The Florida Everglades

After GOOD naps for everyone, we were ready for our afternoon adventure - the Everglades! :)
None of us had ever been (well, I think Kelli had been to some part of it with a school field trip when she was teaching) and so we were excited to check it out - it's sort of historic! Let's just say this was a "different" part of Florida!! This is the building out back by the parking lot, and it was lined with peacocks just hanging out all over the porch!

There was a cold front that had come through, and it was VERY windy that day, so we had to bundle up. Trying to get a picture was a little bit...ummm...impossible.

We loaded up on the boat tour with hopes of seeing a gator! David had Caleb and Jacob

Mom had Callie....and I was sitting with Josiah (sorry no picture to prove it). It was a great airboat ride, but alas, no gator sightings. :(

When we got back, they had a little gator show and the (paid) opportunity to hold a baby alligator. I knew I'd have one taker in the bunch for that!!

See Callie hanging all over David's arm? She thought her brother was nuts! Look at the smile on Jacob's face! :)

He LOVED it - and would have held him all day! That thing probably weighed almost as much as he did! It was heavy!!! (And the little flimsy black thing around his mouth didn't make me feel all that much better!)

All of a sudden, Callie decided she wanted in too!

...and she decided to ham it up for the camera a bit! I think she likes making Tutu nervous!

After the gator show, we headed up to the deli area to eat some fried gator, but we were 2 minutes too late! They had already closed for the day. So they gave us directions to a little hole in the wall around the corner. This was the sign out front...

...and here's the biker bar that we sent Scott up to order us some fried gator bites to take home with us! You can't go to the Everglades without trying some gator!!!

It was a BIG hit - i knew Josiah would love it...

even Jacob, my picky one, loved it! said it tasted like chicken! :)

yep - she loved it too! came with a spicy dipping sauce (sort of like a spicy ranch dressing i guess) that she liked too!

and another fan...

yep - joe loved it too!

yes - that's my baby with a mouth full of gator!!