the hunt is on!

Dyeing at Easter

Swan Lake

Manatee Village

Cool, free "village" designed to allow a glimpse into the lives of Florida's early pioneers. The kids had a great time running around and "doing" things in the minimally staffed museum park. First up, climbing all over the wood-burning engine (which had a funky-looking "cabbage head" smokestack to catch all the floating tinder).

Cabbage heads.

The sugar cane press (hook the sweep up to an animal and squish!) and sugar house -- in the brick structure (oven? fireplace?) on the porch is a kettle to boil the juice down to syrup.

Lulu plots a takeover of the spinning stone wheel.

Success!

Hm, this washing machine is different than ours. Where are the buttons?

Adorable little bantams -- the kids spent ages feeding them grass and weeds. We missed our chickens.

Dante drew a picture of the hardly-elusive lizards he's been chasing everywhere in FL.

just swingin in the rain...

Wandering around at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, we were treated to tattoos by a man selling wooden stamps.

heavy liftin

"Wally Wallington has demonstrated that he can lift a Stonehenge-sized pillar weighing 22,000 lbs and moved a barn over 300 ft. What makes this so special is that he does it using only himself, gravity, and his incredible ingenuity."

shark's teeth beach

Visit to grandpa in Bradenton, FL day 2: Casperson's Beach to gather fossilized shark's teeth. I understimated the sun, and the kids and Luke got fried and are peeling like mad at present.

Dante underestimates the waves.

Our shark tooth haul.

Back at Grandpa's in the pool.