Fourth of July in Florida

Florida Trip

We've recently returned from another wonderful family vacation in Florida with the Ruoss (Sanders, Pfeiffer) Clan.  Our warmest thanks to the Sanders family for extending such marvelous hospitality to the invading inlaws at their lake house retreat for the holiday week. 

The travel is a big part of the adventure, especially for the kiddos, and they both did very well. We arrived  on time, with our sanity, our smiles, and our luggage... A damn fine start!!

We left home at like 3:30 am. Here are the girls waiting for the shuttle bus at the airport. Yawning and wrinkled from sleeping in their clothes.

We spent a good part of everyday at the beach. What a fun treat for all of us.

Check out this terrific grasshopper that Jeff brought down to show us.

WOWZA!

Enjoying a neighborhood picnic.

Kim & Wayne Sanders 

Uncle Roger making Camila giggle (doesn't take much!) a little tickle is a sure thing!

Liv sharing some bit of exciting news with Uncle Wayne

Little sister basking in the loving attention.

Jumping off the sea-wall onto a giant inflated "tube"

Splash. Splash. Splash.

more beach fun. and a quick (distracted) hug from Aunt Kimmy

more beach fun with Cousin Summer.

Re-Fuelling before heading back out to play.

Go - Go - Go Girl!

Our neighbors have these ridiculous French Bulldogs. They are very friendly, and the girls loved them.

A Lovely Mid-Summer Evening

 It was a splendid evening at home. Atter a fun day playing together and especially enjoying Jody's company, we shared a pleasant meal and were out playing in the yard in the warm air and the warm light of a summer sunset.  Good Times! Here are a couple pictures...

 

 

Liv got to be "The Girl in the Jungle Book Movie, Carrying the Bottle of Water"

We played a follow-the-instructions game, "Red Square, Blue Square"

Camila finally managed to wrap herself up in Yellow. It took many tries, but the hard work and determination paid off in the end!

Good Times at DG

The HOA set up a "vendor day" for any self-employed residents to meet their neighbors and get the word out. Great idea; and for the sake of a party they grilled some burgers, brought in the fire trucks, had games and bounce houses for the kids.

Lucky us! Jody came out for a weekend visit! What a fun time we've had!

Here they are looking at the extended ladder on the fire truck:

 whoa.

Little Buddies off to the park.

And back to the bounce house for Camila.

Liv and Klaudia were playing and went to have a drink in the shade of the "go-go."

But seemed to have hit some little speed bump in preschool relations.

These kids are still developing their speaking and listening skills, and their interactions with friends. (aren't we all? but they are really new at it...)

You can just see Klaudia trying to process this and come up with a reasonable response.



Music Box Carousel

Each of the girls received a beautiful music box carousel from Grandma Maryalice when they were babies. The other morning Camila woke up first (as usual) and she asked that I take down the carousel for her. (Well, you know, in her own pre-verbal way.) So, I set it up on a low stool, wound it up and enjoyed it with her. You can almost imagine how magical this is...

Liv woke up a bit later and joined the magic.

First Dentist Visit

Unfortunately, an unplanned visit... Liv fell at the pool last night. I wrapped her up in a towel and she tripped and fell forward and with her arms wrapped up she fell face first.  :(

She hit her chin, lips, and front teeth. Since it wasn't a super hard fall & she's one of those lucky watch-her-heal-in-front-of-your-eyes kids -- I was (am) optimistic that there is no tooth or nerve damage beyond some pretty nasty bruising. That said, I called all the local dentists first thing this morning and went to the one with the earliest opening.

We talked about it on the way there: typical dr's office stuff, desk, papers, magazines; then the people with masks & stuff, the big lay-down chair, lots of cool adjustable lights, tables, tools, tubes. Probably an X-ray (how cool! We're going to get to look at the bones under your skin!!) and the big heavy blanket and crazy camera they stick right in your face. 

She was great! Cooperative, patient (we had to wait), calm.  The Dr says it doesn't look too bad at all, and she showed sensitivity to cold air, which means the nerves are still functioning! (He said we should keep an eye on those teeth for discoloration or blistering on the gum. And that we should come back in a few weeks for a follow-up and a full cleaning/exam). She (we) got kudos for clean, healthy teeth and "good home care."  I was one proud mama. 

Here she is after xray (see background) watching Pingu on Netflix & waiting our turn. and rocking the paper bib.

Swim Lessons

Liv had her first swim lesson yesterday!  Very exciting stuff.

Its hot this week, which makes it easier to want to go swimming. But I suspect she'd be excited no matter what...

She's the smallest of the group of 5 kids in her Level I class, and def. not the bravest. But, she's super excited to be in swim school and likes her teacher, and loves the giant pool. She's fascinated by the diving boards (and we may use that as motivation to become a strong swimmer).