We had the opportunity to travel to Florida again for Spring Break. The school calendar varies year to year, but I’d sure love it if they’d always have Spring Break the week after Easter (like this year) instead of Holy Week.
This is the first time we’ve taken a vacation just the six of us, except for our CO road trip, which definitely does not qualify as a vacation. Typically, we include friends or family on our trips, which has also provided necessary help before now. We truly enjoy it when we see family on trips, but we also had an interesting realization of this being our first solo experience and we need to do it regularly. The change of pace and scenery makes for some very special memories. Without added hands around, we are also spending more time all together, instead of dividing and conquering.
This has been a very memorable trip for Ellie. She had previously learned to swim by herself, but she wasn’t confident. Spending several hours a day in the pool has helped her to be comfortable and to try new things. She can sit on the bottom of the pool, fetch diving rings from the bottom, and swim across the pool with greater ease. She’s working on handstands and summersaults now. Most of the fears of water in her eyes, nose, and mouth are gone. One day, we spent several hours before and after lunch at the pool. Then, when we got back to the house, she immediately spent two more hours in the spool (large hot tub/pool). She’d just jump and swim from one side to the other. We had to drag her out. We keep an eye on her, but it’s a great relief to know she really doesn’t even need our supervision or entertaining.
Ellie also has taken to the bike. We’ve had a hard time teaching her to ride a bike because she’s a timid child, our neighborhood in Charlotte is very hilly, and we usually don’t have attention to devote solely to her and the endeavor. So, the beach was the perfect environment to get over the hurdle. One, it’s perfectly flat. Two, we have more time between Wes and I to help her, and third, we put her on a smaller bike, which allows her to put her feet on the ground more easily. The first day, I worked with her for ten minutes and she was ready to stop, even though nothing catastrophic happened. Wes promised her that if she could ride all the way to the ice cream shop (about 3/4 mile on a bike path) by the end of the week, then he’d take her for ice cream. The next day, she woke up asking for ice cream at breakfast. By early afternoon, she was riding back and forth on the street. She immediately said, “I’m ready for ice cream.” So, on only day 2 off they went….so much for it taking a whole week. Ironically, she chose Rocky Road ice cream, which she’d never had before. She rode the long way back, covering 2.5 miles total. We now need to keep this up and get her confident in hilly Charlotte. Plus, she wants to do the kids’ triathlon this summer, but six-year-olds have to ride independently. Selfishly, Wes and I have wanted her to be able ride so she can come along when we run. We may be more excited than she is about this.
James, Jack, and Thomas have had a fun week, too. They haven’t cried or been unhappy much, but they (most notably, Jack) are not too excited about the pool (so much for the time we spent this winter on swim lessons). Yet, they will just happily sit on the side and watch and laugh at other kids’ play. It bothers me they want to merely spectate, but at least they are not complaining. They do love to dig in the sand. We’ve had a few altercations with them knocking over each others’ castles and creations. They don’t care so much for the ocean. Frankly, the water is too cold for me, so I’m not much help. They also seem terrified of the waves. We are very mean, but when we need a good laugh, we wait until they get to the water’s edge with a big wave approaching and say, “The water’s going to get you!” The screams and lightning fast sprints toward home (by Thomas) are hilarious. Likewise, they are spooked by the little crabs in the dirt and (James) will scurry quickly if we tell them the crabs are going to get them. If we keep this up, maybe they’ll be scarred for life! They adore riding around in the golf cart and they spent an hour watching kayakers (even watching them clean and store the kayaks).
Can we stay here forever?!
The Barry Patch 