Fabulous Florida Fun

We're currently visiting my folks in Florida and enjoying all things tropical. I'm behind on trip posts, but here's a start...

The weather has been unseasonably chilly, leaving the pool less than warm. Undeterred, P's ventured in to swim, buoyed by goosebumps:) He was visibly nervous when he jumped in the cold water the first time, apparently the skills he acquired last summer have been mostly forgotten. Plunging on, he decided the raft was comfy and proceeded to paddle about for the afternoon. We brought his old, lumpy BB (now coined "wet BB") so P could have a swimming pal, yet maintain the fuzzy softness of his new(ish) BB. (Interestingly enough, imaginary BB often trumps Wet, Little or Big BB lately.)

In addition to water, Florida also provides P access to his favorite things: sharks and alligators. Our first day here, Gramps took P exploring on the Ranger to find alligators - real, live alligators (they found one!). Shortly after that, Grams showed P her shark's teeth. You can imagine P's immense satisfaction. He showed BB the sharp scariness and then P realized he could insert his face into the jaw, thereby approximating a real shark.



The only downfall to playing with real shark's teeth is that they are, well, real shark's teeth. It was only a matter of time before P's foot and both of my hands had been accidentally "bitten":)

As if water, shark's teeth and alligators aren't enough, there is also.... the dog door. Yup. In Brooklyn, P's independence ends at our front door. In Kansas, he has more room to roam, but the pool lays open and waiting, therefore adding a little hitch to his independent outdoor wanderings. Here, with the pool safely separated, he is the master of his universe. And he Loves it.

The first two days we were here, the flapping of the dog door constantly rang through the house. He needs no shoes, no chaperone, no coat, no nothin'. And so he would wander off whenever the idea struck him. It was really amazing to watch this independence bloom, especially since last week he wouldn't always wander as far as our playroom by himself :) Feeling "So Big," he became happily obsessed with shell seeking. The dirt drive from the house to the barn is made of typical, shell-laden Florida gravel and P was thrilled there were so many free treasures to be had. Equipped with a little garden shovel, he came and went by himself, filling his pockets, and eventually a bucket, with sand covered beauties. And if the journey down the drive wasn't far enough to fulfill his newfound wanderlust, he would happily skip all the way over to the guest house and return giggling with discoveries from there.

Then E flew in to join us for a few days. Yay!!!



He and P enjoyed the hot tub (infinitely warmer than the pool!) and we all shell hunted for yages. P adorably (and very seriously) explained to me that there used to be an ancient ocean covering everything, even Florida, and that's why there are shells here :) Gramps was impressed with P's devotion to digging shells out of the dirt drive and suggested we try an old quarry he knew of. So off we went!



P loves the option of riding on the Ranger around the farms here instead of "being trapped" in a car seat. The speed and the wind usually finds Ethan yipping a "yee-haw, " so its a fun adventure all around. We spent the afternoon hunting around the old quarry, eventually finding the mother-load of all shell piles:



P scrambled up the mountain and discovered an enormous conch. He was in Heaven. After our bag was full and P's patented thorough-cleaning-process was complete, he carried his bag of shells around for four days straight... all the way until he found a box of snakes that interested him more :)

In addition to all of these fun Florida options there is, of course, Grams and Gramps, the real stars of the trip. P is soooo thrilled to follow Grams around again chatting and playing. Unfortunately, I hadn't captured any photos of the fun and games between these three before my camera. just. broke. Yup. It just stopped. Fortunately, it died after we'd gone to Disney with E, so I'll post some pics of that and a few other adventures. B ut all other stories from this trip will be accompanied by sad little shots from my phone :( Ah, well... At least we found my phone after I lost it in the quarry the other day!