Gatorland

Our trip to Gatorland was LOTS of fun! We got the package that let us do the most activities on the way into the park. We had unlimited rides on the train which Marshall made sure that we used quite a few times. The first time we rode, we were actually the only passengers onboard. Marshall would climb up into his seat and yell "ALL ABOARD!" while everyone else was boarding. We went to the alligator wrestling event where we watched the handler perform tricks that included him sitting on the animals back, rolling the alligator onto it's own back and "lulling" it to sleep by rubbing it's tummy, basically anything you can think of that SHOULD have gotten him bit. Afterwards, they had a photo op time where all three kids (and me!) got to sit on the back of the gator. We couldn't walk in with the kids and I'm shocked that Marshall and Amelia just walked right in and did what was asked of them. In the picture, Amelia has her eyes closed, but she actually enjoyed it quite a bit..... Jeremy is still getting used to our camera! We also went to a comedic show and tell of various creepy crawlies and animals that I wouldn't touch for anything. We went to "gator jumping" which is where they have a hillbilly type contest between two pretend prospective employees where they are trying to get the alligators to jump out of the water and grab hunks of chicken. Abby and Marshall also took advantage of the face painting. Abby was quite happy with her alligator whose teeth were her own and Marshall wanted to be a pirate and regaled us all day with his "AAARRRGHHH!" Even when he was tired from walking, he sat in a stroller and gave us a tiny little argh.... We ended out the day by feeding frozen hot dogs to the alligators through the park. Of course, I'm not sure what keeps them from jumping out to grab the hot dog like they do the chicken. Hmmmm..... All in all, it was a day of fun and excitement.