Ed and I love to go kyaking and canoeing! The kids grumble but always end up having a LOT of fun once we arrive to the waters edge. Ty is our worrier. He knows the Bull Sharks can live in fresh water and that all of the water ways around us come from the Atlantic Ocean. He knows other sharks can survive for awhile in fresh water as well. He and Ryan have also read the book, I Survived The Shark Attacks of 1916. Ty also knows that the American Alligator is also present in our waters here. There are signs everywhere telling you they are protected and not to hurt them. Ty has asked many questions about the not hurting the alligators in numerous "what if" scenerios......and last but not least is the Water Moccasin. A lovely snake with deadly toxins.....these snakes are also aggressive and will chase you! Needless to say we are constantly putting Ty's fears to rest. The Alligator fear has not been easy to quelsh with Ty.....the beach was closed for us once because a big 10 foor alligator was sunning herself in the waves and there are pictures or a VERY large and not happy alligator on the docks of the Marina where we leave from on our water adventures. But, we have had him pretty convinced that they stay on certain parts of the water areas, not near where the regular traffic of water lovers play. He still is VERY observant in the waters as we paddle away, but he has relaxed a LOT from the first few times. We were at the New River Marina for Ty and Ryan's end of season baseball parties. We weren't going to be doing anything in the water except swimming if the boys wanted to. Ryan and some of his team mates were on the dock between where we camp and the roped in swimming area. They were all excited about something in the water. Ed and another Dad joked that maybe they were looking at an alligator.....sure enough, they were! AND throwing food to it!!! We told them to stop throwing food! Than we joined them and had fun watching this creature. He was actually quite cute since i was looking at him safely from above on the dock! I left the dock and went over on the grass to the waters edge to get some better pictures of him. He looked at me and began heading my way. He was kinda fast and Ed told me he wasn't going to come save me. Since i was wearing a dress i decided it wouldn't be very pretty for these kids to see me wrestle an alligator with my panties showing! So, i went back to the dock and the gator went back towards the dock. Ed took a nice size stick and threw it at Mr G.! He hit him right in the head! Hurtful! Total meanie!! I told him he better hope Mr, G. doesn't have a good memory since we like to paddle these waters! Later we went inside to eat and have the kids recieve their trophies. The Gator began swimming towards the camp ground we camped at on Mothers Day. Kyakers were coming in and i wondered if they would cross paths.....i also wondered what the girl tubing would do if Mr. G decided to swim next to her....or the Marines in the swimming area, well i think i know what would happen in the swimming area, 4 young slightly buzzed Marines and a 4 1/2 foot gator, i would feel sorry for the Gator. Later we went over to Ty's celebration and he was ready to come back to Ryan's. Unfortunately, Mr. G had come back to the docks. Ty enjoyed watching the alligator and i am glad he saw it, but now i am just not so sure Ed and I are going to be able to convince ANY of our kids to get in the waters with us again!!
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| He decided to come towards me at the waters edge... |
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| I tried to get him eating something but he tended to dive underwater when he ate....this was as close as i could get |
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| The kids had fun watching him |
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| Yes, Ed and I were not dressed to wrestle an American Alligator! |
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