Barrett was so excited when we told him we would be flying on a plane, but it wasn't Barrett who was thrilled to see all the planes, it was Fisher.
"Pane, pane, pane," is all we heard while we waited.
Barrett was just ready to get the beach and see the dolphins, fish, and turtles.
We couldn't convince him that we probably wouldn't see the sea turtles.
We didn't get to Captiva until right before dark, but we stopped at Papa's beach house and ran to see the beach. Barrett seemed a little disappointed, but we assured him it would be more exciting in the morning when he could see the waves.
We then drove across the street to the house Papa rented for us to share with my sister and her family. Barrett and Fisher were thrilled to see their cousins when we got there. While "we" unpacked (I unpacked clothes and stuff & Doug unpacked his fishing junk and went straight to the dock at our house), all the little boys relaxed while watching the Olympics.
As you can tell, Fisher really likes my nephew, Tyler.
The following morning, Fisher was up well before anyone else, so Doug and I were playing with him in the living room. He was obsessed with the crazy little windows that overlooked the pool.
They were really weird, but the owners of the house were pretty proud that the house had been in Architectural Digest. Since the windows were the only really different thing about the house, I guess they were special.
Each day, Mary sent over little gifts for the boys to help keep them entertained. (Apparently, the beach, bay, two pools, two dogs, fishing, and people to play with might not have been enough!) The first day's gifts included something Barrett, "NEEDED!"
He was so happy to have some "gaggles" that fit him. Even Fisher had a pair.
While we were all getting ready to head to the beach, Fisher amused himself in his other obsession of the week, the cabinet...
Once we organized ourselves, we headed over to Papa's house to play at the beach.
Barrett didn't like the waves or the seaweed,
and Fisher HATED the sand.
Needless to say, the beach lasted about 10 minutes before we headed to Papa's pool.
Barrett had so much fun swimming by himself with his life jacket on. He would jump in, swim to the side, and jump back in over and over again.
Fisher was just happy to wash all the sand off of him and be held.
My cousin, Jeff, flew in with his parents. He was going to stay at Dad's house, but decided to stay with us instead. We are so glad he did. Barrett and Fisher both loved him and he was a huge help.
Fisher thought he was so big riding on Jeff's shoulders.
Barrett just wanted to do whatever Jeff, or "that big boy Jeff" as Barrett called him, was doing.
This is just a great shot of Fisher's pretty smile. Hopefully, he'll our grow this look.
That next day was the wedding. I didn't take any pictures because there was a photographer. The only picture I have is one of us before we left for the beach wedding.
The day after the wedding, Tyler and I went parasailing. This is us...
We had so much fun. I never get to just hang out with Tyler anymore, so it was fun to have him all to myself for a while. We literally hung out! We also convinced Papa and Mary to go to. Papa wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but he claims he enjoyed it.
Later that afternoon, we again spent all our time swimming and playing. Fisher wouldn't leave Tyler alone, so Tyler was a great sport and entertained him. He even taught him to show his muscles.
While Fisher was working on poses, Barrett was mastering his jumping techniques. Maybe it was watching too much Olympic gymnastics and diving, but he seems to be pointing his toes?
Because we weren't able to have the complete ceremony the night of the wedding (let's just say the weather didn't cooperate!), we decided to do the shell throwing part the next night.
Barrett's part in the wedding was to hand out shells to everyone.
After each person had one, we were to go to the edge of the water and say a prayer for people that weren't with us. After we prayed, we threw them into the ocean. Well, everyone but Fisher. He clung to his like it was his life source.
Barrett was very excited to throw his in the water.
After the shell toss, we all just hung out on the beach playing in the water and sand. Quite a few of us were hunting for shells. Apparently, Captiva is the shelling capital of the world? It seemed like we really were just pulling pennies out of a fountain since we all just tossed shells out that we were then finding.
The best part of that night was that Barrett got over his fear of the ocean. He was having so much fun playing in the water, jumping waves with Daddy, and making things in the sand.
Fisher, on the other hand, was still not a fan of the beach. He was happy to just sit on a mat with my Aunt Jeanne and hold his shell.
That night, Fisher was all about Tyler again. He didn't really care what they did as long as Tyler was touching him. It didn't take Tyler long to figure out he could play his games and amuse Fisher at the same time.
Our last day there, Doug went fishing with a guide, and the boys and I swam.
**Doug has fished for his entire life, but he caught something he's never caught before, a bird. I always worry if I cast near a bird, and Doug always tells me there is no way I would hook one. Well, he was wrong. He hooked one in the neck, and reeled it in. He was happy to hand the pole to the guide and let him deal with that catch!
The highlight was Barrett swam without his life jacket! By the time he swam all morning, he was able to swim pretty far without any help.
Later that afternoon, Austin and Barrett were swimming for gold in their own Olympics. Daddy would say,
"On your mark, get set, shake your booty,
take a deep breath,
go!"
Barrett would jump in and swim to Doug. Doug would then help him across the pool, and Barrett would swim the last 6 feet on his own and climb out. He was such a big boy!
The only real problem was that Fisher would walk to the side of the pool, say go, and step in.
We had such a great week, but we were exhausted when we returned. Thanks Papa and Mary for a great "bay-K-shun!"
