#36

After our excursion to Dry Tortugas, we headed to the Everglades. It isn't often we make it to this part of the country, and we were definitely going to make the most of it. Ellie had arrived to be part of this adventure and it was especially fun to be all together.

It was definitely different than any other place we have visited.

Since we had driven a couple hours to get there, Tate could  not wait to explore the visitor's center. It was nice and open with little that he could destroy.

We meandered around outside while waiting for a boat tour and were able to see this nest with baby Osprey...

And a bunch of surfacing Manatees along the pier. I had really wanted to see a Manatee. This little nose made me so very happy.

The girls worked on their junior ranger packets while Tate checked out the ceiling light in the rental car. It was early and already quite warm, by Oregon standards anyway.

Armed with three crazy children and a backpack of snacks, we boarded this catamaran unsure of what we were in for.

There were two guides, or rather one guide and one wildlife spotter who happened to be from Guyana. Evidently they have a lot of crocodiles there which is why he could spot tiny little creatures hidden in the deepest reaches of vegetation. Honestly, half of the crocodiles he pointed out I struggled to locate in a still boat with someone pointing out what I was looking for. How he could see baby crocodiles less than 10 inches long that are largely camouflaged on a branch and behind a mass of other branches is quite beyond me.

So many mangrove trees. It's interesting to see how they send out shoots to spread into the water, creating a mat of tangled shoots that keeps extending out across the water. Really fascinating.

Early on in the tour we saw this anhinga. I always love watching how birds move and this guy was no exception.

My crazy family. Aren't they adorable? If I were ten years younger I'd add 4-5 more to the mix. Or not.

By the end of the tour the girls were getting a tad bit ridiculous. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Fortunately this was the off-season and the boat was mostly empty.

This guy (or girl, how can you tell???) was the crowning glory of the trip. We were hoping to see an alligator and this one was not far from our boat. Fortunately we were informed that these alligators don't eat anything larger than their head so we were going to be safe even if we fell frantic and flailing into the water.

At one point in the tour we were taught about the Manchineel tree - which honestly sounds like the most grotesquely violent plant ever. Leaves that drip acid capable of dissolving your flesh, little green "apples" that burn your esophagus away, causing blindness if one's eyes come in contact with the smoke from a burning tree... it's like nature gone wrong (if that's possible).

Supposedly the point of leaving these trees along the channel was for "education," but looking back through my pictures I can't actually recall which tree it was. Now I'm just freaked out enough to never hike through the everglades. Ever.

For some reason, this elevation sign was really funny to me. We left the everglades toward the next National Park feeling gratified by seeing manatees and freaked out by the poison death tree. The variety in the world never ceases to amaze me.

#35

The Dry Tortugas are incredible. Jim and I were talking tonight about our National Park adventures. We discussed which parks surprised us, which ones we'd return to in a heartbeat, and which ones we don't feel a need to revisit. I have to say this one surprised me. I love love loved it. Going into it all I really hoped for was to see a sea turtle (we didn't) but it ended up being mesmerizing.

This is not a park that many people visit (relatively speaking) because of the difficulty in getting there. It's the most southern point in the USA - outside of Hawaii that is. I don't even think you can call it part of the contiguous US since it is an island, though it is part of Florida so that kind of becomes an issue of semantics.

Gosh, I love this man. We have so much fun and go on the best adventures.

Squirt had a bit of a rough time on the boat. We were prepared and took Dramamine beforehand but it still shook her up a little. She loves being big enough to reach things now and wanted to stand even though it was a bit of an awkward grab for her.

The boys passed the travel time quite efficiently.

I didn't know anything about Fort Jefferson before this. On the ride over, the guides shared a bit of information and showed some informative films which was really helpful. What impressed me the most was how utterly enormous it is. That, and the gorgeous water. I was in awe of the water.

The lighthouse on top of the fort was really charming.

Inside the fort it is easy to be impressed with the masonry. It seems that a building of this size that needed all the building materials transported in by boat and took thirty years to build would justify basic, quickly built designs. Instead there were innovative features (for the time) incredible arches, and an absolutely astonishing number of bricks (16+ million). I wouldn't doubt that many of the builders spent the better part of their lives on this one project.

The canons have been restored with cradles built to replicate the originals that had been sold and removed from the key shortly after the Fort stopped being used. The only reason the canons remained behind was that their sheer size and weight made transporting them impossible. Even the restoration team employed by the park service struggled with how to move them.

I really wanted to explore the lighthouse and it was the last thing on our agenda before we were going to get gear and go snorkeling. Aeryn just wanted to go snorkeling and found the historical appeal to be lacking. She tried to be patient in {mostly} good spirit, but by this point just wanted to be done. I found it hilarious and took a picture. In other words, I was totally a mom right here.

Once again I made her wait. Jim and Aeryn took off to go snorkeling and I yelled after them to wait until I took their picture first. That's the price of having me in your family... As a result they gave me their most patient faces.

Meanwhile, Tate was in the middle of a faceplant and greeted me with squeals of disappointment and discomfort. White coral sands may be beautiful, but they are not soft. Once again I made him wait until I took a picture before I rinsed him off in the ocean, which was also super {not} fun for him.

I had told Aeryn that the Atlantic is super warm compared to the Pacific - completely forgetting that it's actually still January and the water would not be the delightful hot tub I'd prepared her for. It's still warmer than the Oregon coast so she endured it well. Jim helped her know what to do snorkeling and she saw angel fish, needle fish, a gray fish with black dots that we have not identified. Jim and I later found conch too, but she was done by that time and stayed on the shore.

Evidently snorkeling is hard work. Lucky for Tate as her siesta provided the jungle gym he was looking for.

Old iron shutters at the canon openings are expanding and causing the brick to crumble. Extensive restoration is ongoing, but frankly I like seeing it weathering and wearing just the way it is. The post-restoration areas feel more like a museum than a historical site to me. It's got to be a difficult decision when to restore and when to let things age naturally.

This was a spectacular day. As we were returning on the boat I lamented the fact that I took hardly any photos. Then when I imported images there were actually 186 of them. I suppose I was on top of things after all.

Squirt's Inauguration

The Young Women came and grabbed Aeryn from her Sunday school class when it was time to go to YW and dolled her up. They tied ribbons correlating to the YW value colors into her hair. One of the leaders sent me this pic in the middle of Relief Society and I'm so glad she did. 

The Girly was so excited. She was not, however, super excited to recite an article of faith from the podium in sacrament meeting though. She tends to get really nervous in front of people and I was worried for her, but she marched up to the front confidently and said her piece then marched back to her seat with her head held high. Only after I hugged her and told her how proud I was of her did she let the anxiety pour out and she started sobbing in relief. This sweet girl gets so very nervous and anxious. It made me teary to see the confirmation of exactly how hard that small task had been for her, which in turn made me even more proud. 

There was a fireside in the evening and she attempted to leave the ribbons in until then, with mixed results. Some fell out on their own. 

At first I expected this change to be hard. I thought it would make me sad that she is growing up and not a kid anymore. That I would miss being the confidante and favorite person. That it would be hard when she didn't want to hang out with me. Instead I'm finding myself really happy about the change. She is ready for it. She needs to be around older kids and learn how capable and strong she is. She will benefit from relationships with amazing leaders- leaders who I admire and wish I could be more like. She is ready for the adventures and primping and little secrets. She needs a life that is separate from me. 

I thought that would be hard, but it's so so fun to watch. I'm thankful to be here, more so than I ever expected. 

Kids on Stairs

After his exploration of the hose, Taters discovered that he could climb the stairs outside our building. We are on the bottom so stairs are pretty much a non-issue, or at least they were before they became a play thing.

Squirt stayed with him on the steps, which was really helpful since I was standing on the ground shooting through the railing.

By himself, Tate looks really big. Next to Aeryn, he looks really small - or maybe she just looks really big. Either way, it's crazy and awesome to see them together.

Seriously, that face. If I were 10 years younger I'd be tempted to have twenty more.

Happy with a Hose

The other day I looked across the common area and realized that I probably ought to actually winterize my garden, you know, now that winter is a third over. I didn't do much, but I figured I could at least bring in the hose and the tomato cages. Tate thought the hose was pretty intriguing.

I started crawling around on the ground to get a better angle, and boy am I glad I did. These are so much better. I know they are all fairly similar, but as a mom I just couldn't choose a favorite.

My brussels sprouts are still alive and attempting to produce. Not too shabby since I started them from seed about 9 months ago. Every year I attempt to garden and every year I fail miserably at it. One of these days I'll figure it out.

12

Somehow this happened. 

She turned twelve. 

She asked for chocolate pie instead of cake. Not just any chocolate pie, a fantastic bittersweet pie topped with whipped creme fraiche.

This girls loves chocolate pie.

She was spoiled by many people. Among her treasures were birthstone jewelry from grandparents that she said was her very favorite thing.

The young women from church "kidnapped" her that night for an ice cream party. She had a blast and is so very excited to not be a part of the kids group anymore. It's always been my rule that makeup and heels had to wait until age 12, so this feels like a serious growing up milestone for her. She wore mascara to school on her birthday and felt so grown up. It's so fun to see her this excited.