It's hard to believe that we are starting our 4th week here on our Sanibel Island vacation. I meant to post a recap 1/2 way through, but time flies by when juggling relaxing and entertaining a toddler! As you may already have known, we took a week to drive down the East coast, stepping in every state from New Hampshire to Florida for one week and seeing lots of family along the way. And we are now staying on Sanibel Island here in Florida for the month of September. It's hard to believe so much time has past, and yet it went by so quickly that I'm glad we still have 10 more days here. So many friends and family have asked us when we are coming home only to realize we have no idea and for some reason, that's not surprising to most of them! We have been casual about this timeline because we don't have a plan for how to drive home or who we might be able to see which keeps it an exciting adventure ahead!
I know I haven't blogged about everything that we have done along the way, mostly because life with a toddler is super busy and not to mention, the simplicity of enjoying vacation! To recap I figure I'll make this posting an overload of info to catch up and cover our tracks on the adventures we've had and the places we've been thus far... mostly so I remember how much we've actually done & to share with all of you too :-)
First of all, our daughter is growing up super fast on this trip! Her pretty pink sandals that were to big on her now fit just right, she is talking up a storm and more in a conversation with us now, and her hair is growing like a weed! From preferences to choices, tantrums to new 2yr old molars she is changing by the day. And it's funny that we think she finally found a food that she doesn't like: pineapple. People who see her at meal times know that she basically eats like a teenage boy so it's funny to see her picky finally!
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| Our Sanibel Island rental house |
We have had great opportunities to sit back and relax on days we wanted to and when we got antsy to check out the Island, we found some really cool places! Hers we are at the Francis P. Bailey visitors center & island's big playground.
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| Birds at Jerry' Marketplace |
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| Clam Bayou dock: where we have seen manatees here in our own backyard! |
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Sanibel causeway bridge beaches
...on what is very creatively named "Island A" and "Island B" |
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| Bringing the dog to Bowman's Beach |
Playing at the playset at the Periwinkle Marketplace in heat that felt like 106*F. This has been the typical heat down here this month so far, unless it's raining. It's crazy that we aren't more effected! When the temperature dropped to 86* in the rain it actually felt chilly!
Sanibel library to play with a huge wooden dollhouse, ABC computer game, toys, puzzles, and giant stuffed animals. Definitely one of the greatest libraries we've ever brought her too! So many things for kids!!
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| Frisbee in the park for Doodles |
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| ...then warned about lightning storms by a very loud alarm system! |
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| Bowman's Beach Waves |
Bowman's beach became a favorite not only for the waves and shells but because it was only a 5 minute drive from the rental house! Above is Brian's picture of me and little Keiki jumping over waves after a big storm. Below is artsy shop fun on Captiva Island.
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| Captiva Island "Chapel by the Sea" & Cemetery right on the beach |
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| The J.N. Ding Darling National Refuge |
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| Skeletons ...and lots of buttons for this TinyTot to push! |
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| Observation Tower at the Ding Darling refuge drive |
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| Feeding leaves to the crabs on the Shell Mound Trail |
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| Alligator spotted at Ding Darling! |
Trekked under the Causeway bridge that brings you over to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. There were crazy crosswinds and waves with a storm brewing!
We ventured off the island over to Fort Myers Lakes Region Park to see the trains, play on the playground and splash in the water park too. Of course we stopped at Publix to go grocery shopping before going back on the island.
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| Sanibel Fishing Pier |
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| Sanibel Light House |
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| Catching sunrise at Lighthouse Beach |
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| Gorilla cage at the Bubble Room Emporium on Captiva Island |
Tarpon Bay Road Beach to find sand bars filled with quarter sized sand dollars!
And at the Fishing Pier Beach we saw live starfish, skate, crabs, and welk snails too!
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| Overlooking the causeway bridge while shelling at the fishing pier |
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| Periwinkle Park |
Periwinkle Park was great! It's word-of-mouth that the man who rescues the parrots at Jerry's Marketplace also has many more birds and animals over at his Periwinkle Park Campground. Turns out if you park at the campground entrance and walk straight down the golf cart road, you come across a pond that is circled by many parrot cages and even squirrel monkeys & lemurs! Super cool!
That's all for now! The above pictures are of the Daddy-daughter date while I enjoyed the morning at the house to sort through some photos and write this post. I'm in awe of how much we have already explored with a toddler! (Feel free to go back to prior posts to see some of these adventures in more detail.) It's been an amazing September spending time as a family so far and can't wait to see what the rest of this month will bring!! Stay tuned :)
First of all, our daughter is growing up super fast on this trip! Her pretty pink sandals that were to big on her now fit just right, she is talking up a storm and more in a conversation with us now, and her hair is growing like a weed! From preferences to choices, tantrums to new 2yr old molars she is changing by the day. And it's funny that we think she finally found a food that she doesn't like: pineapple. People who see her at meal times know that she basically eats like a teenage boy so it's funny to see her picky finally!
Sanibel library to play with a huge wooden dollhouse, ABC computer game, toys, puzzles, and giant stuffed animals. Definitely one of the greatest libraries we've ever brought her too! So many things for kids!!
We ventured off the island over to Fort Myers Lakes Region Park to see the trains, play on the playground and splash in the water park too. Of course we stopped at Publix to go grocery shopping before going back on the island.
And at the Fishing Pier Beach we saw live starfish, skate, crabs, and welk snails too!
