Pablo the Posing Pelican!

Six Mile Cypress Slough!

Today we visited the Six Mile CYpress Slough, it's only a short 10 minute drive from our house, and it provides great entertainment for everyone in our family.  We have gone many times, and you never know what you'll see.  Parking is only $1 per hour (and you really only need 1 hour to explore it).

Here are some of today's highlights!

The entire walk is on a boardwalk so you are safe from the wildlife, but close enough to enjoy it :) 

Fire & Water!

We FINALLY got some rain last night, and it seems as though all the plants & flowers are on fire! 

Corkscrew Swamp!

3-4 years ago, my husband and I got it into our heads that we were going to leave the busy city life of Baltimore, Maryland, and move to Florida.  In the beginning it was just sort of a relief from all the icky cold weather up there, and a romantic dream to spend our life in the sun with a margarita in each hand :).  The sun is all good and we do love the beaches and the nice weather, but an added bonus has certainly been the proximity to amazing wild life and breath taking vegetation.  I must say I was pretty naive about moving to Florida.  I though "Great, I can wear flip flops all year 'round, let's do it".  And shorts and flip flops is all well and good but I never realized what a rich wildlife I would come to experience.  Only a 30 minute drive from our house is the Corkscrew Swam Sanctuary, where you have an amazing opportunity to see loads and loads of wildlife.  Of course it's a bit like "a box o' chocolate", because you never know what you're gonna get :). 

We have a been a couple of times and have really enjoyed it!  I guess the best time to go is early morning because you might also see some Loud Mouths (tourists) who will scare away any wild life within a 100 mile radius. 

You also need to bring bug spray, because the deer flies are pretty darn annoying! 
Other than that it's a great place to experience some pretty awesome Florida wildlife! 

When life gives you citrus...

Cirkus Schrader!

And then they bloom!

Buds!

The Crooked Garden!

Today i took the kids to visit The Crooked Garden, it's only a 5 minute drive from our house, and the Pelican Preserve has graciously extended an invitation to all the residents of Botanica Lakes to come have a look.  You have to check in with the security guard and he/she will give you a map of the development.  It was very easy to find and we had a great time!  It's pretty small so I doubt that we spent more than an hour in the garden itself. 

Here are some pictures from today!

A Trip To Sun Splash!

Yesterday I took the kids to a waterpark in cape Coral named Sun Splash, you can find more information here.  We arrived right when they opened which I think ended up being a good things as the park filled up quickly!  Our party consisted of myself and 3 kids, and because my youngest has turned 2 I had to pay full price for him (ouch).  At the entrance it clearly states "No outside food and drink" and when they went through (yes, you read that right!!) my diaper bag they discovered some packs of goldfish that I had brought for my son to snack on.  Well, shame on me!!  I had to take all three kids and put the contrabands (!!) back in the car, only to have my bags searched at the gate again.  Luckily the second time I passed!  Phew! 
The entrance fee struck me as a bit steep, the grand total for the 4 of us was $70, plus $5 for parking.  Then a couple of hours later we HAD to buy lunch, because let's face it you can't spend a day at a waterpark without eating.  So that ended up costing another $25 and let me tell you, the menu was extremely limited, only consisting of a choice of hamburgers and French fries, cheese pizza, chicken ceasar salad (or wraps) or chicken nuggets.  the portions were very small and everything was dry and stale.  Trust me I don't come to a waterpark and experience a culinary sensation, but if you MAKE me buy your food at least make it something nice, fresh and plentiful!  (The grand total for our visit came to about $120, because of course you also need to get ice cream and other treats! a bit much for a trip to a small water park in Cape Coral, when we could go to Adventure Island, Tampa for not much more money but get to play in a bigger & better park). 

My next issue was with my youngest daughter being 47.5 inches or 48.4 inches tall (depending on who was measuring her at the time) so some slides she ended up being able to go on several times (because they told her that she was indeed tall enough) only to be measured by a different person and told that she was too small and was then turned away. 

There is an area for toddlers called the "Tot spot" and that's all great but the park is made for older kids and adults so next time I probably won't bring my 2 year old, just so that I too can have some more fun :). 

Except for these small annoying things we did have a great time and the kids really enjoyed themselves, and the staff was courteous and the park is clean and well-planned out.  I was just left with a bitter taste in my mouth because it seemed like they were sucking out every single dollar that they could from everyone.  Im not even worried about the money per se but it just seemed to obvious.  I know all the theme parks are out to make mulas and that's all great but at least at Busch Gardens & Disney it's not so "in yo face". 

Here are a few pictures from our Sun Splashy Day!

I absolutely love to paint and I have been doing it for as long as I can remember.  Lately of course it turned into a business and I love that I am able to make some money while staying home with my children.  Unfortunately though the business takes up so much time that I rarely ever have time to just "play" with the paint anymore.  Trust me I am not complaining, I am grateful for every single order and my own "doodleing" can wait!  However last night I got to "play" and here is what I came up with!  A friend showed me this picture, ehich I really like, and I thought "I can do that" :)

Here is my version.  I realize they are not exactly the same but after a while I stopped looking at the original and just did my "thing". 



A trip to the Home Depot!

I try to stay away from the Home Depot and all the places that I know have a nursery, because I know once I walk in I WILL buy stuff and never just one thing.  And really, what's the harm, I mean I can stop whenever I want :) 
Here are SOME of the stuff I got ( I also got a palm tree etc etc :))