Little Explorers

The kids and I went exploring this afternoon and ended up at Carolina Beach State Park.  We stopped by the visitors center first where we met one of the park rangers and he gave us the 411 on the park.  Sea turtle shows, snake exhibits, nature trails, fishing, boating, camping - Little Man could hardly contain his excitement!

Showing off their ranger stickers.

Both kids were really interested in the hands-on exhibit/education area.  They matched animals to their habitats, pretended to be an insect avoiding prey while flying around the water, captured a stuffed fly with a venus flytrap puppet and read/looked at information on several native carnivorous plants.  

Thankfully we had Little Man's binoculars and compass/whistle tool in the car.  He was disappointed he didn't have his belt to hook it all to.  

We decided to walk the Flytrap-Trail in search of venus flytraps.  On the way we saw a deer grazing in the woods.  We were unsuccessful in the flytrap hunt Little Man did point out 2 other carnivorous plants - the pitcher plant and the butterwort.  

We hope to catch one of the ranger lead hikes around the Flytrap-Trail.  The ranger we met today mentioned that they were tough fellas to scout if your eye wasn't trained.  We're also excited about taking our camping gear out one night once the weather cools a bit.  And...Little Man made note for grandaddy that the boat ramp area was really nice - they even have gas!  

On the way home I overheard Little Man saying he was carnivorous and his sister was an omnivore because she likes vegetables and meat.