Myakka State Park- Lots of GATORS!

If you want to see alligators in their natural environment, Myakka is the place to be. There's actually a section in the park called "the hole" where hundreds of them congregate. You have to get a permit to hike there and it's limited to 30 people a day. We were warned that the water level was high that day meaning we probably wouldn't see too many alligators, so we opted not to do that hike. Instead we stopped along a bridge and watched about six alligators from there.

There were two men fishing from the bridge. The alligators were coming over and laying in the water directly under us in the hopes of catching a fish as the men pulled them in. One actually came very close to being successful, and all of us jumped when the alligator snapped his jaws in the attempt.

We hiked the nature trail, which runs alongside the river where we just saw the alligators! 

That made me a bit nervous, but we didn't run into any along the way.

Later we drove deeper into the park to the bird walk boardwalk which takes you out to a place over the marshes to watch different species of bird- eagles, vultures and more. 

Couldn't help but spend a few minutes under these beautiful trees to practice flips.

The Orange Blossom Festival with some Frozen Princesses

Being in Florida, I really wanted to visit an orange orchard. While researching the area I found Mixon's Farm was
having an Orange Blossom Festival so not only could we see the orchard, but the famous Willendas would be there! 

We arrived right as the Willendas began their show! I was shocked to see them do this triangle where
two men balanced a woman on their shoulders as they walked the entire length of the tight wire. 

Next we saw this 70-something aged Willenda climb this bendy pole with no safety equipment! 

Once at the top, she made it sway side to side and held on only with her feet!  

After seeing the show, the kids were ready to do some gravity-defying tricks of their own. They donned harnesses
and jumped/bungeed up into the sky. This was their first time on one of these and they both did amazing. 

They don't really weigh enough to bounce like you're supposed to on these, so the guy 

helped by pulling them down and basically slingshotting them up into the sky. They loved it!

Journey kept asking to go higher, so he let her! Waaaaay up high!

Look at that grin!

And then we saw Elsa and Anna!!! Journey RAN over to them and Elsa swooped her up! 

Asher was a bit more reluctant. Maybe because Spiderman was there?

A little bit later we saw Anna and Elsa again at the fish pond and Asher decided to say hello.

We walked thru Mixon's store and into the processing area where they take the oranges from the fields and get them ready to ship and sell.

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.