Captiva
Last week we returned from our family vacation to Captiva Island, FL. We planned this trip with our friends the Knechts, who have three girls around Izzy and JoJo’s age. We stayed at the family friendly resort of South Seas. If you’re a parent with young kids, you’ll take note of this resort. It has zero entry, heated pools, a couple water slides, suites with kitchens, extra bathrooms or closet space (which you can put a pack and play in), a kids indoor play center and daily kid activities like face painting or building sand castles. There’s a nature center with a big tortoise, a bunny, parrots, and a couple other small animals. The beach, with awesome shelling, was just a short walk from our rooms and there was a trolley that could take us across the resort. There was also a dangerously fun candy store and ice cream shop. There was also a bike rental shop and water sports rentals which we didn’t take advantage of.
We packed scooters for the three older girls which they rode through the resort. Every day, we would hit either the beach or a pool and watch the girls wear themselves out playing and swimming. Izzy and JoJo are complete opposite of each other in the water. Izzy is overly cautious and JoJo is overly zealous. Izzy wears a life jacket at all times, JoJo refuses and runs into the water until it’s up to her mouth. Izzy hates putting her face under water, JoJo would keep “bobbing” until I was afraid that she had swallowed too much water!
Part of Luke’s Christmas gift from me was a sailing lesson while we were at Captiva. We took Alex, and the two oldest girls with us on the 40 foot sailboat. The guys got to learn how to steer the boat, raise and lower the sails. We even spotted dolphins while we were out.
This trip was SO relaxing because we literally did nothing but sit at the beach or the pool. The weather was amazing, anywhere from 70-80 degrees every day. And of course we loved the company of our fellow vacationers. It was a cruel call back to reality when we landed in the 35 degree weather in Denver after spending the first part of the day at the pool in sunny 80 degrees. Now it’s back to real life and a normal routine.
This week, it’s Izzy’s 4th birthday on Thursday and her birthday party on Saturday. More on that later!
