Summer Vacation {Sanibel Island 2017}

A picture my Dad took in Sanibel a few years ago.

Sanibel Island.  My all time favorite spot.  The #1 shelling beach in the USA, if not the world.  The most kid friendly, perfect family vacation spot.  I've been going to Sanibel since I was a little girl.  Just days before my Dad died, he and my Mom said they were taking all of us to Sanibel again this year ( we went 2 years ago when my sister was pregnant with Scarlett) and that we needed to be ready on January 3rd to book our flights.  My Dad died on January 3rd and we never booked our flights.  Fast forward a couple months later, and my Sister and I decided that we really wanted to move forward with the family trip.  We finalized all of our plans in March and April and decided that it is what Dad would have wanted.  He would have wanted us to go to our favorite spot and honor him and the tradition that he started so long ago.  I will admit though - it was very, very hard being on the island without Dad.  Every single spot had memories of Dad, and "Pa" for the girls.  Sonoma and Cora remembered being on the island with him 2 years ago and it was so special for them to be back and honor him.  I sure hope we can keep up this tradition of Sanibel for years to come.  It's really the perfect vacation spot for families.  We always have such a wonderful time! 

We have referred so many of our friends to the island.  If you have questions, feel free to ask.  I hope all of you can enjoy this special island at some point in your life!

Now....on to a million pictures of our vacation!  :)  Haha, hope you like them all!

Blakesley's 1st vacation and 1st plane ride!

Traveling with 5 people....5 suitcases....6 carry-ons and a stroller, is A LOT.  The traveling on the way down was absolutely perfect.  No hiccups...no issues.  B only slept about 20 minutes on the plane though.  I tried nursing her 3 different times and she was so distracted, but finally on the 3rd attempt she fell asleep and took her 20 minute nap.  We had an 8:50 AM flight.  It was still an early morning of waking all the girls up, but we survived.  

At one point I looked over and Marcus was sleeping with the Bitty Baby in his arms!

On the way down B and I had the window, Cora had the middle, Marcus the aisle, and Sonoma the aisle seat across from Marcus.

Once we landed in Ft. Myers, we rented a car and 3 car seats, and drove to the island ( about 45 minutes ) and got right into our condo.  My Mom and Sister and her family arrived way earlier than us, so they were able to pick up our condo keys for us.

We stayed in the same exact condo unit we stayed in 2 years ago.  We were on the ground level and could walk right out back to a beautiful pond, and right beside the pond was the pool and then the beach.  It was SO convenient!  

It was so fun introducing Scarlett to Sanibel.  She is at a really cute and fun age!

I loved having all 4 girls match!  It was adorable

Blakesley snatched the pineapple straight out of my cocktail at the pool!

All ready for dinner!  We always hit the grocery store when we arrive and buy food for breakfast and lunch, but we always go out to eat for every dinner in Sanibel.  There are so many wonderful restaurants and we love picking which ones to go to at night!

Fun at the Island Cow

B's 1st time in the pool and she LOVED her little canopy float that Mimi and Pa bought her last year.  It will be perfect for this summer!

And....B's 1st time in the ocean!

Cora and Sonoma LOVE to swim!  All of those private swimming lessons have been paying off. They never wanted to get out of the pool.  Although they did go back and forth quite a bit from the beach to hunt for shells and sea glass and the pool.

Fun with Uncle Jake.  Uncle Jake and Daddy did a lot of throwing of the girls!

So many sanddollars this trip!  And, Sonoma also held a live starfish!  

My Sister, Sonoma and I doing handstands on the beach.  So fun.

Dinner at Matzalunas!

Another 1st.....B's 1st bite of ice cream.  

B slept in a pack n play and did very well considering it is not the most comfortable thing in the world.  She kept lifting up the hard bottom piece and getting stuck underneath it.  It was pretty hard and bumpy, but she was a trooper.

Early morning hunting on the beach

There were so many sea turtle nests.  We enjoyed talking with the Sea Turtle Patrol one morning.  I love that they stake out the nests and protect them from predators.  

My Dad had a HUGE sea glass collection.  Marcus found the 1st piece of sea glass on our trip.  AND, it was green - Dad's favorite color!  Marcus found 1 piece and my Sister and Mom found a couple each.  We didn't find quite as much this trip.  The girls searched SO hard for it too.  But we brought home some incredible shells we can't wait to display in the new house.

This was the most I have ever seen it rain in Florida.  It was so spotty too.  We spent so much time running in and out and taking cover.  It would rain for 20 minutes, then be sunny for 10 minutes, then rain again.  BUT, that didn't stop the girls from swimming in the pool!  They loved it!

We love you Mimi!

Family photos on the beach!  :)

It was so sad getting our group picture and not having Dad be a part of it.  

Marcus was clearly sick of posing for pictures by the 2nd day or so.  

Early morning beach walk

Krista and I did a couple of beach workouts together.

Trying to build a sand castle in the crazy wind

Mimi finally found her piece of sea glass and was so excited!

Dinner at Doc Fords

Showing off some souvenirs they bought

Sisterly love with some giant waves in the background

After we checked out on our last day, we had a delayed flight due to the storms in Southwest Florida, so we decided to spend the day sight seeing.  We drove to Captiva, ate lunch at the Bubble Room, and drove through the Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve.  My Dad loved Ding Darling and I remember going there a ton with him to look for alligators and other animals.

We didn't see any alligators this time, but we did see lots of cool birds

We didn't see any gopher tortoises, but we did see a box turtle, another type of turtle and a dead sea turtle washed up on the beach.  My Dad loved this sign.

So sad to find this turtle on the beach.

I love looking back at all of our pictures from the trip.  It was a lovely vacation and it was very nice to hit pause on the moving and packing and take a break to all be together.  Until next time Sanibel!