Sunday, April 27, 2008

Croatan National Forest

We visited the Croatan National Forest today...it's just a few minutes from our house. Well, I think it actually surrounds our house/neighborhood and it is the main reason that our cell phone coverage is shoddy...

But, it is beautiful and serene. We went on the nature trail today...It's almost like walking around at a trail back home - except while you're walking and you hear something "scuttering" (a new word I coined today because of my momnesia) - - it's not a giant spider; it's a crab that looks like a giant spider.





Teeeeeny, tiny fiddler crabs.
(Click to enlarge. And even then,
you might not see them too well.
They're really small!)



Bigger crabby swimming
in the water


Dead tree(s?)







Matilda explores her dad's head while riding on his shoulders:



Poison ivy. **I think** You know, "leaves of three" and all that.
Plus, they had an educational chart thingy warning that it was "abundant".
Aaaaaaah! Don't go off the trail!








Mommy gives it a try.


Photo Mike took of nothing in particular
to make me think he was taking a photo of me
while I was taking a "nature break"


Another dead tree




Bilda babbles:



Afterwards, we decided to go to downtown Swansboro and get a coffee. Mike pointed out a kitty...verrrrry close to some duck-chickens (Mike's phrase for the ugly duck things).

(Kitty is on the left. Click to enlarge.)


Duck-chickens are reeeeally attractive:



Awwww, here are some cuties!


Dropping a house in!


A great day! Can't wait for more exploring next weekend!

2 comments:

Cassie said...

Yep, that's a patch of poison ivy for sure. In addition to the "leaves of three" you can tell in poison ivy because there is a slight reddishness were the leaves and stem meet. Also, I'm pretty sure that the duck-chickens are actually geese.

Lori Stewart Weidert said...

Is she saying da-da ma-ma?!! Teach her to say Aunt Lori next!