April 7, 2009

Air Boats and Alligators


Skip's birthday was on Monday so as his surprise present I found a place that does Air Boat rides in the Everglades. We've been talking about doing this since we got here so I decided it was time to do it. It was really alot of fun. It was kinda scary being so close to the water with HUGE alligators not far away. There was a HUGE one right next to the boat when we were getting into it- and the guys kept saying be really careful getting into the boat!


It didn't help that Eric wanted to sit on the step right at the edge of the boat. He wasn't very happy with me that I made him sit on my lap for the ride. He did however really enjoy wearing the life vest.


After the air boat ride we got to walk around the park and look at all the different alligators. At one point the wood in the walkway was rotting and didn't feel very sturdy...not fun when you look down and this is what you see...


It was alot of fun. Lily loved being snuggled up to Skip the whole boat ride. They gave us toilet paper to stick in our ears because the fan was so loud- and of course Lily didn't want anything in her ears so Skip had one side of her head pressed up against his chest and his hand covering her other ear.


And of course being an alligator park there was an alligator they let people hold(for $3) We were just standing there looking and Eric slowly started getting closer so the guy bent down to let Eric touch it and before we knew it Eric was holding it. I was trying to get a picture of his face- it was a mix between wonder and terror but his hat was pulled down to far. But he did it- he held an alligator!


It was a great day! Happy Birthday Skip!

6 comments:

Alyse said...

oh my goodness! SOO fun! I would probably have a heart attack on one of the boat rides! Oh and that picture of the gator under the bridge, NO THANKS!!!!

Reggs said...

I don't think I could relax at all thinking about all those alligators waiting around to gobble up my family. Holding the baby alligator looked really cool! $3/person? that guy must be making BANK.

Annette said...

oh goodness.... air boat rides are the bomb! We loved the one we took. I told Mike we needed to take the kids on one... I loved how they zoomed around but sometimes they did make me feel like I was going to fall out. Which one did you go on? We hardly saw any gators... but then again we see gators a lot... so no loss ... I just wanted the boat to keep moving!

Tabs said...

What a fun Birthday! I went on one of those when I lived there and didn't see anything! I can't believe what a little man Eric is becoming! I'm glad Skip had such a great B-day and a wonderful wife that will plan things like this!

Faye said...

Sounds like a fun day! I give huge props to Eric for holding that alligator. I think I would slowly just walk away

Unknown said...

Oh Skip... You're old. Happy Birthday