Lucky for us, my husband and I are of the mindset that we just have to get away sometimes, despite the cost or all-the-things-needing-doing. It’s educational for the kids, and it’s important for our mental health too. There are so many places to explore nearby in the southeast U.S., and going for a few days isn’t hard.

This year we decided we would go somewhere we could get to in one day’s drive, yet with all the rain in the east coast last week, we almost had to go further west. Luckily, the rain didn’t wash us out, although it did rain every afternoon in Biloxi, Mississippi. That was okay. There was so much to do there. We spent most mornings at the beach or the pool, and the boys enjoyed finding shells and creatures along the shore as well as getting in the water. In the afternoon when it was hot, we’d go somewhere like the art museum. In the evenings, we’d go back to the beach to just walk and find hermit crabs, other wildlife and enjoy the sunset.

We did so much on this trip, and I’d like to blog about it all. We took advantage of the birding opportunities for our little birder, and we went to two art museums. One of those museums taught us about the rich history of Biloxi, and we also watched an interesting film about the history of Biloxi in the Visitor’s Center. We also visited Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, AL, which was an hour drive from Biloxi. The boys loved that, and I tagged along with the camera.

Everything in Biloxi was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, and we saw evidence of this. There were many vacant lots along the beach front, and construction was still happening along the roads. But most of it has been rebuilt. Our hotel was new and comfortable, and we loved the Katrina sculpture project. The beach itself was well-maintained. There are several hotel-casinos in Biloxi, and we were a bit afraid of what the atmosphere there would be like with the casinos, but I think the casinos have actually helped Biloxi rebuild, and though we don’t care for them, they did not detract from the wildlife or history of the place. And they help make Biloxi a reasonably priced place to visit. 🙂

Now that we’re home, I want to work in earnest on my end-year-year record keeping. That includes blogging about our projects, curriculum, places visited, and then writing up a homeschool report for our records. My summer project is putting together a slideshow of photographs from our year that we usually watch sometime in July or August. I’m also thinking about what I want to work on with the boys this summer.

If I had all day to work on my projects, I could probably finish all this in a few days, but I work around my family’s schedule, daily chores, and meals. So I dip into it whenever I can. Please be patient with me. I’ll be back… 🙂

Meanwhile, what places have you been exploring lately?