St. Marys City & Passport to Explore Finishers!

On Wednesday we headed out to our 10th (and final) destination for our Passport to Explore program! St. Marys City!

I love St. Marys city! And I'm not the only one:

We got there before the rest of our crew, so we spent a few minutes perusing the cutest little gift shop.

It hurts my heart a little to see that picture though. So with our military id's, we got in free. So then I decided I could support st. Marys city by buying something, since I didn't have to pay to get in. I found a huge Maryland flag crab magnet for my truck, which I've wanted forever. And it was perfect for the jolly green, because it was so huge. So, long story short, I bought it, it made it home, my garage door was open, and by the next day, the jolly green had no crab magnet. I really don't think someone would have walked up my driveway and taken my awesome magnet off my truck, but I don't know what else to think. It definitely made it home from st. Marys city, and it's definitely gone now. SO sad to me. I told enough people, and complained about it enough, so both Matt and Tito got me a replacement crab magnet. so now the silver bullet, and the jolly green are decked out, but they are both small magnets.

Anyhow, our first stop was the Ark and the Dove, the ships that first landed at St. Clements Island, ever so long ago.

We had some Awesome guides, they were so good with the kids!

Franks got comfy in the captains bed.

While Delaney opted for the lowly workers bunks.

Addie, whose money has been burning holes in her pockets lately, purchased a little souvie from the gift shop.

Boo!

How many kids can you fit into a sailors bunk? A lot more than this.

So fun.

We had a little tug of war. Love Rosie's one handed hold. (:

They were all tugging against Laney, who was the only one that volunteered to help our guides.

Pull Laney, pull!

We saw the head, cabins, cargo holds, it was great. And the guides were so kid friendly.

They each tried the pulley things. (I am very knowledgable)

Cute kids. Frankie is always ready for a photo shoot.

From there we walked by an excavation. The kids were amazed!

They were great with the kids too. And the coolest thing, they'd found a completely intact sugar spoon that morning!

Laney and Rosie weren't interested in the spoon. They were all about this guy. When we first walked up, we were all excited because it looked like he was digging around something interesting. Then we asked and found out it was just pipes from the '80's. Exciting!

By that point, everyone was famished, so we sat in the Margaret Brent (first female attorney and pushed for women's right to vote - you go girl!) pavilion to eat lunch.

After lunch we walked to the chapel.

The kids took turns screaming to hear their echoes. That was fun.

After the chapel, we went to our cars and to the visitor center, which wasn't all that interesting, and then on to the Spray Plantation. We were kind of pushing our luck, because we'd been there for awhile, it was hot, and it was naptime. But we pressed on. It started to sprinkle, which actually felt good because it was so hot. The kids went to run in the rain and I told them I would count to three and for them to jump. 1-2-...

3!

!!! This was the best shot. Abby was just barely landing, you can tell cause her skirt was still fluffed out.

Master Spray and his indentured servants were great with the kids too. They talked to us all about their tobacco crops.

I think this was called a hand of tobacco. Who can remember though?

Delaney enjoying some rain.

Then we got to feed the chickens. 

Some kids got a little bit pecked. #funniestpictureoftheday

The kids tested out the beds. 

And the windows.

And the chair/tables.

Somehow I missed Frankies turn.

We really pushed our luck by walking down to the water. This cute crew loved it.

This cute one did not. She didn't want her feet to get all wet and muddy, she wanted a diaper change, and she wanted to go home. Basically, all the things were wrong.

We left after the spray plantation. It was a super fun day! Love that place. 

After that, I pushed my luck again (I like to live on the edge) by popping into the library on our way home. Picking up our prize compasses!

Passport to explore finishers! They carried their compasses with them everywhere they went for about 24 hours. And then not.

The rest of Wednesday was quiet. Baths, movie, books, bed. So loving these fun summer days! Again, the crabknocker was knocking those crabs, and the big girl was busy being a big girl. They are always invited on our adventures.