Captiva

We had been talking about how are kids had never really been to the beach. Cooper went to Maui when he was about 6 months old but I doubt he remembers it much. The Pollocks and Kovashs had planned a trip to Captiva Island in Florida so we decided to copy them. We went a few days before hand to get a little family time. We were up bright and early for our flight.

 All the kids did great! It was our first time flying with all three and we managed pretty well.

 

 We had a 45 minute or so drive to the island from the airport and so we stopped off for groceries and lunch. We found the most fun restaurant and decided to stop.  

 I am so grateful for this man and all the oppurtunities he brings our family.

 This little guy was in heaven.

 We got checked in and headed down to the beach first thing. Coop and Georgia could hardly contain themselves.  

 She plopped down started digging in the sand right away. Captiva is famous for its shells and she started discovering that right away.

Cooper grabbed Rob and they headed for the water.

 Goggles and all.

 

 Ruthie was all smiles too.  

 Happy Dad!

 Coop and Georgia had been waiting weeks to get buried in the sand.

 My little chunk.

 Georgia insisted on milk in a coffee mug so she could be like her dad. (please note Rob did have underwear on unlike G) 

We decided to take the trolley down to the other end of the resort and check out the beach down there. The trolley was one of their favorite parts.

 that and the sand of course.

 I was pretty much in heaven watching my sweet family enjoy our time together.

 This is one of my new favorites of Miss Hotshot. She worked the beach 

 Cooper was pretty mad when it was time to come in for lunch.

We headed to the "big pool" afterwards.

 Georgia sat on this step for hours playing with her new mermaid Barbie.  Cooper discovered the slide and we pretty much didn't see him for hours either.

 We even got to facetime with these two while we sat in the sun and they flew.  

 Ruthie just went with the flow.

 

 when she wasn't dozing she loved splashing her feet in the water.

 

 

 Catching some zzzzzzzz 

I finally spotted Coop on the slide....

We decided to clean ourselves up that evening and have a nice family dinner at the Marina.

 

 

 The sunset was awesome too.

 Ruthie was a little restless that night at bedtime so she got a little extra snuggle time with her dad.

The next day it was back to the beach.

 

 Where we did a little drawing in the sand.

 

 

 

 

  

 Rob & Ruthie headed back to Ft Meyer to pick up the Pollocks and the Kovashs and the big kids and I spent the rest of the day at the pool. We watched hermit crab races.

 and had ice cream!

 

It didn't take long after everyone arrived for us to hit the beach again. And Sterling starting discovering all of the wonderful surprises of Captiva.

 

Ruthie was happy to have Whitney's lap too.

 

 The next morning we headed to the big pool. Cooper couldn't wait to show the boys the slide. 

 She smiled almost the entire trip. 

 Their room was just a couple of floors above ours so we were able to have dinner together. 

 

 

And then we could watch the sunset

 and play a little longer.

 

 

 

 

 Good times. 

 Sweet Cheeks.

 Sweet Friends.

 Sweet Boys.

 Sweet Buddies 

  We managed to get most of the kiddos in a picture one morning while the boys were fishing.

 Sterling made a friend at the pool 

 

 One evening we all went out to a nice dinner. It didn't quiet turn out as expected, they sat us all at different tables. But the kids still enjoyed it.

  

 

 Sweet Dawson or "Little Buddy" as Coop calls him can make a pretty good mean face.

 Because dinner didn't quite turn out as expected but the kids did so well we decided to take them all for ice cream.  

 

 Wade snapped this family picture of us...

 

This was my favorite meal of the trip.

 Georgia latched onto Wade for most of the trip...she told be he is one of her new best friends.

 I don't know why Hudson and Cooper thought this was a good way to pose for pics.  

 

Afterwards we sat and watched the Manatee.  

 Cozying right up to Wade

Our last day was filled with more beach time.

 

 

  

 

   

 sleep time

 Kid pic! 

 Great times with these families.

  

 One last dip in the ocean

 and a little more time at the pool 

 

 

 

 Wade and Whitney were so nice and took the boys on the scavenger hunt.

 Georgia got on last ride in the trolley

 A little extra playtime with Channing

 and I got to go see Coop finish up the hunt.

 So grateful for friends who love our kiddos.

 

We had to leave our friends for home. They stayed a bit after us.

 It started raining as soon as we left. Our flight got delayed for several hours but the kids were troopers.

But it finally stopped and our plane arrived.

Until next time.....

thank you to the Pollocks and Kovashs for letting us crash your vacation.