Florida: Part 3

I thought I'd go ahead and post the pictures from our day at the Magic Kingdom. I'm telling you, there is NOTHING as fun as going to Disney World at Christmas! The lights, decorations, parades, fireworks, even if you're an adult, it'll make you feel like a kid! But if you have kids, PLEASE do everything you can to take your kids before they get too old. Trust me, you'll love it! And no, I don't work for, or hold stock in Disney.

I swear, I could not get those kids to look at the dang camera! Too much other stuff to look at!

The girls with Cinderella

Kylee adoring Sleeping Beauty

If you're wondering what Kylee is saying, let me go ahead and translate.

Kylee: "Ya know what? I have a Book of Mormon and it talks all about Jesus!"

Belle: "Oh ok, that's nice."

Disney photographer looking at me: "Did she just say JESUS?"

Me: "Yeah, I don't know, she's crazy!"

Time to get a last picture and get the heck out of there!

What a smile!

Kylee on the Buzz Lightyear ride, one of the funnest rides ever!

After getting off the Buzz Lightyear ride - she totally came up with this pose!

And what were grandpa and Makayla doing while we were on Buzz Lightyear? Zzzzzzzz...

Trying on Jack Sparrow hats and swords after getting off Pirates of the Caribbean.

My little Jamaican - ya mon!

Kylee and Grandpa on the Aladdin ride.

FINALLY, a smile!

Makayla and Nana waiting to get on the Jungle Cruise

Ok, heaven knows I tried to get a good picture of the castle at night (I was really far away and couldn't get closer due to the crowds). I learned I really need to read about the night function for my camera. This is without the flash.....

This is with the flash. Kinda blurry, but still awesome.

I took this from the far end of Main Street, where we were waiting for the parade to start. Man, i wish I had a professional camera!

Same shot with the flash. Shows the lights on Main Street better, but check out the crowds! It was crazy busy, but OH SO FUN!!

Florida: Part 2

These pictures are what Floridians call "Real Florida." We took a day to go to a place called Blue Springs, which is a natural spring where tons of manatees go every winter to get away from the cold water. The spring is always 72 degrees, and the manatees go there because they can die from being in cold water. When we were there, there were about 150 manatees at the spring that day. We also took a 2 hour river cruise on the St. John's river, which is adjoined to the spring. The scenery was amazing, and we saw all sorts of wildlife such as the many different kinds of birds, and as you'll see in the pictures, 2 alligators!

The scarring on this manatee is caused from boats.

Shot of a big group of manatees hanging out.

I took this picture as we were standing on a pier that had steps that led into the water (because they allow swimming at the springs in the summer). This mom and baby swam right over to the bottom of the steps and just laid there for awhile. We literally could have reached in the water and touched them, but even though they're very friendly animals, they're protected and you're not allowed to touch them. It was so fun watching all the moms and babies!

This is a Great Blue Crane, or was it a Great Blue Heron? I thought this was a great picture.

See the little alligator eyes peeking out of the water? Most of the time this is all you see of the alligators in the wild. This picture reminds me of the crocodile on Peter Pan.

Now THIS is an alligator! I was standing up holding Makayla and trying to take this picture, so it's not as clear as I would have liked.

A cute little white crane.

Scenery from the boat. If you look close you can see a bird drying it's wings on the log sticking out from the water.

Me and my mom and the girls.