Ft. Myers Trip, Day 9: Heading Home

RECAP:    My husband and I both grew up on the river.  Literally.  The river was just footsteps outside of both of our front doors.  We love the water.  We love the beach.  So when we decided to start venturing further than a day's drive away from our home for a family vacation, we chose the beach.  Ft. Myers Beach, FL, to be exact.  Here's what we did on:

Day 9:

I didn't want to get up.  I didn't want to go home.  I didn't want to get dressed in my jeans and long sleeved shirt.  I wanted to keep waking up to the sound of the waves.  I wanted to keep looking out my window and seeing the beach and beautiful water.  I wanted to keep taking daily walks on the beach.  I wanted to continue being able to go to daily Mass so easily.  I wanted to keep putting groceries in a bike basket.  I wanted to stay forever, but day nine had come and it was time to go home.

Goodbye, sandy toes!

Goodbye, sand dollar path to the beach, I will miss stepping over you and seeing our littlest one jump on you!

Goodbye, freezing cold, tiny pool and "train track."  I kinda won't miss you.

Goodbye, Sunset!

Goodbye, Coconut Trees!

Goodbye, Beautiful View!

Goodbye

In the morning, after the van was all packed up. We walked to the beach one last time.  Our sand castle, built the day before, had survived the night and even the traffic of morning walkers and bikers.  I looked at it and wondered how long this reminder of our family's presence on the beach would remain.  It felt like we were leaving a small part of us there, on the beach.  It was only fitting because I believe the beach left its' mark on our hearts forever and none of us will ever forget the wonderful family memories made there.  I could hardly believe how sad I was to walk away from it all, but that is exactly what I had to do.

We turned our backs to the beach and began our walk down the now-familiar path, for the last time.

 I would have given a great deal to make a right turn off of the path and head into the house, as I had done so many times before that week.  Instead, I just kept walking, heading to the jam packed rental van, to squeeze in, and start our journey back home.

Obviously, we made it home.  The airport was a train wreck.  We packed WAY too much and none of the adults made it to check-in unscathed.  Grandma looked like she was having a coronary.  I fell and all the luggage/car seats I was hauling landed right on top of me.  Dave was listening to me snarl at him for going too fast and informing him that, "I EVEN fell," when he himself, fell over, and the kids were hot, whiny, and exhausted as well.  It was 80 degrees and we were dressed for 0 degrees, so that did not help. BUT, we made it.  We made it, and despite the long and uncomfortable days of travel to get there and back, we all look forward to doing it all over again when time and finances allow, and next time we know to PACK LIGHTLY!!!!!!

Congratulations!  This is it.  You have made it through nine days of rambling and run on sentences!

Here's what we did on :  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4,  Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8

Ft. Myers Trip, Day 8

RECAP:    My husband and I both grew up on the river.  Literally.  The river was just footsteps outside of both of our front doors.  We love the water.  We love the beach.  So when we decided to start venturing further than a day's drive away from our home for a family vacation, we chose the beach.  Ft. Myers Beach, FL, to be exact.  Here's what we did on:

Day 8:

     Our last full day in Ft. Myers began with everyone going to daily Mass.  Still impressed by the ability to leave for Mass with only 8 minutes to spare, and be early enough to quiet ourselves before it began, we loaded the van at 7:52 and headed south to the church.  After Mass the morning plan was to head to the north end of the island to visit the pier.

   Our son and I rode the bikes to the pier while the rest of the family drove.  We beat them.  Have I mentioned before how horrendously slow traffic is on Estero Island?  The north end of the island was packed and the pier and shopping area were loaded with visitors.

Throughout the week I discovered a new-found love of pelicans.  Watching them soar up and down the shoreline and  dive-bomb into the water in search of food, totally fascinated me.  So my favorite part of the pier was of course the resident pelicans hanging out there, who were so accustomed to the crowds that they did not move no matter how close you got to them.

I am pretty certain they would have let me touch them, but THAT was against the rules, so of course I did not try!

The bridge to Sanibel Island, taken from the pier:

Checking out the view!

 The trip was getting a little old for the guy on the left!

In Times Square, where all the shops are and the pier begins, I spotted what I thought was a very appropriate statue of a man on a bicycle.  How appropriate, I thought,  to have a statue of a bicycler here on the island where everyone gets to where they need to go via bicycle!  A while later I looked up to see the statue I had been admiring chasing people around and chirping like a bird.  What?!!  This talented man looked so authentic in his disguise.  I would have never known he was not a real statue, which was exactly his goal, I guess.  What great entertainment.  One of our sons is a real joker, and I wanted the man to "get" him, so as soon as he and my husband reached the area we sent him over to: "check out the cool statue." 

Here he is approaching the "statue."  He was still in full pout mode (see picture from the pier) so he wasn't too excited, but I was eagerly awaiting and anticipating his reaction.  I was certain I would see a grand jump followed by laughter when the man got off his bike and startled him.

As it turned out he was a little more shocked than startled, and apparently jokes aren't quite as funny when they are played on you instead of others.  He did not laugh and was less than enthusiastic when we sent him back to the statue with our tip for the performer.  He shuffled his feet in slow motion and lethargically dropped the money in the bike helmet.  The donation delighted the man and his response finally caught the attention of our boy, who then took the time to unabashedly stare in amazement at this mind blowing site!  And for the record, he admits that he was indeed, scared.

 My favorite picture of the pier.  Isn't my husband a great photographer?!!

The kids had some ice cream and then it was time to head back to the house.  This time it was our daughter's turn to ride the bike, while our son took her spot in the van.  This was by far the windiest day of the trip and we were riding against the wind on the way back.  It was a much more difficult ride and we definitely did not win the race back home!

We spent the rest of the day on the beach, and with the increased wind came larger waves.  The kids were finally able to have a little fun boogie boarding.  Dave and I relived our days of living in Charleston, and did a little boogie boarding ourselves.  The kids had a blast and so did we!

She found a sport she likes!!!!

Learning the virtue of patience...waiting for the perfect wave pays off!

The two little guys were totally over the beach, and we the adults, were totally not.  We wanted to spend as much time as we could on the beach especially since it was our last day.  So....we resorted to piling frosting in their bag of plain animal crackers.  This yummy surprise kept them quiet while eating, with the added bonus of the many minutes it took for them to lick the sticky mess off of their fingers!  

 We worked together on a family sand castle and in this picture, it is almost finished!

 Of course, it HAD to be a Christian sand castle!  We built it out of the reach of high tide and were all surprised to see our cross still standing later that evening!

It was overcast most of the afternoon and there was no good view of the sunset that night.  We spent the night cleaning, doing loads and loads of laundry, and packing up.  None of us were quite ready to say goodbye, but you can't stop time, so we faced the fact that it was time to pack up, leave the heat, and go back to the cold!  I traded moods with our son and became the resident pouter.

Here's what we did on :  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4,  Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 9

Ft. Myers Beach Trip: Day 7

RECAP:    My husband and I both grew up on the river.  Literally.  The river was just footsteps outside of both of our front doors.  We love the water.  We love the beach.  So when we decided to start venturing further than a day's drive away from our home for a family vacation, we chose the beach.  Ft. Myers Beach, FL, to be exact.  Here's what we did on:

Day 7:

We started the day rushing to the beach (some of us in our pajamas) hoping for another dolphin show.  My husband and I had spotted the fins from the balcony shortly after rolling out of bed.  We didn't get another front row seat to a nature show, but we did get to watch them swim along the shoreline for a few minutes. While Dave chatted with walkers, I continued the unsuccessful search for whole sand dollars with our daughter, before heading in for breakfast.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip was taken on the beach that morning!

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the shops of the Santini Marina Plaza on the south end of the island.  After shopping, we took a little drive towards Bonita Springs.  We found Lover's Key State Park, and noted that it looked like it would be a fun place to visit on a future trip to the area (yes, we had already started planning return trips)!!!

The afternoon was spent on the beach and at the pool.  We were all pretty tired and starting to get a little cranky.  We were so tired, in fact, that at sunset we were too lazy to even get up and move to the beach.  We made it to the retaining wall and glued our bottoms to it while the sun went down.

Here's what we did on :  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4,  Day 5, Day 6, Day 8,  Day 9

Ft. Myers Trip, Day 6: A New Friend

RECAP:    My husband and I both grew up on the river.  Literally.  The river was just footsteps outside of both of our front doors.  We love the water.  We love the beach.  So when we decided to start venturing further than a day's drive away from our home for a family vacation, we chose the beach.  Ft. Myers Beach, FL, to be exact.  Here's what we did on:

Day 6:

     I am fairly certain that what happened on day 6 was one of the biggest highlights for everyone on our trip.  The day started out very normal.  Our entire crew went to Mass and then we hurried home in an attempt to make it down to the beach in time for low-tide.  We still hadn't found any whole sand dollars and we were really hoping to find just one!  We never did find a whole sand dollar (just lots of pieces), but God had something bigger and better in store for us!  

     We were all pretty spread out, heads down, scouring the sand for any sign of just one little sand dollar that had somehow escaped the bashing of the waves, the walkers, and the bikers, without getting broken.  I took a little break and looked up to see my husband in the water searching.  I was admiring his handsomeness when I caught a glimpse of something behind him:

My first instinct was excitement.  We had seen the dolphin at Sanibel a few days earlier and it had looked just like this.  I started yelling my husband's name trying to get his attention.  He was oblivious to the fact that there was a dolphin in the water with him, heading his way.  He couldn't hear me, and the dolphin, who wasn't doing  any cute little dolphin jumps, was increasingly looking more and more like a shark in my paranoid brain.  My calling to my husband became a little more anxious, and I stopped standing and started moving.  I'm glad my panic didn't escalate to the point of me yelling, "SHARK!" because, well, that would have been extremely humiliating and I'm not sure I am flexible enough to bend over and bury my head in the sand. It was indeed a dolphin, and we were all treated to about a half hour fishing show just feet off of the shore.  There was quite a crowd, and cell phones were out in full force snapping memories while we all followed our new friend up and down the beach.  Here are a several of the hundred (literally) pictures taken on our cameras:

   Our daughter was mesmerized.  She loves animals and this is the day we say she transformed from Penguin Girl to Dolphin Girl, with dolphins doing the impossible and replacing penguins as her favorite animal (at least for the week)!

The Blowhole:  Proof it is a dolphin and not a shark!

It would just barely move around, almost to the point that I worried it might be sick, and then BAM, it would take off like torpedo.

Annnd back to the slow and lazy speed.

At one point it put on a full Sea Worldish show, and did a series of spins and turns.

Who needs Shamu?!

Fantastic!

And back to the lazy swim...notice how close to shore this all took place.  Amazing!

The rest of the week our dolphin friends continued to make appearances, but this was the longest show we caught.  What a treat!

The rest of the day was pretty bland in comparison.  Nothing new.  Beach, bike rides, and sunset.  Good fun!

Cruisin' the beach on the bike!

Our daughter's turn on the bike!

This is the mom I remember from childhood.  Sitting in the pool chair soaking in the rays.

The little guy discovered the joys of driving his "boat"!

After a great game of "Red Light, Green Light" 

It was time to wave goodbye to the sun!

And I enjoyed checking out the sunset, with MY new favorite animals, the pelicans!

Dolphin Video:

For those who are prone to motion sickness, beware...it's a little shaky!

Here's what we did on :  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4,  Day 5, Day 7, Day 8,  Day 9

Ft. Myers Trip: Day 5

RECAP:    My husband and I both grew up on the river.  Literally.  The river was just footsteps outside of both of our front doors.  We love the water.  We love the beach.  So when we decided to start venturing further than a day's drive away from our home for a family vacation, we chose the beach.  Ft. Myers Beach, FL, to be exact.  Here's what we did on:

DAY 5:

     Day 5 is the day we really settled in.  It was Tuesday and we had no intentions of leaving the island for any reason until it was time to go home.  The weather had warmed up, and stayed that way for the rest of our trip!  No more cool mornings and evenings...even for me!  We were adjusting quite well to our little home for the week!

     Dave and I started the day with Mass, while Grandma stayed behind with the kids.  We made it in time to pray a couple decades of the rosary and were able to stay for the Divine Mercy Chaplet after Mass.  This reminded me of my former days of daily Mass back home, with the added bonus of having my husband with me!  A great start to the day!

     Next up on our list of things to do was figure out the bike situation.  There were two adult bikes in the garage and one children's bike.  All of which had flat tires and rusty chains.  Dave picked up an air pump and some oil and went to work.  He had some success and was able to get one of the adult bikes and the children's bike working.  He and our oldest son then took a ride a few miles down the beach to check out an area we had thought looked cool on Google Earth.  

The Area:

When they returned, Grandma and our daughter took the bikes in the opposite direction.  In the meantime, the rest of us decided to talk a walk.  

Unfortunately for for the biking crew, the children's bike did not hold up and we saw Grandma and our daughter walking the bikes back home (we ended up renting two more bikes for the rest of the week and it was money well spent)!  We did a partial kid exchange, with some continuing with us, and some going back with grandma, and we continued on our separate ways. 

The walkers got to see a little white crab!

We also saw a live starfish, but the waves were quicker than the camera, and it was covered in sand before we could snap a photo!

Of course we saw plenty of pelicans too!

     We spent the afternoon...you guessed it...hanging out on the beach.  

With the warmer weather there was a lot of action out on the water!

The little guy discovered a great love for jumping in the waves!

Still searching for shells, especially whole sand dollars!

Going for a swim with Daddy!

Relaxing!

By mid-afternoon, the little guy had run out of gas!

     That evening Dave and I got to take a bike ride, which was so much fun.  We were trying to make it to the pier at the north end of the beach by sunset, but just when the pier was in sight and we thought we had a chance to make it, the chain fell off my bike.  The sun set while we were trying to fix it, so we didn't make it. It was still absolutely beautiful though, and the whole experience was fun whether we made it to the pier, or not.  After the chain was fixed we rode back, stopping at Publix along the way.  Who cares about a trip to a grocery store?  No one, but going to Publix on the bikes became our little mini-date every night.  So...it holds a very special place in my heart, and who could leave a thing like that out??

 The Sunset

Even better post-sunset if you ask me!

We also saw a horseshoe crab, which I thought was soooooo very cool!

By the end of the day I was REALLY beginning to wish I could just hit repeat everyday for the rest of my life!

 Here's what we did on:  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8,  Day 9