Animals Galore!

Andrew and Chelsea have been visiting us since Sunday. We have had lots of adventures and have enjoyed their company. Wednesday we visited the Brevard Zoo and have a couple of pictures to share from that visit.

As always, the birds are spectacular there.

Here we have some brand new ducks. They are still all fuzzy.

This picture of the flamingos is for JoAnna!

 Our only disappointment at the zoo was that we were too late to see the giraffes as they were being put away for the night.
On Thursday we ventured to Orlando and visited Sea World. We accidentally chose a day that was a busy one in Orlando-President Obama was there and a basketball game was going on in the evening. Despite all of that the traffic wasn't bad and we had no problems getting in and out.

Here we are outside the penguin exhibit which we did not get to see. The waiting-in-line time to get in was 70 minutes and we decided our feet and our patience wouldn't take it.

Here we have a picture of Andy and Chelsea enjoying the visit. Notice the sunburn they both had.

Here we have the dolphins performing.

These flamingo paddle boats were popular, but none of us had the energy to try it!

This photo was taken at Sea World. The flowers are lovely all over Florida right now.

Here is an interesting view of a sea turtle in an underwater aquarium.
We have had fun with them, and know we will be seeing everyone soon at home, if we can avoid the snowstorms coming home.

Spring on it's way?

This morning we sat looking at photos from Facebook of the extreme amount of snow at home, dreading the thought of returning to it in a couple of weeks. We are spending a couple of days visiting with Leslie Cole, and we went to visit a pioneer village today, becoming acquainted a bit with early history in Florida.

Just as we were leaving we spotted two robins on the ground. Perhaps it is a harbinger of spring.

These flowering trees outside the school is another good sign!
This village included equipment for the sugar cane and turpentine industries, simple homes and cabins, gardens, farm animals, a church, school, post office, fire department, railroad station, and other buildings.

A cabin bedroom in an earlier time.

Here we see Gary reading the plaque in front of the church.

Leslie exploring the flowers in bloom.

Some of the buildings are very old. This looks a little spooky with the moss hanging from the trees.

This peacock adds a lot of color to the farmyard.

The chair looks inviting, taking you back to an earlier time.

The school room is well preserved.

This old stove in the school kitchen is a classic.

Every village needed a country store.

Notice the wall papered with newspapers.

This is a turpentine mill, an early product of Florida from the pines.
We had a lovely day going back in time and enjoying a beautiful day.

Wetland Birds

Today we visited the Viera Wetlands to see the birds and wildlife.

Instead of driving through the paths in the car, we decided to hike it. We were out about an hour, got lots of exercise, and have some lovely photos of the wetlands and the birds.

There were two flocks of white pelicans that showed off for us.

We saw a few small alligators sunning themselves along the banks.

These birds perched on tree stumps are interesting. We did see one bald eagle at a distance.

There were lots of ducks everywhere and many herons of different varieties.

The white egrets were everywhere.

The grasses were interesting, and full of the sounds of birds hiding out in them.

Here we have Gary walking along the trail.

And Louise taking a break in a gazebo.

Sweater #3 in Louise's attempt to knit 14 in 2014 is this baby sweater, destined for niece Heather and baby Emma.

To the Beach

This morning the Coles spent an hour walking to and from the beach, as well as down the beach. We took a few pictures along the way and thought we would share a glimpse of our morning adventure. It took an hour in all.

Here we have Gary on the beach. Louise was right up with him.

To go to the beach, we walk down Eau Gallie Avenue from the condo. Here is a view of Eau Gallie from the park at the beach.

It is a busy street and this is the intersection of Eau Gallie and A1A, the major road through this area. There are crosswalks and lights to get across it.
There is a park between the street and the beach. Here are a couple of views of the park.

It's a nice park with restrooms and a hot dog cart.

Here's another couple sitting on the steps where you go down to the beach. The temperature was cool, nice breeze, lots of sun, and good exercise. Who could want more?

Where has February gone?

Here we are at the end of February and the time is flying by. We are in a warm and humid period of weather - thunder showers every afternoon, tornado warnings yesterday. Louise is starting to complain about the heat.

Gary is in outer space with a painting of the space shuttle over Florida. This is the first painting this winter that has really inspired him, and he is working on it quite steadily. It's good that he is back to painting with enthusiasm again.

Louise has finished sweater #2 for the year - this one destined for a little boy in Massachusetts.

The days in Florida are lovely. The complex seems to be getting ready for spring as they have replaced all of the red mulch around the place.

It certainly has a summer look here to go with the temperatures.

Here we have a stork and some ducks in the pond. The complex has two ponds and colored fountains at night.
Earlier this week a rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral. The sky was so clear we could see it for several minutes. We viewed this one from the balcony of the condo.

February nears the end, and our visit here just has a month left.

What a difference in the weather...

How is this for keeping the blog up to date? Two days in a row! Since the last post was somewhat depressing, we wanted everyone to know that Florida weather has returned. Yesterday we went to Cocoa Beach for the afternoon. After some knitting and painting, we returned to 27th Street to see what was up there. We renewed our friendship with a couple of neighbors on the street and got a good look at the beach.

Today we went to Canova Beach in Indian Harbor at the end of our street and enjoyed walking for a half hour on the beach. Here you see an outcropping of rock, something we have never seen on any other Florida beach.

It was a lovely day at the beach with surfers, sunbathers, and kids playing in the water. What a difference a couple of days makes in the weather.

Louise took off her shoes and walked in the waves, the first time this winter. Here's a picture of it:

We've had a good weekend right in our own neighborhood!

Rain, rain, go away...

We are having the wettest weather we have ever seen in Florida. We've had three straight days of heavy rain. The rainfall broke records in Melbourne all three days. This is the balcony these days:

The parking lot has a river running through it!

There are a couple on ponds at the condo site, usually just a little water with ducks and other birds. This one looks like a river!

Here is Gary with a boat painting he is working on. Perhaps the wet weather has encouraged him to paint boats!
The good news is that after the fog cleared this morning the sun came out. We are hoping it will last, but we saw a weather report last night that had rain in the forecast for almost all of next week.