Babushka's Beach Vacation

What a treat it was for us to visit with Babushka and Ama (great grandmother) in Florida for a week. The boys were thrilled to go to the beach and pool every day as well as have babushka spoil them daily.
We drove down to Florida in our van to visit with Babushka. Mama got smart this time and placed a mirror on the dashboard so that any guilty parties would be seen! Amazingly enough, the boys were quite well behaved on the trip and mama didn't have to say most of those things you promise yourself you will never say. "If you keep it up, I'm going to pull this car over", "5 more minutes till we get there", "Let's play the silent game". You get the point.
Each day we enjoyed going to the pool and to the beach. Our activities included swimming, looking for shells, playing waffle ball, building sand castles, etc.. Babushka was thrilled to have some new shell finders at her side. We even walked down the beach a ways to where there were some rocks and a little reef close in where shells were abundant. The boys had wanted to go fishing so badly but mama will wait for papa to have that pleasure. Instead Yuri just thought he would use a bag and try to catch some of the minnows that way. (see picture at the top) It was pretty funny to watch and "no" he didn't catch anything must to his dismay. We did get caught in one of those afternoon showers once though and the boys were not all thrilled to be running down the beach being pelted with rain. It was quite a site to see us all jogging down the beach with Vanya and Victor crying and Yuri so far ahead of us even he was surprised. I think we actually had a little hail that time. The next time it thundered just slightly the boys were "johnny on the spot" to get out of the water and head in. They really enjoyed digging in the sand to catch the little sand crabs. It wasn't quite so amazing however when Vanya thought it would be more fun to catch them again by dumping them in the pool!

Ama enjoyed having each of the boys tell her what we did at the pool and was content to watch them play and come sit on her lap and kiss her goodnight. Vanya and Victor also enjoyed rides on her walker which helped her get a little exercise while being entertained with their stories.
Yuri hit a milestone as he learned how to swim properly all the way across the pool. The other boys graduated from their water wings and floaty suits to being able to keep afloat by themselves and even doggie paddle from one spot to another without any help.

We also got to go to the Mote Aquarium which was pretty fun for the boys. They got to see the shark tank and the giant squid as well as some seahorses and other wildlife. They enjoyed the stingray pool where you could pet them (the stingers had been removed) but of course the stingrays had a mind of their own. Victor was trying desperately to lean in and touch one and one of the stingrays came right over and proceeded to flap it's wing right in front of him and completely drench him! Everyone got a big laugh out of that one. Even him! Mama also had her hands in the water so I missed that priceless shot.

Babushka took them to the jungle gardens where they had a ball seeing all the animals. They even got to hold an alligator. Vanya and Victor got to have their picture taken holding it but Yuri was not having any part of that. He wasn't quite as sure that the tape on the snout was strong enough for his liking. He did volunteer to hold one of the birds on his arm for a picture though. When Victor tried the same thing, he lowered his arm a bit too far and the bird scratched him since it felt like it was falling. Vanya got up the nerve later in the day and unfortunately repeated the same thing. The flamingo garden was a riot. Normally you can get close to the flamingos and feed them and pet them. We were there during the breeding season and had been warned that certain ones were aggressive and to steer clear of them. The boys didn't need to be told twice about that one and totally panicked when we got to where the flamingos were. They just milled around you and you could see the little tags on their feet with the numbers. I have never heard them holler like that before. It was sheer panic. They thought they were going to get bitten. Needless to say we didn't stay in that part of the park very long.

Babushka always has fun things for them to play with and they found every nook and cranny to amuse themselves. Of course all the hats she has were a big hit as were the colored whisk brooms. Victor thought it would nice to turn on her Christmas lights each night (which are up all year round along with her tree) on her lanai and Yuri enjoyed the mini slot machine toy that you could put real coins in. Vanya loved being read to by babushka and checking in with Ama just to ask her what she was doing and if she was OK. Mama enjoyed playing chicken foot and chatting with Babushka and Ama after the boys had gone to bed but I wasn't too far behind them most of the time. They usually asked to go to bed and it was a struggle sometimes to get them through dinner before they fell asleep. We did manage to watch the sunset a few times, play a few games by the pool and even swim in the evening with the lights on in the pool.
Overall a wonderful visit where everyone enjoyed each other.

When we left Babushka's house and delivered Ama back to her home we enjoyed an overnight visit with Cousin Sam and his wife Karen and 3 daughters (Hope, Joy, and LillyGrace). It was nice for the boys to play with their cousins and Laura enjoyed catching up with Sam and Karen. We got to spend the night with them and go to church Sunday with a nice lunch at the country club after that. Special treat for all of us. The boys just loved the baby (Lilly Grace) who was only a few months old but enjoyed being able to play with the other girls too. There was always a fight to see who got to be by the baby. It was actually pretty sweet to watch. The highlights were that they had Wii game, got to see all the boats at the Marina at the country club and go for a ride on their golf cart.
Then it was back on the road again where we stopped along the way and picked up another one of their cousins, Marco, in Georgia who was coming to stay with us for a few days. We made it home safe and sound and Papa and Mayra had enjoyed a nice week of peace and quite. We would have stayed a little longer but the boys started ESL summer school the day after we returned. Looking forward to a relaxing rest of the summer.

Mama mama mama