The Uptons: Travel

Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Sea Turtle Exhibit at Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium

One of our favorite things to do when we go to the beach is to visit the aquarium, especially in the winter months. This weekend we took a quick weekend trip to the beach and also made it to the aquarium, and actually watched a couple of the programs. The first we watched was at the shark exhibit. They had scuba divers in the tank who answered questions and talked about what they were doing while they swam. Sydney wasn't super interested in what they were talking about but she did enjoy seeing the scuba divers and sharks...but only from a distance. My favorite comment of the day from her was "that shark has ugly teeth".

We also watched the otter enrichment, again where the aquarium workers answer questions and give a basic overview of the otters. They also put fish and carrots (who knew otters would be so excited about carrots?) out in their habitat, which it was fun to watch the otters search for the goodies.

The aquarium has just added a new exhibit dedicated to sea turtles. Nimbus, a rare white sea turtle with a cleft palate and permanent fixture at the aquarium, is the "star" of the exhibit. Sydney got to wear a white lab coat and carry an electronic turtle around the exhibit. She put her turtle in one area for diagnosis. She got to draw blood and put in a machine for analysis. Her turtle was diagnosed as having low weight. She then got to take the turtle to the treatment area. She lost interest at this point as it went into great detail about what the diagnosis meant and how to treat the turtle (including something about a turtle enema!) so we moved on to the next section. There she was able to weigh baby sea turtles. Finally, she got to release her turtle back into the sea! This exhibit was awesome. I'm sure we will visit it again soon!

Here's my turtle

Diagnosing the turtle

Weighing the baby turtle

Releasing the turtle back to the sea

Dr. Sydney

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Mountain Trip for Uncle Brent's Birthday

Mid-December we headed to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area of Tennessee with Sydney's MeMe and Pops and Uncle Brent and Aunt Catherine to celebrate Brent's 30th birthday. We rented a cabin with gorgeous views of the mountains. The cabin itself was great- three decks to check out the mountain view, air hockey (Sydney's favorite) and pool tables, and plenty of comfy places to sit and relax.

Hanging out on the deck

Daytime view

Evening view

Playing a little air hockey

There was a ton to do in both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We visited the Ripley's aquarium one day, which was actually pretty neat and was one of pretty much everyone's favorite. The aquarium had lots of different fish, but the coolest was probably the shark tank. It had several different types of sharks, a sea turtle and other fish as well. You viewed the fish from both above and below. They also had a penguin exhibit that was both indoors and outdoors.

Saw shark from above

Another shark from above

Checking out the fish

Penguins!

Brent and Catherine at the aquarium

Another highlight of the trip was Sydney's first Putt-Putt experience. At first she was just mesmerized by the jungle/dinosaur/pirate theme of the course we played and the fact that she had a ball- pink, of course. She wanted to whack the alligator and other animals with her club, which she called a bat. Blake was finally able to coax her into letting him help her hit the ball into the hole. Once she heard everyone clap for her when the ball went in the hole, she ate up the attention. So much fun!

Mummy at PuttPutt

My bat! (Funny look...ha!)

The ball went in the hole!

Help from Daddy

Hooray!

Overall, what a great trip! We are so glad we had Brent's birthday as an excuse to get away for a bit. Happy birthday, Uncle Brent! We love you!

Uncle Brent and Aunt Catherine

Happy birthday!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Beachin' It Up 2012

We have been to the beach several times this spring and summer. Instead of doing lots of different posts about the beach, I figured I would condense them all into one post.

Sydney started off the summer a little hesitant towards the ocean. She loved digging in the sand while sitting on a blanket and enjoyed watching the going-ons on the beach like kites, surfers, and boats. When we would get close to the ocean, however, she would cling to us and lay her head on our shoulders. Her Pops dug her a small pool near the ocean, and she enjoyed sitting in it digging with her toys. Slowly but surely she started to show less trepidation but still insisted on being held. Finally, Blake put her down in the waves one afternoon without any warning. The tide had gone out and there were small tidal pools and the water was shallow in general. Low and behold, she LOVED it! We held her hands while she "jumped" over the waves, she pretended to catch fish for her daddy to eat, and she would splash the water with her hands. I know her love of the ocean will continue to grow!

We also did a few of Sydney's favorite things as well. We went a couple of times to the aquarium, where she loves watching the fish, penguins, turtles, and otters. She is not too keen on the sharks (who can blame her??) but she randomly loves to watch the jelly fish and the one long, nasty eel. Oddly enough, probably her most beloved thing to do is ride the trolley in Beaufort. The trolley rides around the historic Beaufort waterfront down to the marina and back again. I think we have done this ride at least 10 times this summer and it never gets old for her. She looks out the window the entire time and watches for her favorite things (a pirate someone has in the doorway of a tiny fishing cottage and the "green guy" which is a plastic thing human shape cutout, not sure how else to describe it). Funny that is what she likes to look at when there are gorgeous waterfront homes and tons of boats.

Sydney also had a couple of 'firsts' while at the beach. She enjoyed her first popsicle on the 4th of July (redneck baby style in her diaper of course). Moral of the popsicle story: it melted fast and she talks too much to truly enjoy yet- ha! :) She also took her first boat ride. While at the beach with her Uncle Brent and Aunt (soon to be official) Catherine, we took a dolphin watching cruise. Moral of this story? We saw zero dolphins and Sydney liked looking at the captain's dog more than anything else. In all seriousness, she liked being on the boat and even got to steer on a pretend ship's wheel and saw a baby osprey nest with three hatchlings peeking out. I was disappointed to not see any dolphins, but Sydney liked finally riding on a boat! She also went on a pier for the first time. She liked looking around and the wind blew her hair in ways that made for some hilarious pictures.

My favorite memory, though, is probably one not involving Sydney. While at the beach with Brent and Catherine, they got engaged!!!! When I met Catherine in 9th grade, never would I have imagined that we would become sister (in-laws) one day. Blake, Sydney, and I relished in celebrating their engagement and look forward to a wedding soon. Brent and Catherine compliment each other so well, something that I don't see everyday. I am so thankful they have found happiness together!

And now, here are about 1,000 pictures, put together from several different trips (only about half of what we actually took!):