Monday, December 1, 2008

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.

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About Me

Ohio, United States
We're just a fun family of four living in Ohio while Brian's in graduate school, trying to keep in touch with family and friends.