Seattle's Sauve: 03/01/2011

Note: Cheryl posted all the photos from our trip here.

Lucky for us, Jamie took his paternity leave the Month of March. He and Michelle booked a place in Ft Myers Florida big enough to also house my parents, and us, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to get out of rainy Seattle to catch some sun, and visit. Out of March Break co-incidence Amy, RJ, Lindsay and Ryan were also nearby in Clearwater, so we also planned to meet up with them.

The flight down was pretty uneventful (as you probably know by now that’s exactly how I like my flights)… Kayla behaved really well on the flight, and had a great time on the way down. There was no direct flight to Ft Myers, so we stopped for a short layover in Atlanta.

Have monkey, will travel:

The house
Our accommodations were really nice, enough room for all of us (Kayla slept in the closet, but she didn’t mind), air conditioning, a pool, a covered outdoor area, and plenty of stones for Kayla to play with. Thanks Michelle!

Front yard:

Covered area by the pool:

Kayla playing in the pool with Cheryl, Michelle, and Kenzie:

The beach

Since we were only a block from the beach we spent a lot of time there. Ft Myers is an island with a ton of beach, and we were far enough away from the crowds that we basically had the beach to ourselves. This was Kayla’s first trip to a real beach, with real sand, and salt water, so it was really fun watching her play and just run around everywhere.

Here’s a shot Cheryl took of everyone… As you can imagine it’s hard to keep Kayla in the shot for long:

Kayla with the beach to herself running everywhere:

Kayla had a great time playing in the sand with Mom:

In the water

Grandpa Sauvé and Jamie spent some time fishing just off shore. Grandpa actually caught a small Spanish Mackerel, and we saw a small shark get washed to shore while we were there too. Lots of pelicans and other birds preying on small fish around the area.

Dad and Jamie fishing just off shore (dad with a fish on the line):

Three stingrays swam right beside Grandpa Sauvé and Jamie. Here is one of them:

A visit from Amy, RJ, Lindsay, and Ryan

Since Amy and RJ were staying in Clearwater they decided to come down to visit us. Turns out they ran into some pretty rough traffic, so it took a bit longer than we had hoped to get down, but once they were here I think they had a good time. Cheryl played on the beach with Lindsay and Ryan, went swimming in the ocean, and also in the pool back at the house. Since the drive was longer than anticipated they decided not to stay for dinner, but it was really good to meet up with them, and get another chance for Kayla to play with her family.

Amy holding Kayla with her “monitor phone”:

Ryan playing with Kayla in the sand:

Lindsay and Ryan playing with Kayla in the pool:

Kayla’s first boat ride

Kayla has been on a ferry, but this was her first time in a smaller boat. Jamie, Grandpa Sauvé, and I were originally going to go fishing for tarpon, but our guide had a mechanical breakdown on his boat, so that plan was cut short. We instead booked a family trip on a dolphin watching tour. While we really only saw two dolphins, and only for about a minute or so, it was still really fun to watch Kayla get excited about everything there was on the boat, and around her.

Kayla gives the thumbs up to go after getting her life jacket on:

Kayla pointing at pretty much everything:

Grandpa Sauvé and Kayla:

Kayla poses with Mom on her first boat ride:

Inside
We weren’t outside the whole time. We had a lot of fun inside too when we needed to escape the sun for a bit. Jamie, Michelle, Cheryl and I also had a chance to go mini-putting, and also feed gators as well, but I don’t have any pictures from that, we were too busy mini-golfing.

Kayla playing with Kenzie: