Sunday, February 6, 2011

2011 Trip to FL - Thursday - Sanibel/Captiva

Sanibel/Captiva hold a special place in my heart because I have vacationed there a number of times with my parents growing up.  Sanibel and Captiva are just a bridge ride away from Ft. Myers and offer miles of spotless white sand beaches, and nature and wildlife galore.  It truly is a paradise.  It also is home to the Hungry Heron -- a delicious restaurant that serves all you can eat shrimp.  When my parents asked us what we wanted to do during our vacation, it was one of our few requests to go there for some shrimp.  The coconut shrimp is THAT GOOD.

Every morning after he woke up, little Max asked to go to the beach.  Weather permitting, we were willing to accommodate him.  The weather forecast showed Thursday as having the best weather for the week, so this was the day we planned to do the islands.  We were not disappointed by the weather.  It was PERFECT.


Little Max and Grumps go for a little jog on the beach...


Look at this little cutie!  A little surfer boy in the making! 


Making sand castles is a MUST, and he enjoyed playing in the sand and building 'lots of things'.



Max and I found him a pinwheel at Target and it was the perfect addition to the beach toy bag. 



My parents were even good enough to make sure that we got some relaxation in.


Sam had to test the water out on this beach as well...  The waves were very interesting to him..


But they also startled him a little bit...and the water was a bit chilly (60 degrees).


He much preferred to scope out the water situation from the safety of Mom's arms.


Little Max, on the other hand, was not afraid of the water at ALL.  Running in and out of the surf, playing in the waves.  My little water baby (although he was just like Sam at Sam's age...I think both these boys are going to be water lovers).


Max also kept declaring.  I LOVE the sand, Mom.  And he demonstrated his love by trying to hug the sand, roll in it and sleep on it.  The child was COVERED in sand.  But, he was in heaven.  And that is ALL that matters.


Sam really enjoyed the sand as well!

After cleaning up the sand that was all over us, we went and ate at the Hungry Heron and then continued on to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  We had originally thought we would bike the trail, but the kids were pretty tired so we just decided to do the driving tour instead.


We saw roseate spoonbills...none of them would look up so I could get a head shot, unfortunately...


White pelicans...


Don't you just wish you could see the tops of those trees across the water to see what kind of bird was flapping around up there?


Lucky you that we have this camera!  Check out the osprey!  And yes, it zoomed THAT FAR.


Osprey in flight.  We also witnessed it dive down and catch a fish.  The fish was too big, though and it couldn't get it out of the water!



It was a long but EXCITING day.  Fun was had by ALL.

No comments: