Spoiled Rotten

Red Fish kayaking with Aunt "Leelee" and "J"

The engaged couple going for a snorkel.

New Fish trying out the sand, sun and water.

First time swimming in the ocean was a success!

Today we took two flights from Florida to paradise, AKA Grand Cayman. The flights were awful. I did a lot of running (with a baby on my back) through airports and gasping for breath. There was a defiant two year old and a cranky baby who were woken up at 4 am and I was GRUMPY and having major anxiety. The flights were like wrestling matches with brief intervals when my brothers took my babies to cheer them up. Then... we got to paradise and I remembered how spoiled I am. My tunnel vision of the never ending tantrum was pushed aside to see reality. The water is warm, clear and calm. The sand is fabulous and it just makes me happy to walk outside. The only thing that could make this any better would be getting more than 3-4 hours of sleep at night, but sacrifices must be made :)

Certified

Two Fish officially passed his full cave course! One day early. He is a hard core scuba geek now.
We also took our Florida state concealed carry permit class tonight so I guess now we can blend in with the locals. Be afraid.

Backyard Fun

No vacation is complete without a super awesome pool. Matching swimming suits help as well. I tried to get Two Fish to wear a ruffled yellow suit but he didn't go for it. ;)

Cavern Training In Ginnie Springs

Ichetucknee State Park

My Mom always told us about floating down this river growing up. Yesterday, we got to experience it ourselves!

What We Did Today

We examined bugs.

We rode the tractor around the yard.

Uncle M put his fiancee in the bucket of the tractor and drove around the yard.

There was a huge rainstorm in the afternoon so we put on our swimsuits and ran through the pouring rain. It flooded the yard and we splashed in all of the puddles. It was fun.

New Fish even insisted on running with us. She was not about to be left out.

We sat outside and watched spiders spin webs.

The bugs here are supersized and completely freak me out.

Flight

Pipe cleaners are a fabulous toy for long plane rides. They can become anything.


We arrived in Florida on Friday night after a long day of traveling. It is HOT. Two Fish is going to finish his full cave diving course and the girls and I are basically hanging out (mostly in the air conditioning.)

The Shack by William P Young

I'm not sure what I think about this book. I have very mixed feelings about it. I like the basic premise that God loves his children and knows each of us intimately. I don't really agree with many of the theological ideas in this text but I appreciate the some of the basic premises that developing our relationship with Heavenly Father is one of the most important things we can do.

This is an odd book that relies heavily on the trauma to the characters. I had a hard time getting through the last half.

Art Group Day 7- Jackson Pollock Day

I think this afternoon is a great example of what most people picture when I say I do art projects with my kids on a regular basis. This mess is pretty much every mother's nightmare and every kid's dream. We dressed everyone in bathing suits and then used the hose for cleanup. I think if you guys can handle this art project without freaking out, you can pretty much handle any project. This is as messy as it gets!

Today we talked about Jackson Pollack and then decided to try our own collaborative abstract expressionist piece. We had a canvas and a big sheet and all of the kids set to work on both of them. The kids were very timid at first but it didn't take them long to start flipping paint around and applying it directly onto their hands. I think there was more paint on their bodies than on the piece itself. There were a lot of handprints and foot prints on the painting. There were 4 gallons of tempera in the primary colors and white so the kids could make any color they wanted and all of the mixing was fun to watch. We used sponges, balls, scrapers, brushes and scrubbers. It was a great experience working with different textures and mixing colors.
Red Fish spent most of her time mixing colors in her hands and squishing the paint. A great sensory experience.

Canvas #1

Canvas #2

Even New Fish got in on the action. (Yes, she got a little in her mouth and yes it is non-toxic paint. ) She loved being right in the middle of everything and getting messy.

What a fabulous, messy day.

Chalk

Red Fish was drawing on the porch today while Two Fish mowed the lawn. She loves to watch him mow the lawn. She kept going to fill a cup of water for him and telling me "daddy wa wa. Daddy hot." She was very concerned that he got enough water. It was cracking me up because he drank so much water out there. She just kept bringing him more. She is so sweet to take care of her Daddy.