Two Peas in a Pod

While we were at the beach, Tony and Anthony spent a lot of time together. They even dressed alike!! How embarrassin...No, they didn't plan it. Tony has a shirt that matches this one of Anthony's and he also has one that is the same as one of Alex's. It seems like every time we go somewhere he matches one of the two kids. Maybe Tony needs more shirts or maybe the kids need to go beyond the first layer in their drawer.

I think they are planning and plotting against those poor unsuspecting fish. "We'll buy a crab net, chicken necks, dead, stinky, smelly shrimp, and some squid." (And we'll keep it all in the refrigerator in the camper.) We'll come show these Jojans how to catch some fish.

Have you ever? Are they not looking at me exactly the same? Kinda like I just said something in a foreign language and they don't understand me. This is the look I get when I say something like, "Put your laundry away," or "Take your plate to the sink."

I swear, I don't know two people who act more alike than these two. Every day there are more similarities in their interests, the way they think (Lord help me), and the things they say.

Tony has grown him up a playmate.

More Vacation Pictures...

One of the nice things about vacationing at Jekyll Island is the bike trails. There are about 26 miles of bike trails throughout the island and the good part about that is that since islands are flat it wasn't very hard to ride them - except that it was hot!!! The bike trails were gojas (gorgeous in Georgian). Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the Live Oak trees with Spanish moss growing in them? I love, love, love them.

This would make anyone want to ride a bike...

Along the bike trail there are these ruins to stop at, which you know Alex loved... This particular one is Horton House. She did actually get off her bike here. And there was no candy involved. Or ice cream. Or putt putt. Not sure how we got away with this one.

This house belonged to William Horton who moved to Georgia in 1736 from Herefordshire, England. This was his plantation house.

On our bike rides, there were opportunities to see lots of critters, especially if you are with the critter whisperer (she's kinda like Ellie Mae). We spotted these two raccoons nesting in the tree beside the bike trail.

There were lots of raccoons around our campsite. They would eat dog food if anyone was crazy enough to leave it out. They would also walk all over your pretty new "camping tablecloth," and get tea/dirt/sand footprints on it if you were crazy enough to leave a cup of sweet tea on that table with a lemon in it. And it would use your suntan lotion. And your camera. And your lipstick.

When we got home, I was looking over the campground brochure. In very small print, on the back, at the bottom it says something about not feeding the animals. Especially not Doritos or Dibs ice cream...

We found out that squirrels like ice cream and Doritos but not Cheez-its or tomatoes. And there was one squirrel that didn't even fain shyness. It would just wait until you sat down, come over to your chair, and demand your Doritos.

Girl's Night Out

Last night we had a girl's night out. We definitely don't do this often enough cause we had so much fun! Amy was the only one that couldn't make it so we will have to plan a little further ahead the next time. We went to dinner at P.F. Chang's - YUMMY!!. We shared spring rolls, lettuce wraps, sweet and sour chicken, and vegetarian eggplant stir fry. If you've never been there you should definitely try it. Alex wasn't planning to eat anything but the lettuce wraps and I guess she didn't - not anything else off of her plate anyway. She ate plenty off of MY plate though... Aside from the very disturbing man with the very offensive t-shirt that was sitting near us we had a great time. (I can't even repeat what his shirt said)...

Alex had to stand with her hands over her belly because she spilled a little bit of food on her shirt...

After dinner we stopped at Wendy's to get Alex a Frosty. Have you ever gone to the drive-thru and forgotten to order? While Alex was still deciding what to get I told the attendant to "wait a moment please", then we drove on to the window. I realized that I hadn't ordered when we were getting really close to the window and couldn't remember the total. I couldn't remember the total because I hadn't ordered. So she hadn't told me a total. The attendant didn't even crack a smile when I told her my mistake. This must happen a lot. First time for me, though.

After dinner we went to see "My Sister's Keeper."

I have read "My Sister's Keeper" and was excited to see the movie. I had read a spoiler about how the movie had been changed but this was ridiculous. They changed the whole feel of the story. It seems that more liberties were taken with this book to movie production than I have noticed in any others. I was truly disappointed. I guess the movie would have been six hours long had they done the true book but it looks like you could AT LEAST keep the conclusion true to the book!

It was a fun night, and since I am the only one who had read the book, I was the only one disappointed in the movie. Alex left and said that was the worst movie that she had ever seen. Really, Alex? I thought Gone With the Wind was the worst movie you had ever seen?

Hopefully we can get a few more nights out with the girls before Holly goes away to college. :,(

Back to School Shopping

When Holly was starting school 12 years ago, my mom wanted to do something special with her - so she took her school shopping. She took her that first year before kindergarten, then they went again the next year, and by the next year it was a real tradition. A tradition that the boys were ready to take part in when they started school. Separately, they all got to go on a school shopping trip with Momou. Except for Alex. By the next year, though, Papaw had decided this wasn't fair. It just wasn't right that Alex would be the only one not getting to go school shopping. (It would be another year before she was starting school). So, he took her shopping himself.

When they got back they were ALL smiles.

They went to the mall, Target, the toy store, and out to eat.

Have you ever seen three happier people? Anthony didn't even go but he and his dinosaur bird were happy to see Papaw, too.

This picture still makes me a tad weepy...

Now when Momou takes them school shopping they like to pair up and go together. Holly and Alex went together yesterday and Sy and Anthony are going today. They still get to pick a place to eat and where they would like to shop and they get to spend the whole day together. Every year, though, when school shopping time rolls around, I always think of the special shopping trip that Alex and Papaw had. She always mentions it, too.

Jekyll Island

While we were at the beach last week, I wanted to go through the historic district of Jekyll Island. That, however, was not on Alex's agenda. Nothing is on Alex's agenda if it involves learning or reading. And she doesn't hide that fact either.

Jekyll Island's recorded history goes back to 1562. It includes the Spanish, pirates, indians, the British, the Civil War, and most recently the millionaires. This island was purchased in 1886 as a winter vacation destination for many of Wall Street's most well known financiers, 93 of them to be exact. They called it the Jekyll Island Club. They would spend January through Easter at Jekyll Island. They called it their "hunting camp."

This is the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. It is HUGE with very pricey lodging available.

I love the Live Oak trees with the Spanish moss.

Inside the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

Can you tell how much Alex was enjoying this tour of the hotel? It's evident in how she appears to be walking to, oh, maybe a hanging. Her hanging. She is very good at making everyone know how miserable she is.

Needless to say, we didn't stay long on this particular day in the historic district. Of course, since we were there already though, we might as well go to the Sweets Shoppe. And get some fudge. And Icee's. And candy sticks. And a caramel chocolate cup. And a peanut butter cup.

The next day we tried again. We rode our bikes to the historic district where Anthony and I were going to do a guided tour and Alex and Tony were going to go on back on their bikes. This day, too, we ended up at the Sweets Shoppe and no tour. We had missed the last tour of the day.

The third time's the charm, though. We had Tony take us on Thursday and drop us off for the very first tour of the day.

Finally.

The families who were members of this elite Jekyll Island Club were families such as Pulitzer, Goodyear, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and Macy to name a few. These are pictures of their "cottages." They were roughing it, after all. They were wintering in 8,000 square foot homes - they called it camping...

I thought this cottage was interesting... See the hole in the back yard that looks like a swimming pool? Well, it's not. They stretched canvas on poles around this area, which is where they washed their "unmentionables" since it was poor etiquette for anyone to see them.

This is an indoor tennis court - wouldn't want to play outside during these temperate southern Georgia winters.

The casino housed another tennis court, rifle range, bowling alley, and game rooms.

The Jekyll Island Club flourished until complications from WWII forced its closure. It was eventually bought by the state of Georgia and turned into a state park. Right now, Jekyll Island is approximately 35% developed - which is all that is allowed. There are no traffic lights on the island and most of the shops close up early, about 8 o'clock. It is a very slow, quiet island.

I enjoyed doing the tour of the historic district of Jekyll Island and I am very thankful that I have ONE child who loves these tours as much as I do. Anthony has decided this was one of his favorite parts of our vacation.

Volleyball Camp

Today Tony took Alex and Lendi and Loran to meet up with their volleyball team at Carson Newman for a team camp. Alex was so excited about this camp. They get to stay in the dormitory, play volleyball all day, and hang out with their friends all evening. Her coach, Mr. Jacklet, isn't able to go to camp because he has to work this week but he was able to come coach them for the evening. They played non-stop games for about three hours tonight after an entire afternoon of drills and hard work.

Al is getting so much better at her serves.

They got off to kind of a rocky start, then they pulled it together and started winning some games. The tournament pool play starts on Tuesday evening.

They had pizza for their snack before heading back to their dorm room.

Alex and Lendi in their room. They are responsible for getting themselves up, breakfast eaten, and arriving at the gym by 9 a.m. What an experience...

Fresh Seafood

This past week we went camping at Jekyll Island in Georgia (Joja as pronounced by a true Jojan). Near our campground was a fishing pier, which is where Anthony spent most of his time. The first thing he wanted to catch was blue crab. He bought the net, bought the chicken necks, and took off on his bike. By the time I got there to check it out, he had several in his cooler. To catch the blue crabs, you tie a chicken neck to the bottom of a collapsible basket, drop it in the water, and wait. You pull the basket up every 15 minutes or so to see if there are any crabs eating the chicken neck. The trick, if you have caught any, is getting them from the basket to the cooler. Anthony tried just reaching in and grabbing it but after being pinched so hard it cracked his fingernail and made the underside of his finger bleed, he took the advice of an experienced fisherwoman and held the crabs down with the toe of his shoe until he could get a good grip. He and Alex caught lots of crabs in a short amount of time.

In less than two hours they went from the ocean, to this cooler, then to this pan that we just happened to bring along.

Now, lest you think we are just coldhearted seafood eatin' fools, I should tell you that we learned a little bit along the way. This is a male blue crab. You can tell that by the T-shape on his under belly. (And we learned that if you hold him behind his legs he can't reach your fingers.)

This is the female blue crab, evidenced by the rounded shape on her belly. This is absolutely useless information unless you happen to be on Jeopardy one day with a topic of blue crabs. Then you may thank me.

This is what you do with the crabs, male or female, after you catch them and place them in the nice basket you just happened to bring along.

Blue crabs turn red when they are cooked...

Then, when you dip them in garlic butter...

They completely disappear.