Sanibel Island

My parents, Robert, Abby and I drove 2 and 1/2 hours south to Sanibel Island on Sunday. I've been to Sanibel twice before with girl friends and ever since those oh-so-lovely visits I've wanted to take a family trip there. Sanibel is very slow paced and has the most beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise water. There's also good food I wanted to revisit. (But of course!) After we arrived and got settled into the little cottage we rented, Abby took a nap and then we all went out to explore. 

Papa took her right into the water, dress and all.

Here's one of my new favorite photos of Abby.

We encouraged her to go ahead and stomp around and get wet. 

 We found a sand dollar right away but it appeared to still be alive, so we threw it back into the water.

  

   

Hunting for shells with Nana.

Abby and Papa decided to dig a big hole.

Silly kids.

I think it's so funny how they're holding their arms the same way here.

The Island Cow is one of my favorite restaurants on Sanibel. I'm most excited about their breakfast options but it was fun to try some new things for dinner.

Abby says, "no pictures!"

Just look at that stubborn little face. She does this hilarious thing lately where she declares, "I'm mad!" and crosses her arms and scowls. I'll have to get a picture of that sometime, too. Is it wrong that I find these things so amusing?

We were surprised that she liked her cornbread muffin more than the angel food cake with sprinkles one.

I'm not a big fan of fish but since we were on an island I ordered the Grouper Picatta. Fish is just never completely satisfying, right? Robert had blackened Grouper.

My mom and dad split this paella with shrimp, fish, chicken, sausage and shellfish.

After some ice-cream at Pinocchio's, it was off to bed because we had to leave at 8:00 am the next morning for our Captiva Cruise out to Cayo Costa. It turned out to be a beautiful, clear day for our little adventure.

My mom and I agreed later that when we stopped at the island we were thinking, "really? here?" It felt like a scene from Gilligan's Island where we'd be left alone and stranded. The captain from our boat told us we had to walk around to the other side of the island or else we'd be caught in strong currents and boats would run us down. Great. So we trekked through the driftwood and made note of the signs that told us to watch out for aggressive feral hogs.

The waves here were much bigger and stronger. Robert said it reminded him of the beaches in New Jersey where he used to go during the summer to visit his grandfather. Mom, Abby and I agreed that we preferred the calmer beaches of Sanibel but Robert and my dad had fun getting tossed around by the waves. I watched a teenage boy wearing goggles dive underwater over and over, looking for shells, and he was rewarded for his persistence by finding a huge conch shell. It was the kind of shell you'd see for sale in a store. 

Robert did find a few big shells for us.

Thankfully, our boat returned and didn't leave us stranded.

The captains were energetic and tons of fun and they let all of the kids take turns driving the boat.

There were three dolphins swimming in the wake on our return trip. It was really exciting! The captains encouraged us to make a lot of noise by whistling and cheering. We kept telling Abby to be on the lookout for Ariel, too.

They were jumping really high but it was so hard to time the picture.

We were all hungry for lunch afterwards and stopped at The Bubble Room which is on Captiva Island, just north of Sanibel. What a crazy place!

I guess I only took pictures of the stuff inside instead of our food this time. There are three whole floors of kitschy collectibles. I liked seeing the old bubble lights that my grandparents used to have on their Christmas tree.

We took Abby back for her nap and then had pizza later that evening for dinner. After dinner my mom, dad and I visited the beach one last time. I think Abby was intimidated by the waves at Cayo Costa because she said she wanted to go back to the cottage with daddy. It's for the best because I got eaten alive by bugs at the beach that night. I must have at least 50 bug bites on my legs and I look like I have chicken pox. (Soaking in the tub with Epsom salt and 5 drops of tea tree oil gave me some relief from the itching that was waking me up at night.) We had to leave bright and early the next morning so that Robert could get back to work in time for an interview.

Mom and Dad, thanks for joining us on this fun trip! I'm so glad we were finally able to explore some Florida beaches together.

Epcot Date

My parents are in town and they kindly let me and Robert get out of the house for a much needed date. We decided to head to "grown up Disney," aka Epcot. We've never been to Disney without Abby so it felt a little strange, but we left during her nap around 1:00 in the afternoon and felt giddy about having 12 whole hours to spend together.

We wanted to hit all of the rides that Abby can't do with us. First stop: Spaceship Earth. Here's a picture of our personal Utopian future at the end of the ride. I think it had something to do with eating food from our garden and enjoying the great outdoors in the mountains. 

Next we headed to Mission Space where we blasted off in a simulated spaceship for a mission to Mars. Robert thinks it's one of his new favorite rides. We followed that up with a shared beer at an Irish pub. 

Beautiful, right?

Here's Chefs de France where we had dinner later that night.

Morocco! I had some amazing iced mint tea.

Japan

We were very rushed the last time we were at Epcot with Robert's parents, so it was fun to have time to look around the shops in each country. Japan had Hello, Kitty knick knacks that we knew Abby would like (we try not to encourage it) along with cute tea sets and bento boxes.

Pretty paper cranes.

Here's Venice. I think Venice might be Robert's favorite city in the world. We sat for a little while and talked about all of the different places we want to take Abby someday.

Germany. I'm pretty sure I've passed through Wurzburg. (I seriously have the worst memory.)

The caramel from this place smelled incredible and drew us in, only to discover it was Werther's.

Robert liked this clock. Ummm no thanks, dear.

China

They've started construction for a new Frozen ride and this building had concept art and music from the movie.

Mexico

Another adult ride that I love is Soarin'. We hang-glided (is that correct?) all across California: over the Golden Gate Bridge, through the redwoods, across Yosemite, above orange groves (that smelled delicious!) and over the water. So much fun.

Then it was off to Paris for dinner. Our server was from Nice, France.

Robert's lobster bisque was hands down the best part of the meal.

He ordered short ribs with polenta while I had baked chicken and potatoes. I have very vivid memories of this delicious, buttery chicken I ate in Paris 11 years ago and I think I had too high of expectations. My entree was good but not fabulous.

We went all out and ordered 3 courses. Dessert didn't disappoint.

Please keep this a secret from Abby: after dinner at Epcot we jumped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom which conveniently happened to be open until 1:00 am. One of the perks of going sans little one is staying out late to see the park at night. More magic.

Robert loves his little girl so much and has fully embraced all things pink and princess-y.

I picked up a lovely $10 Cinderella dress at a consignment store the other day. They're $70 here!

Everyone was lining up for the night parade at 11:00. I couldn't believe how many little ones were still out, many in melt down mode. Robert and I were joked around saying "you will stay up and enjoy this!" "This will be a perfect family memory." Ha!

Robert and I were up past our own bedtime and we agreed that the parade was a little trippy and weird. We didn't end up staying very long. Here's Alice.

Cinderella

Peter Pan

We gave up at this point and decided it was time to drive home and go to sleep. Thanks mom and dad for letting us get away!