Serpentarium

After visiting Ponce de Leon springs, we drove back to the Glenn's house to have lunch and a swim break by the pool. We had a couple of hours of rest time before our next adventure...the Reptile Discovery Center and Serpentarium! 

This was such a cool life experience! We were able to hold several non-venomous snakes and we got to see a snake handler do a live venom extraction on multiple venomous snakes in order to make and sell anti-venom. My nerves were on high alert but I'm so glad that we got to see this. It was so much fun and the boys LOVED it!

Eli had no qualms about holding snakes. He was such a natural and let these friendly snakes slither all over him. 

Jonah was very at ease holding the snakes as well. I was proud of how brave they were!

I won't say I was at ease with holding snakes but I did it. It's a very unnatural feeling to hold a creature you normally keep your distance from whether they're venomous or not. 

Once everyone who wanted it had a chance to hold the non-venomous friendly snakes, it was time for the real fun to begin. The snake handler and his assistant went into the snake room where all the venomous snakes are kept and proceeded to demonstrate how they extract venom (also known as milking) from them. The assistant would hold up a card before each snake was taken out of the container letting the audience know which snake was coming out to be milked. They also had an audio recording that played giving more information about each snake as it was being milked. 

Remember that childhood rhyme "Red on black, friend of Jack; Red on yellow, kill a fellow"?

You definitely want to stay away from this guy.

Feeding the coral snake

Look at the volume of venom that came out of the rattlesnake. It was the most out of all the snakes that were milked that day. Lesson learned...stay the heck away from rattlesnakes!

I would also like to mention that one of the diamondback rattlesnakes provided the scariest moment of the day. He was super aggressive and when they went to take him out of his container he somehow wrestled out of their hands and fell on the floor!! You want to talk about nerve wracking! Oh my word. Nicki was filming at the time and on the video you hear both of us let out a loud gasp when they drop the snake. The man picked him up, put him on the table, and let him calm down a bit before proceeding.

Look how calm this guy is. No big deal...huge, venomous snake just mere feet away from him and he's cool as a cucumber. Of course, when this is your day job I guess this is how you should feel. 

After all the snakes had been milked and safely stored in their containers, the man in charge and his assistant came out to take questions from the group of people who watched. We also were able to get a picture of the boys with them as well. This was such a fun experience and I'm so glad we included it in our itinerary for the day. I hope we get to go back one day!

Sugar Mill Pancake House and De Leon Springs

Nicki being the ultimate planner that she is had our entire vacation planned out to the tiniest detail. I love that about her and it meant I could completely sit back, relax, enjoy my vacation because I knew she had it all worked out. After getting in the from the airport, we ate at one of their favorite Mexican food restaurants, Chuy's, and then we headed to Jeremiah's to get some of the best Italian ice I'd ever had. It was so good! We visited a little bit once we got to their house and then it was time for bed. Nicki had a full day planned for us the next day. 

Our first stop of the day was the Sugar Mill Pancake House and De Leon Springs. What a fun experience for all of us! We were able to cook our pancakes right at our table and we could add whatever toppings we wanted (for a small fee). Other than me being on high alert that one of the boys would burn their hand off because of the hot griddle being right in front of us, it was such a cool experience and the pancakes were so good! 

After stuffing our faces with pancakes, it was time to head to the spring. It is a natural spring and pumps 19 million gallons of water daily and the temperature is always a cool 72 degrees. I got all that information right from the website :)

The area around the spring was beautiful but the boys wasted no time jumping in the chilly water. What was so cool about the spring was how clear it was! It was totally deceiving because the water was so much deeper than it looked. 

Freezing but happy

The boys played football, tag, and so much more. They had such a blast! Anytime these three get to spend time together and play it always make me sad that we don't live closer. I know they would have been best buds for sure. 

Nicki and I eventually ended up in the water and man was it chilly! We swam for a little bit and then enjoyed watching the the boys play from dry ground where it was much warmer. Our first full day in Florida was off to a great start!