Congaree National Park

The Labor Day weekend sort of snuck up on us. So while we didn't have any grand adventure planned ahead of time we really wanted to get out and see a little bit of South Carolina while we had the chance. Some friends from our new ward had told us about Congaree National Park, which is just 25 minutes or so from our place and we decided to check it out.

{Congaree National Park or has it affectionately known by the locals "The Swamp"}

We got to see a little wildlife.

{Turtles of the medium to small variety}

{One gigantic snapping turtle of the large and scary variety. He looks red, but it is just the water. He was really black and yellow (and algae covered) like the other turtles}

{A tiny but very quick little lizard}

{A hairy albino spider of some sort}

We also encountered lots and lots of mosquitoes. I guess they don't call it a swamp for nothing...

I took about a million pictures of this spider web Nathan spotted. It just isn't often that you are able to get close enough to such a cool specimen so I went a little snap happy.

We also got to see lots of plant life.

{Turkey Tail Fungi--the name really suits it don't ya think?}

{A palmetto: a dwarf version of the state tree}

Lots and lots of trees!

{all these little nubby baby tree looking things are actually part of the trees root system. They think it helps stabilize the trees and possibly aerate the soil}

{The boardwalk path we took}

And of course a few pictures of us.

{me and the twins: 6 months pregnant}

{Nathan with the boardwalk in the background}

It was great to get out and see a little bit of nature. The boardwalk trail was very nice with lots of benches to stop and rest along the way which was great. Hopefully we'll make it to the beach at least once before the twins make an appearance.