Surprise Visitor!

We live in Florida -

on a conservation lot,

which means that the land behind our house can not be developed.

We love the beautiful view from our backyard.
There is even a sidewalk that goes around the entire pond so the boys often ride their bikes out there and we usually take a walk everyday.

The boys love living so close to a pond and you can often find them fishing, catching frogs and minnows and exploring around the pond.

But living this close to nature also means that we have had our fair share of surprise visitors -

some of which aren't very welcome around here.

The first visitor we ever had wasn't welcome at all! He was discovered shortly after we moved in several years ago and you could often see him swimming through the water or sunning himself on the bank. No one wanted him around, though, and a real live "crocodile hunter" was called in to remove him from the pond.

Yes, our first visitor was a 5-ft. alligator -

and yes, that is our house right behind them!

I am happy to report that we haven't seen another one since this one was removed and

don't worry - we check around the pond often for any new alligators!

The next unwelcome visitor keeps coming back as we have spotted this guy several times around the pond and yard. Thankfully he is not poisonous - but he has gotten trapped on our porch twice since we have lived here. I don't like this guy at all - a black racer snake - but the boys are fascinated with him!

The next guy took me completely by surprise one day because I never expected an otter to be living in our pond! He was so cute and entertained us with his playful antics in the water and on the banks. Two otters lived in the pond for about a month before moving on . . . and unfortunately we haven't seen them since!

And well, most of you know that we see this guy (below) just about everyday.
We love the visits from our cardinal.

But yesterday afternoon we had a new visitor. One that we haven't seen before - standing out by the pond. We heard it before we saw it because it has one of the loudest cries I've ever heard and it sounds like a dying cat! I went running to the door when I heard it because Brandon was out back and I wanted to make sure he was okay. When I got to the door Brandon was running up the yard yelling for me to come see what was out there!

Can you guess what it was this time?

It was a peacock!
I couldn't believe it.
So of course, the first thing I do is grab my camera.
Look how beautiful this guy is!

And here he is yelling. I never knew they were so loud!Then that crazy bird flew on our neighbor's roof.

There he is again - still on the roof. He hung out there for a good hour and we all had fun watching him and listening to him. I have no idea where he came from - but he sure did entertain us and half the neighborhood kids, too!

Allie watching the peacock on the roof. She did not like it at all when he started wailing!
Baby Girl does not like to walk in the grass.
She just follows me around with her little arms in the air saying, "UP" because she wants me to pick her up off the grass.
Pretty hard to resist this sweetness!


Here she is again - pulling on my leg - saying UP!


Okay, carpet is much better!
Now we can laugh again! :0)

"In Your presence is fullness of joy . . ."
Psalm 16:11