A Kayaking Adventure in Central Florida...

After our visit to the Alligator Farm and dinner at the beach, it was time to head to Gainesville for a few nights with Vivynne and family. Our big adventure was a 4-hour kayaking trip down the Santa Fe River. Tony had to work, so he missed out on all of the excitement.

The first half of the trip was actually very calm. We had a picnic before we hit the water. We had one metal canoe, one double kayak and three single kayaks. There were no rapids or even a current; there also weren’t any signs of alligators, but we did see a lot of turtles. Part of the river was wild and part had houses along the banks. We laughed when we saw this sign: Trespassers will be hogtied and told they have a purty mouth.

Zipping over the Gators...

It was impossible to capture what they were zipping over, but they assured me that they were going over a lot of behind-the-scenes enclosures with small gators and crocs (they would have had to sign up for the longer tour to go over the main enclosure with the giant gators). Clearly I’m the only chicken in this family!

Crocodile Crossing...

When the girls heard that there was a high ropes course over the enclosures at the Alligator Farm, that couldn’t wait to sign up. Unfortunately, Johnny had to leave for a sailing regatta and Jimmy was too short, so the girls had to go without their cousins. Of course, their dad went along, but their mom stayed on the ground to take photos.

Alligator Farm...

Yet again, we expected the Alligator Farm to be cheesy and it wasn’t. Debbie and Jimmy arrived to join us in time to see big Jimmy and the girls zipping along. Then we went to see the rest of the park,  included a feeding demonstration in the main enclosure (the caretaker is about to toss a rat in a gator’s mouth with just a stick to protect her).

The Fountain of Youth..

 I often joke that the Fountain of Youth is all that rain we get in the Netherlands that helps wash away the years. But, we all know that the real Fountain of Youth was discovered by Ponce de Leon in Florida in 1513. Jimmy remembered visiting the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park as a child, so thought it would be fun to show the girls. We were expecting it to be cheesy, but it was actually pretty cool. We started with a drink from the legendary fountain, which smelled like sulfur and tasted horrible; hope it was worth it considering there’s no evidence that the fountain was even in St. Augustine.

Then we saw a planetarium show and a cool multimedia show before exploring the grounds. Afterwards, we walked around the historic district and saw America’s oldest wooden schoolhouse built in 1716.

Jimmy’s Family...

It wasn’t easy getting everyone ready and smiling at the same time, but we did it twice. And thanks to Jimmy’s advanced abilities with Photoshop, the photo on the beach wasn’t completely washed out as the sun was actually rather harsh by the time this was shot.

Family Portraits...

 Jimmy and his girls!

 Jimmy’s sister Debbie and her boys: John, Johnny and Jimmy

 The cousins! Veronica is the oldest at almost 14 and James is the youngest at 1 3/4.  Notice that all the boys’ names start with J’s.

Brother Joe with Shannon, Arden, Jack and James

Brother John with Lara, Justice, Joseph and Jacob