One last beach picture

Here's a picture of me on our last day of vacation. We went and walked on the beach one last time before we left.

The view at Orton

Here's a picture of me and Chad at Orton Plantation...

... and here was our view from the bench we were sitting on.

Animals at Orton

If you look closely you can see the squirrel on the tree trunk/root. There were squirrels all over the place, but in this picture you can see the whole squirrel.

Here's a picture of a white heron that we saw.

The Trees at Orton

There are tons of huge oak trees at Orton Plantation. Here's a picture of one above and below is a picture of Chad by the trunk of one of these huge trees.

Orton Plantation House

Here's the plantation house.

More garden pics

Above is the "scroll garden" and below is a picture of one of the garden paths.

Orton Plantation Gardens

Chad and I went to the Orton Plantation gardens. Orton used to be a rice plantation in the 1800's and the house is still a private residence. If you look closely at the bottom picture you can kindof see a butterfly on the flowers.

Seagull pictures

This seagull came up and to finish off Chad's snack (an apple).

Here are some more seagull pics.

Lounging on the beach

We got new beach chairs this year complete with attached pillows and they can recline in stages all the way to completely horizontal. Here's Chad enjoying the new chairs.

Here's another picture of Chad lying on our oversize towel.

The beautiful Wrightsville Beach

Here are some pictures of the beautiful Wrightsville Beach. The weather was so nice while we were there that towards the end of the week we stayed out too long and got a little sun-burned.

Ft. Fisher area

Here is a view of the beach at Ft. Fisher.

Here is a picture of the Maritime Forest at Ft. Fisher.

Aquarium statues

Here I am with an otter statue.

Here's Chad with a giant frog statue.

Turtles at the aquarium

These two box turtles were in one of the aquarium exhibits and instead of hiding in their shells when they saw us they stayed out and followed us while we were near their exhibit.

Here are some turtles that live outside of the aquarium in a pond area.

More aquarium creatures

Here's a picture of a spiny lobster.

And here's a picture of a sting ray.

More fish pics

Here are some more pictues of fish in their aquariums. Above you can see Chad's silhouette in front of the aquarium and below is a close-up of one of the fish.

More aquarium pictures

I was really surprised at the pictures we were able to take with our digital camera of the fish in their tanks. Above is a sea horse and below is a close-up of moray eel.

Some of the aqarium's non-living exhibits

Here's a picture of me with an alligator model. They have a live alligator exhibit too and it was really creepy because the alligators seemed really agitated when we were in front of them and they kept trying to get at us. Chad said it was because of my faux alligator purse...

Here's what Chad would look like if he were a fiddler crab!

Chad & Jessica at the Aquarium

Here are some pictures of me & Chad at the North Carolina Aquarium at Ft. Fisher.

Me in front of the entrance and Chad at the bird watching area outside.

Wrightsville Beach Vacation

Here's a picture of one of the views from where we stay in Wrightsville Beach. If only the powerlines weren't in the way!

8 Year Anniversary

Here are some pictures of the beautiful roses that Chad got me for our 8th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married for 8 years, but each year just gets better and better!

Sandy's new spot on the bed

Recently Sandy has decided that sleeping at the foot of the bed is not where she wants to be. Whenever I get up she immediately takes my nice warm spot under the covers. What can I say, she's a pretty smart cat!

Roxy pics

Here are some shots of Roxy. I particularly like the top one where it looks like she's posing!

Sandy's favorite spot

Sandy loves to lounge in the sun. Here's another picture of her soaking up some rays.