of her fish were big enough to fool with. She used squid for bait which I thought was gross, but she actually did not. She told me, "mama, all you do is cut up the squid and hook it". Okay Bri I'll let you bait my hook with the squid. Of course one of the teens was down there with the little girls and came back saying Bri had her eyes covered saying I don't want to see you kill it, no blood please, and the other girls crowding around trying to see and nearly pushing each other into the water. Since we had a pier onto the bay at our campsite every night was fishing time, then campfire and s'mores. Since we usually walk the beach and go crabbing at the beach this was a new experience and was a lot of fun for everyone!
Okay one afternoon while we were at the beach Barbie and I went for a walk. I left my camera behind and the teens grabbed it and played around. I'm not complaining, I got pictures without asking, begging, or chasing them down. In this picture they have buried Kaitlyn in the sand, but I think they may have gotten a little carried away since I can't even see her.
This is my favorite picture! Alex actually tried to put Dalton on his shoulders, but he could not hold him up. There are also several more of them doing various poses on the beach. This group of teens were quite entertaining at any given moment.
There were tons of shells that were whole on the beach, so of course Bri went shell hunting. This is her showing me one of her shells. She even found a whole sand dollar, but as hard as we tried to keep it from getting broke, it still broke three times. Next time I'll take a shoe box just for the delicate shells.
We also saw this ship that washed up from the last hurricane. It as huge! They say it was a Union ship burned during the Civil War, it definitely looked like a ship that had been burned. If it is from the Civil War era it is amazing that the wood has not rotted and there are no barnacles on it. It was absolutely cool to look at though. We found several pieces along the beach and further down the beach found some in the water still. The State of Alabama does not have any money to deal with it so they plan to just let it wash back out.
This picture was taken from the top of Ft. Morgan on the bay side. Way in the distance is the Dauphin Island bridge. Standing on top of the fort you could see why this was such a good spot for a fort. You had a perfect view of the bay on one side and a perfect view of the gulf on the other. We had a very informative guide for this tour. He told us that the government still has a clause that if they ever need the fort again that it would have to be surrounded to them. That is why nothing is built close to the rode going down to the fort so that the street could be widened and the necessary equipment brought in. Another interesting thing he told us really brought home how hard it was for women many years ago. He told us that the army had laundry women, but they had to be married to an army man to do the laundry. If her husband died she had 3 days, 1 to mourn, 1 to bury him, and she had better be married by the 3rd day or they threw her to the street with her kids. I'm glad I don't live in those times. He also showed us the sleeping quarters of the men, the had 12 bunks, but 24 men lived in the room, which meant they slept 2 to a bed, and it was a twin size bed. Of course he told us that the men in this fort did not really adhere to that because of the climate of the area, so some of the men slept on the floor because it was just too hot to share a bed. Remember they had no air conditioner. We also saw the killing field and murder room, which was kind of creepy to be told you were standing in the middle of the killing field.
On Wednesday we drove down to Pensacola to the NAS Museum. This museum is on the naval air base. It is a great museum, Eddie and I had actually taken the kids several years ago, but they did not remember it so I took them back on this trip. They had a blast checking out all the airplanes, helicopters, and even a replica of an air carrier. There were many new things added since my last visit as well. They had a really moving POW display, it actually brought tears to our eyes to read some of the things. One picture actually did make me cry. The kids got to climb in a lot of cockpits and they enjoyed that immensely!
Before heading home on Thursday we went to Mobile to the U.S.S. Alabama. When we went into the gift shop we found a POW from World War II in there. He spent several minutes talking to our teens about the war and life. He was such a nice man. He told them that lying never pays and they should not ever do that. He lied to get in the army at 16 and at 17 he was a POW. He told them that it took him 30 years to forgive the Japanese for the things they did to him and his fellow POWs, and that he forgave them 23 years ago and it helped him finally heal from the war. He realized that he was hurting himself physically and emotionally by not forgiving them, that the Japanese were not suffering at all. He said he had even recently gotten a Japanese car. He was selling a book about his experience and we got an autographed copy of it. Alex spent the first 2 days home reading his book and really enjoyed it. He said it was quite gory sometimes, but he really saw the war in a different light than any textbook he has read about it. If your interested his website is http://www.hellsguest.com/.
It took us several hours to tour the ship, which the kids found very interesting that the fort they men slept 24 men to a small room and the ship had several sleeping areas with wall to wall bunks, of course the officer quarters were where they would have rather been. The ship held 2200 men and was like a city on the water. Then they toured the submarine which only slept 65 men. They found the difference very interesting. We went from the top of the ship, as in as high as they let you to the lowest level, as in engine room low.
I think this was a great trip! We learned about birds, ships, forts, war, etc. When we got home Bri said after camping she really appreciates her home, "its the most beautiful place in the world". Of course she also said she wants to camp again though! Myself, I enjoyed camping, especially with the dads that went. They would head back to camp to start dinner each night and the mom's would come back with the kids around dark to a cooked dinner and a fire. It was great!
I hope you all have a great week loving and learning!!
Lisa
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