Fun with beavers

These beavers have been such a joy for all of us working in the zoo. We have so enjoyed watching them mature. We bottle fed them as youngsters, then weaned them and watch them grow. They are huge now, probably a good 30 lbs or so. They still come up to the front of their enclosures wanting attention. Or food. LOL

They each have mulch, logs, hay and other treasures to keep them occupied. One of them, June, gave into her beaver nature, and built herself a dam. Now if her pool tips over, it won't flood her out. Smart beaver!

I'm not sure of this one's name, but he decided the best place to hang out would be in the pool. With temperatures in the upper 90's, and high humidity, I agree with him.

Here is a photo of June, the dam builder

I hope you enjoyed the beaver update. Have a blessed day!

Chela

Beach Weekend

The second week of July, we snuck away for a weekend at the beach before school started. (July 30th here). Dh had gone on ahead, as he had Air Force Reserves that week.

College kid insisted on taking his own car with his girlfriend, instead of riding in the van with the rest of us. I can't see why he wouldn't want to ride in a cramped van with 4 other people and no air conditioning. Goodness, a kid gets grown and want to do things his own way.

We finally get everyone packed, the cars loaded up, and set off on our journey. An hour away, there is some confusion about if we are stopping to eat, so I pull over at a restaurant. College kid comes walking up to me, (first clue, he always drives up to tell me something) and says, "I broke my car, Mom. I really broke my car."

Did you know a car's wheel can fall off the car? I had no idea this was possible, but happen it did. Apparently, the CV axle can break, and then...

So we had about a two hour delay in plans while we got ds' car to the shop. The car was blocking traffic on a road where people come speeding up to the stop sign. Luckily, a cop happened to come along and block the car from getting hit. At one point, I received an automated phone call from road service telling me it would be 45 minutes before the wrecker made it to us.

I relayed this to the cop, who replied, "I can't let you sit here for 45 minutes."

Really now. Do you have any other ideas up your sleeve? It's not like we can move the car. Finally the wrecker made it, and towed the car. After getting everything settled with the mechanics, we all piled into that hot, cramped van, and headed to the beach.

The first stop was the base, but dh was still in a meeting, so we headed to the water. At first, we were annoyed that we couldn't go to the lodging first, but this actually worked in our favor. The beach was beautiful, and I headed straight in to do my favorite thing-wade out until I can't touch, then tread water and relax in the swells. I could stay that way for hours.

I know quite a few people who go to the beach, sit on the sand, then go back to the hotel and swim in the pool. Not me, let me get sandy, seaweedy, and feel fish brushing my legs. I love the ocean! Do I worry about sharks? Nope! I firmly believe it's more dangerous driving to the beach than swimming in it. The worst thing that has ever happened has been a few jellyfish stings.

Beach Weekend part 2

Ds #2 and I were out in the deep, relaxing in the surf. College kid was in the breakers with his girlfriend, as she can't swim. DD was playing in the sand, looking for shells mostly. Ds #3 came out in the deep with us a few times. Last time we were there, we swam and swam and swam feeling for the sandbar, but it was gone! I'm so glad it has returned.

It starts getting dark, but I'm reluctant to head back. I just love floating in the ocean. Then it's seriously getting dark, so we had to concede defeat and head for shore. I had never been in the ocean at night, it was definitely a different experience.

To our lodging, showers for everyone, then out to dinner. It's strange that college kid is now old enough to order his own alcohol. How did that happen? He already has his favorites as well. I guess I have to accept he is grown now.

Many years back, I had found this boardwalk through a woodsy area with a creek beside it. You could swim/float/canoe, or walk on the boardwalk. The kids and I had been once, then I could never find it again. I had looked every time, for all these years, and had never found it.

On the way to dinner, dh points to something, and says, "there's that walking trail you've been looking for!" He found it!! Turkey Creek Trail. I couldn't wait for the next day to check it out.

The next morning, we finally get up and get going. We head straight to Turkey Creek. It was even better than I remembered! The trail is 3/4 of a mile one way. It dead-ends, and you can hop in and swim or float down the creek. The water is a constant 69 degrees. Brrrr...

One time down the boardwalk and in the water go the kids. They absolutely loved it. There are checkpoints every so often, to check in on the kids. You can also hop in at any of these, or just swim there. Most of the creek is pretty shallow, but there are a couple of places where it's over the guys' heads, and they are 6' tall.

There didn't appear to be any alligators, (we were in FL) but there were plenty of turtles. At one spot, we counted 15. Of course that happens if someone feeds them, but {cough cough} we would never break the rules and do this.

Beach Trip part 3

We finish up at the creek, and start piling back into the car to get cleaned up and go to dinner. I notice ds #3 is bleeding on his shin. I ask him what happened, and how did he get hurt. He reaches down to feel of his leg, and calmly tells me he isn't hurt, it's a leech. Ds has this uncanny ability to remain perfectly happy on the outside, even if he is panicking on the inside. This was one of those times. It didn't appear to be bothering him, but on the inside, he was pretty upset.

We leave there and head to the beach. What a different day than Friday. The beach was wild. The flags weren't out, but I'm sure they would have been red (rip tides, no swimming) if they were. The beach was covered in seaweed. Red tide, the ocean was doing some cleaning up shop. DD pulls out the sifter we'd gotten in a pack of beach toys, and went to sifting the sand. We found shells, crabs, shrimp, and a baby horseshoe crab.

We also found a dead Ramora, which is a sucker fish that attaches itself to sharks. I caught one when we went deep sea fishing last year. I was picking up sand dollar pieces as I strolled the beach. DD found me an entire sand dollar, but it broke when she grabbed it. I treasure it so much.

When it started getting dark, we packed up and headed for dinner at our favorite restaurant-The Crab Trap. We always eat outside on the deck, right on the beach. Last year, there was a bird in the restaurant, and he was swooping down trying to eat people's food. They give kids buckets with little shovels on them, and they have a playground right off the deck. We love this place. I think it was the most expensive meal we've ever eaten, but it was worth it. There were 7 of us, and we only go here once a year.

Sunday morning, back to Turtle Creek. This time the kids swam and floated down the creek twice. I was the holder of stuff. Quite a bit of stuff, by the way. Towels, shoes, phones, drinks, and whatever else the kids had with them. I logged 3 miles that day in the heat on the boardwalk. The kids had a ball though, and no leeches this time.

There is a side path to the boardwalk that someone donated to Turkey Creek. It curves around, and empties to a quiet sitting area maintained with beautiful hanging baskets. It overlooks the creek, and is a very calming place. It is a place for parents who have lost children. The archway coming in says:

I found out you can buy a plaque to have placed there in memory of your child, of any age. Sometimes places offer these for $300. Turkey Creek only charges $5.00 The first time there, we didn't see any plaques. Of course, we were looking at the snake College kid found. Sunday I sat down and rested, and noticed the plaques are on the ceiling.

Beach weekend part 4

It was very touching and thoughtful. We finally headed home after the kids wore themselves out swimming at the creek. They all fell asleep on the way home. I'm so glad they had as much fun as they did. Especially after only going in the ocean once. I'm sure this will become a staple of future beach visits. Did I mention that it's free? Pretty neat, huh? They have a big covered area to bbq, and security. Be careful feeding the turtles. hehe

Here is a the view off the back deck of the Crab Trap:

My daughter saw me taking pictures, and posed so I could take hers:

We had a wonderful time at the beach. This time we stayed on the AF base, which put us so much closer to everything. Usually we are 45 minutes from the beach. I told dh I want to stay there in the future. I hope you have enjoyed this long manuscript of our beach trip. I had no idea it would be this long.

God Bless,

Chela

Check Those Receipts

I went grocery shopping today, and as usual, kept a careful running total on my phone's calculator of how much I was spending. I do this to keep in my budget, and it works most of the time. As a result, when the cashier was checking all the groceries through, I wasn't paying any attention to the total on the machine.

Towards the end, I glanced over and immediately started panicking. My total was much higher than I had expected, and the cashier wasn't done yet. Luckily we had the funds to cover it, but it would really blow our budget. When the total came, it was $191.82. I had only planned on $134. Oh boy! So on the way out, I looked over the receipt, trying to find where I had gone wrong in my shopping.

Yes, I went back in the store and they refunded my money. How upsetting though. What if I hadn't insisted on checking that receipt, and just accepted that I spent too much money on shopping. I would have continued stressing and beating myself up for something that wasn't even my fault. I do that. I'm glad I had the inclination to check the receipt and see what had happened. Computers can be wrong sometimes too.

God Bless,

Chela

water balloons

A friend of ours gifted us with a package of water balloons recently. We have had so much fun with them out in the pool. I thought I'd let you in on a little secret about filling them. At first, the kids were using the hose, and I was stressing about my water bill. Then ds found out you can fill them with the jets in our pool. (We have an in ground, I'm not sure if above ground pools have jets like this)

Step 1: fit balloon onto the nozzle that comes with the balloons:

Step 2: fit wide part of nozzle over the pool jet, and watch your balloon fill. Be careful, it can get too full really quick, and will burst on you. If you would like your balloon to float, blow some air in it after it fills with water.

Step 3: Tie your balloon to keep it filled. Tie a knot around your fingers, then slide off, and you're ready to go!

Step 4: a full water balloon, ready for launching

We didn't throw them at people, we tossed them around the pool, then went balloon hunting to see if they had popped. As mentioned earlier, blowing some air in the balloon after filling really helps, especially at night. Have fun!

Chela