Fort Morgan, Aquarium, & Treasure Hunt

I'm really having a hard time finding the right words to describe our venture to Fort Morgan....

Let's see if I can try to introduce you to our experience.

1) Barely made it to the ferry on time (a ferry runs between Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island. Even though we have stayed in Fort Morgan, we had never visited the actual fort).

2) Taking the ferry by "foot" was much cheaper than taking our cars on the ferry.

We were the only ones on foot. We had no strollers or baby carriers. 11  kids 5 adults. 3 over stuffed diaper bags. 1 soft side cooler. 1 leaking Wal Mart bag.

3) Tom had no shoes. Assuming they were in the car was a mistake.

~30 min ferry ride over was fun. Wasn't too hot with the wind.

Got off the ferry and realized that the fort wasn't "right there". Off in the distance we could barely see the entrance.
I told Tom that I thought it was a bad idea. He asked me to please get a better attitude :)

We began our trek.
Kids began complaining.
There were stickers in the grass. (Tom still had remnants in his feet when we got back to Texas)

Feeling so defeated and we hadn't even gotten there.
MP was making it on her own- Ryan had gone back to San Antonio.


Luckily there was a gift shop/museum that was AIR CONDITIONED.
 Tom's feet had never felt such relief on that cold floor.
Mary Pat pretended to be interested in buying something.
Brent got kicked out with his leaky Wal Mart sack.

Made it to the entrance!!

Taking another rest before we entered

The kids had fun running around... took their minds off the heat for a while.

 We were glad the kids made it to the top safely.

(sorry for the overexposure)

Stopping for a snack in the shade.

Notice Tom's feet- Brent let him borrow his flip flops for a while- talk about sacrifice!

We had to ration out our water :)

Back to the ferry.

Tom gave Brent's shoes back.

Decided to walk in the street instead of braving the sand spurs again... until Evie fell.

 Tom gave Brent Margaret to carry (he was already carrying Alice), Brent gave Tom shoes, and Tom came and helped Mary Pat with Evie.

 Evie was very brave and didn't cry too long, even though blood was running down her legs.

All this while we're scared to death of missing the ferry.

Ahhh, made it to the ferry on time and Simon finally fell asleep.

What a group! We must have looked like a bunch of crazies!!

What I want to know is why none of the tourists in their cushie/ air conditioned cars offered us a ride??

As I always say- That's how memories are made.

Aquarium

Table of "preserved" sea life was a hit again this year.

Even though MG was too afraid to touch the animals, she helped herself to the hand sanitizer. 

Feeding the horseshoe crab

Most of the cousins. Missed Gabe and Dillan.

Treasure Hunt

PawPaw and PatPat put on a treasure hunt each year.

Separated the big kids from the little ones this year.

Captain Red Beard (Ross) called each kid and gave them a clue to where the treasure was hidden.

Margaret Gray was excited about her pom poms in her treasure... not sure what got into her when it came to the photo op. ??