Fun in the Sun

We just returned from a fantastic vacation to Florida. We had such a wonderful time; absolutely no plans or schedule....just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather with my favorite people. We'd hit the pool in the morning, I'd take the big boys to the ocean while the Littles were napping, and then we'd go to the pool after supper and swim until dark. I was a little unsure of how the the little ones, especially Pudding, would do with the change of location and with the pool. No need to worry at all; they LOVED it! By the second day they were both little fish - putting their faces in the water, swimming around the steps, and jumping into the pool, whether or not Stu or I was there to catch them. Chipmunk would stay in the water all day if we let him. He loved playing with his diving sticks in the deep end and was swimming laps in the pool by the end of the trip. And I was so proud of my little Monkey! He's had basic swimming lessons but has never been very comfortable in a pool. I knew he could swim if he just had a little confidence so I promised him he could pick out any toy he wanted whenever he was able to swim from one side of the pool to the other by himself. I should have known better because five minutes later he did it. (Let me tell you what a long car ride home it was with his new toy accordion that he chose!!) After that, there was no stopping him. He stayed in the shallow end but was swimming, diving and doing flips in the pool. I think Stu had more fun than any of the kids though. He was just like a little boy, playing different games with the Bigs in the pool, challenging Chipmunk to races, and catching the Littles as they jumped in over and over again. By the time night rolled around we were all exhausted and everyone (including Pudding - yeah!!) fell asleep the instant our heads touched the pillows. One afternoon we were lucky enough to have a playdate with two of my blogging friends, Rachel and Jackie that have daughters from Kyrgyzstan (I'll do a blog post on that in a few days because I need to make sure I have all of the pictures downloaded of our adorable kids). Other than that, we simply relaxed and had fun in the sun. I think this will go down as the best vacation ever!