When we were planning our trip to Florida Julien kept saying that we would see alligators, parrots, and sharks. We tried to explain that it would be unlikely, but he was right! We saw them all. (The shark will be a later post).
While in St. Augustine we went to the
Alligator Farm, which sounds worse than it is. We thought it might be a road side attraction, instead it is a specialized zoo that was started in 1893. It was really cool.
We saw amazing quantities of alligators, crocodiles and exotic birds. They even had an area of native swamp land where alligators and local birds congregate. As we were walking along the raised pathway, busily looking at the alligators lurking below, we turned the corner and saw trees full of native birds. We saw a
Roseate Spoonbill (which thrilled Bill), as well as ibis and other Florida birds. It was a very memorable moment.
Sebastian is working very hard at moving. He recently learned how to lunge from sitting, although sometimes his leg gets caught for a little bit. When he sees something he is interested in, he can pivot quickly towards it. He can also back up several feet, but usually when he does this he gets frustrated because he is trying to go forward! 
We visited the Kingsley Plantation and looked at the ruins of slave quarters. They look so ghostly. 
On Andy's suggestion we visited St. Augustine, the oldest occupied settlement in the United States. We spent quite a bit of time exploring Castillo De San Marcos, an old Spanish fort. It was fascinating, especially to Julien. Julien has been studying castle books for months now, and it was amazing to see a fort in person that used the style of building he had been learning about: moats, drawbridges and all. We even were able to watch a demonstration of a cannon firing...except for Jessica, me, and the babies, who stayed on the lower level. It would have been a little loud for them any way.
Julien spent hours building forts in the sand, with help from me and his Uncle Andy. 
On a brisk cold, but sunny, day we visited Fort Clinch, a pre-cival war fort. This started on of Julien's themes of the trip- building and creating plans for building forts.
