Gator Country

We headed south to Fort Myers for a winter break the first week of February.  The weather was gorgeous, we did a ton of cool activities and one of our kids learned to swim!  Overall the trip was fantastic, we can't thank Grandma and Grandpa enough for having us.

The kids did well on the flights, Mia got her own seat this year and she loved looking out the window. 

Despite the fact that we arrived around bed time and the kids hadn't eaten dinner yet, Mia wanted to swim the second we arrived at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  We didn't even have time to unpack swim suits.   

The water was super warm, thanks to Grandpa cranking the heat for us.

One of the first days we were there we went to the park with the endless play equipment.  We did lots of climbing, sliding, swinging and balancing.

We also did lots of lizard hunting.

The second day we took a really cool air boat ride in the Everglades.  This ride did not disappoint, we came face to face with many gators as well as some furry friends.  Captain Dennis took us out in the swamp and he seemed very at home.  I appreciated his expertise but not his fearlessness to get up close and personal with the gators.

While Captain Dennis was getting our boat ready, the kids hung out with this baby gator.

Ready for the ride!

We found some gators right away.  So creepy this close up!

We also ran into these guys - they knew from the sound of the boat and the shake of the "treat jar" that they were getting something to eat.

A view of what the "islands" look like in the Everglades.  Basically a bunch of trees coming out of the water.

At one point we passed a big gator swimming the away from us.  Captain Dennis thought it would be a great idea to stop the boat and put his hand in the water to entice the gator to come back around.  It worked!  As he slowly and methodically turned around to see what was splashing in the water, I asked Dennis what the alligator thought his hand might be.  Dennis responded "he thinks it's my hand and he wants to eat me."  Oh, right!  Despite this, Dennis kept his hand splashing around, just chatting with us like nothing was hunting him.  Only when the gator came up right next to us (I could have touched his head) and then submerged under water did Dennis pull his hand out.  I was clutching Mia so tight she probably couldn't breath.

Here is our gator friend slowing turning around to check us out.

Hello!  Say cheese.

And here he is going under, incredibly creepy.  This is where Dennis pulled up and said, "they attack after they go under."

Not only did we act as gator bait, but Dennis really got our boat going fast at times.  I've never been on an air boat before and it really does feel like you are floating on the air vs. on the water.  It was a very thrilling ride from start to finish.  We highly recommend it to anyone who wants some fun in the swamps.

The rest of the trip we spent at the pools and on the golf course (both mini and big).

As I mentioned, one of our kids learned to swim on this trip!  It wasn't the one we had originally thought might swim, but it doesn't surprise me that Mia seems to be the fish of the family.  Carter enjoyed the pool too, just not any type of lesson or the deep end or putting his head under...he did however enjoy using the swimmies and playing around the shallow end. 

Playing around at the big pool.

Most days we stuck around Grandma's pool.  The kids got in after breakfast and didn't stop until bed time.

Swimming!

Cheering on Grandpa and Daddy on hole 3.

We also had fun playing mini-golf!

We had a fantastic trip and are so grateful for everything Grandma and Grandpa did for us.  We really miss them and can't wait to see them in the summer!