Bok Tower Gardens (pic heavy)

I really wanted to take some photos of Bella for her birthday and since most places wouldn't be able to have the photos back in time I decided to do them myself. What was supposed to be birthday photos ended up more like Easter or just nice photos though. I loved the dress I put her in today (I had planned on changing her later so she wouldn't spit up on her birthday dress or something) so much that I never changed her! So now I still need to do birthday photos but I got some good shots to put on my wall as well.

So now that you have the back story, this is where we went today. It's about an hour away in Lake Wales. It's called Bok Tower Gardens and it's beautiful! Bok Tower itself is this 205ft tower that houses the Carrillon. It's also called the Singing Tower. The boys both loved it and Ian wanted to go back to see it instead of going home. You can't actually go into the tower but the grounds around it are so nice. You can picnic, relax on the grass or benches, take in the view of the surrounding area or explore all the gardens and trails. We did a little bit of everything. There's also a mansion on the property you can tour (for a fee) but you can walk the grounds around it free. I'd love to have a house like it! There are orange groves all around the area and they are blooming right now so the smell is wonderful. If someone could just bottle that up I'd wear it as perfume! LOL

And there's a ridge trail you can take that used to be the highest point of what is now Florida. "...a geologically significant range of sand and limestone hills, which were islands from two to three million years ago, when sea levels were much higher than at present. Many species of plants and animals evolved in isolation and are endemic to the Ridge. Most are threatened or endangered by possible extinction." It's totally different than the gardens. A lot of scrub, cacti, and sand. The boys weren't into it like they were the garden trails. Thank goodness it ended back at the front where there were picnic tables to rest, water fountains and spigots to wash off our feet. We were thirsty and dirty! Thank goodness for Crocs! ;)

I look forward to going over there again one day. It may become our new picture taking spot! Here are only a fraction of the photos we took today.





Can you spot our little friend? It's the only wildlife we saw all day! Not even a squirrel could be seen!












View from the top of the ridge behind the tower.


I'm in love with this photo. It will def be going up on my wall!


It was realllly windy up on the ridge. This is Bella's best Marilyn Monroe impression. ;)





Then she started getting unsure about that wind in her face. LMBO!



Small pond on the Plantation House grounds.






I loved all the detail work on the house. It's hard to see here but every shutter was detailed and then you have the crest and the mini windows. All very nice!


This was a quiet little fountain area in the back yard.


Pond in the far backyard.


Looking up the hill from the pond.


View of the tower from the house.


This is the view from the Ridge Trail. Supposedly there are plants on the ridge that have been around for like 12,000 years.