Biscayne National Park & an Alligator Sanctuary!

We visited Biscayne National Park. Of course, we are considering this just our "introduction visit".  Most of Biscayne is over water, and you have to have a boat to get to a lot of it.  So, that will be the plan for our return visit, sometime! But, we went and got a good intro!  It is the largest marine national park.

 

 My favorite was watching HOW those 2 boys got up there....  

 
 
Aren't brothers the best?!
 
 
The Dante Fascell Visitor Center was right on the water!

 
 
These guys love ocean and animals, and Biscayne definitely offers that--
 
 
We had a nice walk along the water...

 
 
And enjoyed looking out on the water and the islands in the distance.  We could even see Miami (skyscrapers) in the distance!  They loved it!

 
 
Sierra wasn't quite tall enough, to see, but she was quick-thinking!
 
 
She and Daxton taking in all there was to see!
 
 
We then headed out biking, based on a recommendation we received. 
It wasn't quite what we expected, so we made our own way.
 
 
And we headed down to Bayfront Park.
 
 
 
 
Love these guys.


Our next stop was at Wooten's Animal Sanctuary and Alligator Park.  This was a surprise for the kids.
We got to see a demo and learn a lot about alligators!
And we met Charlie...
 
 
This crazy guy just went and sat on the back of Charlie, and told us all about alligators. 
 
 
With Charlie being fed, and him not eating much in the winter at all...it was what we call "safe".
So safe that the man opened up it's mouth big and wide, to show us all this teeth.
Nice. Fairly safe now...but he also told us how to get away from and outrun an alligator. Yikes!
 
 
But, the little alligators....they're pretty awesome.
 
 
And we all got to hold them!!
Jonnie went first. Stare-down:
 
 
And the kids each took a turn. And another, and another.... :)

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
There was a little baby alligator, too! 
 
 

 
They're super fun!

 
 
 
 
 
 
I got a turn, too! 
 
 
What an awesome day! The kids were SO excited!

Sierra couldn't get enough of all the alligator-holding! She wanted to hold them again and again!
Getting cuddly!

 
 
It was a highlight!
 
 
There were a number of other animals there to check out.
We also saw this Bengal Tiger...the biggest, plumpest, pudgiest tiger I've ever seen!
 
 
This thing was massive!!!
 
 
Some cooler weather is heading into the area...so apparently, the alligators will go looking for warmer weather.  Driving along the road, with the canal on the side, we saw a ton of alligators!  They were just hanging out in groups, of 6 or 3 or whatever...we just spotted them from the RV!! Crazy!
 
 
It was very fun.
That night, Daxton asked to share the Family Home Evening lesson.  He wanted to share what they had learned and down in Primary the day before...
And he gave a wonderful lesson on the symbols of Christmas.
He did such a great job!!

 We talked about a message we heard the other night, about the 3 levels of Christmas.
Level One--Santa Claus Christmas (focused on the fun)
Level Two--Silent Night Christmas (focused on the baby Jesus)
Level Three--Christ the Lord Christmas (focused on what He came to do, as the Savior)
And all three are good, but we are challenged to "level up this Christmas". Don't keep Jesus in the manger--He fulfilled His earthly mission and purpose, and is our Savior today and forever!

 Love this time of year!

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