With the reinvention of our blog, I am trying to get back into blogging some. Bear with me as I figure out things like, the best way to post pictures and hopefully video posting, as well.
This Sunday we took our first ever trip to Blue Springs State Park in Orange City. Our neighbors told us about this park and that during the colder winter months (when it actually gets cold), you can go and see manatees in the springs. We haven't had very much cold weather this season so the manatee numbers have been down lately but with a recent cold snap that lasted for a few days, they all came in to the springs.
Our neighbor called on Saturday and the manatee numbers were around 70. They expected with another cold night that the numbers would be in the 90s or so on Sunday. When we arrived on Sunday, the count was 172! The real question that Steven and I had was actually... how on earth do they count those things? Regardless, there were manatee galore. The park is absolutely beautiful! I love "Old Florida". We have some areas around us that are like that. It is one of my favorite parts of living in Central Florida though. We can go 20 minutes one way and be in a major city, or 20 minutes another way and be in this throwback nature area. We love to be outside too so it is just great for us. Kenzie seems to really enjoy being outdoors too. I think we have a little nature girl on our hands.
Momma had come in to visit on Sunday so we all packed into the car around 8:30am to head over to the park. You really need to get there early. One, because the manatees go "out to lunch" in the St. Johns River closer to midday and two... it gets packed around 11am. The drive was super easy. We were only about 45 minutes away. Kenzie only napped the last 15 minutes or so though so I was somewhat worried that she would not be the world's happiest camper when we got there. We met our neighbors and their two little girls there and they showed us around the springs some. We were all amazed with these animals. We had all seen manatees before (except Kenzie of course), but there were just so many of them. At one point, we watched them playing together in a group right at the head of the spring (aka the manatee hot tub). We also saw a couple of alligators, including one HUGE guy. Unfortunately, my camera battery died because I forgot to charge it. I was able to get a couple of pictures, but now we are just waiting for Momma's pictures so that we have some.
Kenzie seemed pretty enthused with the manatees. The funniest thing is that she hasn't blown a lot of raspberries lately, but that seems to be the sound that the manatees make when they come up to breathe so she started blowing raspberries the whole walk back from the head of the spring. It was really cute. We will definitely go back next year when she will have a better understanding of the fact that they are animals and what she is watching. She seemed to like watching them swim around though. She loves our fish tank so I guess it stands to reason that she would like to watch these huge guys swim around.
I ended up wearing her the entire time we were there (which she loves) and was super surprised that she ended up staying awake the entire time. She loves looking at new sights and there was just so much to see. Before we left, she ate and then she stayed awake while we found a place to eat. We stopped at Cici's Pizza (yes, definitely NOT on our diet but a splurge day every now and then in allowed). She sat up in her high chair and even ate some apple sauce I had brought with me while we were there. It is so nice to see that she is getting big enough that now we can probably take her out to eat more often. I still miss my little baby though. She is getting to her fun age though, so I'm excited to watch her grow. All of that info though is for another post (keep an eye out soon for her 6 month letter).
After lunch, she slept most of the way back home. Momma and I took her and went to run to a couple of stores. That was just too much for her though. We ended up needing to carry her through the stores as she was just not having any part of her stroller. We didn't stay out long because she was so tired. When we got home, we attempted to put her down for a nap, but by then we were hitting another feeding time and she was really overtired. Poor little thing. We will see how she handles next weekend when we go with Grandma and Grandpa to see Great Grandma in Crystal River. At least that is a longer drive for her to nap during.
Here are a few pictures from our day. Like I said, my camera battery died so I'm waiting on Momma's pictures, but at least you can enjoy a few. =)
This Sunday we took our first ever trip to Blue Springs State Park in Orange City. Our neighbors told us about this park and that during the colder winter months (when it actually gets cold), you can go and see manatees in the springs. We haven't had very much cold weather this season so the manatee numbers have been down lately but with a recent cold snap that lasted for a few days, they all came in to the springs.
Our neighbor called on Saturday and the manatee numbers were around 70. They expected with another cold night that the numbers would be in the 90s or so on Sunday. When we arrived on Sunday, the count was 172! The real question that Steven and I had was actually... how on earth do they count those things? Regardless, there were manatee galore. The park is absolutely beautiful! I love "Old Florida". We have some areas around us that are like that. It is one of my favorite parts of living in Central Florida though. We can go 20 minutes one way and be in a major city, or 20 minutes another way and be in this throwback nature area. We love to be outside too so it is just great for us. Kenzie seems to really enjoy being outdoors too. I think we have a little nature girl on our hands.
Momma had come in to visit on Sunday so we all packed into the car around 8:30am to head over to the park. You really need to get there early. One, because the manatees go "out to lunch" in the St. Johns River closer to midday and two... it gets packed around 11am. The drive was super easy. We were only about 45 minutes away. Kenzie only napped the last 15 minutes or so though so I was somewhat worried that she would not be the world's happiest camper when we got there. We met our neighbors and their two little girls there and they showed us around the springs some. We were all amazed with these animals. We had all seen manatees before (except Kenzie of course), but there were just so many of them. At one point, we watched them playing together in a group right at the head of the spring (aka the manatee hot tub). We also saw a couple of alligators, including one HUGE guy. Unfortunately, my camera battery died because I forgot to charge it. I was able to get a couple of pictures, but now we are just waiting for Momma's pictures so that we have some.
Kenzie seemed pretty enthused with the manatees. The funniest thing is that she hasn't blown a lot of raspberries lately, but that seems to be the sound that the manatees make when they come up to breathe so she started blowing raspberries the whole walk back from the head of the spring. It was really cute. We will definitely go back next year when she will have a better understanding of the fact that they are animals and what she is watching. She seemed to like watching them swim around though. She loves our fish tank so I guess it stands to reason that she would like to watch these huge guys swim around.
I ended up wearing her the entire time we were there (which she loves) and was super surprised that she ended up staying awake the entire time. She loves looking at new sights and there was just so much to see. Before we left, she ate and then she stayed awake while we found a place to eat. We stopped at Cici's Pizza (yes, definitely NOT on our diet but a splurge day every now and then in allowed). She sat up in her high chair and even ate some apple sauce I had brought with me while we were there. It is so nice to see that she is getting big enough that now we can probably take her out to eat more often. I still miss my little baby though. She is getting to her fun age though, so I'm excited to watch her grow. All of that info though is for another post (keep an eye out soon for her 6 month letter).
After lunch, she slept most of the way back home. Momma and I took her and went to run to a couple of stores. That was just too much for her though. We ended up needing to carry her through the stores as she was just not having any part of her stroller. We didn't stay out long because she was so tired. When we got home, we attempted to put her down for a nap, but by then we were hitting another feeding time and she was really overtired. Poor little thing. We will see how she handles next weekend when we go with Grandma and Grandpa to see Great Grandma in Crystal River. At least that is a longer drive for her to nap during.
Here are a few pictures from our day. Like I said, my camera battery died so I'm waiting on Momma's pictures, but at least you can enjoy a few. =)
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