We escaped Maryland's cold February with a long Florida trip. First we visited my parents in Miami, followed by a week at a beachfront house in Stuart with Nate's parents and his brother Aaron's family, followed by another week in Miami with my parents.
Since Southwest Airlines stopped accepting emotional support animals on March 1st, this was Snoopy's last set of flights, and we were glad this trip happened to be scheduled in February when Snoopy could still fly with us. I enjoyed having him with us and appreciated his cooperating nature. I didn't mind the looks and comments from strangers this time around.
Waiting to board the flight at BWI Airport, with Snoopy cuddling on my lap:
When we arrived in Miami, with Snoopy in the stroller:
We went on an excursion to Shark Valley in Everglades National Park. When we were in Miami in December, Shark Valley was closed due to flooding, but had since luckily reopened. Besides many alligators sunning themselves on the sidewalk, we saw turtles, four racer snakes, and lots of birds.
There is no barrier between the alligators and the human visitors. The alligators didn't seem to even notice the people crowding around them taking pictures. Unlike crocodiles, alligators are not aggressive. It is still nerve-racking to walk past them, especially the big 8+ foot one we saw that was half on the walking path.
We lucked out and found a nest of baby alligators! When we first saw the babies, I yelled to let Derek know and he and Nate came running full speed to see the babies.
Below is the mother and if you zoom in on the picture, you can see plenty of babies surrounding her. In all, we saw about 20 babies near the protective mother.
Despite the heat, we all enjoyed the excitement of the alligators, the babies, and the other animals we saw.
The kids got to roll out a 15 foot python skin from a snake found in the Everglades. Pythons are invasive and should not be there. The park ranger said this skin would have been worth about $350 if someone hunted it in the Everglades and turned it in to authorities, who pay for their skins in order to curb the python population.
Reading a troll book with Mimi:
Mormor, Lydia, and Derek took some clippings of a plant and transplanted it to a pot to see if it would take root and grow.
The kids found Construx from the 1980's in the closet and had fun building all sorts of things. These 'metal detectors' were particularly popular.
Derek likes to give out kisses and hugs to everyone. Mormor was a happy recipient.
The kids played around with this vintage violin.
After this leg of our Florida trip, we headed two hours north by car to Stuart, FL for the beach house portion of the trip with Nate's family.
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