Next Tuesday our homeschool group is having a science fair. Ashton is making a solar hot dog cooker. Indy is doing an earthworm habitat and display. And, Levi is collecting rocks. We have some from our back yard and some from the beach the other day. Today while Savannah was at shooting, I took the boys out to the Everglades to get some glades rocks. (How different all these rocks are is relative, but hey, he's 3. lol) Anyway, while we drove on a back road in the glades, we saw lots and lots of alligators, all different sizes.

See, people think the Everglades is just a big swamp with no changes, but that is totally untrue. This is still our dry season, actually toward the end of it. Rainy season begins around June. So, right now, since our rain has been so scarce, a LOT of the land is dry, very dry. This causes all the animals to congregate around the few watering holes (or more appropriately alligator holes) left. The water is usually fairly shallow and muddy, but it's water. Along the paved roads running through the glades are several canals, which always hold water, so this time of year there are lots of alligators up near the roads. This is great for tourists to be able to see alligators up close, and even from the comfort of their air conditioned cars. Anyhoo, we were driving along this road, beside a ditch canal looking for a buggy trail off the main road on which to look for rocks.

At one spot on the main road, there was a good view of a little pond-ish area of a canal and we got a good view of several smaller alligators and one larger one (probably mom...no we didn't' get out. lol). In this pond we saw the coolest thing and of course, I didn't have my camera! Argh! It was a 3 foot alligator on a log, down to where his tail began. The tail was in the water. But, the cool thing was that his head was just plopped down on the log and just 8 inches from his big mouth was a turtle, facing him, legs splayed out sunning himself. They looked like they were just staring at each other. It was so cool and I've never seen that before. I've seen them close, but never face to face like that. I was so bummed I didn't have the camera because it would have made a really cool picture, with the cypress trees in the water in the background. I asked Indy to draw it in his nature journal and when he does, I'll take a picture of that to show you. Of course it won't be the same, but it will be interesting to see his perspective.

Ok, so yes, we finally found some rocks. We found a buggy trail that was all dried up and we walked out about 50 - 75 yards or so and found a few. We also found lots of sticks...big surprise....and some empty shells. But, the thing I loved the best, was just standing there amongst the trees and listening to the wind through the treetops. It is so peaceful. I wish you could be there, too. And, believe it or not, the Everglades also has seasons. Yes, it's true. True, some trees are green all year, but many are not, especially cypress trees. They lose their leaves (needles) in winter, which is why they're called bald cypress. But, now, in spring, the leaves are all starting to come back and they are such a vibrant green. It's so beautiful. Also, since there was no water on the buggy trail, I was able to show Indy and Levi the water lines on the trees. Once the rains come, that buggy trail will be about 2 feet underwater, according to the water lines. Indy thought that was something because it came up to his tummy!!

Well, I guess that's it for now. Just wanted to share our fun time in the (dry) swamp. And, I'm still getting to the pictures from my mom's visit. It's just too hard to find time to get on the computer to actually spend some time. I have way too much to do. Sorry. But, I'll keep it in my mind and try to get to it in the next few days. Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Mylinda :-)