We saw the Nina and Pinta

Today we had a real treat.  We drove up to Guntersville where parked in the Old Marina were two replica ships of Columbus's Nina and Pinta.  It was raining terribly, but we wanted to catch them as they were setting sail in the morning for a new town.  To get the children ready I put some books in the car to read on the way up and we watched our Columbus video that they really like.  (and Journey of English doesn't really have to do with Columbus I know) :)





Here is the Nina- it was a good bit smaller than the Pinta and Santa Maria, but it was Columbus's favorite ship and had a long, interesting history.







Signs of Ferdinand and Isabella-



Looking at the Pinta from the Nina-



On the Pinta- rain, rain- go away!







Steering the Pinta- we learned that the "steering wheel" for ships had not been invented in 1492 and they all used tillers to turn the rudder as their only way to steer.










Daddy bought them some activity books to work on the ride home-



We headed home and got ice cream on the way before heading to church.  A wonderful day with the bambinos.