Mother's Day....Babies and Birthdays....May was busy

May started out with us hosting a "family reunion" nite at our church....this is simply a social gathering. If you host one you are responsible for a dinner meal and some sort of entertainment. Denny wanted to have a southern meal...so...fried chicken, deviled eggs, chips, baked beans and banana pudding were the menu...for 50!!!  We bought some, we made some....it was a true team effort.

Helping make 4 dozen deviled eggs.....all but 2 halves were eaten

Made 60 individual banana pudding cups...a Paula Deen recipe ...was very popular!!! YUM!!!

It seemed all enjoyed our Southern Supper...our entertainment was a talent show. We have several very talented people in our church. Some sing, some play instruments, some do both, but we were very grateful they agreed to share their talent...we opened the evening in our show attire.....

It was a wonderful evening thanks to all the gifted folks that graciously entertained us...thanks guys and gals!!

Next came Denny's birthday...he'd asked for an electric razor...how boring, but I got it. But then I was able to finally find Hammock Man!!! This is a shirt that Denny had several years ago and literally wore it until it was threads....thank you ebay....Tori Richards didn't make it anymore but somebody had one...woohoo!!

See that smile....he saw his new-old shirt back again.

Ready to go out for birthday prime rib dinner....

A few days later we zoomed up to ATL for Mother's Day weekend and a baby shower for niece Brooke that was delivering identical twin girls in a week....was a whirlwind trip. Forgot to take pics at the shower, I must get better with that, but let's just say she got LOTS of needed diapers and some really cute clothes. After the shower we went to Brooke and Dave's house to check out the nursery and see the new deck addition, and we got to play with Dylan....he loves his dogs, Max and Meike, Max plays ball and Meike protects him...what more could a little boy ask for.

Mother's Day was nice and slow.....

Dylan helps his Mommy open the gift he made in school for Mother's Day.....and Uncle Brad watches. 

His handprints on a t-shirt....u just have to love that.

I didn't get any pictures of my own Mother.... and her gifts, but fun was had by all. There were 16 of us, we grilled out and enjoyed the first homemade ice cream of the summer season. 

We came back to FL to some quiet time for 2 weeks and then zoomed back to ATL to see the babies. We were not there the weekend they were born but we did get pictures...

 Not sure who is who in these 2 pictures but here is Vivian Grace, 6lbs 8oz and Gwyneth Britt 6lbs 5ozs

Mother and babies did great and came home 5 days later.....

Double the fun....double the pleasure...and diapers...and feedings...and...and...and

Uncle Brad was double timing it...maybe he and Aunt Cindy will have their own twins soon!!!

Another momentus event on this day..was Ashley got her driver's license....some are leaving home..some are just getting home...life is in constant motion....

Back to ATL....3rd quick trip to meet the new additions and for big brother Dylan's 2nd birthday...

2nd cousins Chad and Ashley help with feeding time..it's every 2 hours...wow!!!

Kelley and Larry are "remembering the days" but glad Chad and Ash are able to feed themselves now...and Uncle Denny takes a peek

Dylan was loads of fun and had a great birthday....family on both sides were there and enjoyed a cook out and cupcake birthday cake....with homemade ice cream....

 Get ready to make your wish and blow out your candle....and no, you can't wish for your new sisters to go back where they came from...they are here to stay!!!

This is really good Mommy....here Grandma you can have a bite.

Time for presents.....

Dylan knows his ABC's and loves to sing the song....

 And he carries all his cars around in a tube....looks like a recycled liquor bottle holder....okey dokey!!!

Well...Daddy got me my clubs 2 weeks ago but Great Aunt Kelley and I can still play with them....

It was a fun birthday and I'm learning to like my little sister....but if anybody wants to come rescue me, that would be ok too...

May  was another busy month and sister Kelley and her family will be here this weekend for their summer week at the beach...stay tuned....June looks busy too..... 

Captiva Island.......a much needed rest

April had been very busy and we needed a quick break...we didn't want to hassle with flying so we just drove 2hrs south to Captiva Island....it's old Florida and awesome. We parked the car when we arrived and didn't crank it again for 3 days....we walked and biked and had a blast.  We stay at the Captiva Island Inn...it's little cottages for the most part but they do have one building that has rooms in it. They are more than a regular hotel room. Some of the rooms and some of the cottages have full kitchens, and it's really easy with our bikes. They give you breakfast vouchers and you can eat at Keylime Bistro or RC Otters...both very good and a nice start. Breakfast surely holds you until dinner....so you can head out for a ride or some beaching...

Keylime has someone playing and singing at night...but not so loud you can't still chat. The first 2 nites we sat outside our cottage and listened at night, was really nice.

This is RC Otters and the Latte' Da coffee and ice cream shop....

Looking down the street...the beach is at the end..........and on the beach is the Mucky Duck Restaurant....we decided they make LOTS of money on drinks and appetizers at sunset time...it gets busy, but still plenty of room....

YOLO (You Only Live Once)....sells cool beach stuff, but also rents golf carts, bikes, wave-runners, boards, and other cool stuff....a neat shop. 

There's also a nice art shop and a ladies wear shop...several things on this main drag on Captiva

We took a bike ride down towards Seven Seas and the marina....saw lots of Osprey and nests, so nice to be out in nature. Was a tad warm, but we had plenty of water and were fine.

On this trip we spent some time looking at some of the larger rental homes...this one was a 6 bedroom/bath and was my fav. I think a big family vacation here would be wonderful.

Something to think about ....all 22 of us for a week.......sounds like fun to me!!

We always eat one time at The Bubble Room. This started as a few tables on a woman's front porch...as it grew and grew she made the house the restaurant and moved into another house...you just have to see it. Their desserts are to die for....the Orange Cake is AMAZING.

We tried a new place one nite Doc Ford's...was very good....the make a spicy shrimp that is WOW!!!

Denny loved their baby back ribs. We took it slow, did some riding, some sunsets and became fans of afternoon naps....but alas it had to end.

After breakfast on our last morning we headed for home...but we wanted to explore Sanibel a little on the way out. We'd never seen the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village, so we stopped for a look. It was really cool. 

It's a tribute to Sanibel's past where you can glimpse at Sanibel as it was in 1880-1940. There are 8 restored original buildings...houses, General Store, school house, Post Office...was really neat. The island started as a farming community, but hurricanes ended that. There was not a bridge to Sanibel/Captiva until 1963. Now there is a huge new one and you pay $8 to cross it!!!!

We started our tour by watching a film...one of the original residents speaks about the island and you get a great feel for how it "used" to be.

This is The Rutland House...the rocker is original, belonged to Mr. Rutland, and that's him and his wife in the picture below

An original "crock pot"...u put a hot stone in the bottom, your pot of food on top and another stone on top, closed the lid and wait...same concept as today...we just improved on the footprint....however, theirs was not dependant on electricity....maybe we should think about that!!!

Mosquitoes were a big issue, had to have netting

The other side of the bedroom was "her" office....

Burnap Cottage was a two room fishing cottage built in 1898

This guy was there to "greet" you...they had it set up as it likely had been. The lighthouse light in the back was just there for display, it was on loan for a while.

On to visit the school....back in this day there was segregation...there was a black school as well. This one room school was kindergarten-8th grade. The 1 school on Sanibel now is the same way...it's more than one room...but it's K-8th...the kids have to bus off the island for high school. 

On to Miss Charlotta's Tea Room, was originally built to be a gas station...but later became the Tea Room and was restored back to its 1930s look

I think folks must have had some fun here!!

The packing house was important since shipping produce off the island was a major means of income.

We could see the surrey, but it was behind glass and impossible to get a picture, but it was really neat. 

This car was so cool...it too was behind glass but I attepted some pictures, they aren't great, but you can get the idea.

A Post Office built from debris....neat

A cute Post Office with lots of history.....

Denny heads in to check out the General Store. He could remember these old style of gas pump from times of yesteryear. We enjoyed looking at the items on the shelves. It was funny to note that some products have not changed their labeling very much in all these years....like...Campbell's soup...Coca Cola....Gold Medal, and several more...I suppose..."if it ain't broke don't fix it" 

These old tools were hanging in the back room....

This is a model of The Bailey's Homestead....very nice.

We didn't realize you could order a house from Sears Roebuck.....wonder if you still can. It was a really nice house

Indoor plumbing....finally...WOOHOO!!!

A nice sun room gave lots of extra room.....for stuff.

Nice kitchen...still had an ice box...but really nice...the stove is in the room just past the kitchen...

Still roughing it, but much improved over the first house we were in!!

Who knew you could order a house out of a catalog???

Very nice dining room....complete with a "record player"

Nice kids room....the adult room (which I must have missed taking a picture of) was also nice and roomy. Had 2 twin beds and other furniture. There was also a really nice screened in back porch. 

This side tour was such a cool step back in history. It was hot, but we're glad we took the tour. So neat that all the buildings were saved and moved to this central location creating this "village". 

And so ended our little get-away. It was great, but was now time to head north on I75....this coming weekend is busy with church things. Maybe we'll have time to lay by the pool a little. :)