the sleppys

Wow what a day in politics as the democrats deal with the aftermath of their 7.0. The party leaders seem to lined up at the microphones to publicly pull back from the current health care bill and pledge to listen more closely to their bosses. If MA had gone different I doubt they would have this new insight. ABC news has posted video of our President commenting on his first year in office and the mood of the American people. You can Google it. Gotta love politics.

More pictures of our ongoing Everglades adventures.

We went to the Everglades National Park on Saturday. I know, same old story, only we know every day in ENP is different. It is why we keep going back. Anyhow, we started out at Paroutis Pond, a main rookery, to have a picnic snack. While there an alligator swam up on us. We, the alligator and us, were equally startled by the other. Another family was having lunch a few yards away so I went over to tell them of the alligator. Turns out the were from Korea and this was their first ever alligator sighting. Fun stuff.

Next was Anhinga. There we watched an Anhinga kill and eat a South American Walking Catfish. Check out the picture of that! This particular fish is an exotic so the native birds have had to adapt to how they eat them. The other notable event was seeing our first Wood Stork. We also talked with Ranger Jackie, she coordinates the Park’s volunteers. We learned from her that our experience with the alligator at Paroutis Pond was good news. Turns out we people feed the alligators they lose their fear of people. That could be very dangerous where we were because help is a ways away. To paraphrase Ranger Jackie, ‘”alligators don’t take kindly to no.” In fact an alligator had to be captured and relocated to another area of the Park because people had been feeding it.

It was a fun day all around.

NASCAR has come to town, and this means stock car race cars. Today we went to our local Home Depot to see the #20 Home Depot Toyota driven by rookie Joey Logano, who survived this wreck a short while back.

Ty, Kyle and the #20 Home Depot Toyota.

This was part of a homeschool field trip. After this we went to Publix, and while there the boys took the shopping list, found the items on that list, and even did some comparative shopping in the produce section. Can you do that? Produce and meat are some of the hardest items to bargain shop and recipe plan for. I was even asked what our budget was. I don’t know if I like that, but hey, it is an honest question.

Dad here. Halloween morning I took the boys to the Everglades for a boys day out. We saw the sunrise, a yellow rat snake, Pine Glades Lake, went on a Ranger walk with Ranger Rudy, watch a green heron hunt and eat a fish, saw a gopher tortoise, a really cool millipede and how can I forget the vultures, like 50 of them.

Pictures here.

We finally made it to Hidden Lake.

What has yet to be told is what this means to the Sleppys. We are a hardcore family, focused on our own achievements. We don’t have cable, we don’t go to government school, and we sure as hell don’t go to “Gymboree.” However, we set family goals, like hiking to Hidden Lake, where few tread, and we plan and plot our own way to success. We set our own goals, so when we are finally able to achieve them in absolute annonimity let me tell you it is real. Can you say that about your family? We can prove it. And we are only at the beginning.

This morning, we woke up and went to my parents’ house. My mom was there with my grandmother, who was visiting from a country far, far away where they don’t speak English. We stayed to wait for my big brother who was bringing his 10-month old son over. It turns out that they went to Gymboree and later visited our mom. Well, we had a good lunch, anyway. Filled myself with BBQ ribs and raisins (but not in the same dish because those two don’t go – or they could, couldn’t they?) We drove home and relaxed. While websurfing, Dear Husband stated, “There’s a full moon now.” So we decided to be spontaneous for the first time since we’ve been parents, and we drove to the Everglades to see the full moon and witness half of the Everglades fall asleep while the other half of the Everglades wakes up.

We saw the afternoon showers’ forming in the horizon while driving on the turnpike. When we drove into the park, we spotted an alligator floating in Taylor Slough, which we never see. This was the first time in the Everglades in the late afternoon, so we expected things to be a little different. We walked the Anhinga Trail about twenty minutes before sunset. It’s a mile-long boardwalk that overlooks the wetland prairie and goes around the southern part of Taylor Slough. There were a few tourists and photographers walking past us, ready to go home. We were one of the two parties who had intentionally stayed in the Everglades at dusk.

We, Dear Husband, Ty, Kyle, Taylor, Kendall, Talon, and Yours Truly, tried to be as quiet as possible during this time because we knew that the animals were calling each other. We couldn’t actually SEE the frogs and birds, but we could hear them. Every once in a while, we’d hear the deep, thick splashing of an alligator. Holy, holy. Yes, alligators. There was one blue heron that was busy catching flies and didn’t pay us any mind.

The sun set. The clouds were lines of orange and purple. The rising moon was blocked in the east by rain clouds. We stayed on the Anhinga,, hoping that the clouds would disperse and the full moon would shine. In a clearing, we could see Jupiter. The full moon’s light was diffused by he clouds, and it lit the path for us just a little bit. We could see the golden orange glow from the metropolis in the northeast.

We ran into the party that had stayed on the Trail. They were two young men who were looking for alligators. It was pleasant to know that we weren’t the only ones out there.

On the leg of the trail, we almost ran into an alligator and her two babes. We were twenty feet from the last leg of the trail but turned around and took the extra half mile around instead of coaxing her.

If that wasn’t freaky enough, Dear Husband and I agreed to hike the Gumbo Limbo Trail. It’s a half-mile paved trail in the hardwood hammock. We took out our flashlights and practiced pointing them out of people’s faces. We walked in. What were we thinking? Five children under seven? Every once in a while, we’d hold our LED flashlights to our stomachs and look around into utter darkness – except for the moonlight-diffusing clouds overhead. We didn’t see anything creepy. Only once did my heart skip a beat because I thought that a fern was a boa constrictor.

We might do that again soon. I’m really glad that we have this park nearby. It helps the children learn about the real nightlife of South Florida.

My Wife replaced my wallet for me. My 15 year old small leather wallet has been taped together more time than I can count, and has needed replacing for the past 5 years. I am always on the lookout to buy a new one, but have yet to find a suitable replacement. That is until Yane’ surprised me with one! And all my stuff was moved into the new one too. What a wife! When I asked her where she got it, I knew the answer before she spoke. The Copper Kettle.  This shop and my wife solved a long standing problem of mine, and I am grateful.