Savannah Wildlife Refuge Homeschool Field Trip

this was a fantastic field trip.   We've been here before, but we mostly drove through the refuge.  It's called the Savannah Wildlife Refuge, but we go to an area of it that is actually in South Carolina....at least the office is, I'm not sure if the refuge drive is in GA or SC?  It's pretty darn close:)

Today we met up with some homeschoolers and spent quite a bit of time in their headquarters office, which is quite beautiful!   It was opened in 2010, the year we moved down! They offer many programs for school-aged groups, but they also offer a Junior Refuge Manager badge, which you have to earn.....and my girls really worked hard to earn their badges today!   (They even took a pledge with the Park Ranger!)  My girls actually requested that we split up with the group, when they left to drive through the refuge, so they could concentrate on researching and answering the questions in their books.  After they completed the "office" portion of their books, we then headed over to the refuge, driving and making lots of stops to observe.  We had a wonderful day, the girls worked hard and had a blast, and I even managed to sneak in some birthday gifts for Fairy Girl (because shamefully, her birthday is three days away and I've got nothin' :O)

Here are some highlights from today's adventure:
















a GREAT day was had by all (and somehow I even managed to sell a bracelet in my Etsy shop while I was having all this fun;).  I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful refuge and their new facility; they have a LOT to offer!

a day of wildlife and nature

we surprised girls today and took them to the Fairy and Gnome Festival at the Oatland Island Wildlife Refuge near Tybee Island in Georgia.  The only problem was, we shouldn't have surprised them, because MAMA didn't think to bring fairy wings and costumes with :(  snff

Anyhooooooo.....all was not lost :D

Please met Wahoohoo (Cherokee for owl).  She's a sweet 15 year old barred owl girl (they figured out five years ago she was a girl, not sure how).  She was rescued long ago, but imprinted so is unable to be returned to the wild.  She's not shy at all, she's a sweetie.  They did let everybody touch her (she's soft, like puppy fur), but we received the special treatment, because we bought t-shirts, made in her honor (and I'm assuming to benefit her care:)  Last night, we heard a barred owl, RIGHT at the edge of our backyard woods (she's been there before)...had NO idea it was a sign that we'd get to meet and hold her beautiful cousin the very next day!

 
 
they had a fairy house competition for different age groups...this was my favorite:


Mostly it was an event to benefit this wonderful wildlife refuge!  We LOVE this place!  We walked around and saw some of the other rescues:
 

gopher tortoise...the state reptile of Georgia

bison....we saw LOTS of these on our trip out west!


grey wolf
Since we were already in the mode, we stopped at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge (the part you can drive through is actually in South Carolina) and took a few photos of the girls......SO peaceful here!

oh, and I saw some beautiful blooming lily pads!

a peaceful day was had by all!

xoxo