Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!

We are having a very fun, non-traditional Christmas.

Christmas Eve, we went to Fleming's Steakhouse in Tampa for a delicious dinner. Glenn and I decided not to exchange gifts this year, which people seem horrified about, but Christmas came anyway and we're thoroughly enjoying it.

Glenn did get the dogs some toys. Here is Deuce, ferociously trying to destroy his new squeaky snake which is made out of a firehose.

Mojo also got a beaver without any stuffing, which she loves.

I made Glenn and I some cinnamon rolls and put the Yule Log station on the TV.

Glenn also put everything back on the lanai. He's spent the past 4 days or so cleaning and painting the entire area - including the ceiling. Here are some pics while it was in progress.

Now everything is back in place and looking beautiful.

So anyway, after breakfast, we decided to once again take a bike ride on the causeway. When we started out, I joked to Glenn that we had a White Christmas after all.

Soon, however, the fog burned off and it turned into a beautiful sunny day.

The bay was full of ducks. Dad, you'll have to help me ID them.

We also saw this Night Heron.

Dude. (He looks like he has a little beard.)

Most exciting, we saw some dolphins that were apparently swimming in very shallow water, because they were staying half out of the water instead of instantly diving back down as they usually do. It was still tricky to get photos, but I had some success.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Dolphin! Thanks, Superzoom!

Glenn once again biked to the top of the causeway bridge, and took some selfies at the top.



I think this is his "hot and tired" face.

Then, on the way back, I got a few shots of a pretty oystercatcher.

After we completed our 8 mile route, we put the bikes back on the truck, and drove over to the Safety Harbor pier just to say hello. The tide was very low and there were a lot more birds than are normally there.

Synchronized Ibis

Synchronized pelicans

Bah-humbug!

That night, we drove to see a Christmas light display in Largo, which was pretty but a) my pics didn't come out great and b) there were a million slow walking people there that were quickly diminishing my Christmas spirits, so we bolted back home and watched It's a Wonderful Life.

It was a full moon on Christmas, and I did get a nice shot of that. It was a better light show anyway.

Saturday morning was beautiful and I convinced Glenn to go to Sand Key Beach for a walk. There were lots of good shells to be found - we filled our pockets - and lots of seabirds.

We also saw several "snowmen."

All in all, a beautiful morning on the beach.

Later, after lunch, we packed up our fishing gear and headed to the Dunedin Causeway. We found a spot near the bridge, which our Great Blue Heron friend told us was a good spot.

Hey buddy, catch anything?

We fished for several hours and did not have much luck, but we had a great time. Glenn caught a number of grunts...

And I caught one fangy-toothed fish which we believe to be a Spanish Mackerel.

Woo-hoo!

It was a beautiful day to be fishing, and we saw something we had never seen before. Two dolphins came swimming through the channel and under the bridge and the one jumped completely out of the water about 3 times. I had never seen a dolphin jump like that outside of SeaWorld. Once they passed through, a guy on the bridge yelled - "So much for fishin' now!"

Two more dolphins passed through a few minutes later. They were beautiful, but I do think they scared the fish.

After fishing, we went to Dunedin to watch the sunset by the pier, where we were greeted by more birds.

This poor Pelican was so friendly, there was a crowd of paparazzi around him taking photos.

Anyway, the sunset was pretty, but my camera makes it look even better than it was.

So...that would have been it for this week's blog, but today something wonderful happened. A Christmas Miracle!

Glenn and I had packed up the dogs into the truck and were headed to take them on a walk on Bayshore. I grabbed my camera on a whim.

We had drove about 2 blocks from the house when I told Glenn, "STOP THE CAR!"

I told him I spotted some otters in a neighbors' pond, but he said I was wrong. "They're just ducks!"

Still, I insisted and hurled myself from the car. And friends, after a quest that had spanned months, the elusive otters were there, and they let me photograph them.

This is not a duck.

Look, I caught an otter who caught a big fish!

Love this! (Also not a duck.)

There was a whole family of them!

This is my favorite!

And off into the sunset they go...

So that's it everyone! A wonderful Christmas full of surprises, and we didn't even have to wrap anything. Sorry we missed seeing you all, but we'll be together again soon. Love and Happy Holidays!