Not So Welcome Mat

 So we're back! Time to blow some dust off this Blog and share another week of "paradise" A.K.A. Sanibel/Captiva Island.

New experiences in store this year for starters we got a new "Beach Angel"  Skylar, she's our newest grandchild. She, her two sisters and Mom and Dad are with us this year.  At four months old she now takes the title of the youngest to share this special place.


Today Skylar and I spent some quality time on the Lania (also known as the screened in porch for you folks back in the midwest).  As you can see Skylar thinks PaPa is a hoot!

A long drive which started at 2:45 a.m. Friday Morning.  Our first leg of the trip was quiet because the Beach Angels rode with their Mom & Dad till we met up in Kentucky for some Smiley face pancakes in Paducah. 

We started a routine years ago when the Beach Angels were little where NaNa would give them surprises along the way. It was typical five & dime type stuff that was meant to occupy them so we could make it down the road in peace.  Well the've grown up now and you probably couldn't find a Woolworths 5 & 10 if your life depended on it.  Now days its more like "Five and Below" (as in dollars) We've gone from crayons and sticker books to sunglasses, flip flops, and Ipod chargers.  They grow up so fast.  As grown as they are we still had a new experience this year.  We have built Forts in the Bedroom, the Living Room and even the Dining Room. but we have never experienced a rolling Fort till this year.  With all the pillows and blankets in the car they decide to build a "Rolling Fort in the back seat of PaPa's truck.  Hey I wasn't complaining it was just as good as having one of those windows between the front and rear seat like you would see in a limo.

The house this year is nice, much larger than we anticipated but the house hasn't welcomed NaNa very well and it greeted us with another new experience this year.  Today we are preparing for our first day at the beach and as we we're getting ready NaNa and the Welcome mat at the front door decide to do a little two step tango.  The Welcome mat won!


Carol = 0 

Welcome Mat = 1

After further review by the judges the Welcome mat has been penalized for unsportsman like conduct and has been removed from the field of play.

When it first happen I was airing up a raft to take to the beach.  I looked up to see her sprawled out on the ground and her first words were "I think I broke It"  my first thoughts were "OH S_ _ _"  She had a large goose egg under her Knee and I thought yep she broke it.  After getting settled down it looks like a rolled ankle and some new bruises.  She's determined not to let this spoil her vacation.  Needless to say NO BEACH for NaNa today.

On the bright side NaNa did score her first souvenir from Sanibel this evening.  It came from that place we all shop for souvenirs when on Sanibel.  CVS

I was very thoughtful in the selection process I got one with blue and purple to match her bruises.

All kidding aside we got a bit of a scare cause you know what happens when old ladies fall.  Hey, Lexi said the cane made her look older than she already was and she did fall!

I may or may not be reporting more tomorrow it depends what happens once NaNa reads this!  

When given Lemons make Lemonade!  Hang in there NaNa we all love you


Comments

Shelllady said…
Oh Noooo! What a terrible "Welcome" Gift! I hope NaNa is feeling much better soon! I can bet that Sanibel/Captiva will heal whatever you got!! :) Your new beach Angel is Adorable!! I have a new Grandbaby who just turned 3 months old! I have helping Mom and Dad out this week, Dad has gone on travel for work and I'm staying with Mom and Babysitting! Love it, though newborns are not meant for us Oldies! I'm tired, this is day 9, but Dad is back home so I will be going back home tomorrow :( My Grandbaby's name is Joseph and I can't wait to get the sand between his toes!!
June 8, 2015 at 10:26 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Special Shell

Image
Yesterday evening we had one on the lowest tide we were able to catch this week.   I walked the surf at the shoreline to see if there were any shells. I was able to find a few but the shells have not been plentiful this week.  We actually collected more at Barefoot Beach the other day than we have here all week. As I was walking along I began remembering some of the times on the beach with the Beach Angels.  The younger one "Taylor" taught me a life's lesson that I would like to share with you. Taylor especially when she was smaller was always amazed with collecting rocks.  It was nothing to dump out a pocketful of rocks that she had collected from around PaPa's Koi pond or in NaNa's garden.  They were nothing special they were just rocks. Naturally when we began bringing Taylor to Captiva where the beach is full of shells as far as the eye can see. She did what most of us do down here she began collecting shells. Taylor's shells were cracked, faded, h
Read more

Superman & Tweety Bird

Image
Thursday morning it was time for more seafood omelet research.  We went to the Island Cow and I got a what?  answer: Seafood Omelet.  Just seeing if you've been paying attention.  The cow's omlete did have a pretty good amount of seafood but the crab meat was only shreds and there was more shrimp than anything.  There was also a watery consistency to the inside of the omelet that was most likely from not suffciently draining the seafood before adding it to the omlete. So ranking order so far IMO is: 1.  Hungry fisherman @  Lighthouse Cafe 2.  Crab & asparagus omelet @ Amy's Over Easy 3.  Loaded Seafood Omelet @ Island Cow On Thursday the high rollers came to Captiva.  I'm not referring to a group from vegas with money to burn, but mother nature rockin the waves in the gulf.  You know it's rough when you look down the beach as far as the eye can see and there is not more than a hand full of people in the water. We went into the water for about 2 minutes an
Read more

In the Blink of an Eye

Image
It's been a rough week this week.  While I generally keep my blog on the lighter side.  My words come from my head, but my desire to write comes from my heart.  My heart this week has felt both pain and Joy some of which I'll share with you today. On Monday Nov. 20th I'm on the mends from a rough couple of days on what looks like could be a precursory strike from a future Kidney Stone.  Spent a couple of days on pain meds, telling myself I'm not going to the ER.  Carol's been battling the crud and been coughing a lot for the past week.  We get a visit from Kristine, our daughter (technically Daughter-in law) but we adopted here years ago when she moved down here from Oregon to carve out a life with our son Ryan.  In her selfless manner, she's here to deliver a spare nebulizer to her Missouri mom, who's been fighting the crud.  Why? Because that's just who she is. She didn't visit for long, and we shared a few passing comments about her not wanting to
Read more

Branson by the Ocean a.k.a. Gulf Shores Alabama

Image
So today reality sets in and its back to the daily grind.  I still haven't told you about our last day at Gulf Shores, Alabama so here goes. We left St. George Island around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday.  Next stop, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores Alabama. We drove along the coast most of the way.  Lots of swamp logging going on in this area and somewhat unfortunate to see so many closed businesses and abandoned buildings scattered along the coast line. It was a different story when we got into Orange Beach/Gulf Shores.  I compare it to a place we have in the southern part of Missouri called Branson.  Lots of people, lots of cars, and a bunch of tourist type attractions.  So to me Gulf Shores was Branson by the Ocean. It has a higher density of people and high rise accommodations than my heart desires but we have never been here and now we know.      The slogan for Gulf shores is "Small Town, Big Beach"  The beach was wide and where we stopped there was probably 3-
Read more

Merica Road Trippin! Chapter 2 "On The Road Again"

Image
 I'm a little delayed in releasing the second chapter for the Road Trippin blog.  Remember that storm I told you about that happened on July 1st when we left on our trip?  Well, apparently mother nature thought since we wern't here to enjoy her fury, she would pay us another visit on the 12th.  More trees down and power knocked out again!   So I have been spending some time doing cleanup and getting the tree off my shed!  This storm took out some huge older growth trees.  Ripped them out right at the base of the tree.  Good thing is we are all safe.  The cleanup is not done but thought I would come in and cool off.  I'm missing those cooler temperatures we were experiencing in Montana and South Dakota. Mother nature is not happy! Base of the tree that hit the shed!    Thankfully, this old oak was leaning on about a 30-degree angle away from the shed.  The limbs that did make contact on the shed only did minimal damage.  The tree would have done some serious damage had it be
Read more

Merica Road Trippin Chapter 5 "America the Beautiful"

Image
While spending our day in Glacier, the rain came in during the afternoon.  Not a lot but enough to muddy up the trails.  We had considered staying an extra day, but with the rain and the fact that there were some ongoing issues back home because of storms while we were gone. We thought we should push on towards our next stop.  We headed to Rapid City, SD.  Our target areas here would be Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and the Badlands. Mt. Rushmore Birth, Growth, Development, Preservation   There is a secret room carved into the mountain behind one of the president's heads. The Hidden Hall of Records.  Do you know which president?  Who was known as the 5th face on Rushmore?   As we're walking up the Avenue of flags at Mt. Rushmore, people were of course taking pictures and chatting.  What I found interesting was once you reached the end of the flags and approached the main viewing spot for the monument, there was silence, almost like a sign of reverence. While I have seen ma
Read more

Exploration beyond the beach

Image
So the theme this year is about new experiences and first for us while here on Captiva/Sanibel. Our house this year sits on the water up the channel from Blind Pass.  This is a first for us usually we are trying to get closer to the gulf but the island is narrow down by Blind Pass and it is a pretty short walk to the beach. The house is not much more than 30 foot off the water and has a dock which has led to many new discoveries for the Beach Angels.  I put together a Scavenger Hunt for the Angels this year.  They are getting older and I wanted to open their eyes to the wonderful world of nature that surrounds this island. The Scavenger hunt has about forty items.  They either need to collect or spot the items while here this week.  Lexi  and I spent quality time this evening sitting on the dock and watching nature in all its splendor.  From Rainbows, Osprey eating a fish and a alligator we got a little of everything tonight.  Best part was just sitting there sharing the time together.
Read more

Welcome to Marathon

Image
The adventure continues as we head further south, down to the keys.  Home base this week will be Marathon.  On Monday, we have a trip planned to Dry Tortuga National Park.  That is pretty much the only thing that has a time commitment to it.  We're just going to let the week play out and see what each day brings us. We drove through Fort Myers Beach on our way to an overnight stop in Bonita Springs.  I think due to the higher concentration of houses and businesses on FMB the devastation was extreme.  We stayed in a house on the south end FMB back in 2019.  Below is a picture of that house taken in March of this year.  Bottom floor blown out, and what you don't see in this picture is the whole back of the house is gone. Beach house FMB March 2023 When we drove by, all that is left is an empty lot.  Property on FMB is selling for the same dollar evaluation post hurricane Ian as it was before hurricane Ian, house or no house.  There's no doubt that the future landscape of Fort
Read more

Merica Road Trippin ! Chapter 1 Red Solo Cup

Image
 We just got back from a 10-Day road trip.  4,757 miles.  The next few upcoming chapters will highlight our stops along the way.   When I was a kid, we never took vacations and very rarely went anywhere other than the corner bar.  My parents did take a road trip once to Springfield, Illinois.  All I really remember about that trip was the motel had a swimming pool, it was hot, and it was where I learned how to swim.   Back in those days, things were different. You drank out of the garden hose, the sliding boards at the park were made out of steel, and you rode your bike wherever you wanted to go as long as you were home by the time the streetlights came on.  You even went swimming by yourself in the motel swimming pool.   Only problem was I didn't know how to swim!  I made the mistake of jumping into the pool on the deep end.  Panic set in when I realized the water was way over my head and I had gotten in on the wrong end.  Then out of nowhere a hand grabbed me and a voice said It&
Read more

Some Beach

Image
Posting a little later today sitting out on the lania listening to the thunder roll and having a glass of Liquid Lubrication. Strawberry/Plum wine 2008.  (It was a very good year).   As you regulars on the forum know I enjoy making homemade wine.  This one was actually made by a friend of mine.  His name is Gil.  He's the one that introduced me to the art of winemaking.  Strawberry Plum 2008   Gil is best described as one of those country boys that can survive. He's does it all from making his own deer sausage to turning various fruits into liquid lubrication he makes some good stuff!  The first time I saw him making deer sausage I was a bit perplexed he was using the camper on the back of his old Ford pickup as a smoker.  I thought the darn truck was on fire when I first saw it.  Some of the best deer sausage I ever ate. Before I get to todays agenda I should back up a bit to dinner last night.  The wife and I headed out to Thistle Lodge.  It has become a regular dinn
Read more