Michael & Amanda and chicklets to call our own: Gatorland

Have you ever heard of Gator Boys? Like the TV show? Well, we lived awfully close to Orlando to pass up the opportunity to check out what these guys were all about. While we didn't actually get to meet the "gator boys" themselves, we did get a smokin deal on our tickets. We even splurged and got train tickets too.

This little guy was pretty fiesty. Good thing he had the tape on his mouth when the handler went to pick him up.

We got there just before it opened and there was already a huge line. And it was already hot. Nevertheless, we had a blast.

This is a saltwater crocodile. The sign reads "Saltwater crocs, like this one, are the largest living reptiles with reported lengths up to 23 feet and weighing around 3,000 pounds. They're mighty mean with real nasty attitudes, and they've been known to eat a lot of folks in Northern Australia, India, and Southeast Asia. They're called saltwater crocs, but they can also live in freshwater. And even though they live in saltwater, they don't taste salty, so please don't lick this fellar."

As soon as you walk in the front door, there's a small pool of about 20 small alligators. They were about the size of the road kill one we got to meet. There was a splash park, a play ground, the train, a "close encounters" show, gator wrestling, and a gator jumparoo show. The close encounters show was really fun, except the kids wouldn't sit still. The guys running the show pulled out a tarantula, pygmy rattlesnake, a boa constrictor, and a few other things that we could see right up close. They started with some of the things in boxes and they took the boxes into the crowd and set it by a couple ladies. Whoever was sitting by it had to open the container and potentially hold what was inside. One girl got the tarantula. Another lady got the rattlesnake but they didn't actually make her hold that one.

This alligator was all by himself. And he was HUGE! The sign says "This big fellar's name is Chester and he loved eating dogs in Tampa, FL. At 13 1/2 feet long and 1,000 pounds, he could put away some "hounds." We saved him from trappers who wanted to make a suitcase out of him. He don't get along real well with other gators, so he gets this cool bachelor pad and private pool."

In the gator jumparoo show they tied pieces of chickens to strings and dangled them into the pits of alligators to see who could jump the highest to eat the chicken.

While walking to another exhibit after we watched the close encounters show, a duck walked out from a pond and right into our path. Ivan yelled as loud as he could, "There's a duck in my way!" He was very excited to see the duck and wanted to pet it. We've been trying to teach boundaries and safe ways to watch wildlife since some of the animals we come close to can be dangerous. Ivan did pretty good at listening but it's a dang good thing we had Charlotte in the stroller so she couldn't jump on the duck. She does this scrunchy finger thing and tried so hard to grab onto the duck. It's pretty cute.

"There's a duck in my way!"

After a while we all got pretty tired of walking around. We got a slushy, which we wouldn't normally spend the extra money on a drink from the super expensive cafes at places, but it was much needed. Not only was it ice cold but it was extra sugary so we could all get a little energy back.

Our plan after that was to ride the train then go to the splash park to cool off. We ended up enjoying the walk to the train a little too much. There were so many cool birds nesting with chicks in the rookery across the little pond that we spent a ton of time taking pictures and watching the birds. There were alligators in the water fighting each other too. It was awesome.

A tricolored heron.

Baby great egrets. Man were they noisy!

Adult cattle egret with two babies. During mating and nesting seasons, these egrets get all that orange on them, the rest of the time they're pretty white. And they have these little afros where they make the feathers on their heads stand up.

When we finally got to the train I could barely move. And I couldn't believe the line! We only had to wait about a half hour but it seemed like forever in that heat. Then the train was fun for about 2 minutes and then the kids were done sitting. Go figure.

This is Michael trying to contain Charlotte. She was tired of being cooped up.

We got to see this guy right after we got off the train. This is a Florida panther, a cousin to the mountain lion out west. And they are endangered. The last time I had Ivan stand in front of a mountain lion was at Brenda's graduation, over a year ago. Ivan was months away from being 2 and Charlotte was still just so little. Ah, the memories.

And when we were done with the train we were just done. It was well past nap time and still about an hour drive home.

This snake was moving around a bunch and sticking out his tongue, you know, like snakes do. Ivan thought it was awesome. He kept doing that for the rest of the day and saying he was a snake.