"I want to hold it, I want to hold it!"

Me introducing young
campers to me new friend!

This last week on All Access was a blast! My team and I spent it on Georges Island, familiarizing young campers with their harbor and the many creatures that live in it. Fishing off the pier yielded more crabs, surprising I know. The kids delight in reeling them up, and the best part is letting them investigate their catches in our touch tank. The young children are usually timid towards them at first, but it's not long after after seeing my associates and I pick them up and learning a little bit about their anatomy and life cycles that they perk right up and begin asking to touch and hold the crabs themselves. I enjoy seeing the kids venture from their comfort zones and get hands on with the sea critters; they always bunch up their little faces, almost as if they can't believe they're holding a real live crab in their hands!

These two were my star
pupils of the day!

We educate campers and counselors alike!

The children love fishing so much, I know they would do it all day long if they could. Often times groups of them will stay for a couple sessions and I have to encourage them to get out and explore the island! I myself was able to explore the fort housed on the island, with its pitch-dark tunnels and legendary "Lady in Black". I walked in with two little girls I had seen sitting outside of one of the tunnels too scared to venture inside. We held hands as we tried to navigate through the darkness, but even with them being arms-reach from me I could not see either of them. The farther inside the dark tunnel we got, the harder they began to tug on my hands trying to reverse our direction. I was pleading with them to continue onward until we had reached the back wall, but then I heard a scream come from right next to me and I was unaware there was even a person in there with us! Suffice to say all three of us bolted out of there screaming bloody murder until we had reached the safety of the sunlight. A part of me is still disappointed I didn't reach the end of tunnel, I know deep inside that I have what it takes-- I will have to fix that on our next trip back!

Until next time,
Maxwilliams