SwedeArt

The Dandelion Project

2013-06-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to work with what you have, even if it's just old wilted dandelions.

Friends under water!

2013-06-02T16:01:00.002-07:00

Underwater Happiness

2013-05-29T05:38:00.003-07:00

My oldest daughter is turning into quite the underwater photographer. She is very patient and takes directions well. It's fun to have a common interest that doesn't involve Barbies or Playdoh!

Surf's Up!

2013-04-21T13:04:00.003-07:00

Babcock Wilderness Adventure

2012-11-17T05:50:00.001-08:00

On Saturday me and my family went on a Safari if you will at the Babcock Wilderness Adventure. We went on a 90 minute long Eco tour with a seasoned guide and got to enjoy a lot of the crazy wildlife Florida has to offer. I had found a Groupon for the tickets, which meant they were only $40 for the 4 of us (5 really but my 2 year old was free). We wen in an old school bus that had been painted in camouflage colors, and the windows had been taken out for some great viewing opportunities.
This was a fun family outing and it would also be a great place to go when you have visitors from out of state.

You have to reserve a spot and there are no tours on Sundays or Mondays.

Here are some pictures from the tour:

SQUIRREL!!!

2012-11-09T07:25:00.002-08:00

Is that a...no....could it be...a TODDLER with a snack???

Ooooo whatcha got whatcha got whatcha got???

Ahh chocolate chip cookies? Me likey!!! DROP IT!! DROP IT!!!

SCORE!!!!!!

Fall in Florida...

2012-11-05T10:41:00.001-08:00

I love how the weather is cooling down, in the mornings it gets quite crisp these days. It still gets warm in the middle of the day but at least it's a break from the extreme humidity!!
I had almost forgotten how beautiful the leaves get in the fall...

Ellen!

2012-10-31T10:20:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I let my dog off the leash (I know I know it was against better judgement) so she could have some fun and get some energy out of her system. Little did I know exactly how much fun she was going to have...
When we came around the corner from our neighbor's house there were about 50-60 ibis sitting on the grass...here are some pictures...

Halloween...

2012-10-30T06:11:00.006-07:00

Naples Botanical Garden October 2012

2012-10-29T12:27:00.002-07:00

Swimming with manatees in Crystal River!

2012-10-24T13:49:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I took our kids on a weekend trip to Crystal River, Florida. Crystal River is located about 3.5 hours north of Fort Myers and about 1.5 hours from Orlando. It was kind of a last minute idea because our other plans fell through, so needless to say we were pretty unprepared for the weekend ahead. No need to worry though, once you're there you can pretty much figure everything out. We arrived on a Friday night and on Saturday we spent the day exploring the Homosassa state park, which in all honesty is pretty much a zoo if you ask me, or a "wild life refuge" as they call it. I'm not a big fan of zoos (read: hate them) so that was a bit of wasted time right there. But then on Sunday we went on a boat tour to swim with manatees. We didn't need to book far in advance, we just called up the place and made reservations. We went with Manatee Tour and Dive and they were very competent and friendly and we truly had a great time. Unfortunately October is not the best time to go (which we didn't know before hand) because the manatees are still out swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, it's not until farther into the winter that they retreat into the springs of Crystal river, where the water is a constant 72 degrees (22 C). We still got to swim with a few manatees and we also got to explore the Three Sister's Spring, which was an amazing experience.
Our kids are 9, 7 and 2 and my daughters had a great time and really enjoyed snorkeling. My 2 year old kind of just tagged along but he was pretty happy too :).

We definitely want to go back again. We much prefer these kinds of outings to standing in line at Disney world...

Here are some pictures from the trip.

Photography class

2012-10-19T15:26:00.001-07:00

I love photography and I love learning new things but I'm not a big fan of sitting still in a classroom listening to someone drone on and on. At least with a photography class I can mess around with the camera and it will look like I'm studying :)
Here are a few classroom snapshots from last night.

S'more spiders!

2012-10-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Little Mermaid

2012-10-15T14:06:00.003-07:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to check out the Weeki Watchee mermaid show, you can read more about the show here: Mermaid Show
Our two oldest girls are 7 and 9 years old and they love to swim and pretend they are mermaids so they loved the show. My husband and I were impressed as well but in the end it's mostly for the kids. There is a lot of stuff to do at the park as well and the admission was only $13 per adult and $8 for children over 6. 5 and under are free. After the show we went on a river "cruise" down the crystal clear river. This isn't your typical theme park, and after all it's been around since the 1940's.

Here are some pictures from the show:

Itsy Bitsy Spider!

2012-10-10T10:32:00.001-07:00

All the pictures are taken at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary!

My Little Mermaids!

2012-10-09T12:19:00.001-07:00

The Happiest Place on Earth!!

2012-10-07T06:03:00.001-07:00

Some friends of ours always throw great parties, this past week was no different and this time it went in the theme of Mickey Mouse!

Lightening...

2012-10-06T06:04:00.002-07:00

These two pictures are taken within the same lightening strike, just right after each other. It was a great storm - a little too close for comfort but still great :)

Florida storms!

2012-10-04T17:57:00.002-07:00

Water!

2012-10-03T11:09:00.002-07:00

Sea shells!

2012-10-01T15:21:00.002-07:00

One day at the beach me and my husband were lucky enough to find a bunch of (empty!) conchs at the beach. (It's illegal to collect live ones).

My husband then boiled them in water for a while and afterwards he let them soak overnight in a water & bleach solution. After that he spent some time (read: hours) carefully picking of the barnacles and other stuff that were stuck to the outside of the shells. After that he polished them with mineral oil, and: VOILÁ!

Purdy, purdy shells emerged!!

Neon lights

2012-10-01T13:39:00.002-07:00

Last night we were driving from Tampa to Ft. Myers (2 hrs-ish) and I found myself getting bored. Well, when you have a camera you never really have to be bored, there's always something to mess around with or take pictures off. Unless the battery dies, but that's not boredom that's called mental breakdown, :) (Any true photo geek will nod their head in all earnest).

Evening walk September 28th 2012

2012-09-29T05:05:00.002-07:00

Storms over Wisteria Lane...

2012-09-28T06:13:00.001-07:00

Water!

2012-09-27T12:11:00.002-07:00

Turns out water is probably my favorite thing to photograph. Wait no I also love wildlife...and kids...and pets...and sunsets..I'll just have to get back to you on that :). Here are a few Water pix from today!