I mentioned this before but we traveled a long way to visit the beach this summer. We had wanted to take the girls to Disney and had done this little combo before and it worked well so we coordinated with Randy's aunt and uncle and they allowed us to stay at their place in Bonita Springs. We have taken Bella there twice but have not been back since Ava was born! It is beautiful there. It is between Naples and Fort Myers on the gulf side so the water is just gorgeous. We headed down the day before July 4th and spent the whole day driving- other than a stop in Jacksonville. We have friends in Jacksonville and met them for lunch. In the past we stayed overnight to break up the trip but with our crew growing for three to five since the last time, that would have been a little too stressful! Anyway, we arrived in Bonita around 10 or so that night. The next day we packed lunches and headed to the beach. To my disappointment, Porter was not a fan. Boo. The girls have always been great on the beach but not this boy! He was cranky the whole time and could not get settled. The breeze was perfect and kept us from getting too hot but maybe that is what was bothering him? I took him swimming for the first time and he seemed to love that. The ocean was so warm and gentle that it was easy to do. Of course as soon as we got out, he started again. This was the case each day as we tried again- mostly for the sake of the girls. They are at an age where they love to be at the beach and in the water. The best part of this ordeal however was that he napped well and wait for it... started sleeping through the night! Hallelujah! He had been doing a small stretch from about 8 or 9 until 1 am but on this trip he slept until 5 or 5:30 am each night! It was great. (He has thankfully continued that pattern.) On the fourth, we drove to Naples to watch the fireworks but got a late start so we just found a spot to park and watched them from the van (plus Ava and Porter were asleep before we even got halfway there). Personally, I LOVE fireworks and Randy says I am the only one who really cares but I really wanted to get out and watch from the beach and have Ava be able to enjoy them. In Disney, I just wanted to stop and watch as well but Randy was on a mission to get more rides in and Ava was asleep by that time. At least we were all able to enjoy them a few weeks back at New Life's Faith Family & Freedom concert because otherwise I would have protested.
Something else we did this time that was new for us was visit Sanibel Island. Our friend from Jacksonville told us about it and it is famous for their seashells. They are supposed to be the best in the USA. While we didn't find anything too out of the ordinary, it was fun to try! Plus we got a close encounter with a wild dolphin. He shimmied his was over the sandbar and swam in the shallow water right by us. I thought he had made a mistake and was stuck but he went back and forth a few times. At one point, he got less than ten feet from Randy and he got it all on video. It was priceless! Also, at both Sanibel and Bonita, we were able to find live sand dollars and starfish. Of course because they were alive we put them back, but it was another first for all of us!
After four full days of being there we cleaned the place and headed toward Orlando. We were very excited to get to this part of the trip!
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