Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Wednesday – in Alabama

Well, we made it ½ way are you still with me? I know it’s a long story with 757 photos! So I like stories and I like pictures – what can I say?

Alright, well Wednesday got really fun. We were pretty lazy most the day and then that afternoon we set out to go on a dolphin/nature cruise. We were a little early, so we stopped at this really cool park and let the kids play for a little bit. They ran and ran and ran…oh they were having a blast! Then we went to the location for the cruise and got all signed in and what not. Got on the boat and out we went, with about 30 other people and the Captain & his wife. They were really nice people. The dolphins were so used to his boat that they weren’t afraid of it, they would just come check it out, swim around it and everything! He said that there was about 25 of them out there and we probably saw ½ of them that afternoon. It was really difficult getting photos of them as they jump so quick! So as you look at these photos you may see a lot of “fin” and a lot of “water”. It was really neat though to see them in their own habitat and learn a little more about them. I’ve always loved dolphins. They are just so beautiful. It was really funny too because the Captain was trying to keep things “kid” friendly when he informed us that it was “mating” season so that the dolphins were “dancing”. I’m sure both my kids know what “mating” means, but I’m positive my daughter does, cause she looked at me, kind of laughed, and said, “he’s crazy”. Aka – “I know what mating means – I watch plenty of animal planet!” I just had to shake my head…what more could I do? Kids gotta love them…even when their just too smart!

After seeing the dolphins we kind of went back in the swampy area and saw some of the nature sides of things. We also stumbled upon a sad moment. There was something in the water and the Captain just had to know what it was…his curiosity was killing him, and so he said “bare with me but I have to know” rolled up his jeans (which did him no good) and got in that swamp! Walked over to it and it was a baby dolphin that had been hit by a boats propeller. It was sad, but it is part of life, you know. It’s all a cycle. And he left it there, I guess sometimes they bring them in for things, but he left it there because even though it was sad to lose a dolphin that dolphin will provide life for something else out there. You could tell that he was a little shaken by it, it really bothered him. He really cares about those dolphins…its more than just a job to him and that was neat to see. We couldn’t have chose a better Captain! When he got back on the boat he says time for some “happy music” and so he turned up Jimmy Buffett! It was great.

So the cruise was done and we were ready to leave and had to wait around because the last person to arrive (we were first) locked their keys in their van! So we all had to try to back out around them! It took a little bit but I was so glad it wasn’t us!

When we finally left we went back to the Park and let the kids run some more and David and I just chit-chatted a bit…it was nice. Then we decided to go find something to eat and get a picture of the Florida state sign (we were plenty close enough). Plus, David had a goal of getting a geo cache in each state we traveled through…and he did! Crazy man.

Florida we found was not all that welcoming – but we got what we needed, got out, and went back to our resort and crashed! Who would have thought 2 ½ hours on a boat could be so exhausting! We were all tired and I had to wake the kids up the next morning so that we could get them to the zoo on time for their very special surprise!

Check back tomorrow if you wanna know what it was!!!

~T~

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