Last week was Spring Break for my crew. We don’t have a “typical” Spring Break plan, and many years, we have just hung out in Dallas and done fun things around town. However, in late November, my sister-in-law and I came up with the awesome plan of renting a home together for the week so that our two families could hang out and relax. Having moved to Naples recently, she had had a TON of friends talk about the amazing Captiva Island. AND, I have heard a ton about this place myself. So, after a week of research, we decided on a house, and pulled the trigger. We had been excited for MONTHS. Just couldn’t wait.

Three weeks before we were set to leave, I was looking at the VRBO map with friends, and discovered we weren’t actually staying on Capitva Island! Instead, we had accidentally rented a home on NORTH Captiva Island. After some Google searches, we found that back in 1921, a hurricane ripped through Captiva, and separated it into two islands. North Captiva is only accessible by a ferry from the mainland (or a private boat), and you are only able to move about the island on foot, bike, or golf cart.

You can imagine that this discovery was HILARIOUS! Even once we figured out the ferry situation and how to get there, Reid and I enjoyed many a time where we were contemplating our experience. Were we going to be filming a new “Survivor”? Would we be hunting for our own food? What three items would we bring with us on this deserted island? Lots of jokes.

BUT . . . let me say this about North Captiva Island. We may have stumbled upon this island my accident, but it is PARADISE. Like, actual, real PARADISE. We plan to be back again and again! PARADISE! And, please note that this post is NOT AN AD for North Captiva Island. I mean, if someone on the island reads this post and wants to pay me to come back and stay again, then I am happy to do that and will not complain! 😉

It was an awesome trip! The island is 4.5 miles long, and half a mile wide. Very small. They claim that there are 400 homes on the island, but I am not sure that is accurate. Seemed much more intimate. We spent 5 nights and 6 days at the coolest house! It is called Windswept, and was just the neatest home. On three sides, our home was surrounded by a nature preserve. Trees everywhere. We went on walks through this area, which was home to sea turtles, all types of birds, and rumor has it that friendly bobcats lived there as well. We never ran into one.

We had two golf carts for our house, which we mainly used. But, biking around the island was so peaceful. I could EASILY figure out how to stay on this island for WAY more than a week!

Funny side note: Justin Trudeau (Canadian Prime Minister), his family and his entourage were on North Captiva the entire time we were there. A quick Google search told us that he is dealing with some political scandal in Canada, and clearly paradise is the perfect place to hide away during those times. We saw he, his family and his people several times, and they were always so nice and friendly. In fact, I ended up on a jog in the midst of him and his crew one morning. I was trying to keep up with him and all of his bodyguards, but when a golf cart drove by me with a very large man with a weapon, I chose to back off the speed just a tad bit. My picture proof below! Ha!

Oh, and Jackson kept getting confused all week and thinking Justin Bieber was the Canadian Prime Minister, so we just started referring to Trudeau as Bieber. Hey, they are both Canadian! Ha! So, that was our one very random, celebrity sighting of the week!

We had an awesome kitchen at the house, and made most of our meals there. I basically ate and drank the entire week like I was preparing for hybernation. Pina Coladas are the bomb at the beach. And Tostitos. And cheese.

There were kayaks and paddle boards to rent at the pier! We paddle boarded in the ocean, although some of us weren’t as great as the rest of us (*cough, cough, Reid*). So fun! Very hard, but fun.

On Friday, we rented a boat and ended up checking out the manitees swimming in Cayo Costa, having ice cream on the REAL Captiva Island, and having lunch at the Pink Elephant on Boca Grande. SO MUCH FUN! I mean, my prior experience with exploring the Gulf of Mexico stopped at South Padre Island, so this was WAY better.

Reid and his sister are close. They always have been. I mean, how cute is my sister-in-law?!?!? They had just beat the kids in a corn hole contest, and were very proud in this picture. The Beuclers are competitive people! Ha!

We LOVE our family, and the MAIN reason we do these trips is because of these precious, five kiddos. I have three adorable nieces and my kids LOVE them, and they LOVE my boys. These five range from 14 to 8, and are roughly 20 months apart each. They have the sweetest relationships, there are tears when they leave one another, and they just work well together.

On the ferry back to the mainland, one of my nieces asked me if we would always be this close. So sweet. I hope so! Love these kiddos.

If you are looking for a vacation spot for your family, DEFINITELY consider North Captiva Island. It is a DREAM! It was an accidental dream, but still PARADISE! Loved it! And, just so I can look back at this from time to time, here is a picture of the beach at sunset. LOVE!

Thanks for letting me share my Spring Break with y’all! It is always such a treat to get away from time to time, and we are BEACH PEOPLE! Our next step is to win the lottery so we can buy a house on North Captiva! 😉