A trip to the Prairie

This weekend we took the girls on little trip to Payne's Prairie. It was pretty cool. Part marsh/Lakes/hiking trails/forests. They're working on restoring the natural ecosystem of the area back to the early Florida pioneer days when Buffalos and herds of Spanish cattle and horses roamed the prairie.


Here's the wide open prairie portion. It is actually a marsh with seasonal flooding. Lots of birds and other wildlife. (Yep, alligators and snakes, too. But, we didn't see any). There are also 39 buffalo out there, too. Maybe we'll see them next time.


Elsa and Lily on the observation tower. The girls are becoming good little hikers.


Elsa and her dad out in the woods. The forests are so different here. You really feel like you're hiking in some South American jungle. The folliage is completely different than up North.


Lily and me by the same tree. Notice my Gator cap. I've decided to embrace the local culture and join the Gator Nation. Incidentally, the football team creamed Hawaii in our first home-game 56-10.


A banana spider. This photo doesn't do it justice. I'd say this spider was at least 3 inches across. Incidentally, we have a couple of them in our backyard as well.


And an artsy photo of some Spanish moss. It hangs on all the Live Oaks down here. It is really pretty. And the girls love to play with it.