So after our Epic Disney World Adventure we needed a little chill time at the beach. We like to stay at different types of places that aren’t your typical hotel. I knew I wanted a quaint vintage vibe old Florida Cottage. So I did a little research and came across the cutest little cottage community in Sanibel Island, Florida called Waterside Inn. It was about a 3 hour drive from Disney World and well worth it. Just relaxing on the beach for a few days after a crazy Disney trip was fantastic.
We stayed in the Raspberry Cottage, which is PINK! The Waterside Inn is right on the beach, has laundry facilities, beach towels, a pool and was close to dining and shops. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect place.
Since it is not cheap to fly a family of 6 anywhere we try to maximize our vacation adventure by visiting more than one place. So we usually always fly in one airport rent a car and then fly out of a different airport. This trip we flew into Orland, went to Disney then drove down to Sanibel and file out of Fort Meyers airport. Most of the time there is a $50-$100 fee to return the rental car to a different location, but its worth it for us. Other trips we have done like this were fly into Portland and out of Seattle. Fly into San Diego and out of Los Angeles. We’ve never had a problem switching airports and it’s really nice to see different cities.
Raspberry Cottage
The Inn had a great little pool and we swam in the rain because it’s Florida and it rains more than I expected. It was actually overcast for most of the beach trip which normally I would be bummed about, but after the heat of Disney World it was a nice break. 
This was Liam’s first real beach experience. He went with us to Mexico last year, but he was only 3 months old so he didn’t get to play. It was fun to watch him exploring the sand and water.
There was also a storm off shore which made some pretty big waves. The boys had a blast with the big waves.
The inside of the Raspberry Cottage was the perfect Old Florida vibe. The kitchen and living space were open to each other. The kids chilling with their iPads. After being so busy at Disney and long days at the beach we really didn’t mind them just chilling and playing on their tablets. This was one of those times the Brendan and I just wanted to chill SOLO on the lanai and have a cocktail, so we let the iPads parent for a while 🙂 
We rented a Surrey Bike and went on a bike ride on one of the many bike trails on Sanibel. It was actually hard work pedaling with four kids, but it was super fun. 
We spent mornings drinking coffee and evenings having cocktails on the lanai. It was a nice “playpen” for Liam. Eloise and Quinn really loved playing in the “shell dirt” outside the door. 
Me and Eloise wearing our matching dresses. A plus to being a petite person is that I can buy clothes from the little girls section and Eloise and I can match 🙂
Family Picture time! I always take a tripod on vacation so we can take a nice family picture. I actually forgot my camera remote control so I had to set the camera on a timer push the button and run to get in the shot….eek! The remote works way better!!!
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