Sea Turtle Release

Last Thursday night, we had our first real field trip for our homeschool group. It was to a local nature center/beach where they have sea turtle release programs. We've done this before, but we really enjoy it and this was the first time Levi and Nicky went. They both had a lot of fun. Before the actual presentation, they let us hang out in the nature center area where they have lots of sea creatures. We really liked that area!

Here's Nicky showing some fish and giant hermit crabs to the boys. (There's a blowfish hiding in the sand right where Nicky's pointing.)
Ashton checks out the touch tank (where there was a sign saying "Please don't put hands in the touch tank." We thought that was pretty funny.)

Indy, Levi, and friend, John checking out the stuff in the non-touchable touch tank. lol

This was pretty cool. This starfish was sucked up against the glass so we could see all his suckers on the bottom. It was so tempting to reach in and touch him, but we were good and didn't. lol Then we kidded that it was Patrick, from Spongebob. The kids got a kick out of that! lol

Indy is listening to the ocean.

Once we left the nature area, we went into a room where they had a power point presentation about sea turtles. Then, they brought out some of the turtles that would be released later. Here's Levi and Nicky checking out the baby turtle. Levi kept saying how cute they were. They were really cute. It was just there flapping all around.

Here's a good close up of the baby. These were loggerhead babies that were released.

As the group headed outside to go down to the beach, we lagged behind to check out all the neat stuff on display. Here, Indy and Levi are next to a sea turtle nest. It shows the shape of the nest and how the eggs are inside. Pretty cool.

And, here's the girls next to a really big sea turtle shell.

And, of course, Nicky had to check it out up close and personal. He's such a turtle guy!! lol In case you didn't know, we have several tortoises and a couple water turtles. He loves turtles of any kind! I think he had as much fun as the kids! lol

This was a fun trip. We probably won't do it again for several years, but it was fun to go this time. And, it was really great to take the whole family. There's so many things that Nicky can't go to with us because he's working, so this was a treat to have him with us.