Dredging and shells!

For the last 4 months they have been dredging the ocean.

They are doing this because when hurricanes come they push sand in and draw it back out to the ocean.  They need to do this every five years or after three major hurricanes.

Dredging is when a HUGE boat goes out and picks up sand, shells and sea life and spits it out in a tube running from the boat to shore.

After this the shells are all around and there is really good shelling.

Nutmeg shells! They range in size and are one of my favorites.

Augers.  Are very sharp and thin.

Olives. Walking on the beach just for a few minutes you will find many!

I saved my favorite shells for last..... the Lighting Whelk!

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday.  It is a holiday that falls the day before Ash Wednesday.  Some countries call it Carnaval which means goodbye to meat in Latin.  Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, people would eat all the meat, butter and fat in their homes, preparing for the 40 days leading up to Easter when they would eat only fish and fast from other foods.  

Mardi Gras has a lot of traditions like parades, balls, feasts and crazy costumes!

In the past month our family has gone to eight Mardi Gras parades!  Each of the kids has collected over 100 beaded necklaces and many stuffed animals.  We have also caught our fill of moon pies. 



We took these photos at the Orange Beach parade yesterday.  It was wet outside but the streets were full of people who didn't leave even when it started to rain.  

Special Southern Treats!

Differences in the South

Would you ever see this in Minnesota?

During our time down here you can get some treats that you can`t get up north.

 Moon Pies are two cookies with a marshmallow filling.  Moon Pies have different flavors including: vanilla, chocolate, banana, orange, coconut, mint, strawberry and my favorite is peanut butter.

Millions of moon pies are thrown from Mardi Gras floats each year.  Previously, Cracker Jack boxes were thrown from floats for people to catch but that hurt when getting hit in the head.  Moon pies are a soft snack that are traditionally thrown at parades on the Gulf Coast.  

  The King Cake is another Mardi Gras tradition.

The name is to honor the three kings that came to bring gifts to Jesus. The King Cake is cinnamon roll like cake that has different flavors including: strawberry cream cheese, cream cheese and cinnamon.  They are beautifully decorated with white frosting and a lot of sprinkles in the Mardi Gras colors which are: purple, green and yellow.  Inside the box you also get colorful bead necklaces and a small plastic baby to represent baby Jesus.  Before serving the cake someone hides baby Jesus in it.  The person who finds Jesus is king or queen for the day.

Rebecca found baby Jesus which was hidden in the cake.

Dolphin Cruise

Dolphin Cruise

Yesterday we went on a 1 1/2 hour dolphin cruise! 

There were two boats that went out looking for dolphins.  One clue to locate where the dolphins are in the water is to look for where the birds are flying over head.  The birds like to steal the fish away from the dolphins.  When one boat spotted some dolphins, the boats would then drive parallel to each other and speed forward to make a huge wake and the dolphins would surf the waves and jump.

Here's a video of how playful the dolphins were on our boat ride:

USS Alabama!

The USS Alabama is a HUGE battleship that was used in World War II.

 The Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, AL.

Rebecca and Mariah on deck posing for a photo! 

Anna getting into the gun battery.

 These two photos are taken inside the gun battery.

 The stern of the ship looking to the bow.

Mariah was to afraid to climb any higher so Anna, Rebecca and I went to the very top!

 This is one of the decks that you can climb up to.

 Anna, Rebecca and Mariah on the ship's beds. There were about 2,500 men aboard this ship!

 How would you like to get hit by these?????

 The view from bow to the stern.

 The battleship from the road.

There is also a submarine stationed there that you can go in!

TORPEDOS!!!!!!

Soooooo many different controls!!!! How did they know how to use all of them?

Dad climbing into the captain area

The Nina and the Pinta

THE NINA AND THE PINTA!

Yesterday we went to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta Ships that 

Christopher Columbus sailed across to America!

 The Nina and the Pinta were built COMPLETELY by hand in Brazil with NO power tools!

If you'd like to the Nina and the Pinta they will be in Stillwater, MN this summer.

These ships are the most historically correct Columbus replica ever built

This is a link to the ship's website. There is a nice video about the ships there as well.

http://thenina.com/

Welcome aboard!

This is the view of the Nina from the Pinta!

Orange Beach

Orange Beach

Orange Beach is located in between Gulf Shores (which is where we stayed last year) and Perdido Key, Florida.  Our beach house is 8 miles from the Florida border.  We are 30 miles from Pensacola, Florida.  

Orange Beach was named for the orange trees grown here. While driving, we have noticed grapefruit and orange trees around.  The most important citrus crop in this area is the Satsuma Oranges.  You are able to taste and buy these mandarin oranges at the farmers market on Saturdays.  Now tourism is bigger here than farming but orange groves were once common on the Alabama Gulf Coast.  

Jellyfish

CANNONBALL JELLYFISH

Rebecca

&

Mariah

This jellyfish was found washed up on shore.

The pictures show their oral arms covered with mucus for trapping small prey.

The top side is shaped like a cannonball and it feels smooth.

We find them on the beach most every day but they are harmless.

Fishing Fun!

Today we boarded Alabama Girl to go on a 4 hour fishing trip.

The bait we used was fiddler crabs.  They can survive about 3 weeks in a cool place.

This video shows the fiddler crabs before they were eaten by our fish.  

OUR CATCH!!!

                                 

Janelle and Dad caught these Sheephead. 

 They are difficult to catch because their mouths have a bone at the top. 

 Sheephead have 3 rows of teeth for crushing barnacles.  

A lot got away:(

OUR YUMMY FISH!!!

Coquina or Butterfly shells!

These are Coquina clams!

Last weekend we went shelling on Pensacola Beach in Florida.  

We found an abundance of Coquina clams.

We brought them home to boil in order for them to open. (This is only half or them.)

After boiling!  If you look carefully you can see little animals inside the shells.  They are edible - some people make a chowder out of them!

This shell is opened and appears like a butterfly!  The shells range in colors like oranges and browns to purples and blues!



Watch this amazing video of live Coquina digging in the sand!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfIF3crUG7Q

The Wharf

This afternoon our family went to The Wharf.  www.AlWharf.com

The Wharf is a shopping center with with many restaurants and entertainment like a Ferris Wheel.
We enjoyed kid`s night at Baumhower`s.  http://www.baumhowers.com/orange-beach.php
There was an "under cover clown" who did amazing balloon hats,balloon dog,horse,dolphin,and even a turtle bracelet! Here's a fun video of all of us girls playing with the balloons at the restaurant.

The Wharf is right on the Intracoastal Waterway which is a barge, shipping and boating channel along the Gulf Coast and Florida. Here's a link that tells you more about it. Intracoastal Waterway

Snakes!

 Brave Mariah is holding a king snake!  This is the king of snakes.  He will eat all other types of snakes even poisonous ones!  Some people in Alabama buy king snakes as pets and keep them in their yards.  The king snake protects their yard from rodents and other dangerous snakes.



 The video below shows Janelle and Anna with their snakes

 Janelle held the male red rat snake or corn snake pictured above.

Anna held this female red rat snake.