The Evans: TAMPA!

iknowiknowiknow..... I am waaaay behind. But I'm going to catch up. This is one of the things on my to-do list that has been there for quite some time. And if you don't feel the same way about your to-do list then that is embarrassing for me! haha.

In December, we decided to take a little trip to see our friends the Haws in Tampa, Florida! It was a BLAST. It felt amazing to be able to swim in rivers in December and we had some of the best food we've literally ever eaten, but what takes the cake was just spending some time with people we love. Everyone told us before we moved to Alabama that we would make life-long friends during grad school. That is 100% true and we feel so lucky to have such awesome people in our lives because of it!

Some of the awesome things we did...

^^ I love the moss! ^^

We went to Weeki Wachee Springs and canoed down the prettiest river! We kept commenting on how clear the water was and I just wish our pictures captured the beauty we saw. We saw tons of fish and I even spotted a snake as I was about to jump off the rope swing into the water. :/ I don't like snakes. But to top it off, close to the end of the river there was this huge sulfur spring with tons of MANATEES!!!! Apparently, sulfur heals their wounds. Also apparently, manatees aren't the smartest of animals. Along part of the river are tons of homes where everyone has a boat (obviously, because they live on a river). The manatees often swim shallowly and get hit by the boat's propellers (so sad, I know) but then they go to the spring to be healed by the sulfur in the water! It was the coolest thing to just seem them swimming around up close! They would bump our canoe and we would just giggle with excitement! (yes, we are five). #neature

^^ Blurry, but so so happy! ^^

^^ Manatees!!! ^^

we took a little tour of Tampa General Hospital (where David works).

We ate at the most DELICIOUS Venezuelan restaurant that Gordy and I STILL talk about! It seriously was life changing and is on the top of our list for best food we've ever eaten! If you are ever in Tampa you must eat at El Perdigon! Oh and take someone who knows Spanish. ;)
We saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert and they were amazing!! It was so much fun and so great to get in to Christmas mood.

The Haws live right by the water so we walked down to the pier and saw some dolphins jumping around!
We went to their ward Christmas party which was a talent show and had some adorable participants! It was also fun to go to church with them and to see their ward.
We went to Ybor City (which has a strong Cuban influence....evidenced by the suffocating cigar smoke everywhere!) and met up with one of my college roommates and her husband for crepes! I sure love that girl and was so so happy that we got to see her. It had been way too long!

^^ Love you, Whit! Thanks so much for meeting up with us!! ^^

We went to a little beach and even though it was a little too windy that day it was great to hear the ocean and be there.
G got 10 feet away from a massive crocodile!!! I can't remember the name of the park we went to, but we rented canoes and paddled up and down this river trying to find some crocodiles. Right as we were heading back to go home, the boys (in a canoe together because Hope and I learned from the previous day that when you canoe with your husband he will make your end of the canoe go into trees because he thinks it's funny) spotted a tiny baby alligator. As we were watching it, I spotted a HUGE croc just in front of us hiding behind a tree. I started yelling, "Oh my gosh, there's a huge one!! I see a huge crocodile!!" And everyone thought I was pranking them haha. So of course, Gordy and David try to get as close as they can to it. Then all of a sudden (I think I spooked it because my end of the canoe hit a rock..oops!), the croc started moving really fast and splashing and we for sure thought it was coming for Gordy and that he was going to fall into the water because he was standing up in his metal canoe trying to get a great picture! Have you ever seen a crocodile move really fast? They waddle back and forth and their powerful tails just thrash around and cause a giant ruckus so you can't really tell which direction they are moving in and they are really noisy and water is flying everywhere and it's slightly terrifying! haha. The good news is that the crocodile didn't come at G, but just went to some deeper water. We followed it for a few more minutes before G declared that now his trip to Tampa was complete! haha I love that boy. also, the pic was definitely worth the risk he says.

^^ The brackish water is kind of eerie when you think about all the crocodiles that could be under you at any given time without your knowledge...but it also makes for beautiful reflections! ^^