Lighthouse Cafe

This morning we had "the world's best breakfast" at the Lighthouse Cafe.

After breakfast, we drove out to the lighthouse to see where people would be gathering for the Fourth of July fireworks. There were people there at 11:00 setting up picnics for the afternoon and evening already.

While driving to the lighthouse and stopping at shops on the way back to the condo, the kids played video games. This is what they did on just about every 10 minute drive that we took on the island.

They missed a lot of island sites with their noses glued to the small video game screen.

Cheeburger Cheeburger

I don't know if we have struggled more as a family to order at a restaurant than we did tonight at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Adam was so focused on the wall of photos of people that had consumed a 20 oz cheeburger, that he didn't see the flavors of shake on the menu or the wall or hear the waitress announce that "Raspberry Pie" Shake was the shake of the day.

When the waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, we couldn't respond because we were still trying to figure out which of the whole page of toppings we should put on our Cheeburgers. Adam was so overwhelmed that he order a Dr. Pepper Float instead of a shake.

Becca decided to forego the whole Cheeburger thing, but Carmen decided to go for the Cheeburger with no cheese at no extra charge for removing the cheeze.

Dolphins on the beach

Adam had just headed into the condo because "there is nothing to do here", when Jackie called us out to see the dolphins. Everyone on the beach was at the shoreline and some even thought they could slowly drift out toward the dolphins.

Some people were cheering and clapping when the dolphins would jump into the air like we were at Seaworld.

Four mile hike in the morning

Jackie and I went on a four mile hike this morning. The guy at the visitor center on Monday recommended that we take this walk and do the longer drive through tour during low tide because the birds and the alligators would more likely be out.

I'm sure that we both got a lot of exercise, but I don't know how successful we were at timing the birds and alligators. We only saw one alligator on the walk, they promise more on the driving tour which will have to be a different low tide.

We are confused as to how the fresh water refuge water levels relate to the salt water ocean tides... but we will figure that out before we leave.

On the hike, we learned about the "allegorical" mangrove tree. I call this allegorical because it is not "literally" rooted. The roots grow down from the branches and "hope" to find water.

Sometimes they do, like the ones on the right that are growing above the water.

Sometimes they don't, like the ones on the left that growing over the path.

There is a red mangrove and a white mangrove. I assume that is like a red oak and a white oak.

I also learned that I am more like a Gecko on Maui, and Jackie is more like the variety of elusive lizards on Sanibel. Geckos are slow and Floridian lizards scurry about quickly.

Jackie is scurrying (jogging) ahead of me in the picture on the right, while I poke along in my sandals looking for alligators and taking pictures of stuff.

Although it seems that she never stops, I do appreciate being pressured to exercise.

Mucky Duck

We enjoyed dinner at the Mucky Duck on Captiva Island.


This place is known for the great sunsets, but there were clouds that muted it while we were there. We waited on the beach for 90 minutes for a table and we loved the food.

Carmen had been complaining that she didn't want to go to the Hunky Monkey or the Monkey Duck or whatever. By the end of the evening, she could remember the name and I think she would go back.

Kayaking and Shell Hunting

We all slept in until 10:00 today after playing cards last night. We finished the Phase 10 game by noon and we scraped some lunch together before going to the JN Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge for a afternoon of kayaking.

After much debate, we ended up with Adam by himself, Carmen and Jackie in another kayak and Becca and I in the third. We raced through the Commodore Creek Canoe Trail. There were 17 stages and we attempted to keep track of the number of stage wins and the winner of the final stage similar to the Tour de France. ( Adam won )

We grabbed a drink and rested briefly at the condo before the kids headed out to the beach. When I got out there later, I found Becca hunting for sea shells. In fact, she had found a new use for Paul and Tracy's Boogie Boards.

Jackie had been floating out on the ocean while Becca, Adam and I collected shells. On my way back from shell hunting, I found her lounging on Carmen's chair. She was using one of the Boogie Boards to keep her sunglasses out of the sand.

On the trip down, the kids figured out a way to wedge the Boogie Board between the seats in order to play cards. They are very versatile.

Sunday night at Sanibel

For dinner our first night, we chose Matzaluna's. Everyone was hungry for pizza and the oak fueled oven that they used did not disappoint us.
The pizza was slightly burnt around the edges because that is the signal that the pizza is crispy enough to eat.

They also had great Bruschetta appetizer. The kids didn't want to try it, so I got extra portions.

After dinner, we went back out on the beach for the sunset. I suspect that we will see many of those here.

Moving into Sanibel Island

The picture above is from the pool out our back porch at Pointe Santo de Sanibel.

We barely got to sit down after we fixed lunch in the condo. Jackie had already changed into her swimsuit and was guilting us to the beach.

We brought a Frisbee along and thought we would play ultimate on the beach, but it was too crowded. Instead, we just tossed the Frisbee in the surf. Adam and I are both pretty white so we didn't stay out very long.

Paul and Tracy Barth loaned us a couple of boogie boards and we use them mainly as flotation devices to lounge in the water. No waves on the Gulf Coast today.

Carmen spent a little time in the ocean, but was most concerned about keeping sand off of her so that she would have an even tan.

Long Trip to Tampa

After finishing up a few things around the house, we got started on our vacation at 10:20 this morning. Our goal was to get over halfway to Sanibel Island, but due to the unavailability of rooms in Lake City and Ocala, we far exceeded our goal. We decided to get a reservation down the road a bit in Tampa, which represented 80% of our journey.

The most exciting stop on the trip was Bradley's Pit Bar B Que in Sweetwater, TN.

The food was good but the entertainment was even better. On our way into the restaurant, this painted concrete pig jumped out at Carmen and scared her. Carmen lept behind her mother for protection.

Becca goes to Camp

We dropped off Becca at Bluegrass Christian Camp. Becca and Emily are staying together there again.

With Adam gone to the National TSA Conference, Carmen is now an only child again. You can see her great enthusiasm in this picture.

I'm not sure what Emily and Becca were planning but it appears that they were eager for Jackie, Carol, Carmen and I to leave them alone...

While we driving out, they had already made a dash for the carpet ball.

TSA National Conference in Nashville

We sent Adam off with four van loads of middle schoolers and high schoolers to Nashville this morning for a week at the National TSA Conference.

Adam has reconstructed his transportation project with a gear box that he designed as he built it, much like the ever expanding deck that I built on our first house.

When Adam first started thinking about how to do his State project, he tried to drag me off to Lowes to buy tools to make it. One of the tools he requested was a big drill bit like the one we used to install a dead bolt lock on one of our doors. Seeing how that drill bit was larger than his car, I challenged him to draw up a design before we bought him any tools.

While working on his National project this week ( at the last minute, late into the night, way after Lowes was closed ), Adam accused me of slowing him down because I expected him to "make the project with rocks for tools, like I was living in the forest or something".

Being able to improvise was very important as you can see that he needed to make a last minute axle extension. He used a deck screw into the wheel, cut off the head, then hot glued a metal sleeve over the original short axle and the screw.

I took this picture while Adam was taking a break to eat some peanut butter pie that his mother made him. Adam's National project has a much higher center of gravity than his State project so I'm eager to find out if it flips over during the climb. I also warned him not to use it too much before the 16 foot event because I was concerned that the gears weren't quite as robust as his state project.

It wasn't until today, that I realized that his experience this past week reminds me of one of my favorite shows that I have liked since I was a kid. I wish I had more time to watch shows like this one:

Withered Tree

Matthew 21:19
Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.

Last Sunday, Mike preached about the vine and the branches and he asked the question, "What good does the fruit do for the branches?". Obviously, the point he was trying to make needed the body to respond, "No good at all".

But.. I kept insisting that the fruit draws water through the branches until he asked me to go back to teaching Children's Church.

I don't know if it is true, but I've been told that my Japanese Crimson Queen Maple may lose its branches this year because the leaves froze off this spring. Being a fruitless tree, these branches will dry up and die because there are no leaves.

Jackie heard that there is a chance of "shocking" a tree back to life by putting a box of Miracle-Gro on it once a week. Of course, I assumed that was just a good marketing scheme by the makers of Miracle-Gro.

As you can see from the picture, leaves are returning to the base (top of the trunk), but are not making it down the branches.

For this season, I may have many questions:
1. Did the leaves "suck" water?
2. Would fruit have "sucked" water better?
3. Did the Miracle-Gro have any affect on the new growth?
4. Will the leaves return to the branches next year?
5. Will the whole tree wither and die?

Given all the freezing and thawing in life as a child of God, I do know there is one thing that I have no question about:

... having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2:6-8

Vacation Bible School

I started playing football in the 6th grade and worked out summer after summer on my bike and winter after winter in the weight room to earn the right to wear a high school football jersey in the early 1980's.

Twenty five years later, those same game jerseys serve as practice jerseys for Adam and props for VBS Game Day.

In today's society that worships athletes, it is hard to think about how far most children come from being able to compete in athletics.

What a refreshing piece of news for these children to find out that Jesus has made it easy to become a child of the King and a member of the greatest team to ever be assembled.

Somebody else already rode the bike and lifted the weight. All we have to do is accept the trophy and build on the established foundation.

Unfinished work will remain unfinished

Adam has an opportunity to learn an important lesson this year in regard to submission to authority. Having attended 6th and 7th grade at Southern Middle School, he will not be permitted to return for his 8th grade year.

He had a problem with interrupting class for two teachers and this was not acceptable for an "out of district" student. The talking and disrespect was reported multiple times for several months. One of the teachers even called me during the day for direction on how to resolve the problem.

The consequences spread far and wide. One narrow and tall consequence is pictured on the left. I don't think I will be able to finish painting the goal posts. Last year, I painted as high as I could reach from 16' step ladder. This year, I intended to finish the job after finding a taller ladder.

His 7th grade year in football was exciting, as were all the musical performances and One Way throughout 6th and 7th grade. There are many great teachers at this school. It truly was worth saving, I'm just saddened that we were not able to finish there with Adam and Becca.

I appreciate the relationships that were started there and hope to continue them as Adam completes 8th grade separated from his Southern friends.

I find it ironic that the post that we painted was clad in a "CREEK" sleeve on the night of the 8th grade recognition.

It will be a test for Jackie and I as well. We both want to make a positive impact on the community and are extremely loyal to any cause that we invest in. This one hurts.

Becca's 5th Grade Graduation

Becca graduated from 5th Grade today.

Grandpa Etsinger was here with us to see here graduate. That was special for all of us.

Veteran's Park is a special school. As we all gathered together, the violins and cellos played classical music. Of the various clubs that are available, the chess club was the most popular with 135 members out of the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade.

Becca was recognized as a President's scholar and part of the production team which put on "The Morning Show" for the school at the beginning of each day.

Walking out of the school was bittersweet.

The students can not take the facility or the staff with them as they go off to middle school, but they certainly can be grateful for the excellence that they have witnessed during elementary school.

Locks of Love

At the last minute, just before bedtime on the eve of her graduation, Becca decided that she wanted to cut her hair.

Jackie has been trying to get her to cut it for nearly all of this school year, but Becca wanted to wait long enough so that her hair could be used for "locks of love".

"Locks of love" is a program that gives human hairpieces to financially qualified children that have lost their hair due to any medical reason.

For layered hair like Becca's, the longest layer must be 10 inches in order for it to be usable.

Southern Middle School Orchestra

Adam's band concert was interesting this year for a couple of reasons.

The first reason was that 7th grade bands are much better than 6th grade bands. A year of experience makes a lot of difference.

The second reason was that we backed over two of Adam's toms with the Jeep about a week before the concert and he didn't tune them ( and verify that they would work ) until the night before.

An 8th grade drummer used the worst tom for a feature for the Jazz Band so it seems to be alright.

Tates Creek All-School Awards

At the Tates Creek High School "All-School" awards, Carmen received two awards.

The first award was for geometry. This was quite an accomplishment considering the path that Carmen took toward this award. Since math was not her favorite subject in elementary school, Carmen decided to take the basic math courses in 6th grade.

To reverse the downward spiral of being in a class were discipline is the largest issue, Carmen spent the summer between her 6th and 7th grade year catching up with the more advanced math students.

7th and 8th grade were difficult for her in math for various reasons including the bull headed tutor / father that she had to deal with.

Fortunately for Carmen and I both, she rarely consults me in High School math.

Carmen also received an award for Spanish, but I think that her mother and I were large contributors to this award for giving her a Spanish name.

Her teacher even pronounced her last name "ebby" since that is phonetically correct in Spanish. Obviously, Carmen never corrected her in class, demonstrating that she likely doesn't speak in Spanish any more than she does in English.

Bob Warren teaching

Bob Warren joined us at Tatesbrook this weekend to teach us a thing or two. I love the lessons of life that he brings to us.

Having pursued excellence throughout his life and desiring the most excellent for those around him, I can see the passion in his heart as he pleads for us to understand the world from God's perspective year after year.

When I have a chance to sit down with Jesus one day, I'm sure that one of us will start a conversation with the question, "How about that Bob Warren fella, he's a piece of work, isn't he?"

Bob' s main topic was from Philemon 1:6 and convicted us all of the state of the church today. It's really a simple concept that intimacy with Christ is infinitely more important than our interaction with each other but we seem to get tangled up to the point that we are tripping over each other telling each other how we need to be intimate with Christ. ( not just a church thing, I do it at work, we do it at school, etc )

Bob always has a simple way of saying things that make me want to reflect on the depth of his understanding of the phrase. Here are the two that stuck with me from the weekend.

"I don't fear failure as much as I fear being successful at something that doesn't matter"

"If I don't know what I know, then I don't know"

Happy Birthday Becca

Becca turned 11 today. It was a busy day with a morning study with Bob Warren, a meal at the church and a short afternoon session that we squeezed in right before Adam's game.


Jackie always makes birthdays exciting with multiple parties, lots of decorations, lots of gifts and generally making a big deal.


This year was no different.


While Jackie and I were watching Adam's baseball game, Becca went with Robin to the dog park to spend one afternoon as close to heaven as she can describe. Just hanging out with Robin and the dogs.



When everyone returned from their separate ways in the late afternoon, Adam grilled steaks and Jackie fixed a cake for the party later.



We finished the day by playing a game of Phase 10.