The End

Sunset

Chillin by the pool

Isabelle and Dad

How many WI boys does it take to get a coconut? And should they be doing this?

beautiful lanai

It's fun to travel with teenagers

Nice kitchen

Not so nice rental car!

Yum!

View from our room

Just a few random posts to wrap it up.

On our way home.

Great trip!

I don't want to go home!

A perfect end to a great vacation.

The Grounds

The grounds here are beautiful.

Yesterday

Didn't get to blog yesterday, it was kind of rainy, we saw Journey to the Center of the Earth 3d. I thought it was really good. We also went to a shark tournament at night, those pictures did not turn out as well. After that Gary and I walked to Junkaroo for pizza and drinks on the patio over looking the moon and walked back on the beach.

Another Fish

Actually it is a snook and Cal caught another one back at the condo. Gary and Cal were both afraid to pick it up, so guess who had to rescue it and take it back to it's ocean home.............

Everyone had fun/c

Cal even caught a fish with is new net. We think it is a shook or something like that.

Beau

Only Beau was slightly disappointed with the beach at Sanibel.

Sanibel Island

I think Sanibel is beautiful. Here it is from my point of view. It was cloudy part of the day, but it only rained on us for a couple of minutes.

Expensive Trip to Sanibel

Most folks will say it is worth the $6 toll bridge cost to visit Sanibel for the day and I would agree. I would also say the $2 per hour parking at Bowman's Beach State Park is worth a visit to a great beach. Not paying attention to your speed when you leave the park is probably the most important thing to keep in mind. 54 in a 35 will cost you $199, but only $134 if the cops give you a "break". Dad gets quiet for awhile after these encounters. It was still a great day as we avoided more rain in Ft Myers Beach by heading just a few miles north. (Ok we were lucky). Debbie will talk more about the day later.

High School Musical

Isabelle ran into the cast of HSM while we were at the movies.

Surf's up

Seemed like a good call today to head back to Lowdermilk Park in Naples. The weather was fantastic there and Ft Myers had quite a bit of rain. We could have used a few more clouds because my skin got crispy, I mean I am red. Isabelle and I took advantage of some rare Gulf waves. Unfortunately I didn't have enough sun screen on.

Isabelle had great fun and actually caught a few waves on an inner tube. Once she caught the first one, it was pretty addicting which explains the extra time in the water. Probably the coolest thing we saw, two dolphins came cruising through the swimmers. They came within 30 feet of us and within two feet of an unsuspecting fellow swimmer.

I need a bit more aloe vera on my back right now.

These were just a few of my favorite pictures from the week. Cal watching the sting rays in front of the condo, Beau in the pool and Debbie & Isabelle at dinner the other night.

Friday, already

We went back to Naples Beach. It was pretty windy and there were a lot of waves. Isabelle and Gary were out there for what seemed like hours riding the waves. Then we ate at the Fish House in Bonita Springs. It is overcast tonight, which is good, because we can all just chill.

Oh boy who pushed the red button?

Looks like someone was testing atom bombs over the gulf. This was taken from Lovers Key yesterday.

Attack of the Manatees

Probably one of the funniest things we've ever witnessed as a family. Unfortunately there is no video or pictures.

As we were leaving the Lovers Key State Park we had the opportunity to see manatees in the park estuary. This was the first chance any of us have had to see one. So this was pretty cool. There were a number of people in canoes floating around the manatees and we had a good view ourselves from the shoreline.

What distracted us was the shrieking of a tween girl "GET ME TO SHORE NOW THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US!" We thought maybe a gator was swimming towards one of the canoes or someone tipped over in the water. Nope. Everyone was floating quite safely around or near the manatees (aka sea cows). This girl was absolutely terrified of theses slow moving creatures. Which as far as we could see were staying in one place floating and turning over in the water. "THEY ARE FOLLOWING US, THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US!" Now who knows what has happened to this girl in the past. Maybe she had an issue with a dairy cow on a field trip to a farm. But you would have thought these things were rocking their canoe.

Ok you had to be there for this one. Perhaps looking at a picture of this fierce creature will help you understand what this girl was going through.

I'm happy to report that the girl and her family made it safely to shore and no manatee was injured.

One of my favorite days ever. First the beach at Lover's Key. We found a starfish and a sand dollar on the beach. We also saw manatees swimming. Then we went to Naples beach and the kids swam in the clear, shallow water. Later we came back to the condo to watch another beautiful sunset.