Georgia Getaway For 8

This past long-weekend, DadToCherubs planned a wonderful mini-vacation.

First stop ... Tybee Island.  Second stop ... Atlanta.

We left Thursday morning early, and hit the highways, arriving at Stop 1 around 330pm.

Above:  The Cherubs are anxiously waiting to get on the beach ...

(Above:  South beach area of Tybee Island, Georgia)

Although our older Cherubs visited the Atlantic Ocean

when they were much younger, none remembers.

So, this was considered to be their first trip

to the ocean.

We play in the river and local lakes, a lot.

But nothing prepared our Cherubs for the

wind, the beach, the view, then adventure ...

and the waves amazed them.

Cherub 1 has become quite the shutterbug, and

was up and on the beach before sunrise

with his camera.

(The photo above and the photo below were taken by Cherub 1.

He has quite an eye, we think.)

We played until dark on the beach Thursday night.

The early Friday morning, with breakfast in hand,

we set out to collect seashells ... walking the beach ...

wow, the things we found !

(Moon Jellyfish above & birdie-prints below)

Pelicans

We also saw some dolphins in the water,

but couldn't get our camera "snapped" in time.

WOW -- how amazing !!!

Seagulls

While walking near a jetty on the North end of Tybee Island,

we found Mr. Stonecrab,

and gently pulled him out for a better view.

Afterwards, we tucked him back where we found him.

(He wasn't happy to be part of our adventures.  

He managed to pinch DadToCherubs.)

Just what everyone wants to hear before swimming in the ocean ...

we happened upon this man who was fishing ...

just as he caught (and released) a baby Black Tip shark.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Yes - he caught it while standing on the beach.

Yikes.

DadToCherubs and I couldn't hold them back anymore ....

the water was "calling" to them, they said.

They just HAD to get in it ... the faster, the better.

So they spent the rest of the morning and

most of the afternoon playing in the water

and playing in the sand.

Cherub 2 and Cherub 3 buried

Cherub 1 in the sand.

After a grand day of playing in

Tybee Island, GA, at the beach ....

we packed up in the van, and drove toward

Atlanta to see our grandmother (Dumma) ....

and were all sound asleep shortly after arriving.

The sun and surf had been exhausting !

And on Saturday morning, bright and early,

we headed out to ....

... which was another first for most of our Cherubs.

Cherub 5 was positively beside herself

with excitement .... we arrived just in time

to see Tara having her breakfast.

Tears of joy were shed by Cherub 5 ....

real ... live ... elephants.

We all loved the Meercats.

Zebras ... wow !

The Lions were grumpy, but beautiful

none the less.

Giraffes.

This is Ivan, a gorilla.

He arrived at the Atlanta Zoo in 1994

after Atlanta's male gorilla, Willie B, passed away.

Here's the story .... Ivan was born at the

National Zoo in Washington, D.C. in 1967.

He lived in Washington, D.C, until his

move to Atlanta.

And since I grew up visiting the National Zoo

at least every year of my childhood in

Maryland .... Ivan and I had met

many times before.

Isn't that funny ?!??!

The Reptile House was a BIG hit with the boys !

Then, near the end of our visit, Cherub 5 was

nearly in tears again ... tears of joy ...

when we saw the Giant Panda exhibit.

After a longgggg day of walking .... 

we headed back to Dumma's for a good night's sleep.

Then on Sunday we visited Cousin Mindy, her son Bobby,

and her husband Cousin Phil.

They served a delicious barbeque for lunch ... yummy !

And afterward lunch came another moment

we had all been waiting for ....

you see, Bobby is a Paleontologist.

Yes - a real live Dinosaur Scientist !!

(The children kept talking about how

blessed we are to have so many

"scientists" in our family !!

A Marine Biologist, a Marine Vet,

and a Paleontologist !!

WOW !)

Bobby is visiting his mother in Atlanta

on his way home from a dig ....

he's transporting his "finds" back to the museum.

The skull of a small Raptor.

(white is actual bone and gray is "reconstruction")

Bobby talking to the boys about his "finds".

Sea floor discoveries with some reconstructions.

And the big brown bone in the middle ---

a real "toe bone" from a T-Rex !!!!

A nearly 6 foot tall leg from a

yet-to-be-named creature

that looked rather like a large Ostrich,

except it was without feathers

and arms instead of wings

and no beak.

Bobby then took the Cherubs out

to look for fossils and artifacts -- 

talking to them about where to find fossils,

what they can expect to find in various settings,

and more.

They found a few small fossils -- mostly plant remains.

WOW !!

What an amazingly educational afternoon !!

So, the Cherubs are already begging Bobby to come to

visit us and dig a little in Tennessee in our

"neck of the woods"

next time he is passing nearby.

He said he would try ..... so stay tuned !!

We visited some more with Cousin Mindy, Cousin Phil,

and Bobby, having chocolate creme pie (yummy !).

Then, late on Sunday afternoon, after a long trip ....

we headed home to Tennessee.

We arrived just before dark,

visited our pets .... unpacked the car ...

and headed to bed.

We had an amazing mini-vacation ...

but it's good to be home again.