Our trip to Avery Island....

I know that I am loooooong overdue for a new post, and I apologize for that. The Apple Dumplin Gang has been keeping very very busy, and we are loving every minute of it.

I wanted to share with you a recent trip that we took a little while ago. I bet that you didn't know that not too far from here is a wonderful little place called Avery Island. You may have never heard of this place, but you might know of the staple food item of our household that makes this island famous. Tabasco Sauce. You know, the stuff that my husband puts on EVERYTHING, even the stuff that I haven't burned. And since my maiden name is Avery, the girls and I had to take a little trip to pay homage to my namesake island. Now, if you ask my girls what they remember most from the trip, The Big Apple will tell you that Tabasco sauce takes over 3 years to make. She will also tell you that our tour guide didn't like children, as she remarked "These kids are driving me nuts!" The reason why she was being driven nuts? They were all being generally well behaved, a bit fidgety, but The Big Apple had many questions about the making of Tabasco sauce, and the lady got tired of her questions. Isn't that what tour guides are paid to do? Here is the Big Apple sniffing a barrel of curing Tabasco peppers.
The Middle Apple remembers this about the trip...that she was allowed to ride in the van at 5 miles an hour with her seatbelt off, head hanging out the window. Go ahead...fling tomatoes, lock me up for bad parenting. But please, nobody tell my mother. Oh wait. She reads this blog. Nevermind.
But the reason why this was allowed is because on Avery Island, there is alot of wildlife and beautiful places to explore. We stopped at the Jungle Gardens, ate our picnic lunch, and enjoyed our day.
This little guy, that the kids named Swimmy, was a little too friendly for my tastes. Just as long as he stayed on his side of the fence, and he stayed on his, we were fine just looking at each other.

Also on the island were many beautiful gardens and a lovely Buddist Temple. I had to take a few pictures.
I bet this place looks positively magical when the azaleas are in full bloom. We will be going back in the next week or so to see.

And then there was this sign.....Well, duh...thanks for the reminder. I really wanted to pet an alligator today. And take one home for a pet, to love always. Not.

Then there was the Egret Sanctuary. It was beautiful to watch so many nesting in one spot. Simply gorgeous. I am almost ashamed to post this picture of them because this picture just doesn't do justice to what we saw that day. They were just so much more beautiful to watch in person than just this picture taken with a shoddy camera.
In case you didn't know, I love having so many things to do locally, and so much beauty right under my nose.

After our trip to Avery Island, we finished off our day at the Zoo in Lafayette. As if we hadn't seen enough for one day. But I will leave those pictures for another post.