Random Florida Pics December 2019

We went south for Christmas this year, here are some pictures that didn't make their own post!

Here's a fun yard light display we saw.

Way to decorate an entrance

We took our daughter to the Stuart Ceramics Studio where we painted some pottery. It was a fun outing. We were so busy painting that we didn't take any shots of us painting. And the firing process took too long so we didn't pick our works up before we left to return home. The grandparents will bring it next time they visit.

Stuart Ceramics Shop

We saw a sign recruiting people for a model railroad group. We might have to recommend that to Grandpa.

Any takers?

I saw a crazy-big lizard on the house while I was helping cook the steaks on Christmas day.

Don't tell the kids, they won't want to stay here

We took our youngest out bowling. He had a great time. The alley had bumpers for him but not for his parents. He managed to squeak out a victory thanks to some skillful non-accuracy by his parents. We practiced for splits and spares even when we had full racks. Throwing the ball straight down a side of the lane is pretty hard.

Rolling the ball with all his might

Final scores--go team!

Frosty was at the bowling alley

The youngest child and our daughter teamed up to decorate a rice-crispy cake their granny made. She used a castle-mold which made a very fun shape.

Presenting their signature dessert

In all its glory

Sports were a fun activity at Granny and Grandpa's house. In addition to the ping pong table, our kids tried out some baseball and some swimming. Baseball we played by the garage with a wiffle bat and tennis balls.

This is where to pitch

A solid hit

Close up of the solid hit

 They have a pool in the back yard which our daughter wanted to swim in all the time. One time she fell in "by accident" with her clothes on! She didn't mind at all.

In deep water

Proving that she is in her street clothes

We did a lot of bicycle riding, though it is hard to take pictures in the act. My youngest started figuring out the scooter that seemed sized perfectly for him. 

About to crash into the photographer

Hobe Sound, Florida, Geocaching December 2019

During our Florida family visit for Christmas the weather was so nice we decided to get in some geocaches.

Our first cache was Greenfield Park on the intercoastal waterway. We tried to find it at night but the sun had gone too far down for us to make the find. The next day, in the daylight, we were able to get the cache easily.

Greenfield Park

View of the water

From the intercoastal we went over to the Atlantic beach where Ocean to Lake Trail #1: Hobe Sound Beach is located. Florida has a trail from the ocean all the way to Lake Okeechobee. We didn't plan to find other caches on the trail. The cache location is not on the beach. That was good, because the beach was popular over the Christmas vacation. 

Where the cache was

View to the ocean

Also in Hobe Sound is the Butterflies of Zeus cache in Zeus Park. The park is a fun area and had a family flying kites.

Butterfly Garden

A fun little table

More of the garden

More Florida caches in the next post!

Peck's Lake Park, Hobe Sound, Florida

Peck's Lake Park is home to a long walking path that leads to the Intracoastal Waterway. There's plenty of flora and informational signs, along with a couple of geocaches. The park was a great place for us to visit.

The first geocache was in the parking lot. We had a fairly easy time finding On the way to Peck Lake picnic. Only a little bushwhacking was required.

The cache is in there somewhere

Near the trailhead was a useful map showing the path through the swamp to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Maps are good, as is footwear

Bikes, on the other hand, are not so good

The trail was a dirt path at first. It alternated between dirt and boardwalks.

Easy walking

The trail had plenty of informational signs about the history and the flora.

Local history

Local people

We found the first boardwalk over the swampy bits of the trail. An information sign was the location of the next geocache, aptly named Education.

Opening the cache container

Leaving the dirt trail behind

The swampy part of the trail had both tall trees and low-growing vegetation.

The swamp "floor"

Beautiful trees

A swampier area

Another sign explained the difference between local plants and those brought in from out of the area. The native plants have a harder time since natural predators abound. The exotic plants spread faster and need special intervention since humans seem to be their only predators (when they decide to do something about the situation).

Natives vs. Exotics

The trail turned back into dirt for a bit before we finally reached the larger body of water, a part of the Intracoastal Waterway called Peck Lake.

More trail

The only flower in December

A walkway onto the water

The views of the lake were great.

Boats in the distance

Vegetation in the distance

A much closer boat

My daughter has been collecting shells from the shore (sea or intracoastal). The viewing area had some stairs down to the sandy shoreline where she found some more to add to her stash.

Stairs going down

The water's edge

The shells' hunters

I saw a weird piece of wood. It almost looks like a sea creature with a claw outstretched in either menace or pathos.

It's coming for you!

Another picturesque bit

On the way back, Grandpa told the children about Big Foot sightings in the area. We parents were skeptical but did discover some evidence of an undiscovered presence in the area.

Those are big footprints

Some odd-shaped feet

The park was fun to visit, even if the footprints seemed suspicious.

Hobe Sound Nature Center 2016

We visited the Hobe Sound Nature Center for a quick peak at the displays. We found a lot of interesting stuff inside.

Sign outside

The critters on display were the most popular with my children. One display had five tree frogs in it. Mommy was able to spot the five quickly, the rest of the family took a while to see them.

Tree frog display

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) was a small critter, not fully grown. He swam around a lot while we looked at him. Maybe he was searching for a way out!

American alligator

Close up

Another tank had a variety of tropical fish.

Tropical fish

A few snakes were on display as well, though they were less lively than the alligator and fish.

Snake!

The snake below is the ball python (Python regius), a local variety. This particular snake is twenty years old. They can get as old as fifty years, which is amazing.

Snoozy python

 Even more amazing was when the woman working there took the snake out and let my children pet it!

The python escapes!

Petting, not hugging, allowed

She said the snake is not poisonous and gave us a quick tip to tell the poisonous from non-poisonous snakes. Poisonous snakes have triangular heads; non-poisonous have rounded skulls. Either way, I don't want to mess with them in the wild!

A central case had a display of fish bones--shark jaws, dolphin ribs, whale ribs, a whale's skull, etc. The most interesting thing to the kids was the sponge, which was large but light.

Dried out sponge

Another angle on the sponge

Another big hit was "tic-tac-toad" with little plastic toads. They had either an X or an O drawn on their backs. My son beat me with the help of a dark-backed toad which wasn't clearly an X or an O. He took the most favorable interpretation.

Careful concentration

The visit was fun and quick. They have a nature trail outside but the heat and humidity were too high on this trip.