Coastal Discovery Museum

The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn had some great sights to see. From all of the live oak trees, like the one above us, to the board walks on the sea marshes, we had a great time checking everything out

The spanish moss on all of the live oaks is so foreign to us, but so prevelent on everything on Hilton Head. It's just beautiful... so too are Heidi and Eve.

Beautiful things are everywhere in this picture!

Eli did his best to round up some Fiddler Crabs out on the sea marsh. They're not easy to get even though these guys are as thick as ants running around on the shore.

Cody was lucky enough to snag one before it managed to climb back into it's hole.

Easter in Hilton Head

Easter baskets are so last century. Now, everyone uses cooking pots to collect their easter eggs. Eve here has quite an easter booty she's collected in her Easter pot!


Heidi put together a fun little easter egg hunt in the house we were staying in. Everyone was in on it.

Of course, you can't have an Easter Egg hunt without Easter Eggs. This is where the magic happened!

Eli the Alligator Instructor

Eli: Let me teach you a few things about working with Alligators. First thing I would like to do today is show you how to hold an Alligator. I prefer to pinch Alligators between my forearm and my bicept to create a nice strong locking hold. Then when the little critters try to chomp at me, I can let them feel my pythons or as my dad likes to call them, my big guns!!! Oh yeah! Take that alligator! Hiss at me all you want, but you're not getting out of this one!


Eli: Opening an alligator's mouth with your bare hands like this is really dangerous stuff, but with a few tips from me you too can make it look as effortless as this. It's like I'm not even trying. This is my relaxed face... really!

Eli: Finally, I can help you sense when an alligator is near. Like right now, I'm pretty sure an alligator is around here somewhere. Exactly where, I'm not quite sure, but I'll locate the little guy soon enough!

A Day at the Beach

Kjersti, Eli and Eve built an elaborate beach zoo to contain the crabs, star fish, sand dollars and other various beach fare collected near by. It was hard to tell if Cody was a supervisor to this effort or just an active participant???


Hermit crabs. You can guess where these ended up.

Star fish. These were the lucky ones that didn't lose limbs on their way to the beach zoo.

The proud zoo keeper.

Zoo construction wasn't easy. Especially when it came to the digging. Sometimes, digging occured where the zoo was not. Eli chose to "free up" some sand for the larger effort.

Eve didn't fully appreciate the digging instruction from Cody and made her feelings known.

With all of the digging going on, the next logical step became burying someone. Heidi was instantly selected by the burying crew and loved every minute of transforming into a beautiful mermaid.

Eve wanted to get in on the mermaid business, but those pesky toes keep popping out of her fin. Better luck next time.

Kayaking Around Hilton Head

The first full day we were at Hilton Head, we rented kayaks and set out on the water. Heidi, Eve and I were in one kayak, Gary and Eli were in another and Cheryl and Kjersti were in the other. It was a blast!


Two words for this picture of Eli and Gary: Sailing Ballast. Poor Eli sat a good foot out of the water, but fortunately, Gary did most of the paddling.

Of course, Eve was all about kayaking! She did her best to steer with one leg in the water. This turned out to be a real workout for Heidi. It's not easy to keep a big fish in a little boat!

Here we see Captain Eve scoping out locations where the she might steer us. Heidi did an incredible job keeping this Captain "focused".

Ever wonder what a kayak collision looks like right before it happens?

The homes around the water way were amazing and the kids just couldn't get enough of it. We all enjoyed ourselves!

The Dunn, North Carolina Tornado

On Saturday, April 16 we were driving down route 301 in North Carolina on our way to Hilton Head Island. We had left I-95 because of the volume of spring break travelers had left traffic at a virtual stand still. At approximately 4:45 pm, one of 62 tornados to hit North Carolina that day touched down in Dunn. We were in Dunn when the storm rolled through and thought the awesome force surrounding this storm was bad where we were, but as we drove about a mile down the road, we soon realized just how lucky we had been from escaping something much worse. We came up on this area just minutes after a tornado from the storm ripped a complete path of destruction. This was one of the first pictures we took of the scene. Ahead of us, a semi truck had been tossed on it's side by the force of the tornado.

The tornado literally ripped a Food Lion grocery warehouse to shreds. It seriously looked like a bomb had been dropped on it. That's about a three story building in case you were wondering.

Debris, downed power lines, hail and all sorts of other things lay scatered across the road and in the grass near by.

A delivery truck was thrown about 100 feet and landed on it's side.

The roof of a second warehouse was peeled off and the gravel atop it lay strewn across the street. Notice these delivery trucks parked nice and tightly against the warehouse.

A Methodist church had the roof literally torn off it. It's so random though, because right next to the one building completly missing a roof is another roof that's mostly intact. This was the closest Heidi and I and our kids had ever been to a tornado... we hope it is our last. Not fun.

The New Prince William Forest Park

In early April, We were pleasently surpised and elated to find a new park has been installed inside Prince William Forest National Park! Eve and Kjersti set out immediately to give the lady bug a ride.

Once they had their fill with the lady bug, everyone set their sights on the bumble bee. This was a rare moment when everyone settled down long enough to smile (Eve is still in the middle of saying "cheese").

Popcorn

Nothing brings together the Strong family quite like popcorn. Cody is convinced it's one of the major food groups.

Fear the Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle: Kids, kids, kids, there's nothing to be scared of here! I'm just a giant American Bald Eagle head helping educate the American public about the magestic beauty and grace of the American Bald Eagle. Please come closer so I can fill you in.

Bald Eagle: There you see, nothing to be afraid of here. What cute children you are! Now where was I... oh yes, The American Bald Eagle became the official bird of the United States of America in...

Bald Eagle: ...and that's why the American Bald Eagle was chosen as our national bird rather than the wild turkey. Oh boy, I think I'm losing them. Kjersti is giving her cool girl pose and Eli is looking like he's the baddest man on the block. Sheesh.

Bald Eagle: I've officially lost all control here. When they start picking my nose, I have to draw the line and launch straight into the "power" segment of my speech.

Bald Eagle: GULP. And that's why you don't mess with the American Bald Eagle. Any questions?

Eve: Where can I find the wild turkey's? Are they over there?

Maymont Park - Richmond, VA

On Saturday, 26 March, we took a family trip out to Maymont Park in Richmond, VA. The park consists of a nature center, mansion and garden park. Here, Kjersti is posing by a beautiful flowering tree.


I just love the subtle smile she has here.

We spent some serious time at the petting zoo... and we shelled out a lot of quarters on animal pellets to do our part to ensure the animals won't go hungry. Way to go Eli!

Not many can say they looked goats in the eye, but Eve can. She couldn't get close enough to them. I'm pretty sure the only thing that would have made her happier was to get inside the pen and ride them until she wore herself out!

Here we see Eve "The Goat Whisperer" tending to her adopted flock.

At the Nature Center, Eli was picked to help train the otters. He loved being one of the lucky few to hold the "giant red otter trainer thingy". I'm pretty sure that was the technical term for it.

This fish ladder was like a second dream come true for Eve. Not so much because you could play with a giant red Swedish Fish, but because a lot of running water was so close to her. The only thing Eve loves more than animals is running water. I guess heaven for Eve would be playing with goats in running water... Eeesh. I hope that never happens.

Here are the troops in action!