We stayed in a little cabin in the woods on the edge of a lovely creek.
It had a small kitchen/dining/living room area, a bathroom and a bedroom. On the back of the cabin was a screened porch with a swing and rocking chair overlooking the creek. Noodle's first comment after surveying the inside of the cabin was, "Hey, there's no TV!" However, she quickly forgot about television when she discovered the water out back and spent almost all of her time during the days at the edge of it with a fishing pole, a bucket, and a scoop net.
Hopers and Tabitha were excited about playing in the dirt, and spent much of their time trying to fall in the creek.
Day Two, Noodle and I planned to go on an "adventure" to explore our surroundings. Before we had even left the cabin, we found this amazing little lizard with a forked tail. 
He hung out for a while as if he were used to getting is picture taken. Then, Noodle and I trekked down to the creek and began to travel along it with our buckets and nets (just in case). We found a board across the creek and tried to walk out on it, but it sank in the middle, so we decided it was a very poor bridge and didn't cross it.
We went further until we came to a place where the bank on the opposite side of the creek was very high and someone had secured a large tree trunk all the way across. They had also tied a rope at my shoulder height so that one could cross without having to balance too much. However, Noodle had no benefit of the rope and found it an exciting challenge to get across. At first, she held my hand. But, being much braver with practice, she was able to get across all on her own, over the rushing waters of the creek. 
On the other side, we found a Ropes Course hidden in the woods. We only surveyed it, however, because you needed a ladder to get up to the first level. 
We also found these interesting plants growing in the path of one trail. They look like some kind of carnivorous plant, but I'll have to investigate that further.
The're only about the size of a penny. We also did some minnow catching below the balance brigde where the water was shallow and the bottom sandy. At first, it was difficult because the water was like ice. COLD. No really. COLD! We stepped in and had to jump back out after about 3 seconds because of the pain. After repeating that pattern for 15 minutes, our feet were numb and we were able to stay in.We returned to the cabin after that because my grandparents were coming to visit. But, after lunch, Noodle was itching to go back to the bridge. She convinced everyone to come with her. Not only that, but everyone crossed the bridge. Hope crossed while on my back, PawPaw and Snooky crossed... even my mom did it! And she's so afraid of heights that she used to get woozy trying to tuck in the sheets on the top bunk bed that my sister and I had! I was very proud of everyone for being "adventurous".
Day Three, we went to the zoo in Gulf Breeze. It was filled with many beautiful animals, some that I have never seen before. Noodle was especially enthralled by the orangutans with their baby that clung to the mommy as she climbed around and eyed us with her deep gaze. It really made me wonder what she was thinking about. Hopers was thrilled by all the creatures. She "oohed" and "ahhed" at each turn, pointing and laughing.
It was such a joy for me to see her experience these new things. Tabitha also seemed to enjoy the animals, but got too tired after a while and slept for half of the zoo trip. We saw many kinds of primates, lions, tigers, giant snakes, beautiful Toucans, a baby zebra, a giant rodent that was the size of a large hog (the name escapes me), vampire bats (Noodle loved those), a petting zoo (Hopers was afraid of getting too close to them), and more. It was a fun time.
Day Four, we packed up to go home. We discovered a cousin (he discovered us, actually) who happened to be on staff at Adventures Unlimited. He gave us some help with packing. It shouldn't surprise me to run into family members in the woods though. When your family has been in an area for enough generations on every side, you tend to be cousins with everyone.
He hung out for a while as if he were used to getting is picture taken. Then, Noodle and I trekked down to the creek and began to travel along it with our buckets and nets (just in case). We found a board across the creek and tried to walk out on it, but it sank in the middle, so we decided it was a very poor bridge and didn't cross it. We went further until we came to a place where the bank on the opposite side of the creek was very high and someone had secured a large tree trunk all the way across. They had also tied a rope at my shoulder height so that one could cross without having to balance too much. However, Noodle had no benefit of the rope and found it an exciting challenge to get across. At first, she held my hand. But, being much braver with practice, she was able to get across all on her own, over the rushing waters of the creek. On the other side, we found a Ropes Course hidden in the woods. We only surveyed it, however, because you needed a ladder to get up to the first level. We also found these interesting plants growing in the path of one trail. They look like some kind of carnivorous plant, but I'll have to investigate that further. Day Three, we went to the zoo in Gulf Breeze. It was filled with many beautiful animals, some that I have never seen before. Noodle was especially enthralled by the orangutans with their baby that clung to the mommy as she climbed around and eyed us with her deep gaze. It really made me wonder what she was thinking about. Hopers was thrilled by all the creatures. She "oohed" and "ahhed" at each turn, pointing and laughing. It was such a joy for me to see her experience these new things. Tabitha also seemed to enjoy the animals, but got too tired after a while and slept for half of the zoo trip. We saw many kinds of primates, lions, tigers, giant snakes, beautiful Toucans, a baby zebra, a giant rodent that was the size of a large hog (the name escapes me), vampire bats (Noodle loved those), a petting zoo (Hopers was afraid of getting too close to them), and more. It was a fun time.Day Four, we packed up to go home. We discovered a cousin (he discovered us, actually) who happened to be on staff at Adventures Unlimited. He gave us some help with packing. It shouldn't surprise me to run into family members in the woods though. When your family has been in an area for enough generations on every side, you tend to be cousins with everyone.
2 comments:
Looks like tons of fun! Awesome!
Great vacation!
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