Another day in paradise

While we were in Florida the weather was so beautiful I wanted to take Lucas and Sophie to the beach and to a nature reserve on Sanibel Island.  The nature reserve, the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge, was alot of fun.  They had a visitor centre with interactive exhibits and Lucas and Sophie both enjoyed it. 

We then decided to a hike. Lucas was hot and tired but he trudged along anyway and I was so excited when we came across an aligator.  Lucas thought it was like African Lion Safari and the animals were there because there were fences, he just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this aligator was in its natural habitat and could come and go as he pleased.  We were about 20 feet from this guy!  We also saw some beautiful birds, the names of which escape me now.

As we were heading back an animal ran in front of me and I thought it was a bobcat, my heart started to race as many had been sighted that week.  But I quickly realized it was a raccoon  :p

We hit the beach next, the water is too cold to swim for long but Lucas and Jason gave it a try without wetsuits for a short bit.  The beach is beautiful and I wanted Lucas and Sophie to see this very unique island for a certain reason.

This....

This beach has shells as far as the eye can see.  It is so breathtaking and just makes you stop and take it all in.  Lucas was doing the Sanibel stoop in no time looking for shells to add to his collection
.

We ended our adventure with an ice cream from a little shop that makes them homemade right in the shop and they were amazing (and huge!).  It was a great end to another day in paradise.