Summer Vacation {Sanibel Island 2017}

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! 

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.  

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.

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.

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!