Captiva

1:32 PM

This post is long overdue.

I forget how quickly time passes when we get back into homeschooling.

I blink and 5 weeks have passed. Sheesh!

For our family vacation this year, we returned to our favorite spot - Captiva Island in Florida. An 18 hour drive (split over 2 days) down through Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Interestingly, not a trip that we mind making. I think we all look forward to it in many ways. There are the treat bags I put together for everyone, the library books (I read aloud to the kids so my car-sick ones don't puke), the Adventures in Odyssey CDs and movies. We also have favorite restaurants we stop at along the way, including one in particular in Dothan, AL that is amazing!

So, without further ado, here is a whole heap of photographs to help you visualize the experience.

Jam packed. Cooler of snacks and drinks, groceries, floaties, life jackets, luggage...bikes and bike rack. Good to go. Rather than having to unpack the whole back when we stopped at a hotel our first night on the road, I was ready. I put together a "to-go" bag of toiletries and put an extra pair of clothes in each kid's treat bag. So all we had to take in were our pillows and treat bags.

A very excited Dorien stakes his claim on a pillow. The backpack in front of him is his treat bag.

The kids were super excited!

The Supreme Drive Master!

Ready to take his family to a beach paradise!

Hilariously, as we were pulling out of our drive, Kyle pointed out to me a little mowing oops that happened the day before. While it looked seriously sad, we weren't around to dwell on it, and by the time we got back, it was practically unnoticeable!

Leaving Tallahassee after crashing there Friday night after a very very full day of driving. Tallahassee is really beautiful. And there is something magical and ethereal about the Spanish moss draped over the trees.

After yet another long day of driving, we arrive at the Sanibel/Captiva bridge - a sight for truly sore eyes. It makes us all giddy. Once over that bridge, we don't budge for a full week.

The clouds were like something from a postcard. Huge and fluffy...

Now that we arrived, no time like the present to race down and enjoy our first evening on the beach!

Almost immediately upon arrival, we noticed Wyeth wasn't himself. Running a fever and very clingy. We ended up taking him to a Dr on the island mid-week who diagnosed him with a virus and sent us on our merry way. We kept him happy by keeping his fever as low as we could and letting the ocean lull him to sleep. If the rocking of the waves didn't do it, then the sound of the waves did.