Nature Walk and Birthday Celebration

We had another fun day on Thursday. It started with a phone call to change our Royal Caribbean cruise, previously scheduled for Spring Break next year. Marta, Frank and Elizabeth are going to join us! Because of Elizabeth's school schedule, that meant moving up the cruise by a week. The kids will miss school and end up with 2 weeks off in a row. Hopefully, next year they will be healthier than they were this year and the extra absences won't matter too much.

We had an early lunch with Basille. We hadn't seen her in a few years and it was fun to catch up. Then, it was off to Circle B for a nature walk. It is a county owned property with over 1200 acres. They had an awesome nature center, with some really cool exhibits. After looking at all the educational stuff inside, we went on a 3-mile hike. It made me wish St. Mary's would do more with Elms. We saw lots of interesting birds, tons of alligators, turtles, and a snake. My sister saw wild hogs driving in, but we never ran into them.

The nature center was awesome! They even handed out maps with pictures of wildlife to look for. And, it was all free!

can you find the two turtles and the baby alligator?

He's just hanging out.

Another baby :)

This snake did not want us to pass. Thomas bravely walked by (after he lowered from striking position) and then the snake slithered into the lake and the rest us walked past.

A pretty bird

The path itself was even beautiful. The trees were classic Florida, with spanish covered moss.

The Wilsons with JD and Amanda.

Another cool bird, this one swims in the water looking for fish (we actually saw one with a fish in it's mouth, but I couldn't get a picture) and then has to wait for its wings to dry before it can fly off.

Last alligator picture. I couldn't believe how many we saw.

Thomas has spotted something special.

From there, we took the kids to get ice cream, then we went and hung out with my dad and Maggie. It was my dad's 74th birthday! Kevin turns 40 on Sunday, so we had a joint celebration. My sister made pizza and bought a delicious cake from Publix. It was one of my favorite days in Florida.

My Florida family. Thomas took the picture, so unfortunately, he's not in it.