Toads, Toads, and MORE Toads

On Saturday, to avoid being complete college football watching slugs, we took a walk through the woods to a park near our house. The kids brought their bug bags - we gave one to Olivia for her birthday and Uncle Jim/Aunt Terri gave Grant the exact same one this summer. They get a LOT of use. Olivia quickly scooped up a grasshopper. A short distance into the woods I saw a tiny toad hop in front of me so I bent down to get a better look. It was then that I noticed I wasn't alone and I was extremely outnumbered. There were hundreds of toads around me. And thousands more along the path to the park. They were EVERYWHERE. Wish I had my camera with me. I don't even want to guess how many we unknowingly squashed along the way.

Their loot...Skull and scales too... We also came across a dried up, picked-clean armadillo. Grant is holding its pelvis bone above and Olivia wanted to keep some of the bony armor plates that cover the outside of the armadillo's body (below).How cute...Hop, be free!

Gainesville to Hawthorne Trail

Earlier I mentioned we went to the Hawthorne Trail today. We've been there several times since we've moved here but only recently began bringing our bikes. This has allowed us to venture further down the trail and today we discovered there is much more to this trail than we thought.
Overlook of Paynes Prairie...
The area was a former hub of activity for several railroads from as far back as the 1880’s, hauling miscellaneous freight including vegetables, fruit, lumber, and passengers. The state acquired the trail property in 1988-89 and converted the railroads into bike/hike/horse trails. And it is an amazing place to do such things. We biked about 9 miles round trip only b/c we weren't aware, and therefore prepared, to do the full 32 (round trip). We plan to do so one weekend this summer... so stay tuned.

Blueberry Picking

Blueberry season is arriving in Gainesville. There are lots of u-pick farms around but most crops don't fully ripen until late May or early June. However, some have varieties that come on line in mid-May and SouthMoon is one of them. Unfortunately that variety peaked the previous weekend so pickings were slim. And by slim, I mean S-L-I-M. We still had fun and even found a local blueberry festival down the road. And by local, I mean L-O-C-A-L.... complete with a rebel flag t-shirt vendor. Don got bit by the blueberry bug and bought two plants so we can attempt our own crop next year. We have a few wild blueberry plants in our woods but it will be nice to have some big yummy ones. Now whether we can grow them or not, we'll have to see.

It's a quaint, organic farm with lots of bushes...
The end result....

Happy Mother's Day

I had a GREAT mother's day - cute cards made by my cute kids, yummy breakfast made by my yummy husband and the prettiest 3 heart necklace - one heart for each! I also got to choose what we would spend the day doing and with a not so subtle suggestion from Olivia, we went hiking.

The kids are swinging on a vine in the San Felasco Hammock Preserve - one of our favorite places to hike. We then headed down to La Chua trail in Paynes Prairie, a famous place to get upclose and personal with gators. There is a sign when you enter that says "This is not a theme park. These alligators are wild and dangerous."

But my favorite sign is....
You have to be on your toes there - gators are everywhere! This is a gator hanging out by the water control structure and one in the water.














Other interesting animals... an "electric" caterpillar and a skink.