Family Fun Day

   Today was a rare occasion when both my husband and I had off.  We kept the kids home from daycare and decided to have some fun together while we had the chance!

   The morning started off with a hike at one of our favorite parks, The Silver River State Park.  The park museum and replica Cracker Village were closed since it's a weekday, but they are wonderful things to see.  We were originally going to hike down the Sinkhole Trail, which has a few sink holes but one very large one.  While these are a home owner's nightmare, occurring in a protected state park, it is amazing to see the habitat that continues to grow up around these little babies.  But the gate worker let us know that particular trail is covered with branches due to recent rain storms. 

   So we chose the River Trail, one of our favorites.  At the halfway point is a bridge leading to the Silver River itself.  From the bridge you can view cypress trees with their "knees" peeking out above the water.  The cypress trees grow in swampland and cannot get oxygen unless their roots grow out above the water.  Don't ask me how they got to be called "knees" though!  Once across the bridge is a little dock at the river.  The water is crystal clear and there are some minerals on the river bed that shine with a metallic silver sheen, hence the name.  It was here that the original Tarzan movies were filmed, as well as a few others including one about Atlantis.  Some movie prop statues can still be seen underwater at the neighboring Silver Springs theme park!  In the clear river water, you can see bass and other fish swimming, and today we saw a fallen tree that was completely submerged.  Just breathtaking.

   After we left the park, we weren't really sure what we were going to do next.  When my husband asked if I wanted to stop anywhere on the way home, I asked if we could drop by the animal shelter.  My oldest son wants to be a veterinarian one day, and we have been trying unsuccessfully to find volunteer opportunities for him (he's only 10 and apparently that's seen as an insurance risk).  So we were going to ask if they had any ideas for us.  No help there, but we did fall in love with a gorgous chocolate lab mix, 2 months old.  We weren't actually looking today, but we have always said that since our wonderful lab mix, Misty, is getting older, we wanted to adopt another puppy so she could help train it up right.  So "Cocoa" was adopted and will be coming home on Friday!  She's a sweetie, very friendly and able to handle the chaos of 4 kids jumping around her in a confined space.  Very outgoing and friendly, not a barker.  Love it.

   We met up with Grandma for lunch at Beef O Brady's, and then took her to see the new "baby" of the family.  Then it was back home to relax.  No other plans for the rest of the day, but I think we've had plenty of excitement for one day!