Riverbanks Zoo {March 2020}

Eddie started his new job as the State Forester for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service in Columbia, SC the beginning of March.  He worked for about two weeks before they were all ordered to work from home because of the pandemic.  It has been hard on Eddie who needs to be able to meet and visit with the District Conservationists in his state so he can help them implement forest management practices and help get landowners the services they need.  Instead, he is meeting everyone online and writing new procedural guidelines for them to follow.  This event actually worked out for the best for our family though because, otherwise, he would have been staying in Columbia all week while I handled single parenthood in Georgia.  Before he got those orders and the kids' schools were closed, the boys had their Spring Break so we rode with Eddie to Columbia to scope out our new home.  We arrived on Sunday to visit the zoo which was actually its last day of being open for business before being shut down for the pandemic.  Many of the exhibits were already closed that day, but we enjoyed the visit.  Eddie's aunt has a family pass to the zoo so it did not cost us anything.  We do plan to make this zoo a regular family outing because it has a lot to offer with a carousel, train, climbing wall, and splash pad in the summer.  (Note:  all of these photos were taken with my son's older iphone because my phone had died on the drive and needed to charge and I didn't even bring the camera for this trip.  Oops!) 

It was a bit cloudy and drizzling on and off so this was our best attempt at pictures by the zoo sign. 

Brody was not cooperating of course.  

Attempting a picture with Daddy by the orangutan statue.  

We enjoyed watching the playful otters as they swam and played ball. 

The otters would swim up their little water fall.  Maggie and I with the sleepy bear. 

Wake up, Mr. Sleepy Head! 

Silly lions and lionesses.  One was chewing another's tail. 

Cool tigers. 

Tiger on the prowl. 

The koala house was closed, but we could see him through the window.  He was actually awake and moving which you can see better in a video.  That is very rare for these sleepy creatures. 

Cool birds. 

Bright pink flamingos are the girls' favorites.  

We sat and watched the seals and sea lions for a bit.  They do a fun show. 

Our Hurrication: South Carolina State Museum

For our second day of our hurrication in Columbia, we spent the day exploring the state museum.  First, we saw a show at the planetarium about ancient sea monsters...nice and scary for the kids.  Haha!  Then, we immersed ourselves in good southern history exploring the museum.  The SC museum building is actually as historically impressive as the content within as it exists in a refurbished beautiful old factory building on the Congaree River.  Although this museum was a fun experience, I will say that it is not as impressive as North Carolina's museums.  For one, it is not free as both large NC state museums are...I do think that is quite a rarity though.  North Carolina has large and impressive separate history and science museums, but I know North Carolina also has a larger population with a higher tax revenue.  North Carolina's museums also boast some pretty spectacular exhibits like the real dinosaur fossil specimens.  Most museums just have casts of dinosaur bones because exhibiting the real ones is very costly.  North Carolina also has several other museums spread across the state while South Carolina's is all in one building.  Besides that, I think this museum is well worth the visit if you are ever in the area and want to immerse yourself in some good southern history and culture.

Evan with the map of South Carolina and Brody checking out the center of the earth.  Apparently, South Carolina had a volcanic history. 

Evan has a true fascination with sharks and loves the idea of megalodon, the ancient monster of the sea.  Petrified wood is a pretty interesting process of naturally converting wood into stone. 

Evan and Brody loved the replica of the wooly mammoth.  One of their favorite movie series are the Ice Age movie so I imagine they think every mammoth has the voice of Ray Romano.  There is also a history of a major earthquake in the Charleston area, and since we live pretty close to that area, I am a little concerned. 

I guess giant beavers used to live in the state.  Grayson thought the big bear was funny. 

Although these dinosaur bones were only casts of other bones, the boys still love seeing dinosaurs. 

Albertosaurus is a smaller version of a T-Rex that used to live in the area. 

They all wanted to be paleontologists cleaning bones and fossils. 

I enjoyed the more recent history sections of the museum.  

We have been to Fort Moultrie, and Eddie and I saw the Hunley in Charleston.  The real one was still submerged in a solution to keep it from further deteriorating, but Eddie sat in the replica that was used in a movie.  It was so small inside even though it was larger than the real one.  It is pretty cool to think of all those men inside underwater. 

A little Civil War history. 

Evan checked out some scenes from modern day South Carolina.  We definitely love SC beaches.  Brody liked the older rural South Carolina structures like this old house. 

The old schoolhouse was pretty neat, and the boys got to go inside and pretend to be in school. 

The old general store was pretty neat too.  It was well stocked with everything a family could need.  The old men at the back were playing a game by the fire and talking.  You could hear their conversation.  They reminded me of some little old country stores that still existed in the town where I grew up.  My dad would take me to see friends and get a treat. 

Brody was fascinated with the old outhouse.  Haha! 

The early days of automobile travel and gasoline. 

Some World War I history reminded us just how ridiculous the causes of the war were and so many lives lost for basically nothing. 

I loved the Old South architecture, and Brody enjoyed sitting on a park bench taking in the sights. 

Inside the Southern plantation building was a whole area about SC's first astronaut from the Apollo Missions.  The remake of the moon with the astronaut footprints on it had a photograph that the astronaut took with him to the moon and photographed the picture of his family on the moon since they couldn't go with him. 

Of course, Brody and Mattox really loved the old train.  

Taking a ride on the South Carolina Railroad. 

We also liked the old town and vehicles and buildings. 

But our favorite part and the most impressive to us was a huge section dedicated to forestry.  NC's museums in Raleigh don't have a forestry section which I had hoped Eddie's work with the NC Forestry Association would eventually change.  NC did have a separate forestry museum, but it was so far away from where most people live and visit in a very rural area of Southeastern NC so it rarely got many visitors.  Forestry is a huge industry for states like NC, SC, and Georgia.  I thought SC did a great job of recognizing this in their museum.  Foresters really do so many things that most people don't even realize. 

Eddie has done almost all of these things in his work with the Forest Service and with the NCFA.  Urban Forestry was so important in Charlotte, and he even surveyed major tree damage after hurricanes in northeastern NC.  His specialty though was the highly technical area of GIS mapping.  He had become an expert at using GIS mapping software to create extensive maps of entire regions of NC for everyone in the state to use.  These maps are important for many other industries and agencies in the state such as fire control and first responders.  He had wanted to get his masters in this area and still may do so to pursue future professional opportunities. He will need to utilize this expertise in his current job as well because they have no up-to-date maps of the 50,000 plus acres under their management.  He is just waiting for them to buy the expensive software and GIS equipment.  

Education of students and loggers, controlled burning, thinning trees, and procurement forestry were also important aspects of his job.  He hopes to one day become more of a private consulting forester when he retires from government work. 

So many products that we use daily come from trees.  And remember, trees are a "renewable" resource if used and replanted responsibly.  They are also a clean biodegradeable resource unlike products like plastic made from fossil fuels.

This section of the museum was really beautiful with wood everywhere. 

The wood floors were original to the factory building.  

After the beautiful forestry section, the kids really liked the model train replica of a South Carolina town.  I can't remember what town it was though.  

New Year New Adventures

As tradition, we celebrated New Year's with a little celebration at home toasting our sparkling beverages in "fancy" glasses, wearing our hats, blowing our horns, and watching the fireworks shows from around the world.  We "ring in the New Year" at midnight Rio de Janeiro time (9:00 p.m. EST) before the boys pass out for the night.  No one stayed up until midnight this year although Mommy and Daddy and baby Grayson were up later that night.  I love our little family tradition and don't miss the big city celebrations at all.  I am pretty claustrophobic so the big crowds make me very anxious.  We look forward to lots of new adventures in 2017!

Happy New Year from the boys!

Grayson was our New Year's baby this year.  

Mommy got in on the fun too, but Mattox wasn't all smiles. 

Brody was the life of the party as usual.  I love his silly faces.  He doesn't usually even know he is being funny.  Haha! 

Mattox got happy playing with some streamers. 

Waiting for the fireworks to start in Copa Cabana.  I bought our hats and blowers in a little $5 set that included these little poppers.  It was hilariously labeled as TNT which was a joke.  A very minuscule amount of confetti popped out.  Ha! 

Toasting our sparkling beverages.  Daddy never participates and just takes our pictures. 

Here's to a fantastic 2017!

And the boys also toasted one another. 

Our new adventures will start in....Savannah, Georgia!  Yep, we have some pretty big news to share.  We will soon call Georgia home.  We recently went down to explore and find a new home.  Eddie received his initial job offer from the U.S. Department of Defense in early December.  He gave his current employer the opportunity to match his offer so he could stay here and continue his wonderful work educating and promoting the forest industry in our state, but they just couldn't match the federal government's salary, health insurance, and retirement benefits.  He has been very disappointed in how little his efforts have been appreciated by his employer as he has saved them over $60,000 and brought them thousands of dollars in grant money which they had never received before for their programs.  He put on the most successful teachers education academies ever while saving them thousands of dollars by doing almost all of the work by himself.  He taught more new teachers about the benefits of sustainable forestry than had ever been reached before by the association.  He has applied for many positions with the federal government in the past but never got interviews because they always hire someone they "know."  This opportunity is with the Marine Corps managing a large tract of land they use as a bomb range on the east coast of Georgia south of Savannah.  He is very excited about the opportunity for his career and our family.  The Savannah area is just so beautiful with beautiful old Live Oak trees draped in Spanish moss everywhere.  

We found a beautiful new home in a beautiful neighborhood with lots of amenities in the smaller town of Richmond Hill.  It is a perfect southern home complete with a moss draped Live Oak tree in the front yard.  The school that the boys will attend is also one of the best in the whole area. 

Here's to lots of new adventures (and packing) in the coming year!