More Photos...

Looks like this one had an encounter with an alligator at one point...and lived to tell the tale.

Kayaking with Tyler. We saw a manatee!

Slushies at sunset

Photo Sundries

A Break from Winter

We successfully escaped the cold (and yet another snow day) with a well timed getaway.

We tried to visit the Everglades today, but the rain seemed to be stationed right over the park. We did see a lot of birds along the way, between the raindrops. (Saw a spoonbill, Leah. Now for that burrowing owl!) We stopped to see some wood storks and spotted an alligator nearby. We were fortunate enough to watch him catch a turtle. He didn't manage to keep it, but it was fun watching him try.

A wet wood stork

Alligator with his catch

The turtle is belly up, with his head just behind the blade of grass at the front of the alligator's snout. One of his legs is sticking out to the side. The turtle managed to escape when the alligator changed his hold on him a few minutes later.

The weather back at our condo was very nice, though. Ron spent some time fishing...but didn't catch anything. We did see a couple small barracuda and some other fish. We also saw a rather large horseshoe crab this morning, but he was dead and floating in the water. Tyler and Grandpa went kayaking and saw 2 manatee, which I think is very cool. Danielle and Grandma went swimming, and I sat around taking pictures. We ended the day with a great dinner and some games. The rain was a little frustrating, but we ended up having a really nice day. And no one down here ever mentioned the "wind chill".

Snow Rollers

Weather conditions around here were just right to create snow rollers over night.

"A snow roller is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.
 
Unlike snowballs made by people, snow rollers are typically cylindrical in shape, and are often hollow since the inner layers, which are the first layers to form, are weak and thin compared to the outer layers and can easily be blown away, leaving what looks like a doughnut or Swiss roll."

Ron said he vaguely remembers seeing something like these when he was little, but I don't. They were pretty neat, and they were everywhere!

 

Today's Pic

Crazy bird lady tracks

Snow Fun

Today the temperatures climbed just a little (mid twenties) and it snowed. And the wind blew. And it snowed some more. And the wind blew the snow around. We got at least 3" of snow, maybe more. It's hard to tell because it's drifting so badly. We haven't had a chance to go sledding yet this winter, so we decided to try that today before the temperatures bottom out again. While it sounded like a great idea, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. The roads were patchy and snow squalls moved through as we were on our way. Between the snow covered roads and near white out conditions in some spots, we crawled along. But, we made it, we went sledding for awhile, and we safely made it home. (I'm thankful God continues to watch over us when we make choices that are not the brightest!)



 

 

Yes, he has a winter coat. He doesn't like how it feels. He was layered up and prepared to sit in the van if he got too cold, which he didn't. I do need to invest in snow boots next year, though.



Yep, she's trying to run into her brother.

Danielle seems to be coming down with something and started to not feel well, so we didn't stay too long. It was long enough to have a little fun and get our sledding fix for this winter, though. We are expecting another 2"-4" tomorrow and then the temperatures are supposed to bottom out. At one point next week the air temp is forecasted to be -13. Once the wind chill is factored in, we'll be back to -35 degrees. I certainly did not expect to be seeing those numbers again.

Fresh??

If you know where I live, you'll know why I find this so amusing. Not sure how there could possibly be "fresh" strawberries here at this time of the year. (The temperature this morning was -5 with a "feels like" temp of -15.) Obviously I must not define "fresh" the same way my local grocer does.