"I blew out my flip flop.."

It's official. The Lucas family is on vacation.

First stop: Sanibel Island, Florida!

This has become a favorite fishing spot for Jon over the past few years and he has tried to get us to experience this together as a family since the first time he went. Good call poppa!

We took one look at the Gulf of Mexico and blazed a trail to the ocean. The whole island is breathtaking.
This is a shot of a coconut palm tree that I leaned back and took from the trail we were walking on. Beautiful!

I was overwhelmed at the number of different species of palm plants and trees. I ended up buying a guide to tell them apart. Don't be surprised to see whatever variety will live on the coast of NC showing up in our yard..Jon has already been warned. I asked him what he thought it must be like to plant the "tropical" plants in Home Depot in your yard and have them not only live, but thrive. Goodness, you can tell I don't get out much. I was amazed. I wanted one in every size and shape.

The kiddos were all smiles on their first morning waking up in Florida!!

Sunset in front of our resort on Sanibel.

All smiles!

Fishing at the pier was a blast. Here is a shot of Jon, the kids, and his old boss and fishing buddy, Dave catching all the minnows as they fall out of the casting net. Nothing like live bait that's free..you just have to be quick.

Notice the Egrets in the background catching what might have gotten away! Reminds me of that scene in Finding Nemo where the pelicans are saying "Mine!Mine!Mine!"

The Mangrove Snapper (spelling?) were biting like mad. This is Austyn's first catch, and she was having NOTHING to do with holding it for a photo!

Here is LuLu's first catch. She was a little more eager to take it off the line. She had the most fun catching the bait out of the bucket and jabbing the hook through its eyes...should we be worried?

What is that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words? The last night in Sanibel we went shark fishing (enough said) with the Yelverton's. Once they chummed the water, Wilson got into the leftover bait. It was the strangest thing. I looked over and he was building them a house in the sand. I guess that means they are getting married in this photo? Boys...

Next stop: Orland(oh no)!