Family Vacation 2008

This year we went to Captiva for a week -- Donny, Christopher, Marie, Marie's brother Tom, and Tom's girlfriend Kim. But no Nicholas -- he went to Bulgaria to dig up a Roman bath and came home via London, where he spent a day with Lisa and John.

Christopher & Marie on the beach (at the end of our lane) at sunset.

And Donny & Martha.

Christopher and Marie rented a boat and everyone (but me and the dogs, who had a lovely day exploring) went fishing. Here's Donny at Cabbage Key, where Jimmy Buffet was reportedly inspired to write Cheeseburger in Paradise.

I brought four kayaks, but paddling wasn't the easiest thing to do. The Gulf was churned up by a strong west wind, and it wasn't even fun to swim until the last day, so putting the boats in from the beach was out. Access to the bay is all private and they want a fortune to let you put in and park. However, we did paddle one day at the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Reserve, and the last day we used a private boat launch and paddled around Pine Island Sound.

Doesn't Marie look pretty in her new boat?

Christopher paddled the open "canoe-yak."

Here's Donny on the last day in front of the house with the doggies (looks like they are ready to take off, doesn't it?) They were a big hit on the island.

It took forever to pack in the heat, but here we are almost ready to say goodbye to Captiva and another family vacation.

Oh, and we can't forget Nicholas! Here he is with Aunt Lisa and Uncle John (not in Captiva)!