I've Got Some Ocean Front Property....

FIELD TRIP: Part Two

After our visit to Wakulla Springs, we ran down to St. Marks. As many times as I have been to St. Marks, I have never visited the lighthouse or the wildlife refuge. Let me preface this by saying, it is absolutely beautiful. I can see many summer afternoons with the pooches walking and taking in the beautiful scenery. Especially since the company that my husband works for owns a plantation only about 15 minutes up the road, and he is usually there at least 2 Saturdays a month. Perfect! There are trails for walking, hiking, biking, horseback riding. You name it. Take your boat, and go fishing in the bay. Or just take your fishing pole and fish in the many estuaries there. If you have ever been to the State Park at St. George Island, it reminded me a lot of the scenery on the bay side of the park. Sorry, just no beaches to enjoy with the masses, but I like that. I generally HATE tourists. Maybe thats just a Florida thing.

Anyways, here are some pictures that Stacey took. We switched picture taking, since my arm was still hurting from holding up the camera so long on the boat ride at Wakulla! I am trying to convince her to buy a camera like mine so we can share lenses. Keep your fingers crossed, but I doubt it!

And because Stacey is so obsessed with an alligator doing a death-roll on unknowing prey, I made her take a picture of this:

Too bad those dozen or so alligators we saw at Wakulla Springs weren't hungry so she could see it first hand.

State parks can be a gem, if you know that they are there. What parks do you have around your area (or local-only knowledge) of beautiful places to visit? I would love to hear about them!! Stacey and I are going to try and visit a local park/attraction at least once a month. Hopefully we can find places just as beautiful!

A Little Field Trip to See the Creature From the Black Lagoon....

.....ok not really. But close enough, since Stacey and I went to the place where it was filmed (and Tarzan, too). None other than Wakulla Springs. Granted, I haven't been to Wakulla Springs since a field trip in elementary school, so it was great to go visit as an adult. Plus, it was great to spend some time in my native lands and get out of the GA for a little bit. Sadly, the water at Wakulla Springs has gradually become darker and darker, and not the clear blue it once was year round, therefore no glassbottom boat ride. However, the regular boat ride was just as great! Although, for some reason I, of all people, made me some little friends. It really put a damper on my ride, since my personal space/bubble was WAY over-invaded.

Disclaimer: I love children and I know how they can be. Believe me, I do. They are sweet, little curious things, but if I don't know or are related to them, I really don't need them all up in my face. With that said, here is the boat that we took.

And of course, Stacey getting ready for the ride!

If you can tell we are on benches. And of course, on the bench behind me contains two little girls. Who thought I was their new BFF. This girl practically was hanging off my neck. If I turned my head, I could probably kiss her by accident. Um, yeah. Your kid is cute, but how about keeping them off the stranger. Yeah, thanks. So the whole trip, I was having to carry on a conversation with this little girl, all the while, her little sister tapping on my shoulder telling me what to take a picture of. Babysitting was just not what I was in the mood for, but I went with it because I didn't want to hurt the little girl's feelings. Oh well..... NOTE TO SELF: one day you will have a child like that, so don't complain too much. The little girl could be quite comical though. Everything ended with a big sigh, like "ugh, I want to go over there." "Ugh, I already saw a bird, ugh."

We got to see all kinds of good creatures. Everything from egrets, herons, ducks, turtles, alligators, and manatees. I even practically stepped on a snake trying to board the boat ride. Um, yeah. It didn't look like a harmless water snake to me. It looked more like a water mocassin. But what do I know?

Just take a look at these pictures.

That one underwater picture is of a manatee. Turns out they have found the spring and are frequent visitors to it. How exciting!

If you are ever in the Tallahassee area, you should go check this place out. Especially if you have children. They would love it. I know that a lot of people vacation in St. George Island, and its not a bad drive from there either. Maybe an hour and a half, give or take. Wakulla Springs offers a lodge and restaurant.

A little history, first with "Old Joe" the alligator and of course, the Wooly Mammoth that was extracted from the spring. The bones can be seen at the museum in Tallahassee. Think it is the Natural History Museum, but not sure.

And just for fun, here is Stacey pointing at the stuffed bird saying that it will peck your eyes out.

Here we are posing with the sign about Henry the Fish.

Great place, lots to do. Would be great for children in the summer. They have a roped off area where kids can play in the shallow part of the spring.

Tomorrow I will post about the St. Marks Refuge that we also visited.

Wedding Photoshoot Part Deuce

I got some more pictures in from the wedding photoshoot that Joseph and I did. Again, I have to say that it was a lot of fun and we both had a great time. Joseph tries to be all modest. When I first told him about the shoot, he said that he was not good-looking enough to be a model. I told him that was pretty funny coming out of his mouth because about 15 minutes prior to that he was in the bathroom standing in front of the mirror. He then told me that God must have really known what he was doing when he created him, because he was a stud. Modesty? Yeah, Joseph doesn't possess that!

These photographs were taken by Johanna Lakin. You can check her out on her website: http://www.johannalakin.com/. She is a super sweet girl and takes some amazing photos!

So, thanks Johanna for the great pictures.

And because I didn't publish any of Ursula's pictures directly on the blog, let me share some of those as well. (http://www.ursulapagephotography.com/)

Tired of looking at me and Joseph yet? And because you haven't had enough, you can always check out one of my previous posts, to see what we looked like 2.5 years ago at our actual wedding. You will notice, I had a tan, and wasn't as fat! I like how Joseph looks just the same. Men. UH!

Anniversary Post

The Diapered Dachshunds?

As you saw on my last post, I have a slight problem with the wee ones. (get it?) So today, I decided to take action. I'm thinking that if they understand that when they are inside, so should their little pee pees. Hence, no pee pee from the pee pee. So I bought some doggie diapers. It is pretty hilarious. The poor babies had no idea what was coming. Take JR, he refused to move.

Then there is Brutus. The main culprit. He is sitting by their gate, and if you look close you can also see the destruction they caused to their gate. They are major escape artists, so after they chewed through their gate, we had to repair it with coat hangers from the cleaners. Ha ha!

So these Diapered Dapper Darlings are being treated like the babies they are. Granted, the diapers didn't stay on very long because I couldn't stand them acting all weird and sad. Round one won by the puppies!! Anybody else out there have to experience this? Let me know if you have and what you did about it.