When Family Comes to Visit {Sarasota}

We always love it when family comes to visit! We have some family in the area, so we spent a day with them kayaking the mangrove tunnels at Lido Key. It's been years since we've seen our nieces and their mom, so this was a very special day for us!

This little guy tried to hitch a ride.

We found sea stars, jellyfish, dolphins and a sea urchin.

 Asher even managed to spot this teeny, tiny, baby seahorse! How cool!

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 Then my mom came to spend 9 days with us while Daddy was in Cuba.

We took her to the Mote Marine Laboratory to see seahorses, and pet stingrays. 

We spent a few days on the beach to soak up the sun while the kids played in the sand and surf.

Running circles around Meemaw.

My friend Nicole was still with us for part of my mom's visit. We happily took her up on her offer to watch the kids so my mom and I could have time alone together for the first time in many, many years! Of course we went treasure hunting (flea market and a thrift store).

We spent time looking at birds and other creatures at the Celery Fields, I took her to see the barred owl family that lives at Pinecraft park and before she left, we walked around the fruit festival where we met this goat with a panda on his side.

 We were parked on our friends' property where her three horses were just outside our door. One horse is very friendly so it was pretty comical the time he snuck up on my mom. Another time all three horses came to look in the trunk of her car to see what groceries she brought!

 The following week we managed to get all 3 siblings together for the first time in nearly 10 years! We had breakfast, went to the MOTE and to a park to play.

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Next my dad and stepmom came for a visit. They were doing the rounds visiting friends in different parts of Florida, which worked nicely for me. After spending a few days with us in Sarasota, I hitched a ride to Ft Lauderdale where my very first "mom vacation" began. They picked me up in Naples and stayed a few more days with us in Sarasota before heading back to Ohio.

We took them back to Lido Key for their first ever kayaking experience! 

A double-crested cormorant followed us around and kept diving under our boats. So funny.

They took us to the Big Cat Habitat where we saw lots of animals and even saw a few really cool performances including a bird that could roller-skate, a monkey and these giants- a lion named Handsome, a white tiger and a LIGER! Yes, really!

"Don't feed the bears"....unless you're at Big Cat Habitat, in which case it's encouraged.

 I took my parents to the Celery Fields where we had the best nature sightings of alligators, snakes, a raccoon, and of course lots of birds. We ran into a fellow birder, Steve, that I'd met previously. He is a retired firefighter who miraculously survived 9/11. He and my dad, also a firefighter, had lots to talk about.

Common Yellowthroat

Glossy Ibis