Daddy arrived xmas eve in Fort Meyers - his red-eye was late arriving into Minneapolis but fortunately they either held or the connecting flight was late (it was showing up as on time on the internet) so he made it not too late into FL. Fortunately he left before the big snow dumped and all was shut down. It was perhaps the warmest day so far of our trip here and we decided to head out for a little walk through the slough after lunch. This is Six Mile Cypress Slough (as I recall it named). It is a wonderful little park with boardwalk throughout. Unfortunately the kids weren't as entranced - despite seeing gator, turtles, huge crickets, a snake, lizards, and plenty of cool birds. I realized after the fact that it was probably due to the fact that it was a boardwalk - and that there were no sticks for them to pick up and play with as they walked. Ah well. The grown ups all enjoyed the walk. Surprisingly un-buggy too - apparently the water is filled with little fish that eat mosquito larvae - excellent!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Florida gator with fish in his mouth
Here's the gator in the pond the day after A caught the fish. You can see a fish in his mouth - he had it there in his mouth - with a little periodic chewing going on - for quite a while to my surprise.
Chewbacca?
have a bunch of him standing up on his legs - he just reminded me so much of Chewbacca from Star Wars! I love his tongue peeking out in this shot and the flying hair.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
the catch of the day
Doesn't this look like a lovely bucolic scene? Grandad bought the boys new fishing rods and they were trying out casting in the retaining pond in the back yard. Gdad had apparently tried them out already and never caught anything. But A has really good fishing *luck* and snagged this good sized bass. We apparently weren't allowed to keep him and dad had trouble getting the hook out of him but he was released back into the "wild". Today A spotted a gator in the same pond with a large fish in his mouth. We wonder if it was the same fish... I was surprised how long the gator had the chewed on fish in its mouth. I assumed it would be more like a shark and gulp it down but I guess maybe they don't have to worry about fending off others and so don't gulp their food? He kept it around long enough for me to check him out from the kids' upstairs aerie and then take my camera and go snap off a couple shots. I think my approach scared off the vulture that was pond side for a while and the gator got annoyed with me and retreated back into the depths. I was missing my telephoto lens. Might need to have P bring it out for me when he comes - there is some good wild life around here esp some birds like sandhill cranes - and gators of course.
jumping for joy
Another action shot that cracks me up. The didn't do too much jumping in (a bit surprising) as they spent most of their time in supersoaker wars. I hope to get some more fun pool shots as the weeks go on and the cousins arrive to join them in the pool. We might have to take a break for a few days as a cold front has moved in - we'll see if the kids agree...
Rascal running
Meet Rascal. He's about 1 1/2 years old and a Chinese Crested Powderpuff. He is a great little dog. This photo cracks me up - he was very excited by the kids splashing in the pool. He has a lovely temperament and is also a great lap dog.
waiting at sunrise
The boys and I had a couple hour layover in Atlanta on our way to FL for the holidays. Turns out it was the day all the service men and women in basic training were heading home for 2 weeks break. The airport was filled with hundreds of them in all directions. I understood that they were all dropped off super early despite some of them not having flights until evening. Many were using their electronic devices like this guy. I enjoyed watching the morning light up the sky outside.