"C" You Real Soon - "Y?" Because We Like You!

Subtle tribute to the Mickey Mouse Club song.  Anyone who knows me well knows that the only part of that song I sing is the "Donald Duck!" shouted in the background.  So... LOTS to update you on.  First of all we spent the day in Highlands Hammock State Park in Florida on Wednesday.  It was totally worth it, and I would recommend it highly.  While we were there, we saw not only alligators, turtles, and birds, but also MY FIRST EVER ARMADILLO!  Granted, they are considered an invasive species in Florida, but I still think they are extremely cute.  Took several photos.  Got to see about six of them.  They look like a cross between a pill bug (roll-y poll-y bug for those of you in Indiana) and an opossum.  If they were more abundant and house-breakable I would want 6 or 7 of them.  Doc does not share my extreme enthusiasm about armadillos, but he celebrated with me, and in turn I got to celebrate with him today as we swam with one of his favorite animals, 5 MANATEES!  So cool.  Got to snorkel with them for about an hour and a half.  Also got to scratch their backs and pet them.  Surprising texture.  Anyway, Doc is still on cloud 9 because swimming with manatees was on his life list.  I was stoked about it too, but I'm not sure anything could match the enthusiasm I had for those armadillos.  In between Wednesday and today we did Disney (saw a Bald Eagle on the way to Disney and a different one on our way to Crystal River!).  Spent 3 nights in their campground (an experience in itself and not at all primitive or rustic) and did 2 days in the parks.  The first day we did Epcot and the second day we did Magic Kingdom.  Only my second visit to each, the first being this past June.  Very enjoyable.  They showed movies at the campground outside on the big screen, so we got to see both Bolt and Cool Runnings.  Also fun.  Tomorrow brings a trip to Gainesville to visit the Florida Museum of Natural History and one of the biggest butterfly gardens in the world.  We'll have to wait until we get home to download Doc's photos of the manatees and also any photos that I'm in, but those aren't terribly important anyway.  We will be coming home somewhat early to take my puppy off my mom's hands and we are beginning to think seriously about the lack of warm clothes in our suitcases to wear back to Indiana and the 10 degree weather waiting for us...