This week we are staying at Fort DeSoto Campground near St. Petersburg, Florida.   Our campsite is right on the water (the water being the Mullet Key Bayou which is on the Gulf.  I had to reserve this site 6 months in advance as they sell out pretty quickly.  This area was hit pretty hard by both Helene and Milton last year and just reopened in January and February. 

We are the royal blue dot in both of these maps.

Nole and I were both up this morning before 8.  Nole fixed the missing tail light and I started working on getting the kayaks untied from the roof of the SUV and did some bird-watching.  I saw various shorebirds fishing including pelicans and egrets. 

Nole and I decided to go on a kayak ride in the three-seater.  We brought three kayaks with us.  Two blue one-seaters we have had for years and new (to us) yellow three-seater.  When we all go out, we put Nova in between my legs in a one-seater. 

On our ride, Nole and I saw a blue heron resting in the mangroves which was pretty cool. The water was super calm and still and we could see shells and conch in the water.  We grabbed a cool shell to take back to the girls.

Back at the campsite we got the kids moving and after they ate breakfast, we all went for a kayak ride.  There was a double crested cormorant that followed us who we thought looked like a dinosaur and kept swimming under our kayaks.  He entertained us a lot, especially Nova who got really excited when he came close. I attached a video about cormorants if that sort of thing interests you.  The title is what Asa was saying to try and get the cormorant to come closer.

We stopped at a little sandy area to play.  We brought two cheap nets on the kayak ride but not much else to play with.  The kids all found things to do though.  Cal and Nova spent a lot of time catching fish and crabs in the water.  Esme played in the sand and Asa dug out crabs from their holes on the beach. 

I made a mermaid  mosaic.  What do you think of her?  She has really long arms made of mangrove propagules (they are kind of like the seeds of mangrove trees).

On the way back in the kayaks, we had a little mishap when one of our nets was dropped into the water.  It was not very deep but we were not able to get it out with the paddles after many attempts.  Some thought we should abandon the net since it was only a dollar tree net but the rest of the trip with only one net to share among the kids did not seem like much fun.  Asa ended up sliding out of his kayak and getting it for us.  Crisis averted!

Safely back at our site, we relaxed in some hammocks we set up and then had sandwiches for lunch.  After another siesta, we all went to Walmart to get some things we forgot and get ice cream treats to keep in the freezer in the camper.  At Walmart, I helped a man get a motorized cart from the parking lot and Nole snapped this funny picture of me riding it in. 

We made dinner (steak and asparagus) and ate at the picnic table.  After dinner, we packed things up a bit because it might rain tonight.  We also ate 2 or more ice creams each because, hey, it’s vacation.

Nova and I made plans for a morning kayak ride tomorrow if it’s not raining.