The Breuers: Sanibel Island (Part 1)

My happily retired parents started "wintering" in Florida a few years ago. This results in not only Atlanta visits on their way down and back, but also an excuse for us to take a vacation to Florida (with a free place to stay). This year we headed down the last week of February to visit them on Sanibel Island. It is a beautiful island with lots of preserved land and strict building regulations - no traffic lights, building height limits, no lighted signs, etc. This gives it a really relaxing and laid back atmosphere. There are also bike paths all over the island, so it's very pedestrian friendly. We all love it there.

We flew down Thursday morning, arriving around lunch. Lola fell asleep almost immediately once we were in the car, and slept the whole way from Fort Myers airport to Sanibel. She didn't even wake up when we got to the house, so we let her sleep in the car (in the garage with the windows open) while we ate lunch. After she got up, we went to the bike rental place to rent a bike with a child seat on it - a step up from the car seat/bike trailer combo we used last year. We had a nice dinner and evening at home.

Friday we had a lazy morning at home, and then my mom and I went to the spa after lunch. The setup was kind of weird - she took me into the really dark back room, and we walked through a maze of bamboo walls to the table. There weren't actual rooms, but it was so dark and we were separated by the bamboo, so I couldn't see anyone else. I didn't mind the strange setup, as the massage was amazing. After we got back, my mom, Joseph, Lola, and I biked to one of the beaches. Lola got her first sight of the ocean this year and seemed to love it. We walked around for a bit, and then headed home for dinner. We capped off the evening with some hot tub time and card games.

Saturday morning Joseph, Lola, and I took a short bike ride around the neighborhood. Then Joseph and I went to the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge for a kayak tour; Lola stayed home with my parents. It was a guided tour for about an hour and a half, and then we were left to explore for as long as we wanted. The lagoon was very calm and pretty. There were beautiful trees growing out of the water, and we saw quite a few birds. I didn't take my phone because I was worried it would get wet (it wouldn't have), so unfortunately I don't have any photos. Saturday evening we all went out to dinner at the Island Cow. We sat outside and had a nice dinner.

Sunday we all biked to the farmers' market in the morning. It was amazing! There were so many vendors and so much good-looking food. I was a bit overwhelmed, so we didn't buy much, but we did get a few things and enjoyed just walking around. Afterward we biked to Bennett's, a local coffee shop, for a late breakfast. It was another beautiful day, so we sat outside and enjoyed our meal. Then we biked home and spent the rest of the day there - a little pool time, a steak dinner, and watching the Oscars.

On Monday, Joseph headed home. He couldn't take a whole week of vacation time, so he went back a few days earlier than Lola and me. Before he left, we went for one last bike ride and walk on the beach, and then came home for a quick dip in the pool. Dad drove him to the airport while my mom, Lola, and I stayed home. I took Lola for our first ride on the bike-with-child-seat, and it wasn't as difficult as I expected. We biked up to the local playground, but unfortunately it was closed for repairs. So we just headed back. We had another nice dinner and relaxing evening at home.

Last year Lola slept terribly, waking many times a night and not going back to sleep easily. In an effort to prevent that from happening again, this year I rented a crib. Lola slept wonderfully this trip, which could be due to the crib or just the fact that she's a year older, but it made me so happy and made the trip so much more enjoyable since I wasn't a zombie.

I'll update on the rest of our trip in a separate post, since I have a million photos and should probably break them up (not to mention the fact that I'm writing a ton).