Life on the Ranch!

It is a treat to spend time on the Ranch with the Melanchuks.

The sky is always beautiful!

The kids enjoyed the surprises we brought:

The power was out for 8 hours one afternoon and evening, but the Melanchuks have a generator.  We were even able to watch a movie and it was so cute to see Nathaniel snuggle with his Grandpa.

The horses, Peppy and Nicky, are now a big part of the Melanchuks ranch life.

Sometimes they have to send the kids to find them in the large pasture:

And horses take a lot of care.  They are supposed to have their hoofs trimmed every few months. While we were there a man came to take care of that.  It was interesting to watch!

For being good during the trimming they each got a carrot...

...and some yummy food.

One afternoon Darryl took some of us to see Jug Island.

We stayed in the car so just took a few pictures.

"Deseret Ranch created a 500-acre wetland, called Jug Island, to treat storm water runoff. The area also serves as fantastic habitat for wading birds."

On our ride we saw some wildlife including a fox, owls, many other birds, and we even spotted an alligator.  Here is one of the owls flying off.

And here are some professional photos of the area:

This ranch is HUGE and there is so much to see!

Here are some citrus groves:

And one of our favorite things to see: The cattle!

On one of our car rides passing lots of  pastures and lots of cattle and watching them intently, we remembered this Far Side cartoon!

Recital Time!

Amanda has been working with her own kids on piano since they haven't been able to find a teacher.  While we were there they put on a recital for us!

The encore was a violin and viola duet!

The performers including Nathaniel!

(If you watch the videos, you will see him dancing.)

Bravo to everyone!

Some short clips of each of the kid's performances:

Clearwater Marine Aquarium!

Have you seen either of these movies?

They are about a dolphin named,Winter, who is missing her entire tail fluke and joint. "Tail flukes are the powerhouse of the dolphin and are attached to the peduncle, the muscular part of the dolphin. To swim naturally, a dolphin moves the peduncle up and down and the tail flukes propel the dolphin forward.

Winter was found stranded in Mosquito Lagoon, near Cape Canaveral, Florida when she was only two months old, entangled in a crab trap line which cut off circulation to her tail flukes. After disentanglement, she was transported to Clearwater Marine Aquarium for treatment of her extensive injuries. However, despite exhaustive efforts to promote healing, her tail deteriorated and could not be saved. Her story is unusual – most dolphins trapped in crab trap lines do not survive. Despite overwhelming odds against survival, Winter’s energy and ability to adapt to her new physical form surpassed expectations. She recovered completely, adapted to a new swim pattern and for part of the day has a  prosthetic tail."

Here are pictures of her with her prosthetic tail:

 So all of the above leads up to this amazing place that we visited:

This is where Winter was treated and where both of the movies were filmed.

"We are not exactly like the aquariums you may have visited in the past. We exist to rescue marine animals (dolphins, sea turtles, river otters, etc.), rehabilitate them from sickness or injury, and release them back into their natural habitats."

View from the Aquarium looking back to Clearwater Beach:

It is really different from most aquariums because it is a working rehab center.
So there were no performances or shows, but interns giving talks at the various tanks.  

But it was especially fun to see after watching the movies!

They had a pool where you could touch a sting ray:

And you could touch these sea anemones:

Dan got a shot of a dolphin jumping!

But the big attraction was the dolphin, Winter.
Here is Nathaniel seeing her at the underwater viewing place:

Here is a better view of her lack of a tail: 

It was a very interesting place, we saw dolphins, sea turtles, a large African pelican, and river otters, and we watched some videos about their rescues and rehabs.  Here is an aerial view of the aquarium:

We stopped for lunch at:

This is a midwest and southern chain I had never heard of before.
The food was very good and the service was even better--so was it the chain or southern hospitality?  Either way we had a very pleasant meal after a fun and interesting morning!

Clearwater Beach!

First a little Florida geography:

In the map below,

the black dot near the top is Orlando, the black dot at the right is Melbourne where there is a beach on the Atlantic Ocean, and the black dot on the left is Clearwater on the Gulf of Mexico.  The "R" is approximately where the Ranch is located.  So it's about 30 minutes to the Atlantic and 2 1/2 hours to the Gulf.

We went on a 2-day outing to Clearwater Beach!

Once you reach the city of Clearwater you cross a long causeway over the water to Clearwater Beach:

Here we are crossing the water with all of the beach hotels in the distance.

It is a popular spot!

Checked in and ... 

...walked two blocks to the beach.

Thank goodness for beach umbrellas.

That white sand made it bright and hot!

 Wow, the beach went on forever, 

the sand is so fine and so white, and the clouds were magnificent!

 We were pretty comfortable...

 The kids headed right out...

 Our view from where we were sitting.  The kids went out as far as that tall pole just to the left of the umbrella pole.  They could all stand out that far!

We saw lots of these birds: White Ibis

They found a lot of sand dollars.

There are really no waves so it seems more like a lake.

But the main thing I will remember is that the water was SO warm.

It was actually uncomfortable and you had to get OUT of the water to feel refreshed!

After such a fun afternoon and walking back in the heat and humidity we needed something to cool us off.

Found a Dairy Queen and treated everyone to Blizzards.

For some it was their first one! 

 Then back to our hotel for a refreshing evening swim or just relaxing by the pool.

The Melanchuks room was that whole side of the building with two entrance doors.

It was fun visiting a new place and experiencing new things!