We headed for Mississippi to see our three granddaughters.  We had the opportunity to have them stay will us for a week during spring vacation.  We thought taking them to the shore would be a special treat. so we stayed at the Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) Base in Gulfport, MS.  The Seabee Base is a relatively small operation and has a nice sense of community.  We drove to Florence to pick up the girls and were back in time for Seabee Day.  This is an annual celebration that is open to the public and offers military displays, carnival games, and rides.  It was lots of fun to watch the girls ride ponies, go on the train, and other carnival rides.

On Sunday we attended services at the Protestant Chapel.  After church we discovered the atrium of the chapel was home to several turtles.  The Chaplain was kind enough to provides us with some strawberries to feed them.  We never knew turtles ate strawberries but they certainly enjoyed them!  Later we took the girls to the Boat and RV Show in Biloxi.  We weren’t sure if they would enjoy it, but they had a great time, climbing on the boats and checking out the RVs.  We weren’t sure we were going to be able get them to leave.

The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport is one of the top 50 children’s museums in the country.  Calling it a museum is really inaccurate.  It allows children to discover how things work by providing them with the opportunity to dress in period clothing, shop in stores, operate restaurants, be a TV news anchor, and more.  It was just fun to watch the girls explore what the facility had to offer.

One afternoon we rented a canoe from the Outdoor Recreation office and went kayaking and canoeing in the back bay at Keesler Air Force near Biloxi.  While the winds were pretty strong, we had a good time paddling around small islands and looking for turtles, ducks, geese, and fish.

We spent our last day in Gulfport at the seashore, playing in the sand, flying kites and playing at the playground.  The girls learned a lot about RVing when they helped us pack up to travel back to Florence.  We arrived at Wendy Oaks RV Resort in Florence and they helped us set up.  We walked around the small lake and explored before we took them back home.

We stayed at Wendy Oaks for a week while seeing the girls off and on.  Wendy Oaks is a nice little place with full hook-ups and we were able to get a site overlooking the small lake.  Several other campers have been there for several years, having taken on short term work in the area.  It is certainly a nice place to return to after a day at work.

One night we took the girls to their karate class and it was entertaining to see them go through their paces under the direction of their instructor.  It will be interesting to see if they continue an interest in martial arts and how far they progress.

Friday they stayed overnight at the trailer where we celebrated Bob’s birthday.  The weather was not very cooperative as it was cold and rainy, so indoor games and dress up were the prime activities.  On Saturday afternoon the skies cleared and it warmed up.  We cooked hot dogs over the campfire and hiked around the lake looking for turtles.  Later we went bowling.  We bowled on a lane with the gutter blocks in place which was a good thing as some of the girls’ balls rolled so slowly they would have gone into the gutter without them.  We had a wonderful time and it was a pleasure watching the girls in action.

Sunday, March 24th, we attended a children’s Easter program at church and all three girls were great.  This was followed by lunch and Easter eggs.  Unfortunately all good things must come to an end.  We had a long drive to get to our next stop, so we left that afternoon, spent the night at a Wal-Mart on the way and arrived at the Uchee Creek Campground at Fort Benning, GA on Monday.