Florida Keys with Sal and O'da!

We had a great visit with Sal and O'da in the Florida Keys. There was lots of adventuring--kayaking, snorkeling at Sombrero Reef and Looe Key, hiking through the water with a ranger at Long Key, visiting the Dolphin Research Center and the Turtle Hospital, and of course lots of time outside and swimming every day. 

Some of the many creatures we saw:

We also saw a cow fish (which looked like a green mouse), a nurse shark, cormorants, pelicans, willets (long legged shore birds), crabs, needlefish, sting rays, mangroves, hermit crabs, golden orb spiders, anole lizards, a manatee (no photo), goliath groupers, a 6 foot long sting ray down at 20ft, brain coral, elkhorn coral, purple fan coral, Christmas tree worms, and so many kinds of fish that we couldn't remember them from one second to the next, let alone for long enough to get back to the boat and look at the ID guide.

We also spotted the usual creatures: Liam and Reid.

Exploring the waters of Long Key:

 Coconut cracking:

 

 Snorkeling--Liam snorkeled at Sombrero Reef, eventually humming and singing through his snorkel as we explored. Reid explored on a transparent raft with Daddy.

 Kayaking in our canals and into the Atlantic and the Bay.

 Mostly it was great to see our West Coast grandparents and to enjoy some time with our Daddy away from work: