Captiva - Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday

Sunday

We decided to start at the pool for Neely's first real day of vacation. Our room is so convenient to all the fun stuff! After lathering Neely up in SFP 50, we went out and the pool was PACKED. But there were still chairs in the shade, so I was happy. Neely absolutely LOVED the swimming pool. 2 of the 3 pools have beach entry, so Neely can walk in on her own and only go as deep as she wants. She also loved to jump into our arms in the deep end. I think we did this for HOURS on Sunday. Before lunch, we did a test run at the beach. She loved the sand but hated the ocean. She kept getting salt water in her eyes, and when she would go to rub them...more saltwater. We stayed on the resort and ate at Holy Smokes BBQ for lunch. It was pretty good, and the prices were not outrageous. After naptime (Brad watched Neely so I could go to the pool alone), we all went back to the pool for a little bit, but Neely had enough. We went to the Blue Giraffe for Dinner. We do not recommend it. The food was just okay and the service was HORRIBLE. I think it is our first bad experience in both times that we've been here. Of course, ice cream followed dinner. This night, Neely would not go to bed in her crib, so she slept with me. She actually did great in the bed, but I just don't sleep as well.

Monday

We decided that we would just go to the pool on Monday. She had so much fun, but by the end of the day, I think she was tired of it. The pool was great today because a lot of people had to leave to go back to school. Neely had her first popsicle. In between two of the pools they have a little area with sand and a bunch of sand toys and she LOVED that. We had lunch on property at Scoops and Slices...we were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good. Same afternoon routine--nap, then back to the pool. For dinner on Monday night, we took a trolley into Captiva and ate at The Bubble Room. This is one of Brad's favorites from last time & it did not disappoint. Neely loved the dessert. No ice cream tonight, because I thought it was what prevented Neely from sleeping. Well, it wasn't. She slept with me again on Monday.

Tuesday

I decided that we needed to take a day away from the sun. Neely is just so fair. And even though I am putting sunscreen on her every 30-45 minutes, she is still a little pink. We had our family pictures taken this morning & then we decided to go to Sanibel to rent bikes. First, we had lunch at The Over Easy Cafe. Yummy. We had been there before & it is so good.

Obviously, Brad and my ideas of riding bikes are TOTALLY different. I imagine riding for 15-20 minutes and stopping to get a coke, then riding 15-20 minutes and then stopping for ice cream (get the picture). Brad's idea is to ride non-stop for hours. Brad was leading & we rode 12 miles today!!! INSANE. Neely got to ride in a bike trailer, so she could be protected from the sun. It really was a lot of fun, but I am exhausted.

Here we are FINALLY getting our snack at Schnapper Hotts after riding FOREVER.We rode the trolley back to Captiva tonight and ate at RC Otters. It was pretty good. We walked to the beach afterward and watched the sun set! Neely actually really liked the beach and ocean this time & had such a good time!

The beach has a little play area and Neely went down by herself for the first time--What a big girl!!!

I HEART Vacation

I never would have thought that I would blog on vacation, but you know me...if I don't do it now, it probably won't happen at all. Sjnce everyone else is asleep and I am WIDE AWAKE, I thought I would do a not so quick recap of our first day!

We made it! For a little while this morning, I didn't think that was going to happen, but it did! We had a 7:45 flight out of XNA this morning, that didn't leave the gate until around 10! On that flight, we had a flight attendant that mentioned crashing no less than 10 times. Luckily, since Neely had been up since 5, she took a long nap & then I gave her a bag of M&Ms as a total bribe to be good the rest of the flight. We RAN through the Chicago airport to board immediately. This was a 2 3/4 hour flight, so I knew it might get rough. THEN, the plane stopped. We sat out on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for something to be fixed. THEN, we went back to the gate, to get it worked on some more. FINALLY, an hour later we were on our way! A long 3 hours later we were in the Fort Myers airport! (Neely did take another short nap, but I was too exhausted to enjoy it!)

We are in Captiva for the week and I am SOOOO excited to be here. For those that don't know, Sanibel and Captiva are 2 small islands off southwest Florida and they are WONDERFUL. So quaint. No chain restaurants. No chain hotels. Bike paths all in Sanibel and in Captiva, we can just take our resort trolley. The beaches are known for shelling. I'll let you know later what I think about the Captiva beaches, I have been told that they are white sand, blue water.

Most of the island has homes and cottages that can be rented for the week. That is what we did last time and enjoyed it, but since we have Neely with us, we decided to stay at a resort with kids pools and activities. We are staying here. So far it seems really nice.

Here we are leaving the resort for dinner. Please ignore how I look. I was so hungry, I just unpacked, changed clothes and was out the door. There's another good thing about Captiva--you NEVER feel underdressed. Last time I brought a whole bunch of really cute dresses & it was totally unnecessary. This time, I brought casual skirts and dressy shorts (if there's such a thing).

We went to Doc Ford's to eat. This was one place that Brad specifically requested. He reads (and I guess I do too) a series of books by Randy Wayne White. And this place was opened up by the author and it's name is based on the main character in his book. Here are Neely and Brad in front of the restaurant.Neely was so happy to be here. She was either starving or just happy to be out of the airport!Had Calamari for an appetizer and then we both got grilled fish sandwiches & they were WONDERFUL. I wish I could remember what type of fish or the seasonings & it would make it sound so much better.

This is how Neely ate the entire time. One hand in the french fry basket and the other shoveling the rest of her food! We were so stuffed when we left!

After dinner, we decided it wouldn't be our first night on vacation if we didn't have ice cream. So we went to Scoops and Slices, the resort's ice cream, candy, and pizza store. It is literally 20 steps from our room. As we walked over, Brad said, "This will not be good it being so close!" Neely was SOOO excited. She kept repeating "ice cream" over and over once we got in the car after dinner!

Oh, Dad, it's just a few steps away...Us after Scoops and Slices. Neely is covered in ice cream. Me, I skipped on ice cream, but still feel REALLY FAT from dinner.Mommy, please let me go to bed!

Hopefully, I'll post a couple more times while we're gone.

Tomorrow, we are hitting the pool and beach. We have NO PLANS! Isn't that the best?

A Name and Answered Prayers

There is a name! I am so excited--my friend, Emily, has named her baby Kathleen Bess, named after both of her grandmothers. The baby is still doing well for being so small. She has moved up a level in the NICU (which is a good thing). The main thing that needs to happen to Baby Kat is that she grow bigger! This is such an answered prayer. Please continue to keep her on your prayer list. This is such a wonderful family and I know they are ready to be back home together soon.

Please Pray

One of my best friends, Emily, delivered her baby girl (no name yet) today at 30 weeks. The baby is 2 pounds, 14 ounces and 15 inches long. Emily is doing fine, but the baby has a long road ahead of her. Please pray that Emily and Guy (and Hutch and Meredith) will get the rest they need and that the baby will get stronger and bigger.

Bowling

On Tuesday, Neely and I met Brad and his co-workers at Fast Lanes for a charity bowling tournament. This was the highlight of Neely's trip. She could have stood there all night long without putting any money in!
Well, maybe this was the highlight of the night. The girl loves her food.

Living Room Tour

Once again this week, I am participating in Kelly's Show Us Where You Live Tour.

Welcome to my living room! This is probably my favorite room in my house & where I spend a majority of my time. These pictures show a rare moment when it is not covered with toys.

Here is the entry way. I love this table--it is one of the first things I bought for the house when we got married. It was originally brown with a deer painted on the top and I got it so cheap at a discount store in my hometown. This was probably the first piece of furniture I painted and I loved how it turned out!

Here is the living room from the entry way. I have 12 foot celings in the main rooms of my house & I love them. I think it makes it feel so open! I used to have all my furniture in straight lines, but now that it is all on angles, I LOVE IT! I think it is really important to have art that you love in your house. On every trip we go on, I try to buy a new piece of artwork. This is a fabric wall hanging that we got on our trip to Egypt. I love my tree in the corner. Luckily it is fake, so I can't kill it! It's really hard to find big objects that add height, so I think this is perfect.

You are now looking at where I spend most of my time. Usually the ottoman is pressed up against the chair so I can have my laptop, a book, and the remote control right beside me. :) I think we are one of the only people in the world with a big TV still. Brad bought this TV cabinet and TV before we were married and I just can't get rid of it until it goes out.

Going in to the kitchen. The artwork above the fireplace was painted by one of my best friends for my wedding present. Of course, I love it!

Just another angle... I made the curtains myself (kind of). I bought 10 ft silk panels & then added the fabric and trim to them. I love how they turned out and saved about $100 a panel doing this myself. It was so easy and anyone can do it--you don't even have to be able to sew! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed!

I LOVE Pigtails!

From the moment I found out I was having a girl, I could picture one thing...PIGTAILS! I can't think of anything cuter! Neely's hair has finally gotten long enough to put in some pigtails, and I am so happy. Now, I just need to start buying some double bows. I bought Neely a little patio set for outside, but since the weather has been so nasty, I put it together and have been letting her play with it inside. She absolutely loves it. I swear she moves the table and chairs around about a hundred times a day.

I am usually pretty strict with Neely about the food she eats, but she got to try cheese puffs for the first time last week at playgroup & now she is obsessed. I just need to throw the bag away... I have the bag in the pantry and accidentally left the door open & this is what I found.

Playdate with Emerson (still catching up)

I think this will be the last of my catch up posts. While we were in Blytheville for Easter, we had a couple of fun playdates with Lea & Emerson. Emerson is a few months older than Neely & I know they would be good friends if we lived closer. Neely LOVED Emerson's cars. Luckily her Mimi bought her one of these 4-wheelers after she loved it so much at the playdate!

Just a little girl talk...

Sharing some secrets...

Going for a ride...

Some of Lea's neighbors hid Easter eggs for the kids on the golf course. Neely had fun picking up eggs.

Thanks for having us over--we had such a good time!

Can't wait to see you next time we're in Blytheville!