Two weeks in Kissimmee

Yesterday I went to Disney World's Animal Kingdom with grand-daughter Megan and her friend Melissa, and today, after church, we all went to Gatorland.  I took about a kazillion pictures on those 2 days, but of course, have been unable to get to them yet, so we'll just look at pictures from the last couple of weeks for now.  Anna and Rylee, I hope you will enjoy the pictures and maybe even learn a little something. First, I will show you some pictures from around Celebration, a small town where we do a lot of biking. 

 This little Snowy Egret was having a lot to say for himself.......

.....as was this noisy Limpkin.  The Limpkin likes to dig around at the water's edge to find shells.  He must have a very strong beak, because he pries the shell open and eats what is inside! 

 Anna and Rylee, you both live on the street right behind me, so I am quite sure that you have squirrels in your back yard as well.  The squirrels here are much smaller than ours! 

 
Do you remember the Anhinga?  Why does he sit in the sun with his wings outstretched like this? 

This big ugly/beautiful bird is called a Wood Stork.  Why do you think he is called that? 

The Great Blue Heron is quite a regal and pretty bird, and very graceful when he flies. 

 We have not seen very many alligators yet this year, probably because it has not been very warm.  This big fellow was out on one particularly warm and sunny day. 

There are lots of plants and flowers that grow beside the many ponds, lakes, and waterways in Florida, but this is by far my favorite! 

This little bird flits from bush to bush and is hard to catch in a photo.  He is called a Yellow-rumped Warbler. 

There are a LOT of Muscovy ducks around here, and this one has some young ones with her.  They seemed awfully big to have fluff instead of feathers! 

 

The hibiscus is another beautiful flower that we see here a lot. 

And yet another alligator. 

Often when we go biking in Celebration, we stop for a picnic lunch.  Sometimes, we are lucky to be able to sit in the rocking chairs by the lake and read for awhile. 

One day, while biking by the lake, my front wheel got caught in a wide crack in the sidewalk, and I took a header!  I was able to ride on home, but I must admit, it slowed me down for a few days. 

We always see a lot of Boat-tailed Grackles when we sit by the lake in the rocking chairs.  This is a female, who has quite a bit of brown on her.  She was getting a drink of water.  

And this is the male, who is a shiny black in colour, and quite a bit bigger than the female. He is enjoying a bath in the lake!  Could you girls try googling Boat-tailed Grackle and learn one thing more about them? 

This was a tiny little alligator, and I probably would not have seen it if some people were not stopped looking at it. 

This fellow was painting a lovely picture of the bridge in the distance at Celebration. 

Anna and Rylee, I think you would both enjoy cooling off in this "fountain" in downtown Celebration! 

Our Grand-daughter, Megan (right) and a friend, Melissa, came to spend a week with us in Kissimmee.  Here they are at the airport.  Megan is taking a year off after high school, and is working in a Disney store in Edmonton, where she lives, and was able to get 10 park-hopper passes for Disney World, so she and Melissa were able to spend 5 days at Disney parks!  Weren't they lucky? 

 
One day, while they were at a park, Paul and I went to Disney Springs, formerly called Downtown Disney.  In the Christmas store, I found a display of Dalmatian puppies, and you know how much I love dalmatians! 

 Paul was quite taken with these amphibian cars.  Anna and Rylee, I would like you to see if you can find out what an amphibian car is. 

This was another thing that I found fascinating.  It is a saucer-shaped hydroplane, built in 1966, and  is powered by a 40 horse-power outboard motor.  It can pull a water-skier at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.  There is no steering wheel, and is steered by the driver standing up, holding the rail, and leaning in the direction he wants to go!  Sounds to me like an accident looking for a place to happen! 

 
 I was sitting on the knee of Irishman Patrick Kavanagh, a poet who wrote the poem, On Raglan Road in Dublin, Ireland.  The bench and the figure, along with his hat on the bench, were made of bronze, and he was very shiny in places, which means a LOT of people have sat on his knee!  He is sitting outside an Irish restaurant called Raglan Road in Disney Springs. 

There is a Lego store in Disney Springs that has several life-sized Lego works of art outside of it.  This one is by far my very favorite!  It is huge, and right in the water.

Well that's it for now, girls.  You have a few things to find out and answer in your books.  Good luck!  Until next week.......