A Day in the Swamp

One of our favorite places to go is Congaree National Park (the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States). It is different every time we go. 

Today the mosquitos were out in force, but our repellent worked well and we came home pretty much bite free.

The coolest thing today was that the park was flooded. The park is affected by the level of the Congaree River and Cedar Creek. Sometimes it's almost dry and other times it's completely flooded. Today was halfway in between.  

We decided to brave it and hike through the water. We've never been on the boardwalk when it was under water.

It got up to the kids' knees.

David wasn't as excited as me about tromping through the swamp. Baylie was worried we'd come across an alagator. We later learned that there are gators in the swamp. I was more worried about snakes because we've seen them before.

I was surprised at how clear the water was. I expected it to be murky, muddy and stinky, but it was actually pretty clean. Apparently, there is an 8-foot muck that filters the water and actually cleans it.

These centipedes were all over the trees.

This spider was carrying around his egg sack.

A little deeper.

Every time we've gone to the forest, we've seen a different animal. We've seen deer, wild boar, hawks, snakes, etc. This time we saw a red-headed wood pecker. It was beautiful and bigger than I expected. Jalen was actually the one that noticed it.

Large ferns.

Hollow tree.

At the visitor's center.

It was a really fun day.

One of the coolest parts was that as we were walking in, we ran into a senior sister missionary from southern Utah - Parowan. When she learned I was from Blanding, she mentioned Hole in the Rock and I told her I was a Bayles, Hurst and Lyman. She said, "You must be really tough." I thought that was awesome! I am proud of my heritage.

Batchelor Pad Happenings

For the third time in a row, Baylie made the all-A honor roll. She works very hard and takes her studies seriously. We're proud of her and her efforts. We are also grateful that she has friends that are such a good influence on her.

Jalen filled his reward jar and as his prize decided to take the family roller skating on Monday. (The local rink has a deal on Mondays - $6 for the whole family.) He was very excited about it. (Me, not so much...I couldn't skate before the surgery and will never skate again.)

Excited to skate! (my phone does not take great action shots)

He's up...

...and he's down.

...way down. 

Baylie had just finished Run Hard. She was exhausted by the time we were done. But like Jalen, she was determined.

Smooth moves. 

On Thursday, I went with Jalen on his field trip to Saluda Shoals. I was actually substitute teaching for another first grade class so I was a mom and teacher. It was exhausting! Saluda Shoals is beautiful. I forget that.

Most of Jalen's class with their teacher, Morgan Rohrbaugh.

This morning - Saturday - the Primary had a temple trip. The kids were encouraged to touch the temple.

They look so innocent.

After the temple, we decided to go pick some strawberries. There's a strawberry farm just down the road from the temple. When we pulled in, the car next to us heard the Primary music we were playing and told us they were Mormon too! Such a small world. Strawberry picking is always one of our favorite activities.

I wasn't going to blog about this, but decided I should record it for history. A month or so ago I was named the Irmo Elementary volunteer of the year. On Tuesday, at a special breakfast, it was announced that I had been selected as the outstanding elementary school volunteer for the district. What a nice honor! (School Board Member Robert Gantt, me, School Board Member Michael Cates, Superintendent Stephen W. Hefner, and IES Principal Tina McCaskill)

Program and plaque.

They even put my name on the school marquees!

It makes me very self conscious, but it's pretty cool.