Florida, Henry Loves You But You're Whoopin' Its Butt! Part 5

Dear Tantamoose,
Our last day in Florida Daddy I found Homosassa Springs on the map and we took off.  Homosassa is an animal wildlife preserve full of alligators, a variety of birds, fish, wolves, a hippo, a black bear and manatees!  When we arrived we got on a boat and floated down the canal to the animal park.  What a way to start out an adventure with you!  You helped me look for gators while sucking on a Dum Dum.  The park is set up on a circuit of deck-like pathways and bridges that take you to various animal habitats.  It is clean, completely accessible with no stairs (other than the little capsule one can climb into to watch the fish underwater) and kid friendly with various affordable snack stops and metal mesh that covers the handrails so you don't have to worry about your two year old climbing through and running into the bird poop covered habitat.  To say you loved it would be understating it.  The habitats are set up for maximum human visibility balancing the habitat needs for the animals.  

You loved the fish down in the underwater capsule, smashing your face against the window to see them as close as possible.  Next the path took us up over a bridge to see the manatees just at eating time!  They floated around trying to munch at the "salad" (heads of lettuce and cabbage) as you put it.  You  needed to hug the manatee sculpture.  

Moving on around the path we met a big hippo on our left and giant alligators on our right!  Oh you shouted at them, pointed and really became interested in the hippo as it climbed out of the water.  It was time for him to eat too..."grass" (alfalfa) and then to poop. 

Before we saw the sign other visitors warned us of the splash zone...hippos poop and use their tail to swipe back and forth and wipe it off.  We backed off and yes, with about 10 other visitors we waited for the hippo to poop.   What else does a 2 year old want to see?!  When he was done I made a noise and hippo made a very loud noise back that sounded like laughter Jabba the Hut makes.  You copied it a few times.  I was never really interested in birds as a kid but you really seem to enjoy watching them and knowing what their names are.  

The flamingos you knew right away and starting pointing out pelicans.  I think that is pretty 
impressive for a dude your age, but what really blew me away was when I wasn't able to find the name of this one pinkish bird.  I said, "Hmm, I don't know what the name of that one is."  You said, "A pink crane?"  No, but sweet that you were really thinking about it.   

You also became really excited about the black bear.   He lumbered around and splashed in the water for you.  He really captivated you...almost as much as the box put there to take donations for his upkeep.  

After the brown bear we returned to a pick up point...this time we took a little train back, there is no much that excites you more than a boat trip, lots of animals, and a little train trip except maybe the penny squasher in the lobby of the gift shop.  It was a wonderful trip and I would recommend it for anyone with children or with walking difficulties (they even had free chairs and strollers to use while there.)  It was such a relaxing fun day as a family.  Daddy and I love exploring with you!

 Love, Mama