So Long Sarasota

We ended up spending a month in Sarasota parked at our friends' house. I absolutely love being in their yard and having their horses all around us! Asher and Journey also loved being able to spend time with their two boys and teenage daughter.

They have to play pretty hard for me to catch them taking a nap these days.

Down the road from their house, we spotted these two families of Sandhill Cranes with colts. So cute!

While laying in bed, I enjoyed listening to barred owls calling to each other most nights and even saw a couple on the property. One day I watched this tufted titmouse disappear into this fencepost. After she left, I peeked inside and found these tiny just-hatched titmice! I wish I would have had a chance to watch them grow, but we moved on shortly after finding them. 

We caught this super unusual sight from the RV one day. An upside-down rainbow! Weird, eh?

The boys showed us their laser tag guns, and it looked so fun that we used money 

from Grandpa and Grandma to buy ourselves a set! Soooo fun! 

We went to the fair with Mike, Gina and Niko and rode lots of rides. We also learned about Amish Donuts (...mmmm, donuts). I asked Gina if they're better than Krispy Kreme and she laughed. Let's just say they're about the size of your head, but that didn't stop me from eating TWO! The kids enjoyed watching them make the donuts right in front of us. We caught the sea lion show and afterwards got a giant hug from them. They smell like fish!

Asher and I went on a special date to Save Our Seabirds where approximately 120 birds reside after being rescued from the area. They will either be rehabilitated and returned to the wild, or cared for at the facility for the rest of their life. Upon arrival we were given a paper with each birds' story. Some were very sad, like the pelican whose bill had been cut off because a fisherman thought he was eating too many fish. And this endangered Crested Caracara who spent four years living near a ranch in Myacca annually raising young before he was found with a gunshot wound and his family never to be seen again. The shot broke two bones in his wing so he will probably never fly again. Save Our Seabirds will generously care for him the rest of his life.

 Despite the unfortunate reasons birds have ended up here, it's a place filled with love and hope and I'm happy to have the opportunity to visit and show my son these creatures up close and learn from them. They offer field trips, camps and even train local volunteers to help feed baby birds in their care. I wish we could have stuck around for that! It's located right next to the MOTE Aquarium and they'll give you half off admission if you show them your same day MOTE ticket.

While in Sarasota, we went on fun hikes, caught lizards, played on the beach, went kayaking,
picked blueberries and got caught up with our friends and some family. It was a great visit!

After a few weeks away, we returned to celebrate a special friend's birthday. Niko turned three!

And boy does he know how to celebrate! His mom created one heck of a pool party complete with tons of food, a bounce house, bubble station, tattoo station (the temporary kind), piñata, and even bull riding! So much fun! The kids all took naps for the next two days!

We spent a week with Gina, Mike and Niko, where we all became obsessed with the show, Naked and Afraid! It's a survival show set in a remote area where a man and woman who haven't met before will spend 21 days together living off the land with only the two items that they choose to bring. No clothing allowed. By the time we left, Asher was ready to contact the show and propose to be the first contestant on Naked and Afraid Junior.