Sunday, July 22, 2012

May Is Ptomey Time

Not long after we left Texas, my parents and Faith came to Florida for a visit.  We had such a wonderful time.  We mixed a bit of touristy stuff in with hanging out around the house.  For our first stop, we left all the boys at home, and the girls headed out to the Kingsley Plantation.  It was such a neat place.  We had a private tour thanks to one of the wonderful park rangers, and Mom and I loved it while Faith said it wasn't as bad as she thought.
An afternoon amongst all that history made me simultaneously miss teaching and want to become a park ranger.  I debated about including a long historical narrative here but decided it might get too lengthy, so I'll save it for the kids - it's never to early to learn the lessons of the past.
It was fun to learn about some of the Spanish/English heritage of our new home state.  It's strange to be somewhere where Remember the Alamo and Sam Houston mean nothing.  We forced Faith to pose for lots of pictures which she grumbled about but will one day appreciate.
Mom, Faith, and I in a tiny, tiny slave cabin.  The white material these are made out of is a material called tabby made from sand and seashells.  It was really amazing that these structures have lasted as long as they have.
 
Following our day at the plantation, we took a drive south down A1A to admire the big houses and to see the beautiful beaches in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Reserve.  
Not only did we make a quick stop at the beach, we also went to Marineland to see the dolphins.
The boys loved how the dolphins would come by and wave their tails at them.  Our little beach bunnies love those sea creatures.  They are obsessed with the Turtle movie made by Sea World and Dolphin Tale.
Papa Joe enjoyed the view of both the beach and the kids communing with the dolphins.
Grandma and her hat enjoyed watching those dolphins frolic almost as much as the boys did.
Michael gives Grandma a tour of Marineland.
We spent a lovely afternoon enjoying the beach and the dolphins.  On Saturday, we went to Huguenot Park where you can drive your car on the beach.  They boys enjoyed driving right up to the water and having watermelon at the car.
I'm pretty sure that given the opportunity, James could eat his body weight in watermelon as his slightly red face and ring around the collar indicate.
Ryan and Daddy having chips.  By this point, Grandma had drug Michael behind her through the water, and he refused to go back in and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the car and talking to Papa Joe through the window.  When we had our special date, I had to promise Michael that I wouldn't let him fall in the water before he would go in.  Since then, he's returned to full water baby.  Thankfully, Grandma didn't scar him for life.
The beach bums having a snack before heading back into the water.  By the time we left, the tide was coming in and the water was lapping at our wheels.
We got a lot of looks driving down the beach headed for the exit, and Bob was starting to get grumpy that people were staring at us (he is much more sensitive and aware of people noticing our triplets than I am - I tend to be blissfully oblivious).  He looked in the rear-view mirror, and all the boys were wearing their stormtrooper masks from Star Wars.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of it.  It must have been a pretty funny sight to see - a suburban with three stormtroopers riding in carseats.
Not only did we have lots of outings while Grandma, Papa Joe, and Aunt Faith were here, we also had a couple of family events with the Newhouses including a Mother's Day shrimp boil prepared by the menfolk while the ladies went to get pedicures (I could get used to that!).
During our sojourn outside, James stole the camera and started taking pictures.  He did a pretty good job on this shot of Ryan despite the slight finger on the left.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that James had taken the camera and had to search the backyard for it.  I found it near the play house, thankfully.
One of the best parts of being outside is the opportunity to shoot Robot Dogs (AT-AT Walkers from Star Wars) with your gun.  The boys run all over the back yard shooting at them and playing like they are Han, Luke, and Ben.  The obsession my children (especially Ryan) have with Star Wars is borderline ridiculous considering they are only three.  Ryan refers to me as Princess Leia.  "Princess Leia, I'm hungry; Princess Leia, I've got poops, etc."  I must call him Luke Skywalker, or he will tell me "I no Ryan, I Luke Skywalker."  James has always been "my Han Solo" while Michael spent a little time being Chewbacca the Scary Wookie but was later renamed Ben because Michael didn't want to be Chewbacca.  Bob is "my Darth Vader fadder," Jim and Kathy are "my Uncle Owen and my Aunt Beru."  Uncle Joseph is the snow monster, Grandma & Papa Joe are medical droids, and depending on the day, Uncle Stephen is Yoda.  We are quite a Star Wars family.
All of the boys enjoy Star Wars, and Bob has several action figures from his childhood that the boys love to play with.  James loves Boba Fett and "stormy troopers."  Ryan is all about Luke Skywalker with a dash of Han Solo, and Michael is all Jabba all the time.  
Ryan letting everyone know where to find those pesky robot dogs so that they can go and save Princess Leia.
A vacation at our house just wouldn't be complete without some strange mundane task to accomplish.  The boys had a dentist appointment so Mom and Faith came along while we sent Papa Joe and Grandpa out to go fishing.  After the appointment, we picked up Grandma Kathy and went looking for something new and fun to do.
 
We found a great pirate park right off of the river.  We were able to walk out onto the floating dock and see the tiny fish and the guys illegally fishing from it.  We saw a pelican up close.
Ryan loved getting to give the globe a little spin, and James kept his eyes peeled for scurvy knaves on the attack.
After we'd been there a bit, the boys noticed a rather large puddle in the parking lot.  They had a blast rolling around and jumping in the water.  We didn't have any extra clothes, so after we drug them out of the water kicking and screaming, I put clean diapers on them and we headed home.
Whether in the ocean, the back yard, or jumping into a puddle, it's never a dull moment with these boys.



1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad your blogging is back. I love how you write. Just went I think I single-handily accomplished a tough adventure with 2 boys, you "out-whataburger" me with a cross country trip with triplets;) You are awesome!!

    ReplyDelete