Beach weekend

Our friends, Alicia and Patrick, were kind enough to invite us to their family's condo in Sanibel this past weekend. We had the most amazing time. It really felt like a vacation and felt longer than just two days. There are really no words to thank Alicia and Patrick for their hospitality!

Catalina and Gus enjoyed our mini-vacation, too. Alicia and Patrick's son, Zachary, was the perfect playmate for them. They got along incredibly well. We arrived in Sanibel on Friday night at midnight. The kids got to spend about 20 minutes together that night, but when they woke up Saturday morning, they were old friends.



Before we headed out to breakfast, we walked out to the beach. I had no idea how close their place was to the water...literally steps away. It was such a luxury! Alicia had already warned us about how "wild" Sanibel is (there's a large wildlife refuge right near their house), and, within our first few steps in the daylight, we saw the prettiest (and biggest) grasshopper I've ever seen.



Gussy saying how "boo-ful" the beach and the shells are:



After breakfast, we went straight back to the beach and the kids commenced the very serious business of playing. Cati and Zachary kept themselves busy making cake, soup, and ice cream out of sand, water, and shells.





The following picture is very representative of how our little Gussy plays...he's mostly a loner, but he always keeps an eye on what Cati's got going on:



There were a few little rain showers while we were on the beach that morning, but, since our hosts put up a big tent for us, we still got to enjoy the beach. While we were inside having lunch, a huge storm came along (Alicia said she's never seen the wind gust like that) and blew their tent right out of the sand. Our husbands had the bright idea to run out in the middle of the storm and grab the tent. Alicia and I laughed so hard watching those fools trying to wrangle the tent back in. I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time.



While the kids were napping later, I decided to go for a quick run (knowing that I would eat and drink like a college kid all weekend). Alicia is the sweetest host and she didn't want me running by myself, considering some of the crazy wildlife I might encounter on the trail. When she suggested that, though, she was thinking more like snakes and raccoons. She definitely wasn't prepared for what we saw: two Florida panthers about 30 - 50 yards ahead of us. They were frolicking like kittens at one point. It was one of the neatest things I've ever seen. We were scared to death, at the same time, and immediately started walking backward, not taking our eyes off of them. One ran back into the brush and I was able to snap a picture of the other before he ran off. It's pretty special that we saw them since they are endangered. There are believed to be less than 100 adults still in existence.



Here are our little cuties at the pool, after the storm and panther excitement:



Our hosts at supper, including baby Joshua (he's four-months-old and had an upper respiratory infection but was still just the sweetest and most well-behaved little guy):



Cati and Zachary dancing to "Brown Eyed Girl," one of Cati's favorite songs:



Cati and the rainbow that we saw after supper:



Cati, Gus, and Louie enjoying the beautiful sunset:





The next morning, while everyone else was still sleeping, Gussy and I went out to the beach together and had such a sweet time together. Louie took a few pictures from the condo when he woke up and, even though they aren't very clear, they are some of my favorites because they remind me of being out there with him.



We had another great day at the beach. The sky was overcast most of the time, which kept it from getting too hot. Cati and Gus were both more brave when it came to going into the water. We were so proud of both of them.



Gussy in the water (he's usually afraid of the waves, but here he's enjoying them!):













If you look closely at the following photo, you can see a waterspout slightly left of the center:



A closer look:



Once we were able to tear ourselves from the beach and pool and pack up our things, we went out for lunch before heading home. The place we went had an iguana in a cage on their patio.



While the kids were looking at that, another kid on the patio noticed a snake slithering down a tree only a few feet from us. Yuck.



A couple more family photo before we left:





And, the now good friends saying "good-bye":



Such a fun, fun weekend! Hope you enjoyed the pictures, even though they don't even do it justice.