It's Nesting Season again at Gatorland!

There have been record numbers of photographers at Gatorland the past couple of weeks to see all of the wading bird hatchlings on their amazing breeding marsh. It's truly an incredible sight - these birds are able to nest at eye height since the gators keep their typical predators at bay. You can see up close how they look after their precious eggs and chicks. I've been banging on about how much I love this time of the year so Alex came over to see the bird nesting action too which was a double treat:)

The gators are so well fed that the birds don't have to worry about them at all:)

We even saw a male emu turning his eggs!

I love feeding the goats in return for selfies...

Those chicks are so cute!

And we saw the deer being fed too...

It wasn't too hot and we had a perfect day - thanks for coming Alex!

C-Ponies!

For our girls' weekend this time, Alex and I decided to try out C-Ponies - a beach horse ride and swim experience in the St Pete/Tampa Bay area.We did the first ride of the day so the Drum and Gypsy Vanner horses were still having breakfast when we arrived. It was nice to get to know them a little beforehand, they were all so beautiful and sweet-natured:).  We started out the experience with a short ride on the beach which helped to calm my nerves a bit...

Then we went out into the water, The weather was perfect and the view was so beautiful (that's the Sunshine Skyway in the background). It was fun to pass people on the beaches and boats in the water and watch their reaction!

My horse, Ariel, was just perfect - she went slowly for me and I felt safe with her the whole time. I loved her:)

After about 20-30 minutes, the instructor prepared us a little and then the horses actually started to swim! It was so wild!

It's such a lovely experience but tough to describe - so here is some video to give you a better idea:

After the swimming we posed for some photos. Alex was so brave - she did the stand!

This was my favorite shot of the day:)

It was so amazing - we both had a fantastic time! Afterwards we headed out to Gulfport Beach for lunch and to stretch our legs. It's a quirky, pretty little town...

We found out there was a "Faeirie Festival" in town so we had to know if there are adults that dress as fairies for fun. Apparently there are. Lots...

Bizarre - and it wasn't a small event either...

We rounded off the day with quality time with wine and Santi...

It was a perfect weekend - thank you so much Alex, I can't wait for our next adventure!