Jekyll Day 2

We met back up with Brittany on the morning of day 2 at the southern end of the Jekyll map.  Our first stop of the day was the Maritime Forest.

As we headed that way, we took notice of the funnel shaped holes in the sand.  I have seen those all my life and never knew they were the work of the antlion.  Look it up on your google.  So fascinating!

The forest was absolutely beautiful and so interesting, but OH.MY.WORD. at the BUGS.  There had to be hundreds of them in every square foot.  I couldn't sleep from the itchy bites for days!

A 200yr old tree.  Amazing.

The canopy of the forest.  Gehr had just learned about this in his South America geography class.  So awesome to see it in person!

Learned that red bugs are actually not found in spanish moss that is hanging from trees.  I wanted to disagree.  :)  It is only something to be wary of once it has fallen to the ground.  Learn something new...

Following the trail and learning as we go...

Cool resurrection fern...it was everywhere!

On a bridge and trying out an edible plant.  It tasted like carrots!

We ran across a snake while we were there!  Didn't know what kind.  Brittany wanted to take it back with us but wasn't completely sure it wasn't venomous so we let it go.

We headed to the beach to learn a little bit about the "younger" part of the maritime forest...the part closer to the ocean.  While we were there, we got to meet their pet millipede.  Check out the awesome tracks he makes in the sand...

And we got a little free time on the beach.  Have I mentioned GOOD FOR THE SOUL??? :)

 Next up: Shark Dissection

Me: Trying not to throw up :)

Thankful for other mamas (Wiley here) who can handle and love this stuff so my boy can expand his horizons :)

Found three fish in the stomach of one of the sharks!  Even I had to admit that was cool :)

First on the afternoon schedule: Sea Turtle Center

So cool seeing those big turtles and learning about the process they go through to rehabilitate their injuries...

After touring the hospital, we had a short class to learn more about the sea turtles.  Mrs. Drafts was awesome to let them dress her up so that we could learn about their different body parts :)

Day 2, Class 3: Seining and Nets

She showed us how they catch fish and other sea life in the huge nets just by walking and dragging them through the shallow water.  We didn't catch a ton of stuff, but it was cool.

Chaperones :)

Gehr got a turn...he was a little young/small for this one, maybe.

He ended up spending the rest of the time drawing/playing in the sand :)

Our group left our mark :)

And SNAKES.  Yes, we had an entire class on snakes, learning about their features, determining if they are venomous and holding them.  I still shudder at the thought :)

Lest you think I look too happy about the snake-handling...see the third picture down :)

He started to get a little comfy and crawled up my arm...that's where the fun ended for me :)

We got to see a few other reptiles...here a cute little, moustached sea turtle :)

And a baby gator...

We finished out the evening with a class on salt water fishing, but nothing much to take pictures of.  We also surprised the kiddos and took a field trip (within a field trip :)) to Dairy Queen that night for ice cream.  All in all, a very fun and full day!

Jekyll Day 1

Gehrig and I joined a few other families from our co-op for a 3day/2night field trip at the Jekyll Island 4H Educational Center.  Although I've been to that area many times, I've never actually been to the part of the island where the 4H center is or heard much about what they do there.  It is quite the impressive, cool, full-o-learning, scheduled-out production they have going on.  Their team was great with our kids and had backgrounds in biology, marine and environmental sciences that equipped them well to teach about whatever we happened to encounter.

Our first stop on day 1 was Beach Ecology.  Brittany was one of our favorites and taught us so much.  Here she explained about the wrack that washes up, the creation of sand dunes and sea oats and their importance.

Seriously beautiful.  So good for the soul to breathe in that sea air :)

Finding creatures and learning about them

The southern end of Jekyll has actually gotten bigger instead of eroding like the northern end.  This mast is all that is left to see of a ship that has slowly been covered by the sand.  So interesting!

Happiness :)

Next: Marsh Ecology

Another favorite, Christa, showed us a plant that is edible...tasted pretty good :)

Next she showed us how snails come out of their shells when you put them close to vibration...pretty cool!  Everyone hummed to watch it work...

Oh, the fiddler crabs!

Walking through the five zones of marshland

We played a variation of hopscotch to learn how important marshes can be for migrating birds

Biggest fiddler crab I've ever seen!  We learned that the males have one large claw and one regular claw, while the females just have two regular ones.  The males use the large claw to impress the lady crabs and find their mates.  :)

Some good marsh mud that serves as a skin cream

Beautiful walking back to the bus

Oh my...so HOT and SWEATY and STINKY and OILY!!  Suncreen plus bug spray plus sweat plus a hot bus ride back...not for those who mind getting dirty!

Breaktime...they have a really great setup there.  The accommodations were a little sparse but air-conditioned and on the beach, so not much to complain about :)

Campfire time...roasting marshmallows for our smores :)

And getting ready for Night Walk.  We couldn't use flash after this so I don't have any more pics, but it was great fun.  We walked on the beach and in the forest a little in the dark to get our eyes used to it and learn about nocturnal animals.  We also found planets and constellations in the beautiful clear sky while we were on the beach and played a funny game called "bat/moth."  If not for all the bugs, I could've stayed out there forever :)

We were exhausted after this first (half) day and enjoyed a quick recap of the day and prayer time with our Wiley roomies.  So so fun hanging with my sweet boy :)