We went down to the Everglades today, among the thunderstorms and ravenous insects. We stopped by the visitor’s center to look around, then headed on down to the two short trails. At the start of the two trails, there stands a shelter with restrooms, water fountains, a tiny bookstore, and a breezeway with benches.
We started up the Anhinga trail, which is mostly elevated platform above water. Being a national park, the trails are wheelchair accessible, so we used the stroller to push a baby while I carried another. Dad pushed Kendall in the stroller and walked point with Ty, who carried an extra water canteen. I carried Talon in a sling and held Taylor’s hand. Kyle walked in front of me but frequently straggled behind. 
Taylor, Kyle, and Ty at the beginning of the Anhinga Trail.
We saw the dark clouds coming in and figured that we had 15-20 minutes before the rain came. A pair of grasshoppers were having reproductive relations in the middle of the trail. We were half way through the trail when the thunder became louder and the gray clouds closer. Staying on the trail but picking up the pace, we tried to get a good look of the glades and sky. 
Grasshopper porn on the Anhinga Trail.
On one of the turns, there lay an alligator. At first, we thought it was fake because we are all cynical about everything. But as we were leaving, we saw it moving its head. Ah, a robotic fake, like at Disney World! 
We reached a fork in the trail. The lightning crackled, and the thunder started getting loud. Dad and I chose the main path because we were running out of time. It started sprinkling as we saw the shelter. The last hundred yards, we had to run back because the big, fat rain began pouring down.
We waited out the storm under the breezeway. I nursed the two babies, who didn’t want to nurse at first because the storm distracted them. The sky flickered with the lightning, and pounding thunder quickly followed. This excited all of us. There were several minutes that the wind was blowing to the east, and the rain looked like it was falling sideways. The children kept talking about “that huge spider,” which was only as big as my hand. “Huge” is not the word I’d use.
After the thunderstorm passed, we started on another trail, the Gumbo Limbo. Instead of shallow, moving water, it’s a hardwood hammock. That was when the adventure began. In the stroller, Kendall was swarmed with mosquitoes even though I smeared insect repellent on everyone. She had them in her face and hair and arms and everywhere that repellent was. Dad stopped to pick her up to carry her. The mosquitoes congregated on them. They quickly got moving again, and Ty pushed the stroller. Kendall kept fussing, so we stopped to change our configuration in which I carried her in a spare sling. Every time we stopped, there were more mosquitoes on us than we could count. I covered both the babies as much as I could in their slings and hats. A family of four passed us. About halfway down the trail, they turned back; I could only assume that they couldn’t stand the mosquitoes. They were covered up and swatting the air. We all wore pants but still had hundreds of them on each of our legs. The foliage around the trail was so thick due to the summer season and wet due to the recent rainfall. At each turn, I was hoping that the shelter was just around. At one point, my hopes came true!
It started raining again but not as hard as the first time. Dad drove the van around, and we packed in. We toured a few more miles of the park before we turned around and took a tour of the toy store. The toy store? Yes, we stopped by Toys ‘R’ Us.
The boys have been asking all week to go there. I don’t know who put that idea in their heads. Taylor and I spent time looking at the Tooth Fairy dresses (which were Disney Princess costumes, but does she really have to know that?) She pointed at the dollhouses and princesses and castles and dragons. Every time I told her, “Okay, put it away,” she happily placed the toy back on the shelf. *sigh* Such good children.
Our purpose of going was to let the children ride the quarter-operated cars at the exit of the store. A buck-fifty to have Spiderman and Elmo and Zoe sit in the cars that swayed back and forth is a buck-fifty well spent.
I really enjoyed this morning’s “stay-cation,” even if the mosquitoes were about to fly off with one of our twins! We now can be better prepared for next trip to the Everglades. We have our comparisons to appreciate the wetland prairie in all seasons. 
Pine rockland a way’s southwest of the two short trails.
How can we call ourselves Florida Crackers if we can’t take a walk a half-mile in the glades in the middle of the summer?
