Dan needed to stay in and work for a bit today so Brandt and I took a massive bike ride. We headed all the way east to the lighthouse, but made a bunch of stops on the way: Sanibel Historical Village to see if it was worth going back when it’s open (nah), Sanibel Community Park to ride a chipmunk, the park at Periwinkle Place to ride on a centipede, and Pinocchio’s Ice Cream in Old Town Sanibel for a mango smoothie.

The lighthouse itself was heavily mosquitoed so we didn’t stay there too long. Dan says the beach up there is supposed to be really nice so we might head back at some point. B fell asleep in the bike seat just a few minutes from home which turned into a nice two-hour nap while Dan finished up working. The cycling one-handed while holding the baby upright really isn’t that hard, I was happy to learn.

Dan had wanted to ride along east on West Gulf/Middle Gulf/East Gulf to see that part of the island, so that’s what we did. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn’t see the beach (all the houses blocked it), but they certainly were pretty plantation-style houses. But even better than the lovely houses, we saw a bobcat. Yes, a bobcat! It just ran across the street right in front of us. Brandt doesn’t sign cat yet, so he just called it a dog.

On the way home we had a dinner of appetizers at McT’s. The seafood bake was *so* good. We didn’t remember to save room for the “almost world famous mud pie,” though. And we saw a snake in the bike path right by Biddles Bucket. Brandt missed it, too bewildered by my freaking out. Dan didn’t know what I was going on about, either, but I finally got out “Snake, snake!” as it slithered out of his path.

The picture is our modified hands-free biking. Yesterday Brandt decided he wanted to do the steering (you know, because he’s a toddler now and has to do everything himself) so he repeatedlly pried at Dan’s hands, trying to get him to let go. This morning I discovered if he can’t be distracted by pretending there’s a bird just up ahead, you just have to lift your fingers and declare “No hands!”