Mote Marine Aquarium – Sarasota Florida

While in Florida one of the first things we did is we headed to Mote Marine to check it out. It had been a while since the kids had been to an aquarium so this is what they wanted to do.

One of the first critters we  saw was this guy *shudders*

They had this tank will sorts of starfish and other critters like hermit crabs.

My kids had a blast playing ‘peek a boo' with this guy who kept popping out of his hole.

He is a Yellowhead Jawfish and holds his eggs in his mouth!

We had fun watching the Australian Yellow Spotted Jellyfish.

Baby girl kept trying to catch one as it went by!

Then we learned a bit about a mangrove island and how it works.

Then we saw the sharks.

My son and my 3-year-old petted the horseshoe crabs. My oldest girl wanted nothing to do with them.

Related: 11 of the Absolute Best Places to View Manatees in Florida

We also got to pet a starfish and sea urchin.

Then we washed out hands very very very good and headed back to see more sharks.

Then we got to pet some stingrays and again washed our hands very good.

Then we followed the arrows and manatees across the street to the 2nd building.

Hey psst, Mote Marine is Social!

The first things we saw in the 2nd building were the giant sea turtles.

We were told the pink stuff was medicine for a basic sunburn. You can see how big they are compared to the trainer to the side there.

My kids loved being able to watch the turtle swim from the window.

Then we got to see a baby sea turtle and watch it play in its tank.

Then we headed over to the manatee tank. They were swimming in a big circle over and over. My kids were kind of mesmerized by it.

Next to the exhibit we saw this; the two manatees eat 72 heads of lettuce a day! OUCH!

The last stop was the baby exhibit. It was a bit of a walk because of some of the exhibits being under construction. The first tank of babies we saw was the baby seahorses. How cute!

See those tiny white dots? Those are baby jellyfish. If you get close enough, you can tell, and they are kind of cool.

If you want to see even more baby marine life check out their baby Hashtag!

After this, we headed over to St Armands Circle to walk the shop and grab some Kilwin's ice cream!