Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Jackson's Surprise 10th Birthday Trip ~ Part 1

Last Thursday night our three children went to bed thinking they had to get up and go to school the next day!

Well...

We woke them up at 5:45 am and told them that they had 30 minutes to get ready and pack so we could head to the airport.

naples sign

We flew straight to Ft. Myers FL, and then drove down to Marco Island for the weekend.

Jackson is our camo-wearing, nature-loving boy so we did a half day tour of the Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve.

airboats

We took an hour airboat ride through the mangrove jungle, and it was really quite entertaining.
mangrove wide

turn

The mangrove trees are also called walking trees.  It looks like they are standing up on legs.

walking roots

airboat in water

jack again

I think Jackson had a great time.

We saw many native and migratory birds including the Great Blue Heron.
blue heron

Blue Crabs
crabs

blue crab web

Raccoons...
raccons

And of course, alligators.
big gator

gator

The day that we did the airboat tour was also the starting day of the Python Challenge in the Everglades.  We did not see any Burmese Pythons or hunters, however.


3 comments:

Jodee said...

Oh my word! What a blast! Surprise trips are the best! Cute pictures!

Dawn Garlow said...

Super fun times!! You took some great pics! I love the blue crab picture!!

abby's mom said...

Wow!! You should write a brochure as a tour guide! Love the photos! I really like the trees, crabs and the raccoon! I am happy you did not see any pythons!! Too creepy!

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