"Kate is a DISASTER at the beach!"

Hi guys! I had a really good weekend full of fun adventures and am so excited to tell you about them! Okay, the interns here have kind of started this thing that we like to call "Fire Fridays." Every Friday we go out to a fire pit here on campus and have a bonfire complete with smores! It is always a lot of fun. We eat, chat, sing, and dance! We weren't out too late last Friday because we had a field trip on Saturday but it was still an adventurous night!

Assateague Island. Beautiful!

A stamp for my family's National Park Passport.

Saturday was nice because we got to sleep in and then left for our field trip at noon. We went to Assateague Island and went seining. I really enjoyed this trip and learned a lot! If you know my father, you know that we as a family love to go to as many National Parks as we can and over the years I have developed an affinity for the parks and visitor's centers. The visitor's center at Assateague was really cool and had a great gift shop! I bought a cute stuffed animal blue crab that I love and am so excited to show my little siblings! After we went to the visitor's center we walked to the Island and saw some wild ponies from quite a distance. We then went and seined. Seining is a way that scientists collect organisms from bodies of water. Basically, there is a net sometimes with a bag at the end that has sticks on either side. Two people hold the sticks and drag this net across the bottom of the body of water and then pull it onto shore where you then sort through the organisms that you collected. You have to be quick to survey the organisms that you caught and quickly get the fish back into water so they do not die. We seined a couple of times and collected as many different species of fish as we could and then learned about the different fish from one of the professors. We had a lot of fun learning and doing field work. I got to see crabs, many fish, and ctenophores. I loved being outside and getting to see these cool places that I might never get to see again!

Sunday did not go as planned but it ended up being a good day! My roommate, a couple friends

Fun at the visitor's center!

and I went back to Assateague and went to the actual beach. (On Saturday we were only at the bay but on Sunday we went to the Atlantic Ocean.) I have been to the beach twice before and honestly have never really enjoyed it. I do not know how to swim, I hate sand, and I really just do not see the appeal of the beach (sorry friends!). I went in the freezing cold water for a minute but mostly spent my time collecting seashells. My friends said that I was a "disaster on the beach" and I am not gonna argue with them! We were only at the beach for a couple hours and although it is not my favorite place, I am happy that I went while I am here!

I am still working hard on my data analyzing and formatting and it is still a long process. I have been more stressed out this week than I want to be but today I was able to see some tender mercies as my concerns were calmed and I felt some peace. I am so grateful that even though I am in a new weird place and missing home that I can feel my Heavenly Father's love and companionship.

I hope that you guys are all having great summers and that you are getting as much Vitamin D as you can! :)

-Kate