We ended up leaving Florida on Wednesday instead of Saturday, because Steve's bank assignment finished early, but our final adventure was an airboat tour that travels on Myakka Lake and lets you look at alligators and wildlife.
The only airboats we've seen recently were the ones on the TV show, Swamp People, and those are 2-person boats that seem to fly across the water! I knew our boats would be a little bigger, but I still expected them to be fast! Steve and I figured that, even if the girls got a little restless, the speed and sounds would distract them.
Ummm. Not quite what we expected. The boat sat about 50 people and only went a top speed of 6 MPH. Yep, 6. It was a hot, humid Florida morning, Evelyn hadn't had a nap yet, and you weren't allowed to walk around on the boat once the tour started. About ten minutes into the HOUR-LONG TOUR, Evelyn had decided that she'd had enough. It was like being stuck on a plane with a crying baby - you're miserable, the baby is miserable, you know that everyone around you is miserable, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
The tour itself would have been fine if we hadn't had a hot, cranky baby with us. Except for a quick sidenote...what is it about Park Rangers that they seem to take themselves WAY too seriously? Our tour boat driver, "Captain Bob", narrated the entire tour and was definitely a little annoyed that Evelyn was struggling to cooperate. It's not like she screamed the entire time, but she definitely had her moments. I wanted to look at him and say, "Sir, relax. The alligators on this side of the lake are the exact same as the ones on the other side of the lake."
Our ride. Luckily, Bella's too young to be annoyed by things like humidity, and she loved it!
Captain Bob's spot
Waiting to get on...
Keeping cool with tea and iced coffee. Bella decided she liked Papa's coffee drinks this week!
On the front row and ready to roll! Look at those faces, so happy and naïve!
The alligators got up close and personal!
Despite less than ideal conditions for kids, it really was a beautiful day! We got some great pictures of all of the wonderful creation around us!
Aaaand this was the moment when I was just praying that the boat would accidentally run aground so that we could magically end the tour early!
It's a good thing the little human loves alligators, because she got to see a ton of them!
Pink ibises. We learned that these are the only birds that are natural to Florida.
As soon as we got Evelyn into her seat, she crashed. She was so limp that Mimi took pity on her and held her head up.
In Bella's mind, the only way to top alligators and water is with fries and Coke! I think mom and dad might try and go on the tour again without crying babies so they actually get to enjoy it and focus on the nature around them. Good luck!
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