We just got back from a week's vacation in Cape Coral where we celebrated Papaw's 70th birthday. Most of that time was spent in the pool at Mae Mae and Papaw's rental or in the pool at Aunt Mimi's. Aunt Mimi's pool is his favorite. It has a good sized plateau of sorts where the water is about 10 inches deep. This part of the pool is known as "Jack's Beach". He spent so much time on Jack's beach that he actually only got one tub bath the entire week we were gone!
Mae Mae put some water wings on the boy to see what would happen and lo and behold, the kid swims like a fish. Sort of. It takes about a hundred kicks for him to get one inch of forward momentum. Not bad for a 20-month-old, though! When he has his wings on, he loves to stand on the edge of Jack's beach and fall forward into the deep part.
Mama and Daddy also took Jack to the real beach at Sanibel. It's a beautiful spot...there aren't a lot of people and you can walk 30 yards out before the water gets above your knees. Jack seemed a little perplexed by the saltiness of the water, but he loved the freedom of getting in and out at his leisure. (This is in contrast to the tight leash we keep on him at swimming pools as he attempts to run around the edges and scale their concrete steps and hop in at random depths.)
This was one of the best vacations we've had, but such fine times do have their drawbacks. We came back on Saturday, and our little Florida boy has made it clear that we are boring because we can't hop into pool or watch boats on a daily basis. Aaah the fickle nature of toddlers...sometimes a house full of toys and books and outings to the park and undivided parental attention just aren't enough. This was just the vacation we all needed, but Mama and Daddy caught themselves praying for Monday so that Jack could enjoy the much loved distractions provided by his daycare teachers and playmates!
