Sanibel Island

Captiva ~ first day at the beach & she doesn't like the waves, (which there are barely any waves on the west coast) she's wanting the pool! So she took a long nap instead!

Daddy snoozing on his way to a funky burn.

After - if you can see the spots he covered with sun screen & didn't, too bad I didn't get the side that his entire hand print is on the side of his stomach

Swinging in front of a seashell shop

Talking to a butterfly

"Hi butterfly!"




Sanibel Island ~ this is our view

Collecting Seashells

Relaxing by the pool

We're pool girls

Walking on stepping stones at the timeshare


Rode our bikes to a fishing pier at the end of Sanibel Island

Eeew, poor fishy, he's about to be bird food!


A dolphin!


This is THE "50 dollar bird" Gracie spots all the time flying in the air, here he is standing & posing for us!

Old lighthouse at the end of the island


We had the best time biking around here!


Biking along the seashore, this was our favorite time here, so refreshing & fun, beautiful scenery.

Salty breeze in our hair!


This is the name of my bike, this is so funny to me, Jamis was one of my nicknames growing up.

We met some Pirates at our timeshare, having a yearly pirate party. After numerous amounts of "pain killer" they do a contest to see how long you can stay on a big huge ball! So Todd, being the new guy, got their world record after their 28th annual pirate party! Go Todd!

Gracie fearlessly jumping in the pool. Her new favorite trick.


She's telling me here that she's dolphin paddling instead of doggie paddling.

Sunset in Captiva


The Bubble Room!

We sat in the disco ball room with old photos of Maralyn Monroe, it was great. The atmosphere was very fun & great food. Gracie fell asleep so we got a little date night!


Flaming cheese, yum!





Riding at Bing National park - we let Gracie in the front seat riding 5 mph, to look out for ANYTHING we could see, but NOTHING. We have more wildlife in our back & front yard!


Me bending over a bridge taking a photo of a tree crab crawling up towards me. Is that all we get to see?

Bridge to Sanibel Island

Random Photos

Here are some photos I haven't added & wanted to before I post the Sanibel Island trip!


Miss Priss sitting in front of our house.

Mother's Day



First time with the Easy Bake Oven ~ so fun!



Great Grandma with the grandkids

At the Zoo

She says the snakes are friendly & wants to let them out! This was a few weeks ago. Today she went outside before me & the one time my guard is down about a snake, guess what she's crouching over & about to touch? A snake!

Conversations are so fun these days...

While riding in the car she asks if we're going to the gym. No, we weren't but daddy tells her about making muscles big & strong. She says, "you can't lift weights & make your muscles bigger, that's IMPOSSIBLE!"

Yesterday we went to get an annual blood test, Gracie wants to bring in her green lizard. She finds pencils & starts drawing, naming letters in the alphabet. I come back & we're ready to go, I go to throw her paper in the trash & she says, "no don't throw that in the trash!" "Oh, I'm sorry, it's your artwork." "No, it's not, it's a birthday" she tells me. "For who?" "For Benson!" So I'm like, "who's Benson?" Todd says, she just told me her lizard's name is Benson & today he is 2 and a half. Oh wow!

Yesterday while making dinner she says "Jesus made us lunch!"

Today we're playing in the pool. We had a play group this morning & I asked her what God has shown her today. I'd never asked her and thought it would be funny to see what she'd say. She furrows her brows thinking and says "ME!" I say, "He showed you, you? What did he show you about yourself?" And she says "Watch it!" Hilarious.

Today we go in her room to read books...
"lay down mommy, you have to lay down."
"You want me to lay down?"
"Yes."
"In your bed?"
"Yes, in my bed."
"Okay." So I lay down, pull the covers up & tell her I'm cozy. She smiles.
"I'll read you 3 books, okay? And then I'm leaving." She says. She comes over with 3 books, sits down and starts interpreting the books her own way. It was precious. One was a precious moments book about love. She says "Benson has a friend....Benson plays....Benson has fun, Benson is love." Then when she asks, "Do you want water?"
"no thanks, can you sing me a song?"
"water or milk?"
"No water or milk, I'd like a song please."
She's clearly ignoring my plea for a song & normally she demands - you have to sing me a song, you have to read me a book.
So I start crying! I open my eyes and the look on her face was priceless. Eyes open wide, mouth dropped, looking to the other side of the room like, oh my goodness, my mom is laying in my bed & crying!
So I start laughing & then she's just cracking up, she thinks that is too funny.
She gets a phone, it rings, she tells me it's daddy.
She says "daddy, here's my daughter....my daughter, mommy!"

Within a few minutes, the roles reverse & she is fast asleep taking a nap! :)