What happened in January



January was SUCH a busy month - I'm still writing 2008 on everything!! I have some good pictures I want to share from January, even though February is almost halfway over. Just be aware that there are a LOT of pictures in this post! So here's what happened in January:



Nils finished up his soccer season, and I got to play with the settings on my camera to figure out how to take high-speed, low-light pictures:

It was very interesting being a "soccer mom." I am still in awe of how nasty some of the parents can be. God forbid a referee make a call against THEIR baby - I've never heard such name-calling!






We took a trip to South Florida for a trade show, and spent the long weekend exploring the Everglades as well. Mom and I added to our orchid collections:

Trade shows are great places to get cheap plants! Most of these orchids were only 5 or 6 dollars - if you don't "do" orchids, take a gander at how much they are in a garden center next time you're in one - that is CHEAP!



After the trade show we took Nils down to the Everglades, which was so much fun! Neither of us has been that far South in years, and it was like seeing it for the first time. On our way down we stopped at a rest stop, and I couldn't take my eyes off this Basset Hound and his boy. I want my kids to grow up having this kind of relationship with animals:

At another rest stop:

Looking at gators!!



I got to play with the exposure settings on my camera. These are actually car lights as they're driving by:

Of course I took a lot of Gator pictures:

We took the obligatory airboat ride through the sawgrass. It's been years since I've ridden in an airboat, and it was a lot of fun!

The scenery was beautiful, and I took a lot of bird pictures.

John Anderson's "Seminole Wind" kept running through my head. If you've ever heard it you know why.

Airplants!

Mangroves!

Birds!

Oh my!

The Airboat place also had an animal sanctuary, and Nils got to know a gator:

Mike got a kick out of this sign:

Do you know what a Swamp Buggy is? I didn't until I got to ride in one! It's basically a reeeeeeeeeeally tall, open-air vehicle that can't turn corners worth nothin'. But they give an interesting view, and some of my favorite pictures came from this ride.

I love this raccoon's face! Click to see his "WHAT?!?" face.

He posed for a few pictures, then decided he'd had enough.

One spidey-licious parting shot: