Kayaking Lido Key

For Christmas Daddy surprised us with a pair of kayaks. They're inflatable, so they fit under the fifth wheel,
but heavy duty and surprisingly stable in the water. The kids were excited to help put them together.

Lido Key in Sarasota was the perfect setting for our inaugural kayak trip. 

The mangrove tree tunnels there are incredible, although the very narrow and the 

dark black roots covered in crabs, makes you wonder what else is in those tunnels with you.

We stopped for lunch on a sand bar island that had hundreds of little crabs all over the beach. If you held still they would all walk around on the beach. As soon as you walked towards them you'd see them run to their holes in the sand. The kids had fun running down the beach and watching the waves of crabs run and hide.

We watched this crab build his home underground by pulling these dark, wet balls of sand from his tunnel. 

We managed to catch a few.

Back in the boats, the water was so clear we could see the bottom and we found 

this lightning whelk egg chain. Hundreds of sea snail eggs are inside this casing!

And a couple horseshoe crabs.

A week later we returned to kayak a different section of Lido Key. As soon as we started 

out I spotted this starfish in the water. I scooped it up and let the kids touch it. 

We were blessed to see a dolphin surface nearby and we followed him for a few minutes. 

That was super exciting! Then I spotted this enormous conch and pulled it up for the kids 

to check out! The animal was still inside, so we returned him to his watery home.

Of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go thru the mangrove tunnels one last time.