Teasing Mr. Alligator, You can't catch me!

Swamp Tour = Chance to feed Huge Gators right next to you...... a complete tour of the area with background spook stories from Captain Chris, our guide...... catch fish and see them jump at the top of the water ...... throw marshmallows at friendly crows that had a whole technique to not get eaten by the alligators when retrieving the marshmallow ...... hold a cute little Alli...... having it so hot that my M&Ms did in fact melt......see tons of smiles and hear "Whoa, that's so cool!" from our whole party!! Here comes the big one da da .......... da da ...... da da ......

Do you see the size of this thing? Yes, that stick is connected to Captain Chris who is just off our boat that he docked to be able to HAND FEED this beast!! There is no zoom on this thing he was SO close and SO big I couldn't even fit him all in a single picture.The boys were so excited to go, and were told to hurry and eat their treats Grandpa bought them (not a problem for Hayden who ate his before it was even completely purchased) before they melted. I thought I would be good with my candy coated M&Ms that I had to share with Justin. Umm not so much, especially in Hot Louisiana Heat. I'm lucky I didn't get them all over my pants or something.

Here is a mamma Raccoon of six babies called Rocky, who Captain Chris would put a marshmallow in his mouth and she would come and take it from him standing on two legs with both of her hands. This shack is made out of Cypress Trees that are naturally resistant to insects, decay, or shrinking. Cypress tree growth rings grow really close together, which makes the wood very dense. We were told Cypress tress were used all over the place back in the day and are still holding strong. Because it lasts so long and preserves it self even when it is submerged under water, it has been know to be called "Nature's Eternal Wood"

Here's our unbelievable hosts and guides for the down south country... Grandma and Grandpa Cottrell. We loved every minute of it! Thank You!

These are the hand held sticks equipped with a piece of chicken we were able to use to lure the alligators into jumping out of the water for us. Which they did with ease every time.

This is Justin getting mad at me after I had to take his hand away from squeezing our little Alli to hard. Captain Chris showed us the proper way of holding a alligator and well Justin was just not up to par. He went to Dad and who made Justin all better!

See good techniques. One hand under the belly held loosely, and the other around the tail held tighter. Good Job boys!! Captain Chris related the little Alli to a horse that has to get used to each rider who comes along, and can tell when a greeny is on top. Same goes with little Alli, they can tell if a crazy little Justin is trying to crush them, so holding her the same way each time is really important.

Just a Big Fake. But still cool enough, and real looking enough to go take our picture by.

We saw so many more neat things and Captain Chris was full of information and pictures to go along with his stories so he was legit. A couple of crazy pictures were: 1. A 25 foot alligator who had to be killed which our Captain was a little sad about. He thought they should have just caught him and put him in the zoo somewhere. 2. Picture of a Alligator dead with side of belly cut open and you could see and entire form and a human body which was said to be a very unlucky golfer. 3. A map showing the areas of land that was covered by water in Louisiana after Katrina and how high the water levels were.

I would be ready to go again at anytime, but next time I think I will get something like skittles to share with the boys instead of M&Ms. Whew that Louisiana can be a hot one!! Nothing that a good snowball treat can't fix, Right Gr& Gr Cottrell!!