Yesterday morning the kids and I took a trip to Blue Springs State Park with our neighbor and her kiddos. We first found out about Blue Springs from that neighbor two years ago. I don't know how we have lived less than an hour from that place for this long and didn't know how awesome it was.
Here in Florida, we aren't huge fans of the cold. At least, my family isn't. We are full thin blooded Floridians all the way. I would much rather experience the heat of the summer than the cold. Anyway, one plus to the cold weather here is the manatees. Manatees hang around Florida all year round, but in the winter months when it gets really cold, they like to hang out in the natural springs, like Blue Springs. The reason is that the springs are a constant 70 something degrees all year round. We have a spring really close to our house. I have been there once two swim. Never again. I will go back to the springs but you will never catch me in that water again. Apparently people enjoy it in the winter because the water feels somewhat warm and they love it in the summer when it offers a cool reprieve to the heat. I am one that prefers my swimming water to border on a warm bath feeling so springs are not the place for me. When the water starts to cool off in the St. Johns River the manatees head into Blue Springs to warm up and play in the "warm" water. That water is still too cold for me, but they like it.
A few days ago the manatee count (the number in the springs as counted by the park rangers) was in the 70s. We had a couple of nights of really cold (for us) weather, which brings in even more of these awesome creatures. In the morning, I bundled up the kiddos and headed for Orange City. You have to go pretty early in the morning for a couple of reasons. One is because the park tends to get really crowded as the morning progresses and two is that the manatees often head out for lunch in the St. Johns as the weather warms some.
In order to prep to head out to see these manatees we started to talk to Kenzie about what we were going to do. The best was when I told her that we were going to see manatees and she started asking if we were also going to see papatees. What?? It took me a while to figure out that she thought I was saying "nana" tees. Crazy kid. We could NOT get her to say manatee correctly and eventually started calling them sea cows. That worked until she wanted to know if they would moo. Then she wanted to know if we would also be seeing horse-a-tees. Facepalm! I'm not sure if she is too smart for her own good or just trying to be silly.
We got to Blue Springs at about 8:45 in the morning. The manatee count for the day hadn't been completed yet so we weren't sure how many we would see. I nursed Will while we waited for the neghbors to arrive. I did it in the car out of fear. I was NOT going to nurse him in 40 degree weather outside. Nope. No way, no how. Anyway, once the neighbors arrived we walked down to the springs and immediately noticed the large number of manatees. The water was actually steamy because it was so much warmer than the cold air. Kenzie thought the manatees were awesome. There were also a ton of fish, specifically gar which she thought were just as cool. We saw one gar that had to be close to 3 1/2 or 4 feet long. I've never seen one that big. We also saw a great blue heron. He was gorgeous.
Kenzie started her morning exceptionally bundled. Two pairs of pants, two shirts, a hoodie, hat, wool mittens, and a blanket. She started shedding things as she warmed up. Will also wasn't having the cold weather. After about 4 minutes he decided he had enough. I ended up wearing him and zipping him into my hoodie for the duration of our visit. He ended up keeping me warm too though so I can't complain.
We walked down the boardwalk to the head of the spring. That is where a lot of manatees congregate and play in the warmest water as it is the water coming straight off the spring. We saw a ton of baby manatees including a few cute ones nursing as their mommies swam. As we were headed up the boardwalk we ran into the park ranger returning from the head with the manatee count. Lo and behold, it was 342!! The highest number I have ever seen there in the three times we have gone. What I would like to know though is how they count them. Is there a manatee count off? We saw the ranger in the canoe that was doing the count. Do you think he just starts at the bottom.... "Ok, we are going to start with Frank... everyone just count off their number as I come by you?"
Before we left the park we had to take a detour by the playground. I think Kenzie was just as excited with the playground as the manatees. In true two year old fashion...
The one downfall to our day was that Steven couldn't be there with us. I'm hoping we get another series of cold days towards a weekend so that he can join us one day. I'm glad Kenzie was able to get back out there this year. It's so much fun to watch her enjoy things like this more and more as she gets older. Hopefully Will is going to enjoy it next year. This year... he slept.
Here in Florida, we aren't huge fans of the cold. At least, my family isn't. We are full thin blooded Floridians all the way. I would much rather experience the heat of the summer than the cold. Anyway, one plus to the cold weather here is the manatees. Manatees hang around Florida all year round, but in the winter months when it gets really cold, they like to hang out in the natural springs, like Blue Springs. The reason is that the springs are a constant 70 something degrees all year round. We have a spring really close to our house. I have been there once two swim. Never again. I will go back to the springs but you will never catch me in that water again. Apparently people enjoy it in the winter because the water feels somewhat warm and they love it in the summer when it offers a cool reprieve to the heat. I am one that prefers my swimming water to border on a warm bath feeling so springs are not the place for me. When the water starts to cool off in the St. Johns River the manatees head into Blue Springs to warm up and play in the "warm" water. That water is still too cold for me, but they like it.
A few days ago the manatee count (the number in the springs as counted by the park rangers) was in the 70s. We had a couple of nights of really cold (for us) weather, which brings in even more of these awesome creatures. In the morning, I bundled up the kiddos and headed for Orange City. You have to go pretty early in the morning for a couple of reasons. One is because the park tends to get really crowded as the morning progresses and two is that the manatees often head out for lunch in the St. Johns as the weather warms some.
In order to prep to head out to see these manatees we started to talk to Kenzie about what we were going to do. The best was when I told her that we were going to see manatees and she started asking if we were also going to see papatees. What?? It took me a while to figure out that she thought I was saying "nana" tees. Crazy kid. We could NOT get her to say manatee correctly and eventually started calling them sea cows. That worked until she wanted to know if they would moo. Then she wanted to know if we would also be seeing horse-a-tees. Facepalm! I'm not sure if she is too smart for her own good or just trying to be silly.
We got to Blue Springs at about 8:45 in the morning. The manatee count for the day hadn't been completed yet so we weren't sure how many we would see. I nursed Will while we waited for the neghbors to arrive. I did it in the car out of fear. I was NOT going to nurse him in 40 degree weather outside. Nope. No way, no how. Anyway, once the neighbors arrived we walked down to the springs and immediately noticed the large number of manatees. The water was actually steamy because it was so much warmer than the cold air. Kenzie thought the manatees were awesome. There were also a ton of fish, specifically gar which she thought were just as cool. We saw one gar that had to be close to 3 1/2 or 4 feet long. I've never seen one that big. We also saw a great blue heron. He was gorgeous.
Kenzie started her morning exceptionally bundled. Two pairs of pants, two shirts, a hoodie, hat, wool mittens, and a blanket. She started shedding things as she warmed up. Will also wasn't having the cold weather. After about 4 minutes he decided he had enough. I ended up wearing him and zipping him into my hoodie for the duration of our visit. He ended up keeping me warm too though so I can't complain.
We walked down the boardwalk to the head of the spring. That is where a lot of manatees congregate and play in the warmest water as it is the water coming straight off the spring. We saw a ton of baby manatees including a few cute ones nursing as their mommies swam. As we were headed up the boardwalk we ran into the park ranger returning from the head with the manatee count. Lo and behold, it was 342!! The highest number I have ever seen there in the three times we have gone. What I would like to know though is how they count them. Is there a manatee count off? We saw the ranger in the canoe that was doing the count. Do you think he just starts at the bottom.... "Ok, we are going to start with Frank... everyone just count off their number as I come by you?"
Before we left the park we had to take a detour by the playground. I think Kenzie was just as excited with the playground as the manatees. In true two year old fashion...
The one downfall to our day was that Steven couldn't be there with us. I'm hoping we get another series of cold days towards a weekend so that he can join us one day. I'm glad Kenzie was able to get back out there this year. It's so much fun to watch her enjoy things like this more and more as she gets older. Hopefully Will is going to enjoy it next year. This year... he slept.
 |
| Blue Springs 2013. Kenzie was so little! |
 |
| Blue Springs 2013. Why is my mom in shorts?!? |
 |
| Blue Springs 2014 |
 |
| Blue Springs 2015 |
Comments
Post a Comment