FL/AL in review

Most of these pics either T or I took. A couple of them my dad took and a few of them my SIL took. We had so many pics and they were all mixed up so I tried to put them in chronological order but it was really hard. Like I said before, the trip was great, the weather was great, the company was great. J had a whole bunch of "lost in translation" moments. I can only think of a few of them, of course. Oh, E had a couple too. Our favorite is when we were crossing a long series of bridges before we got to Mobile and she said, "Wait. I don't get it. Are we crossing a river the long way?" Cracked us all up. But on to J's. He kept referring to the river as the lake. He told us of some people two sites down from us who were making a ramp and that all they had left to do was "de handle bars". He meant the handrails. We always stop at Cracker Barrel and get a book on CD to listen to while we travel. He was asking if we were going to stop at "de wheel barrow." It took me a while to figure out what he meant. He also kept calling the seagulls, eagles. He had a couple of firsts when we met T's cousin for dinner at Olive Garden. He had calamari (which he liked-I still haven't found a meat he wouldn't eat) and a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Even though we were with a cousin, we decided that J could call him uncle. But he could never remember his name so he always called him "uncle...what's his name?" Here is J with uncle what's his name.

We started off in Mobile, AL with T's sister. We were able to park and set up our camper right at their place. It was so good to see them and visit with them. Her boys are great and the youngest was especially good with J. We went to the battleship park with them. This submarine was used in "Down Periscope" which is one of our favorite movies.

The USS Alabama. Apparently this ship was used in a movie too. A Steven Seagal movie "Under Siege."

Look at those guns. I was pretending to cover my ears.

T and I, J, E, A and N on the deck of the ship.

Has she spotted an enemy or is it "Land ho!"?

If it's enemies, J will take them out. That is, once he learns how to use the guns.

T's sister and nephew, D, from up on the upper platform.

N trying to sight in the guns.

D found something else picture worthy. Oh, random side bit. We were walking down the gangway and A and E came up on someone snapping a pic. They started to step away so the strangers could get their pic and they asked A and E to join their pic. Had their arms around the girls' shoulders just like they knew them. When they finished the pic I said with a smile to one of the guys, "Get your hand off my daughter." He turned around and smiled at me. It was one of those times where you say something jokingly but mean every word.

These two awesome pics were snapped by T's sister, M. I love them.

The cousins (and a friend) waiting for seagulls (or is it eagles?) to swoop down and snatch food out of their hands.

In the afternoon we went back and got M's hubby and went to a gator farm. Apparently the gators are just coming out of a dormant stage where they don't eat. A few of them were eating. And they were eating marshmallows. Who knew gators like marshmallows? J was the best at lobbing them over the fence to the gators.

This one is 55 years old. I had no idea their tails were so wide and long.

Nutty folks that we are, we discovered our shadows on the water and just had to pose and take pics.

And the kids who wanted to got to hold baby gators. A was first. The guide had just done something and made the baby gator turn it's head and surprised A. Oh, notice her sunburn. Dweeb.

Then it was D's turn.

And E's. The guide would tap the gator on it's nose and it would open it's mouth.

Then N's turn. J didn't want to hold it but he did touch it.

This is a 150yo gator snapping turtle. I wouldn't want to meet this thing in the water.

They had a couple of pet nutrias. Basically swamp rats. They gave me the creeps but I snapped this pic of one that I think is hysterical. Look at that face. Look at those teeth. The splayed toes and wild hair-do just cracks me up.

Monday was spent travelling to FL. Tuesday we went to the beach and had a nice time. I don't have any pics of that though. That was also the day we saw uncle what's his name. On Wed. we went to the river and paddled/pulled up river a ways to a spot where we dug for fossils. We found fossilized bones, wood and shark teeth. For some reason the girls had a mud fight. J thought about joining in but decided he wasn't up for the challenge. They plastered each other with mud and then complained about the smell.

I think J decided it was much safer just cheering them on.

Thursday we did a little shopping, went out for lunch and hung out at the pool. On Friday we went to the Lipizzan training barn. What a beautiful breed of horses. Do a google search on them.

They have very deep jawbones.

They did a "practice show" which is open to the public during training season. They tour in the summer.

They do a lot of dressage type moves and it's beautiful to watch.

They are most well known for their "airs above the ground" moves where they stand on their hind legs and jump or they kick out with their hind legs before the front hit the ground again. It's really quite awesome.

After that, T's uncle took us to "One of the top 5 weirdest restaurants in America".

We sat on the porch overlooking the water.

J ordered "al-lee-ga-tow and fwench fwies". Again, still haven't found a meat he wouldn't eat. And A ordered a burger. It was a big, fluffy burger. Everyone watched to see if she was going to get her mouth around it. No prob.

And this is part of what made it weird. There were stuffed animals all over. When E walked in and saw it she thought she might lose her appetite.

On Saturday we headed for Mrs. H's house and had a nice little visit with her. Got to see her daughter and two of her grand kids too. And Sunday we headed home. It was rainy but I had to snap this pic of the redbud trees. So pretty.

And then home where our animals were very glad to see us. Judging by the Misty fur in this chair, I'm guessing that's where she spent most of her time.

It's good to go but it's good to get back home.