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It’s sad this is a glorious day, I wish there wa It’s sad this is a glorious day, I wish there was never a murder to be happy about a guilty verdict of in the first place but I am glad we can breathe a little easier today. 

Please don’t take this verdict as the work being over, there is so much more to do. There are so many more trials to see through, so many families who haven’t gotten justice for their loved ones, we cannot let up! #BlackLivesMatter
So often we wait for special occasions to dress u So often we wait for special occasions to  dress up, book that trip, get our nails and hair done or have a fancy meal. Here’s to making every day a special occasion just because we’re alive and well and have our family!

The girls gorgeous dresses are from @teacollection because little girls love to dress up too. How are you creating special moments for yourself or your family these days? 

📸 @rachellaxtonphoto
Just completed our 6th stay at @hiclubvacations Or Just completed our 6th stay at @hiclubvacations Orange Lake Resort in Orlando and it never gets old! If you’ve been following this trip in my stories you’ve seen all the amazing things this resort has to offer. That’s what keeps us coming back! #HostedByHCV

From the villas with full kitchens and multiple bedrooms, to the amazing pools with water slides, a Lazy River, and splash pads, to the activities right at the resort like mini golf, arcades and rock climbing, there’s never a dull moment. 

Virtual school is coming to an end so we’re def thankful we could savor every moment! 

Where are you looking to go for your next vacation? #familytravel #orlandovacation
Celebrating year 5! Five years ago I opened up IG Celebrating year 5! Five years ago I opened up IG and signed up for The Traveling Child account all thanks to my friend Paula who thought other parents and those wanting to be parents would find inspiration in seeing us travel the world with Jordyn and Kennedy. 

I personally thought she was crazy, “why would people want to see pictures of us traveling”. She told me she’d seen me travel with Jordyn the previous 2 years and while pregnant and that so many parents thought it was impossible. Now I knew that to be true as I’d often hear “you know you’re not going to be able to travel anymore” all throughout my pregnancy. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be here 5 years later with a community of like minded travel lovers who many have become like family and don’t think we’re crazy for the places we take the girls, authoring a children’s book, writing for and being featured in publications like Essence, The Points Guy, Condé Nast, landing partnerships with dream brands like the Travel Channel I never thought would happen and a life I never thought we could give our kids.

I can’t even imagine what the next 5 years will look like. Thank you so much for supporting our family over the past 5 years, so much of what we do wouldn’t be possible without your support.

If you have a dream do not give up, you won’t always see success in the first few months or even years but if you’re passionate about it the possibilities are endless. I don’t have a degree in journalism, never took a photography class or really had experience in any of the qualifications for this career I have except I loved to travel with my family. People will doubt you, call your idea stupid and other things that might have you thinking of quitting but keep pushing, you have nothing to lose but the possibility of accomplishing your wildest dreams!!

If this page has done nothing else I hope you’ve learned how to find flight deals and know if kids live there, kids can visit! Much love, Monet.
Moms deserve luxury too! I’m so ready for my nex Moms deserve luxury too! I’m so ready for my next solo trip, I usually take one every year but 2020 ruined those plans. Not this here 2021, I am ready to go!  My solo trips give me time to rejuvenate, do some on my favorite things I can’t always do with the whole family, sleep in, eat what I want when I want without compromising for anyone, the ability to change my mind at the last minute because I want to without affecting anyone else and so much more. Have you traveled solo? If you haven’t do you want to?

If you’re looking to take a solo trip you can click the link in my bio for my blog posts on my previous ones, Tulum, Mexico has been my favorite. #solotravel #momcation
Last weekend we visited our 8th National Park, Eve Last weekend we visited our 8th National Park, Everglades National Park, which is just 90 mins from where we live. We brought the @Cuisinart Large Backpack Cooler to bring all the essentials we needed. Since it's a backpack it was easy to carry on our boat tour and hikes but also large enough to store our water and food. It keeps items cold for 16+ hours and since it passed the Florida burning sun test, and kept our food fresh after a long day we won't be going on any adventures without it. Have you visited any National Parks? Which one is your favorite and/or which one would you like to go to next? #savorthegoodlife #coolerbag #hikinglife #CuisinartPartner
We normally travel to New York 2-3 times a year bu We normally travel to New York 2-3 times a year but since we haven't been since 2019 we decided to bring New York to us thanks to @loweshomeimprovement. Two of our favorite things to do in New York are Movie Night in Bryant Park and watching plays on Broadway so we combined the two and transformed our backyard into the ultimate Hometrip to Bryant Park and watched Cats! 

 

What's an activity from your previous travels you'd like to recreate at home? Here are a few quick tips:

1. Don't overthink, it doesn't have to be exactly the same.

2. Add your own twist like we did watching a Broadway play instead of a movie.

3. Find small elements to bring your Hometrip full circle, we made virgin Manhattan's for our drinks.

P.S. I was extremely surprised to find everything we needed for the transformation at Lowe’s. Yes, I expected to be able to find the patio set but the popcorn machine, popcorn kernels, charcuterie boards and bar cart not so much. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to shop in one place for everything we needed. #LowesGoals #LowesPartner

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5 Days in Fort Myers & Sanibel Island

July 22, 2018      Destinations, Florida, North America

If you are considering a trip to Florida, Fort Myers & Sanibel Island should be at the top of your list! There are so many things to do in Fort Myers & Sanibel Island; whether you are traveling to the area with kids, to get married, or spend alone time with your significant other there is something to do for everyone. We recently spent 5 days exploring Fort Myers & Sanibel Island with kids and here is our itinerary.

dad and daughter watching dolphins from boat
You May Be Interested in Reading: Tips for Taking Vacation Photos

We visited Fort Myers & Sanibel Island on a sponsored press trip but all opinions are my own.

When We Visited Fort Myers & Sanibel Island

We visited Fort Myers & Sanibel Island the week of 4th of July. If you’ve never experienced the Florida heat please do prepare yourself with plenty of sunscreen, hats and sunglasses.

How to Get to Fort Myers & Sanibel Island

Since we live in South Florida we took a short 2.5 hour road trip to Fort Myers & Sanibel Island. If you are traveling here out of town there is an airport in Ft. Myers, the Southwest Florida International Airport, which is serviced by Air Canada, America, Eurowings, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Silver, Southwest, Spirit, United and Westjet. However, this airport could be more expensive to fly into and with it’s close proximity to both Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa International Airports it would make sense to check flights into all three to determine which would be cheaper as renting a car would be necessary regardless of the airport you fly into.

Stay at the Best Hotel in Fort Myers: Pink Shell Beach Resort

We stayed at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina and when they say the only thing they overlook is the beach they mean it. This was the best hotel we have ever stayed in. They have condominium style rooms which we love as they give our family much more space plus amenities like a full kitchen if we choose to stay in and cook. You can read my full review on the property here.

 

The Perfect 5 Day Fort Myers & Sanibel Island Itinerary

Day Zero: Check-In to Pink Shell Beach Resort & Movie Night

After driving to Ft. Myers Beach after work we checked into our hotel and had dinner on site at Bongos.

A few nights a week the hotel has movie nights by the pool. Tonight’s movie was catered to younger kids, it was Sherlock Gnomes. Since it was raining they moved the movie indoors but still had the free popcorn that’s made fresh from their popcorn machine. The night before Justice League was playing, so their movies catering to multiple age groups.

Day One: Dolphin + Shelling Tour and The Bubble Room in Captiva

Our first full day started bright and early with Captain Randy who took us on a Dolphin and Shell Tour. His boat ramp is located on Captiva Island which is at the end of Sanibel about a 45-min drive from the hotel with a $6 cash only toll to cross the bridge. The drive was so worth it, it is was by far the best wild animal encounter we have ever had. We saw dozens of Dolphins throughout our day, many who followed the waves of the boat for 20+ minutes, constantly jumping in and out of the water.

After being wowed by the Dolphins Captain Randy took us to a secluded island where we could collect shells. There was literally only one other family of four there and it was so nice basically having the entire beach to ourselves. The whole beach was filled with shells of all shapes, sizes and colors.

toddler girl holding shells in her hand on the beach  beautiful shells

When our trip with Captain Randy was over we were hungry so we headed to The Bubble Room. If you make it to Capitva Island you must eat here, it is truly an experience like no other. After we ordered we walked around the 3-story, 5 dinning room restaurant to look around. I don’t even know how to explain all that is in the restaurant but it more than kept the girls entertained while waiting for our food. Be sure to save room for dessert, it’s definitely the 2nd best thing they offer after the décor.

​Day Two: Bike Ride to Sanibel Light House & Zoomers Fort Myers

We love renting bikes and seeing cities through riding around so when we found out there was a bike path to Sanibel Lighthouse and Beach we knew that would be the way for us to get there. We drove over to Sanibel Island and rented bikes from Billy’s Rental. Billy’s rents a wide range of bikes including those with baby seats, single-speed, trailer attachments for kids and even the weehoo that we rented and used to have Jordyn ride with me. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. She was able to pedal too but not be cooped up in a trailer and feel like she was contributing.

mom and daughter riding backs with little girl being pulled on her small bike by mom

We did a 2-hour rental, which was enough time for us to ride to the Lighthouse, hang out for an hour and ride back. For the two bikes with children’s seat, the rental cost was $27 and they do provide helmets if you need them.

After all of our hard work biking through Sanibel Island it was time for lunch! We decided on The Island Cow, a cute little restaurant just two minutes from the bike rental shop. There are literally cows all over the restaurant, both inside and out and the girls were fascinated by the décor.

We headed back to the hotel and the girls took a nap while us adults relaxed for a bit. When they woke up we headed to Zoomers Amusement Park and had such a fun night. Zoomers has go-karts for adults and kids, kiddie rides, mini golf, water boats and an arcade.

mom and daughter go-karting

You can purchase tickets individually or you can buy a wristband for unlimited rides. Since a lot of the rides are geared towards kids you can buy a companion pass, which is much cheaper and allows you to go on rides as long as you are accompanying a child. There is only 1 ride for kids under 36” so if you are bringing a younger child know they can only go on the train and play arcade games.

​Day Three: Hotel Activities- Parasailing, Jet Skis, Beach, Pool and Escape Room

The Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina has so many activities on-site that we knew we wanted to spend at least one day enjoying everything they had to offer. We started the day Parasailing with Estero Island Parasail which we were able to book directly on the beach at our hotel.  Up to 3 people can fly together but only Jordyn and my husband went, Kennedy and I watched. Adults are $80 while children under 10 are $55 and if you want to go along for the ride but not fly it’s $20 and there was no discount provided for children. They also offer a photo package for $30, which includes one video, and while you can’t see the photos before you buy (they just give you the SD card from the camera) I’d recommend it. Even though I didn’t go and was able to take videos of them, each video had the crew member assisting them in it so he would have been in all the photos too. The photographer is also able to take photos from places on the boat you as a passenger aren’t allowed to be. Here is a photo from our package:

father and daughter parasailing

Since parasailing apparently wasn’t thrilling enough for Jordyn she asked to go jet skiing afterwards. Kids 3 and up are allowed to be passengers so her and my husband rented one for 30 minutes.

Hotel guests are able to rent stand up paddle boards (SUPs) and Kayaks for free and we took full advantage. The beach was perfect for the SUPs, the water was extremely calm and shallow. We even came across a few dolphins and a stingray on our paddle!

toddler jet skiing with dad

Mom standing up on paddle board with two young daughters sitting down in the ocean

After hanging out at beach for the first half of the day we moved to the pool. The pool at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina is so nice, even when there are a lot of people you don’t feel like it’s super crowded. A waterfall splits the pool with one side being much deeper than the other. There is also a kid’s splash pad, shallow enough for even the littlest babies.

lagre resort pool with waterfall in the middle

kids playing in the pool

After so much time in the sun we all needed a nap so we went back up to our room to relax and take a snooze. When we were well rested we headed to Escape Room Ft. Myers where we tried to escape the Play Room. We have been dying to do an Escape Room and were so happy to finally find one that allowed kids and bonus kids under 5 are free! In this escape room there are kids costumes such as superman, princesses, etc. and the kids def tried them all on and played dress up. It was so much fun and was the perfect activity for the raining evening we were experiencing in Ft. Myers. We even broke the record for escaping the room in the shortest amount of time for our group size!!

Viator

​Day Four: Lovers Key State Park, Love Boat Ice Cream, Pool, and Fine Folk Pizza

There are so many outdoor and water activities in Ft. Myers so on this day we tried our hand at canoeing at Lovers Key State Park. We were able to rent a canoe for half the day for $48 (they only charged us the 1-2 person rate due to the kids ages). Where you pay and get the paddles is not where you get the canoe into the water and while the employee told us it was a 2 minute walk I really wish we would have driven since carrying the two paddles, 6 bench pads, and everything else wasn’t the easiest and the kids don’t walk the fastest.

Be prepared to get the canoe into the water on your own, they are just laying on the gravel with no employees on that side. They ask you not to drag the canoe on the gravel but if you are canoeing on your own I don’t see how it would be possible to pick it up by yourself. There is no shade on the 2.5 mile trial so be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen and bring water, sunglasses, and a hat (we failed on the hat part). We even saw a few pros with chair umbrellas that clipped to the seats on their kayak/canoes, I wish we had those! It’s Florida and the outdoors so insect repellent is also a must.  There are manatees, dolphins, and even alligators in the mangrove trial but we only saw a manatee. You can also see plenty of jumping fish and birds diving into the water to eat them!

little girls smiling in a canoe

After canoeing we planned to go on one of the hiking trials in the park but it was so hot we decided on ice cream instead. Everyone said Love Boat Ice Cream had the best homemade ice cream so we went there and it did not disappoint. We have never been to an ice cream store with so many flavors, there is something for everyone. Avoid coming late in the evening unless you want to wait on a long line, we drove by the night before on the way to the Escape Room and the line was outside wrapped around the corner.

two little girls eating ice cream

Of course the girls wanted to go in the pool when we returned to the hotel so we hung out there until it was time to get ready for dinner. For dinner we ate at Fine Folk Pizza and they really get eating out with kids. Forget coloring books and crayons, they give kids a dough tossing lesson while you wait for your food. It was so funny watching Jordyn try to catch the dough and having the tossing experts put a show on for the rest of us. When the lesson is over they allow the kids to keep their dough so while Kennedy was asleep during the show when she woke up she was able to make whatever she wanted with her dough.

Day Five: Fishing in Captiva + Drive Home

We would be driving home today but not before one last adventure. After checking out we headed back to Captiva Island for a fishing trip with Captain Randy. He provides everything, rods, bait, etc., so we just had to show up.

During the trip we moved to different spots but unfortunately we didn’t catch anything. Still we had a great time and came across more pods of dolphins as well as spotting some manatees! If you needed to freshen up after fishing there is a really nice bathroom with a shower by the boat dock you can use before flying/driving home.

daughters on a boat with their mom

little girl watching dolphins do tricks

Fort Myers and Sanibel Island was such an amazing trip and just goes to show you don’t have to go far from home to have a great time! Looking for additional resources for planning your trip? Check out the official website of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island! Did you find this post helpful? Please share it!

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Hey, I’m Monet!

Hey, I’m Monet!

A full time working woman, wife and mama of two. I use every last one of my vacation days traveling with my kids, hubby, friends or solo. Join me as I share my travel experiences and tips to make travel affordable and easier with the little ones. You can read more about me here.

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