I'd say this past Sunday was a success- Taylor and I made it to church on time and stayed for all three hours (what a miracle),  I dressed festive in my red-white-and-blue pre-Fourth of July attire, aaand we got to see some dolphins! (say whaaaaa??)

While we've been out here, we've been looking for places close by that would let us swim with some dolphins while trying not to break the bank. Unfortunately, we've found no such thing so far (wahh). There are however a lot of separately owned dolphin tour businesses that are well worth the money!
  
For just $10 per ticket, Taylor and I spent an hour and a half on a boat out in Gulf Shores, Alabama (not to far from Orange Beach), enjoying the warm, sunny day, feeling the salty ocean breeze, as we searched for dolphins in their natural habitat. How fun! 

We saw probably a good twenty dolphins while on this expedition. It was so cool to see them swimming together, bobbing out of the water, disappearing beneath the waves, and wondering where they might pop out and surprise us next. 






Some fun facts I learned about dolphins:

1. They are very intelligent, playful, and social animals

2. They are mammals, just like us, and are born one at a time

3. Female dolphins carry their babies for 12 months while pregnant (a whole year of pregnancy? You go girl!)

4. After the baby dolphin is born, it actually has it's mother and a nanny that help take care of it

5. Because they are such social creatures, the nanny is to be believed as the mother dolphin's best friend, who can also nurse the baby along with the mother