Kelly Park

A few weeks ago we finally made it to Kelly Park. I believe our first attempt to go here was 4th of July weekend but the park was already full so we had to go to Wekiva Springs instead. This time we got up early and were in the car line before the park even opened. Ten minutes before the park opened the car line was about a mile long with police directing traffic. One of the cops was going against traffic in his car getting a head count and giving everyone a ticket that they needed to proceed into the gate. I think the ticket was just to avoid cutters or maybe for a cutoff point, I'm not sure. After getting in the gate though the line continued up to the booth to pay. We ended up finally parking about 45-50 minutes after the park opened.

This has to be my favorite park, along with Kings Landing, which it connects to. For river float this is the place to go. For canoeing and wading in shallow water, Kings Landing. There's a lot of shade, so much that none of us even put on sunblock and in the 5 hours we were there no one burned. The river takes about 5-10 minutes to walk from the end at Kings Landing to the start of the run. The float takes about 20 minutes. My only compliant is that there's lots of people that think they need to blast their bongo music for everyone to hear. 

At the top of the run.

This is where everyone gets in. I should have just jumped in but instead I thought I could get on the tube without getting wet. It was kinda slippery on the rocks so I decided to put my phone in the waterproof case. Good thing I did because getting in I slipped, missed the tube, gashed my left foot on a rock, and went head under water. 

This is where the spring starts. They have the left side gated off.

The end of the run, right against the King's Landing. 

 

Gatorland

In early September we took the kids to Gatorland. Of course, Natalie thought it was going to be super lame and didn't want to go but she had a blast. I had been to Gatorland once, a long long time ago and I didn't remember too much about it but I knew the kids would have a good time and learn respect for our gators.

My back was killing me that day, and someone had to watch Dean, so I got Natalie and the other two kids zipline packages while Dean and I rode the train. The morning started off really hot and moist and by the end of the day it was just cloudy and moist. Probably not the best time of the year to go but they still had a lot of fun. Natalie was skeptical when I told her it's rated one of the best ziplines but I didn't hear any complaints afterwards. 

 

 

Natalie

Zach

Zach

Zach

Adri

Adri

After the train Dean wanted to find Adri. We were walking over the board walk with all the big gators while they were all ziplining.

In the afternoon we did some gator fishing. We bought 20 fish, put them on a line, and watched the gators jump.

They have a little aviary where you can buy sticks with bird food glued on them. We went in there and let the kids feed the birds. The birds were attacking Zach's shoes and my shoes, probably for grass seed.

The boys at the gator wrestling show. Adri did not want to get on a gator.

Chester has a nicer house than a lot of people.

This was on the train ride. Some sort of European deer. I don't know if they all have those sacks hanging from their throats or if this one has a tumor. Looks pretty nasty though.

This is Blondie, a rare yellow salty croc.

The last thing we did before leaving was watch the alligator jumparoo show. Really redneck but entertaining with lots of funny jokes.