Cabrits 5

Well, this should have been #6 but the last time we tried to go it rained and we had a movie at our house instead. We had to move this one to Friday (5/1) because it rained Thursday so we rescheduled. Luckily, we had nice weather Friday so we went - with Natalynn, Paul, Payton (the girl they were watching), Liz, Jason, their daughter Emmy, Kathy (Liz's mom), and David (a single guy from Church). It was so fun to show everyone a new place (although maybe Natalynn and Paul have been there before). We did a lot of hiking and then decided it was time to turn around and go back to Ft. Shirley for some lunch. Then it decided to sprinkle on us so we took shelter in the fort. It was a nice trip and it was great to have Kevin with us! I didn't take very many pictures this time (if you can believe that) so if you want to see more then look back at Cabrits 4.

The hermit crabs were the main excitement on this trip. We found tiny ones and big ones. We found fancy shells and plain shells. We found them on the ground and in the air. The kids really enjoyed playing with them (and so did the grown ups).

This is the crazy big one that the men played with. The bigger the crab the darker purple the claw. Notice, they are letting it climb on a stick and not in their hands.

This is the biggest crab I picked up. I am getting to be so brave. The crabs are so timid and yet so strong and determined to get away from what every has a hold of it. Funny little creatures.

Emily enjoyed the smaller variety and she would laugh as they climbed up her arm. It would eventually fall to the ground and she would pick it back up for some more fun. I'm sure it was just ready to crawl away to safety.

This is Payton. She enjoyed playing with the crabs, too. It was fun to have a young friend for my kids to play with, although they do enjoy all our adult friends, so I guess they just enjoy who ever is around.

Someone found this large, fancy shell with a crab inside. It was really neat and the girls took turns holding it. I'm sure it was wondering where it was going to end up and how long it would take to get back to where it had been. Oh well. It was a sort of relocation project for my kids.

Here's a crab that found a vine and decided to climb up. I wonder what it was trying to do or where it thought it was going. I heard a couple things fall from the vines and I wondered if they were crabs. Poor things.

We also enjoyed seeing all the tiny metal balls that are just piled up in a room of sorts. Kevin told us they are called grape shots. The kids thought it was neat to climb the pile and carry them around - but they are rusting so their hands turned a bit orange.

This tree is growing wooden spikes that are rather sharp. It was very interesting and quite the tactile and visual experience.

We watched the rain come across the bay. I said it would go inland and miss us. I was wrong so we sought shelter in the fort. Luckily we were done hiking and were almost done with lunch so it wasn't a big deal.

(Okay, so maybe I did take a lot of pictures. But really, this was about it. Nothing like I've taken before. Not that you care really - because this is all you see anyway.)