cypress gardens

we were in Monks Corner this weekend for andy's tournament and on Sunday, he finished his first game by 11 am and we didn't have another one until 5 pm (ridiculous)... so rather than drive the whole way home to sit for a few hours and then have to drive back, we Googled for something fun to do instead...we ended up checking out some boat launches on Moultrie Lake...a gorgeous 60,000+ acre lake, that looks more like the ocean..to see if we would like to explore getting a small freshwater boat to spend time on a lake??...

after that we headed to cypress gardens... a beautiful park that had a swamporium w/ alligators, snakes, and the like... a butterfly house.. a we were able to take a small wooden rowboat through the swamp... they state that there are 2 alligators that inhabit the swamp, and we actually got to see one... it is absolutely stunning (the pictures just can't do it justice)... covered in huge lily pads, ginormous trees, and silence...to sit in the middle of that swamp with such beautiful scenery and quiet (minus the kids bickering..Ava was peeved the whole time be/c she wanted to sit up front and row..seriously...92 degrees and I'm sweating my butt off, and she's complaining that she can't row??!) ...

so glad we took this little side trip!...