I am writing this post in honor of all mothers and especially those that are often overlooked on Mother's Day each year.  If you have pets you are a mother they could not survive without you!  I also wanted to share the love shown by some of the animal mothers' for their babies that I've seen around the world. The top photo is of an elephant mother with her baby that I saw in Tanzania at the Serengeti National Park.

My husband and I have also taken in several stray pregnant cats.  We found homes for all of the babies and mothers including the seven orange ones in the second photo down.  We actually kept the mothers - Princess (the black cat) and Peaches (orange cat) for ourselves. 

More elephants in the Serengeti:

A pride of lions in the Serengeti:

Monkeys in Bali:

Foster cats:





Sled dog I saw in Alaska with her four day old pups:
I hope all of you have a wonderful day regardless whether you are a mother or not.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Take care my friends!

~Michelle

 I'm excited to be returning to the botanical gardens in Naples, Florida this coming weekend.  I was just there a few weeks ago with my family.  We enjoyed it so much that we decided to buy a year membership.  

On certain days of the week the Naples Botanical Gardens offer yoga classes and other days where people can bring their dogs.  They often have concerts and they currently have some beautiful sculptures throughout the six unique gardens at this attraction.   The gardens are all beautifully maintained.   Admission is only $14.95 for an adult.  If you decide to become a member they will apply your admission fee toward your membership fee. 

I highly recommend this attraction if you are in the southern Florida or Naples area.  It is a very peaceful and relaxing environment with a lot of beautiful things to see.  The six different Gardens offer different types of flowers and trees for all tastes.  I really enjoy taking photos while there.

Here is their web site for more information:   Naples Botanical Gardens

The above and below photo show a very large yoga class in progress on a Sunday morning.
An endangered Monarch butterfly on a purple flower:


I loved this sculpture of a horse that looks like it's galloping through the garden:
There were many beautiful archways like this one:
Here is a building in the oriental garden:
There were so many gorgeous orchids throughout the gardens.  I enjoyed seeing them as I have always loved them, but never had any luck keeping one in my home.

Pictured above is one of the lily pad and lotus ponds in the oriental garden that I loved.

There were many benches and hammocks for people to relax and enjoy the beauty:
I am really working on my close up photos which will hopefully improve after this next trip :)

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Please leave any comments or questions you might have.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

~Michelle

"To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world."

~John Muir

(OK we all know Alaska is a state not a country, but it may have been when this quote was written)

Visiting the Tracy Arm Passage was definitely one of the highlights of my cruise to Alaska. Tracy Arm is a Fjord located only about 45 miles from Juneau.  Our ship was only there for about six hours, but it was incredibly beautiful.  There was a chance that we might not be able to get into this area because ice chunks are often blocking the entrance for the ship to get in.  It was pretty cold in this area compared to some of the ports we stopped at so I was very grateful for the server passing out pea soup to those who wanted it on deck.  On this day I saw more people out on deck looking at the beautiful scenery and taking photos than any other on this seven day cruise.  One thing I would definitely recommend to people who like to visit this type of environment is not to visit Antarctica first like I did.  Antarctica was probably one of  my favorite trips so far and Alaska, at least this particular cruise that I chose, just did not compare. The fact is you're just not going that far north on some of these cruises, so you're not going to see some of the scenery such as this Antarctica scene:   Back to Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska!

Lot's of people out on the deck despite it being fairly cold:
  Server passing out yummy pea soup!

If you are lucky, you might see bears, deer, wolves, seals, and even mountain goats.  Perhaps I wasn't vigilant enough or just not lucky, but I don't remember even seeing a bird of any sort.

 Yes, this ice chunk was really this blue!

  I will leave you with a photo of me trying to stay warm and wearing sunglasses becaause I got a chunk of snow in my eye while dog sledding :(

  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Take care my friends!

~ Michelle