Vacation: Monday-Wednesday April 13-15

First of all: today it is APRIL 15! That means, END OF TAX SEASON! Which means: I GET MY HUSBAND BACK!!! Just so you know, me very happy.

Monday, April 13:

We had planned on going to Orlando and Gatorland, but we changed our plan and decided to visit the very excellent Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. This is such a nice place, and it consistently gets voted the best family friendly zoo in the US.

We sure got to see a lot of animals and had a very nice day. Sarah was very happy, I got her a wrist band that allowed her unlimited rides. She went on the roller coaster 6 times, grinning from ear to ear. She and Carola also took a ride on a dromedary camel, and we all rode a sky ride over the park, soaring high in the sky.

As you can hear in the video clip, I was very chicken and kept thinking we were going to crash and die...

Sarah kept laughing at me and reassuring me we were not going to die. She said she was not scared, but her stomach was, but she liked the feeling. I think we have a little daredevil on our hands...

A white tiger taking a nap in the heat

You could feed the giraffes special giraffe crackers

This unusual looking animal was not discovered until 1900 and is called an Okapi

Sarah and Carola on a dromedary camel

A bald eagle perched on a branch

One of many colorful and exotic birds in the Asian bird section

We also got to pet some stingrays, as you can see in this video clip:

We had a lovely day at the zoo, but it was so hot we were really wrung out and tired when we finally got home.

Tuesday, April 14:

Our plans for this day got tossed out the window when the entire Tampa Bay area suddenly was under a tornado warning and a severe thunder storm stretched itself out over us. We had to wait a few hours before it was safe enough to leave the house, but the very heavy rain and the lightning continued on for the rest of the day. At least we got some much needed rain and then some! Unfortunately there were a few houses that were very damaged by the storm, we were very lucky here in Bradenton! The afternoon was spent shopping for the most part, my aunt and cousin still have plenty of money and space left in their suitcases... :-)

Wednesday, April 15:

Today we visited the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. There we were greeted by an abundance of colorful plants in all shapes, forms and colors. Below are some of the plants we got to see. We also did some shopping and had a great steak lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse in Sarasota, sooo good!

Elisabeth, Carola and I among the Banyan trees

An open pod from the cocoa tree

Last but not least, today was my second veggie pickup at Gamble Creek Farm. Our bounty was HUGE and this is all of the yummy produce we got: