Mom Says...

Yesterday we went to the Eco-Discovery museum in Key West. It was pretty interesting - the best part being the 20-minute movie about all the different things to see while snorkling there. We decided that we really wanted to try to fit in snorkling during our trip, but soon learned that because of the storm - when it was down here was still just Tropical Storm Sandy, the waters were very churned up and the visibility was very low. Meaning we wouldn't see much of anything.

Speaking of the storm, we found great book that talked about hurricanes - how they form, dissipate, and what happens. It lead to some explorations with vortexes in water later in the day.

We ate a nice lunch, then took a walk and found:
- a tiny bee swarm high up on a post
- a few roosters and chickens walking free along with hearing many roosters crow along the way!
- a large yellow leaf that was too cool to leave behind
- Ernest Hemingway's house. We decided not to go inside, but we enjoyed the view from outside, and we talked about why he is famous and why people care about where he lived.
- The actual mile marker 0!
- A large octopus decoration made out of spray painted bubble wrap adorning the top of a bar.
- 2 strange-looking trees. One had many thin branches tangled together to make the base of the tree and another had very tall roots spreading out from the bottom of the trunk.
- The southern most point on the continental United States. The large marker is colorful, with stripes and a big, red top. It is located just 90 from Cuba.

At the end of our walk, we drove back to our condo on the beach. And that was our day in Key West.

Paris Says...

We went to the sea turtle hospital yesterday. I took some notes on the sea turtles:



           name                     Condition                                                                            Diet                        
         Fisher                      Healthy                                                                               Squid, Fish
             Finn               Front Right Flipper And Both Rear Injured                                 Squid, Fish                                
          Stella                Emaciated Floating                                                                     Squid, Lettuce
          Hunter               Fishing Hooks, Lock Jaw                                                           Squid, Fish
         Timmy               Fibropapilloma                                                          Squid, Fish, Shrimp, Lettuce    
          Jimbo                Fibropapilloma                                                         Squid, Lettuce
          Hook                 Fibropapilloma                                                                            Squid, Lettuce
          Barrett                 Monofilament Entanglement FP                                                   Squid, Lettuce
          Daisy                  Lethargic Floating                                                                        Squid, Lettuce




  Fisher's injuries healed  but the hospital didn't let him go in the wild. Instead, they took Fisher to schools to show kids about sea turtles.

Paris and Turtle

Weights on Turtle Shell, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Awww... Isn't that cute!

Me feeding a sea turtle

Feeding a Sea Turtle, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

This is my favorite picture out of all of them at the sea turtle hospital.

Audrey Says...

I went to the turtle hospital yesterday. It was really fun there. I learned about turtles. And they wear tags when they are released. And it was really fun there. I saw a really cute turtle that was a baby. It was so tiny. Why they kept the baby turtles there is because they want them to grow up and not get eaten by birds or fish. And the fish are big enough to eat them.

We saw huge turtles. The turtles had weights on their backs to make them float down and not float at the top. Some have floaters to make them float. If they don't have a float thing then they will sink and they can't take a single breath from the top.

We fed the turtles. The food looked like dry cat food. I think that it's cat food. The food was floating and the turtle opened his mouth so big to eat it.

Sometimes the turtles swallow fish hooks and get sick. They go to the hospital to get better.

Audrey Says: Recovering Turtle

Recovering Turtle, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

This is a turtle getting better.

Audrey Feeding Turtle

Turtle Hospital, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Here is a picture of me feeding a turtle.

Bird Sanctuary

At the Bird Sanctuary at the Crane Museum. This video starts with a one-winged pelican, and ends with a barking bird.

Cormorant

Cormorant, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

I think he's a little creepy. Don't you?

Osprey!

Osprey!, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

I thought that it would be cool to show school this osprey.

Seed Pod Found

Seed Pod Found, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

I found a pod too.

Difference and Same

Curious & Abundant Plant Shoots Found Floating in the Water, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

I found these green shoots in the water. Look
at the inside of the shoots and the outside of the shoots.

Underwater Observations

Underwater Observations, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

We saw some coral, jellyfish and seaweed in the water.

Jellyfish!

Jellyfish!, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Mom found some tiny jellyfish in the water.

Jellyfish!

Jellyfish!, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Mom found some tiny jellyfish in the water.

Mystery in the Ground

Mystery in the Ground, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

I went ahead of everyone and found something in the ground. This girl said it wasn't a railroad track.

I wonder what it is?

Snake Skin!

Found Snake Skin!, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Dad found some snake skin on the walk on Crane Point.

Coolness + Spider = Cool Spider

Shocking Spider!, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Paris:
I found a huge spider during the walk at
Crane Point.

Osprey!

Osprey!, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Absolutely had to share this Osprey we found re-habilitating in the Crane Point bird exhibit. I'm sure he'd proudly wear the OTA purple...that is, if birds wore clothes, of course. He stared right back at us while we stared at him. I wonder if he was worried that we might to steal his fish?

We learned a lot about the Florida Keys native habitat today while visiting Crane Point. Also, we learned about early settlers to the area and what they did to survive, and how they made a living. It was fascinating stuff.

Paris & Audrey will give a better update in the morning.

-Alex

We...

Paris:

I sorta forgot to wright last night. Anyway, we went to a bar that had a big pool. We had came right after our       

grandma. We waited for our cousins: Alina, Hardie and Elodie. After Alina came we went in the pool. We played dolphins. I was Flipper, Audrey was speed and Alina was the trainer. (I wanted to be Speed because I was the fastest, but Audrey wanted to be it and we didn't want her to cry.)I suggested Speedy, but they thought it was too close to Speed. 

Earlier in the day, we went to the beach next door.

Brown Baby

Pretty's Babies, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

We also saw Pretty's babies in the seaweed/grass.

-Paris

A Bird Named Pretty

A Bird Named Pretty, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

She walked right up to the boat, shared some popcorn, and showed her two brown-colored babies to us before we headed off to find some alligators.

A Bird Named Pretty

A Bird Named Pretty, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Pretty ate popcorn out of the tour guide's mouth!

Paris updates her travel blog

Paris updates her travel blog, a photo by Digitalexx on Flickr.

Paris works on her first blog entry in her swim suit, steps from the water. The light is fading, Tropical Storm Sandy is finishing up passing us by. Lovely first night in The Florida Keys.

-Alex

We Have Arrived!

We just got to our hotel in Marathon, Key Colony, on the Florida Keys. The kids were here no more than 5 minutes before they had their suits on and had jumped into the ocean!

More from the kids themselves...

Paris:

I'm happy we're finally here!
We just went to the beach. The water was nice and warm compared to our regular beach.There was stairs at the end of the beach leading down to the water. The last step was slippery. Audrey slipped


Earlyer we went to a Everglades tour. We saw a lot of gators in  the water.The driver said that one of the gators names was Tripod.It's foot was chopped off by a motorboat. It was creepy to look at. :)

We saw a mommy bird that had a red circle around it's beak, just above it's beak. She was also really colorful. It's name is Pretty. It had babies that were brown. The driver gave it some popcorn and said that he's been with that bird for 3 years.

Now we went to the hotel. The first part I wrote was about us going to the beach near the hotel. Our cousin forgot her swimsuit!

Audrey:

I saw alligators at Florida. It was fun seeing the alligators. I saw a mommy bird.  It was nice. It's neck was pretty colors, not like her babies. She went up to the boat driver and the boat driver fed her pop corn.

I liked the airplane ride, but it was boring, too.