Sanibel Island Vacation

Sorry I've been missing for a bit but we took a 10 day vacation to Florida's Sanibel Island. We had the most amazing time and it was Ari's first time on a plane.  Unfortunately my husband couldn't make it with us this time but the rest of the extended family and family friends were able to join us through-out our stay.

And I can't say we picked a better time to go, since it was cold (heat on) and rainy back in Chicago, and when we came back, we brought the sunshine with us.

Of course my daughter was ready to get to the beach.

But as soon as she got there she wanted to strip her clothes off, I was able to have her not take her shorts off, not that I care its just more crap for mommy to carry around.

This turtle was grazing on the grounds between the condo and the beach and I caught a pic of him coming out from under the walkway back to his hidey hole. May is the start of turtle hatching season, so who knows if there were more nearby just preparing to hatch.

I so love palm trees, I wish we were in zone 8 instead of 5  :(

Of course how can I not show you some of the lush succulents growing on the beach. These plants actually help the sand stay put, by growing a web of roots that help when a large storm comes.

This was a common action, I don't know why I even bothered to dress her most days. She also never got bit by the terrible no-see-ums, unlike her mother and most everyone else that got bitten alive. Maybe that Filipino blood is adept to tropical bugs?

...to paradise in the continental USA. 

I have to say that I have never been to Florida before but have been to the tropics plenty of times, I will definitely come back to Sanibel again. It was a beautiful, laid-back and wonderful vacation. The beach is littered, in some places up to 6" high, with seashells. And when they talk about the Sanibel stoop, you get it, after a few days we all experienced a sunburn on our back. You can't help it, newcomers come to the island and want to pick up practically every seashell, we did, but people who have been to Sanibel before only take away the special shells. 

We brought a couple of those shells back, at the time I had no clue what I would do with them, but I think I have a couple of ideas, you'll see!

We spent most of our time on Sanibel but took a few day trips to Ft. Myers beach, Naples and Marco Island. those are in the next post. 

Now that I'm back it's time to get serious about our front yard landscaping.