Second Day in Florida with Grandpa Marvin 1/11/2014

On January 11, 2014 Scott, Grandpa and Glen Sullivan went on an 

all day tour of the Church farm. It is 18 miles wide and 28 miles long!

They visited the BIG shell pit where shells are mined.

Grandpa looks the map over to see where he wants to visit next. 

Grandpa is near one of the many cypress groves on the farm with
the amazing cypress knees. This one is right behind the office.

This little gator lives across from the Cypress grove.

He is sunning himself on the bank.

Ponds, marshes, cypress groves, wild pigs, gators, undeveloped 

jungle, and the St. John's river  are part of the farm's assets.

This trail is behind the citrus grove and leads to the youth camp.

This is at Penniwah  in route to the youth camp.

Grandpa picking his own orange from the citrus grove.

Grandpa at the rodeo grounds where the annual rodeo is held.

They are putting in a new water line from the trench and pipe.

These are  part of the obstacle course at the Youth Camp.

This Pavilion is at Trout Lake.

Grandpa is walking near Trout Lake. This is the area where 

Scott and Janna have gone to camp with their family.

Glen Sullivan, a pilot from Malaysia, with Grandpa near Trout Lake.

Giant spiders are just part of life on the farm.

Grandpa is at the pivots where row crops are grown.

Grandpa was fascinated with the virgin jungle areas. 

Scott made the guys some Cajun Boil.

Grandpa provided the spiritual food! 

While the men toured the farm, we visited SEA WORLD 
with the Jason and Kylie Bagley family!

Andrew is studying the map so he can be our navigator.

This is the dancing fountain that is synchronized with music.

This is a Beluga Whale.

Janna captured my close encounter with a beluga whale.

The polar bear foot print was impressive.  Andrew was no match!

It convinced me that I don't want
 a close encounter with a polar bear.

Ammon's hand was "toe" sized in comparison.

Andrew posed on the synthetic ice wall.

Caden is exploring the ice cave.

                       The kids on the "fake" ice ledge.
Andrew, Riggin,Cache, Caden, Dallie, Ryder, Taylor, and Abby

Back out in the Florida sun near the Shamu Garden.  

(Abby, Andrew, Taylor, Caden, Grandma and Ammon)

                                                                     Taking a breather near the walrus statue.

Caden, Grandma, Abby, Ryder, Taylor, Andrew, and Cache

Abby made friends with a real pearl diver.

         We are headed for the Arctic lands.

     The log ride was closed, but Abby assured me it was super fun!

The shows were my favorite part.  This story included a ship, the 

captain, the first mate who manned the helm, and a lost treasure map.

This "marooned" sailor had a seal for a traveling companion. 

Both were taken on board to help find the treasure map.

In the end, the walrus retrieved the treasure.

This was a delightful show.  It was silly, with some melodrama, but the audience loved it!

The 2nd mate shows his thanks in a very personal "weigh".

The event many had been waiting for:  THE DOLPHIN SHOW!

The dolphin show requires a BIG theater to accommodate the crowd.

      Here's our group sitting just above the "soaked zone." :)

Grandma, Abby and Janna: Color-coded without correlation!

This shows the amazing dolphin performance stage.

Like all great stories, this one began with a beautiful princess.

This princess had a dolphin friend.

Soon, the princess was the in water and the dolphin was not!

The princess had a lovely bird that turned into its human form.

Her aerobatics were amazing.

Here the bird finally returns from her beautiful flight to the princess.

Exotic birds were an important part of the show.

    Then the bungee jumpers arrived.  These guys were buff!

             There performance required discipline and amazing strength. His body tells the story. :)

Before we were ready, the finale was about to begin.

The princess and her dolphin are about to ride "into the sunset."
Get ready,  Get set.....

GO!  GO! GO!

The finale included rapid fire tricks from the dolphins.

              And now for the grand finale'!

Janna captured ALL seven dolphins in the air at the same time!

This is the turtle garden just outside the 3D theater where we experienced 

the life of a little turtle from the time it hatched to the time it was an adult. 

The kids are playing video game outside the turtle theater based on the life of a turtle.  

Caden is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to electronic games.

Caden, Ryder, Cache, and Andrew

                                      Caden came out on top!

Ammon found the whole day exhausting!

      The leaves in the background almost glowed.

We all enjoyed the petting pool for rays.

This display made it appear that the kids were in the tank.
Ryder, Cache, Abby and Caden

 A little fish almost swan into Taylor's mouth!

This display gave the kids a chance to see life from inside a shark.
Caden and Cache

                                     Ryder and Caden

Taylor and a random little girl.

Andrew: The drama king! 

 The Short version of the Shamu Show! The Big theater was closed.

As you can see there were four killer whales.

                                                           They were trained to swim and dive....

and jump out of the water!

Their back flip routine created an enormous splash!

When we got back to Scott and Janna's we watched an
episode of "Gator Boys".  Grandpa was immediately hooked. 
Janna had to order him his own copy of the first season.:)

First Day in Florida with Grandpa Marvin 1/10/2014

On the morning of January 10, 2014, Grandpa Marvin, Janna, Ammon 

and I headed for Blue Spring State park to see the manatees.

This sign reads in part: " Manatees are rarely seen here during the warmer months.  

The temperature of Blue Springs is a constant 72 degrees while the St.Johns River

 may vary from 85 degrees in August to 50 degrees in February.  When the river 

temperature drops below that of the spring run, the manatees return to stay in or 

near the source of water water.  Escape from the cold is essential to manatee survival.  

Prolonged exposure to water below 60 degrees kills them...Manatees give birth to a 

single calf which is suckled at milk glands located at the base of the flippers.  

Though the calf beings feeding on aquatic plants when about two months old, 

it will continue to suckle and be carefully guarded by its mother...

 This is a unique spring.  This sign reports, "Blue Spring...is the 

largest spring on the St. John's River.  Each day, about 100 

million gallons flow from the spring to the river between the 

evergreen banks of Blue Spring run..."  That is enough water 

for every citizen of the Orlando metropolitan area to consume 

50 gallons of water per day, with some left over. The Blue Spring 

water source is the Floridian Aquifer which is 

replenished by the annual rainfall in the area.

There was a manatee mom and baby near where 

the water bubbles up out of the ground.

This dark spot is the entrance to the under ground cave.

Beneath the surface is an underground cave that scuba divers can explore. 

This spring is really without bottom as it opens into the Floridian aquifer itself.


Grandpa, Ammon and Janna near the signs
with information about the park and spring.

  Grandpa and Ammon are headed back along
the boardwalk to the Blue Spring outlet.


We stopped at the gift shop that features this amazing mural.

Grandpa and I paused long enough for a tourist's picture by the mosaic manatee.

 Here is another manatee we saw along the way.  There were over 270
manatee counted in the park the day we were there.  A cold snap before we
 arrived forced more than usual numbers of this gentle, but odd creature into the park.

A single family homesteaded this area and build this home in the Civil 

War days.  The husband was taken captive for being a northern sympathizer

 and left the wife and children to survive on their own until the war was over.

Grandpa, Ammon and Janna near the out let into the St. John's River.

This shot shows where the spring meets the river. 

Of course we stopped before leaving the park for a picnic.

Just as we were about to start eating, this beautiful cardinal
appeared out of nowhere.  Its appearance was so sudden it almost
took our breath away.  As Janna has alwaysassociated Grandma Marvin
with cardinals, she felt this was a sweet symbol to let us know that Grandma
was pleased that we were there together and had stopped by to check on us. :) 

January is considered one of the "Fall or Autumn" months in Florida.  

This shows some of the autumn color that we saw.

Like Washington, even the dead wood in Florida
is green as new life springs our everywhere.


The vegetation is as incredible as the animal life.

Spanish Moss is every present--making the trees
look bearded and a bit spooky in dim lighting.

 

 This tree has new life growing around it although it was destroyed by lightening.

AFTER OUR PICNIC WE HEADED FOR PARADISE BEACH!

This was Grandpa's first view of the Atlantic Ocean.  He has seen 

the Pacific Ocean many times in his Navy years, but Amy's 14th 

birthday was his first chance to experience the Atlantic.

 It was high tide and BIG waves pounded the shore.  

 Grandpa Marvin and I.

 We just stood on the beach and tried to take in the energy,
majesty and power that confronted us.

 There were few shells that day, but we did
see a small jelly fish that had washed ashore.

The foam around this seaweed disappeared within
seconds as the porous sand gobbled it up. 

A few fearless surfers worked to get beyond
the pounding waves to do snatch some action.

Janna and Ammon as we head back to the van. 

Grandpa stopped to talk to the life-guard who obviously thought 

it was chilly as she hadn't donned her usual bikini attire.  She gave him 

a very rare piece she had found along the shore. 

Grandpa and Ammon visited while Janna and I sprayed off the sand and sea water.

Ammon with the shells he found.  He carried them clear home!

That evening, Grandpa and I attended the Orlando Temple with Scott, 

Janna and Glen Sullivan, Scott's friend from Malaysia.  The Bishop's wife
came along to entertain Ammon while we did an endowment session.
We stopped for a Firehouse Sub on our way home. :)