Saturday 2 August 2008

Bobbing About

... it did end (boo). We had our 3 long snoozy days on Sanibel Island. We found a couple of southern family restaurants that serve corn breads before appetizers and cook jumbo shrimp in a dozen different ways. It was great to see everyone relaxing, getting brown and sleeping late.

Yesterday we stayed inside between lunchtime and 4pm, and even then the sun was still scorching. We all wandered down to the beach and I made the little one keep his white t-shirt on over his slightly pink little shoulders. I was convinced the sea water was washing off all the diligently applied sun cream, so I kept slapping more on to the kids' hot sandy skin as they wriggled to get back to digging holes. I tried not to fuss.

My daughter climbed on top of an inflatable alligator so I pulled her out to beyond where the small waves were breaking and we bobbed about together. The water was hot, shallow and cloudy. My toes were sinking into the soggy sand, sometimes touching shells or seaweed. I looked around at all that water and tried to banish the word 'shark' from my mind ... but it kept swimming back ...

11 comments:

  1. This sounds like such a wonderful holiday! Apart from sharks but there aren't any of those, are they:-)

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  2. You were at Sanibel! My mother and my husband's family live just across the bridge from the island (in fact, his parents had a lovely house on Sanibel for years) so I know your vacation spot well. It's so pretty there, isn't it? (But, uh, awfully hot, too, in the summer, no?)

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  3. Oh I love Sanibel. We had a great holiday a few years back and the kids still talk about it. Must have been hot this time of year though?

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  4. I know that feeling so well. Sometimes I wish I could just be like a child swimming with my kids and loving it instead of being the parent and looking at everything with an eye to the danger it can potentially hold.

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  5. Yawn!
    (I'm not the slightest bit jealous, no siree!)

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  6. Hi gonebacksouth!
    I know that feeling oh so well! when I am in the sea here in Brasil swimming through the unknown waves (but staying within my depth) I am always thinking about sharks and looking for that tell-tale fin in the water!
    The film "Jaws" has given me a lifetime trauma since first seeing it when I was 11 years old!
    Have a fantastic holiday!!! :)

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  7. An other wonderful and idyllic sounding post.

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  8. sounds like a wonderful getaway.

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  9. Sounds gorgeous, but I wouldn't have been able to relax totally with the 's' word lurking in the shallows!

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  10. We're all jealous now. As I sit here it is pouring with rain and I am wearing jeans for the first time in weeks....

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  11. Isn't Sanibel a wonderful place. I was there along time ago...It was the first place I ever saw a manatee up close. Remember great boat rides and getting the best tan yet...and what about all those shells on the beach! :D

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