Florida Trip: Animals

                                We had a great time in Florida. Four days of fun in the sun. It was nice!

                                        We went fishing, played putt putt, swam, and just relaxed . 

                                         I took over 300 photos, but thought that might be a bit much,

                                         so I decided I would post the animal encounter pictures.

                             Before we got into the state of Florida, we stopped at a gas station.

                 There was a fence behind the station, and behind the fence were some Aligators.

                                                                           Creepy huh?

                                                       There was also a crane catching fish.

                                            This crab was our first encounter in the sunshine state.

                                                 They were all over the shoreline of the beach.

                                           It was funny watching the kids try to catch these things.

                              Of course, it's so sunny and beautiful, that butterflies were everywhere.

                                  Hannah rescued this one from the waves crashing into the beach.

                                    Kelaiah went fishing with her daddy, and caught a few red fish.

                               We only do catch and release, so this fish lived to tell it's tale of survival.

                                       This man had a more convenient way to catch fish though.

                                       A guy on the beach let the children feed the gulls with him.

 The sea gulls were hoping that I would have some food for them as well, but I only had my camera.

                                           Here's another Alligator that was behind an opened fence.

                                         My husband snuck up behind it to get a few close up shots.

                              We always search the waters for hermit crabs, when we visit a beach.

                                                          They are just too cute, to pass up.

                                            The children usually meet new friends everywhere we go.

                                            Kelaiah met a furry friend at the beach on our second day.

                                                       He was very sweet, and  loved the water.

                                                       Mediterranean Geckos were everywhere.

                                                                 We caught tons of them.

                                               At one point my husband decided to keep a big one,

                                                     but he felt bad, because it's a wild animal.

                                           so he released it. They were fast, fiesty and very cute.

   

I have never seen a flounder in the wild.

I've seen them on tv, and in pictures,

but never in the wild. They are pretty neat looking

fish, very well camouflaged too. 

Seeing it made me think of finding Nemo.

"where'd you go"

                        This pelican was floating close to the children, so they tried to get closer.

                                        The pelican kept swimming away , and then decided,

                                   since they wouldn't stop following him, that he'd just fly away.

 

 This picture is not of an animal, but it has something to do with one. Elijah bought some gator jerky before we left , he thought it was very tasty...I'll just take his word for it. 

Art Time: The Golden Fish

 

We learned about Paul Klee, and his print "The Golden Fish." 

Then we decided to make our own prints.

  

Here's Elijah working on his rendition.

 

Kelaiah with her print.

   

Hannah painting her picture.

National Night Out 2011

National Night Out, for those who don't know what it's about. It's America's night out against crime. 

This is our second time attending, and we love it. The children, especially Elijah, love to see  our hero's geared up with all their toys. They also give out free food, drinks, and snacks, not that that's important, I just found it to be thoughtful... We enjoyed the bomb retrieving robot, the fire safety trailer, and the swat van (well everything). We also looked at the new equipment used by our officers, to catch the bad guys. They have some cool stuff! Oh, and the helicopter was, of course, a big hit... I think Elijah may have ruined alot of expensive equipment ,with his drool, but they didn't seem to mind. This is a great way to celebrate Americas Hero's, and to let children see who they truly are ( not big scary monsters) ,and what they do. They were all a bunch of great guys/gals . I am so very thankful for them.