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Camping at Goose Creek State Park Pt.2

nainadg

This is a continuation of photos and thoughts from my recent camping trip to Goose Creek State Park. Part 1 has more photos.

For the rest of the trip,we enjoyed walks along the banks of the river and trails through the nearby and we  also explored the little towns nearby and crossed the Tar River on the NCDOT Bayview-Aurora Ferry. It was slow, peaceful and very relaxing…except for the heat, and when my dad’s car battery died in the middle of a teeny tiny town. But the people at the local grocery store were very nice and helped us jump the car and everything else was quite uneventful. J also cooked some delicious steak over the wood fire, so we got to enjoy a great dinner!

Early morning on the river, Bun and my Dad took in some views  the early  boaters and fishermen

On the ferry between Bayview and Aurora. This was my first time getting on a ferry with our car. You could drive your car on to the boat and then explore the decks of hang out in the nice air conditioned lounge.

Of course Bun and I spend more time on the dock. A toddler never tires of throwing rocks into the water and I loved being suspended over the water’s edge and soaking in the beauty.

Swamps are more beautiful than one would expect. It has an eerie quality when you walk through these water logged forests. Its not quiet at all, noises of bugs abound, but the air is so heavy and humid that there is a stillness. The waters are still, the leaves of the tress are still. Its different than being in regular woods. I was very enchanted with it and would love to go back and visit when Bun is a bit older and explore the area with a canoe or a kayak.

Travel

Philly {3}

nainadg

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Here we are sitting outside the steps of the Please Touch museum. We loved this kids museum. We have a litte one in Chapel Hill but this was 2 storeys and filled with absolutely super fun exhibits. Both Bun and I are very tired at the end of our play. I also love that the museum is housed in such a cool old building. Its a remnant of Centennial celebrations that were held in Philadelphia.

Here is the ultimate tourist photo for Philadelphia- Baby under the Liberty Bell.

Playing in front of Independence Plaza. We toured the building but that was an utter and epic FAIL. We had the meltdown of the century.

We rode the Ferry over to Camden New Jersey to visit the Aquarium and Bun finally got to see some real life Penguins or Pangangs in Bun speak

My seasoned ferry passenger.

These pictures are from the days we spent in Philadelphia visiting Independence Hall, Liberty Bell and the Aquarium. We also were able to do some shopping at H&M and eat some yummy chicken wings.

More Philly photos can be found at Part 1 and Part 2

Baby Boy, Toddler, Travel

Philly {2}

nainadg

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Eating breakfast outdoors on the terrace of our hotel. Don’t be fooled by the food on his plate though- Bun only ate the piece of waffle he is holding in his hand

Philly Skyline. Our hotel is the hexagon shaped building with the balconies in the foreground

Pretty details on the old Philadelphia Railroad building.

We had some delicious Roti Telur ( Puffy fried bread with chicken curry) at a Malaysian restaurant in China town

More yummy malaysian dishes. I want some malaysian right now….yummmm

We spent an afternoon at the park around Swann Fountain. The setting sun was beautiful and spray of the fountain felt heavenly

I’m not really sure what Bun is doing in this photo but he looks cute so I’m keeping it

Busssss! Bussss!!! Busss!!! (Think “Squirrel” from Up)

Classic Fountain Photo- Check!

Most of these photos are from our Day 2 in Philly, where we also explored downtown, Chinatown and visited the Philly zoo.

More photos at Part 1 and Part 3

Travel

Philly {1}

nainadg

Did I mention I went to Philadelphia recently? It was a birthday present from my parents and I had a wonderful time. It was a little sad because J wasn’t able to go with us since he had a conference in Maine but it was still wonderful to get away and explore a new city.

I was a little nervous about this trip because although Bun does well on airplanes, he had a rough time in our hotel in Columbus. However we had a suite this time so that helped a lot. I didn’t really bother with the pack and play and just did Bun’s bedtime routine and let him fall asleep on the bed on his own. He did such a good job falling asleep in a regular bed that I almost am considering a transition to a big boy bed at home. But thats for another day.

But here some of my fave photos from Day 1 at Philly

With Dee at the iconic “LOVE” statue in Love Park

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City Hall visible slightly in the background. We were in Love Park, right after a summer shower. The city looked absolutely gorgeous with droplets of water everywhere

Bun was mesmerized by the cars, buses, trucks, bikes.  The transportation junkie had found his fix.

Wind whipping through our hair. Although his face doesn’t show it in this photo, driving around in the big red bus with an open top was one of his favorite things.

Just love the colors of turquoise against the red brick. Society Hill Neighborhood

Walking along the city streets to dinner. With Babu. He is staring intently at a very erotic sculpture off to the side of the building, just outside of view.

View from our hotel room on the 23rd floor. We stayed at the City Center Embassy Suites which really worked out well for us. They were doing some construction and the scaffolding ropes are in the way. The fountain is Swann Memorial fountain depicting the three major waterways of Philadelphia. In the end distance is the very Neo classical looking Philadelphia Museum of Art and also in view is the Philadelphia Free Library.

Bun looking down at the world from Floor 23. He was scared and thrilled all at the same time. The balcony was one of his favorite places to play during the times we were actually in our rooms

More photos can be found at Part 2 and Part 3

Baby Boy, Mommyhood, Toddler, Travel

Gorillas

nainadg

While in Columbus, I found out that our hotel was very near to the Columbus zoo and decided to check it out. It was a really hot day and we had very little time so we only decided to hit up a few exhibits, but turns out even that was too ambitious. It was very very crowded and it was almost impossible to get close to the exhibits.

However, the Gorilla exhibit was fairly deserted when we got there and I was able to let Bun out of his stroller and run around. It was one of our favorite parts of the zoo trips. The other favorite was a little animal show they had where they had rescued dogs, cats and some animals do fun tricks.

Bun recognized the gorillas as monkeys and made his monkey noises but he kept pointing at them and saying “baby baby.” I don’t know if he feels some sort of kinship with them but watching a mama gorilla cuddling a baby, I definitely felt a connection. I’m not saying, I recognized her as my long lost ancestor or anything like that but I could relate to the maternal feeling even in an animal. The way she groomed her baby by nibble on his face was almost identical to how I almost can’t help myself and nibble and nuzzle on Bun’s cheeks, nose, ears any chance that I can. It really reinforced my belief that a mother’s love is probably one of the most primal feelings we have, perhaps even more so than the preservation of the self.

Okay, so I guess this post got kinda sentimental- not where I had originally intended it to go.