Outdoor Wednesday: Mardi Gras

This post first ran last year, 2/16/10.
I thought in the spirit of Mardi Gras, I would republish.

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all! You can click here for some really good recipes to get you in the spirit!

Outdoor Wednesday is hosted by my friend, Susan of A Southern Daydreamer.

We celebrated Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, tonight at Patton Creek in Hoover. We stopped by the Cajun Steamer first, where they gave us all jester hats and out first of many beads. Then we scouted out a good spot on the parade route and parked it waiting for the parade to begin.
It didn't take long......























The red guy is a "Lobster" on behalf of Cajun Steamer, who was throwing beads to the crowd.


















(Hands up) "Throw me sum beads, Mista!"

















The kids walked away loaded down with beads. I was not only carrying my camera, but an armful of candy, moon pies, business coupons and 2 t-shirts-all caught prizes that were thrown to the crowd.























Can you guess what prize J. Smooth liked best? All he wanted was chocolate.

Thankyou for taking the time to stop by Takes from Bloggeritaville!
I hope you will join us tomorrow for Thrifty Thursday, whether you link up or party hop, you're invited!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS, Y'all!

Love:Love:Laugh
Leigh

Outdoor Wednesday

Another Outdoor Wednesday.
Another trip to Guntersville.
I had told my friend, "High Mae" about the fun we had in Guntersville, as well as the bird presentation..."Lets take the kids and picnic!" She always has great ideas.
So Saturday....off we went.
We found a great place to picnic, right beside Lake Guntersville.

















Where the sunlight playfully danced on the lapping water.
















After our lunch, we hit the trails for a day of hiking.























It was a trail I had hiked before, but I made the mistake of parking at the wrong end of the trail. This way today, was a hike straight up the mountain. Oh, joy!

We did do some investigating along the way.....
















Hmmm? Wonder what the story was there??
More hill.....
















And yet the kids wanted to climb the rocks on hills.
There is not a game on Wii Fit to simulate this experience. :)
Even Sister Sledge needed a break.

After our hike, we went to the Raptor presentation. Each week (through the second weekend of Feb.) there is a new presenter with different birds of prey. Check the Park website for more info.

All of our children were excited to be able to hold this little screech owl.



























Isn't that little owl just the cutest? So tiny....but what a big spooky voice!!!!

We also saw up close and personal....
The Red Tail Hawk.

















The Barred Owl.























But the piece dela resistance was .......our nations symbol.
The Bald Eagle.
 A very regal eagle. Check out those talons! As big as a man's hands!

















Fierce! Nobel. Way cool.

Just....WOW!

















After the presentation, we decided to allow the kids to explore around the lodge a bit...

















The view is unbelievable. The lodge sits on top of the mountain.
















Me and High Mae even got a picture together for posterity!

After the kids had explored to their hearts content, I had a surprise.
"Let's go "Deer Hunting"", where we are certain to see deer.
I don't think they believed me, until.....

 We allowed the children to call in the deer....

Deer Whisperers, wouldn't you say?  Keep in mind, these are wild deer, not caged or fenced in, wild!

It was a WON-DEER-FUL day, the kids...both big and small had a blast!

Click here to read Courtney's version of our adventure.
Also, Do not forget! TOMORROW is #100 of Thrifty Thursday!
And it comes with a giveaway! Hope to see you there!

For more OW participants click here.

Lake Guntersville State Park (Another Check on the Bucketlist)

I had been looking forward to Saturday for several weeks. Another road trip. If you read Tales from Bloggeritaville, you know that I love a road trip. I love to go. And today we had a van full for the day's venture. Meet my family and birding enthusiast...

(cousin Marc, cousin Gina, Uncle David, Aunt Wanda, Momma, cousin Erin, me and my Dad. My personal family circus sat this trip at home in front of the tv watching football. But I digress....)

 We headed to Lake Guntersville State (Alabama) Park, where we were to take in a presentation/lecture on raptors aka birds of prey.

We arrived to the park to find much of Alabama's snowfall still on the ground and enjoyed the breathtaking beauty and snow before we went to the presentation.


















An impromptu snowball fight ensued:

Such fun! But alas, it was cold and almost a cue to head inside to take in our lecture. The presentor was fantastic, think Steve Erwin, Croc Hunter. His excitement for the birds was contagious. And he wanted us to get up and close with our feathered friends. We got to pet, photograph and gawk at these amazing creatures. Allow me to share so you can gawk too....
Introducing:
Barred or Screech Owl:























The Great Horned Owl (Who many licks does it take to get the center of a tootsie roll pop? I still dont know.....):

















Red Tail Hawk:

















We also saw deer, lots of deer. Deer with no fear of humans. They walk right up to the car, looking for handouts.

 I thoroughly enjoyed seeing and interacting with the wildlife. But the real reason that I went to Lake Guntersville State Park was the same one that has brought me back to this park several times.
Eagles.
In the past I have set up "day camp" and watched the skies for Eagles. I couldn't see any. I changed locations, a few times. Still no eagles.
My hope was that today would be different. Seeing an bald eagle in the wild is one of my "bucket list" items.
I was hopeful to see our national symbol in its element.
We parked and set up late in the day in hopes of seeing the eagles come in from a day of hunting on the water.

And we sat...

















And sat.
And watched the sky.
















And sat and watched yet some more.

And then finally, there in the inlet I saw it. So majestic in it's flight....

Exhilarating. Exciting. Amazing!
Not one eagle, not two but several, as well as some young adults too.
We watched for about an hour, until the light of day disappeared slowly from the sky and the eagles finally began to roost. And my time of roost was not far off as well.
A checkmark on my bucket list.
And a wonderful day spent outdoors, one that will forever live on in my memory.

For more Outdoor Wed. Participants, Click HERE. Happy OW!!!