Day 7: Souvenir Shopping and Pool Day

We left our last day open and let the kids decide our plans.  Karen, Alivia, Drew and I took the trolley, aka bus, to Times Square to find some souvenirs.  We then came back to the pool to swim, get some sun and later played tennis.  Leslie and Stephen came over in the late afternoon and stayed through dinner.  We had pizza at the condo as we welcomed Brian's family in town for the week.  After eating we went to Royal Scoop one more time, played catch on the beach, watched the sunset and packed the car.  It really was a wonderful week where we were able to make lots of good memories.  Thanks so much, Dad and Karen!

Our home for the week.  If you look closely, you'll see Drew and Brad playing catch.

Our favorite ice cream shop!

Day 6: Boat Ride

Sorry for so many pictures!  Our day on the boat was another one of our favorites.  Brad could do this seven days a week.  We rented a pontoon from the marina right next door to the condo.  This was Alivia and Drew's first boat ride.  The morning was cool, but it warmed up nicely.  We stopped to find shells along the beach, had lunch at Nervous Nellie's and watched dolphins play right next to the boat.  So much fun!

Nervous Nellie's

The pier at Fort Myers Beach

A rare picture of Leslie and Stephen.  Alivia wanted to sit with Aunt Leslie during most of the ride.

Day 5: Visiting Uncle Tim & Aunt Carole

We spent most of Wednesday with Uncle Tim and Aunt Carole.  Port Charlotte is about 90 minutes from Fort Myers Beach.  We rarely get to see them since they moved to Florida, so taking a day with them is always enjoyable.  Carole made a wonderful lunch and had two rounds of desserts.  We were so full, we didn't eat the rest of the day!  The kids loved the ice cream sundaes and the pool.  And they enjoyed some time playing with BeBe, too.  They were missing Jersey!

Day 4: Naples Zoo

After an amazing breakfast at Heavenly Biscuit (they have the BEST cinnamon rolls!), we spent Tuesday morning at the Naples Zoo.  The kids enjoyed seeing lots of alligators, a giant anteater and a black bear that stood up to greet us.  They even went on a camel ride! We packed lunches and enjoyed that in the picnic area before we left.  We even had time to enjoy the pool and tennis courts before the day was over.  This was also the day we welcomed Aunt Leslie and Stephen.  They flew in around 5:30 and spent the rest of the week with us.

Day 3: Sanibel Island

We decided to switch things up a bit and took a day trip Sanibel Island.  Dad and Karen took a day off and stayed at the condo, while we took the kids for a little adventure.  We rented bikes at Billy's Rentals and rode down to the lighthouse end of the island, then headed back to get lunch at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger, ice cream at DQ (free cone day!) and then to the beach to find seashells. It was such a relaxing and enjoyable day.  We loved riding along the island in this beautiful weather.  It was a tad different from our usual trail rides in Greenfield.  This will definitely be something we do again when we come back.

After dinner we headed to the beach to play catch and watch the sunset.  Drew and Brad agreed playing catch on the beach was one of their favorite activities.  The beach is very busy during the day, but the late afternoon and evening hours are so peaceful.