September 14

Today was Day Three of our Florida vacation; you can read about it from the beginning here.

My Great Aunt, who sponsored our trip, lives right on the ocean. Our home for the week had a lovely balcony overlooking the ocean, and Caleb was downright delighted to discover that the condo also had a real, live pair of binoculars.

Even though there was nothing to look at but waves, even though they were much too big and heavy, even though they kind of hurt his eyes, Caleb was focused on his binoculars.

We quickly found a rhythm to our days: 

wake up

eat

play

go to the pool/beach

visit Aunt Gladys

lunch and nap

visit Aunt Gladys

go to the pool/beach

eat dinner

visit Aunt Gladys

bedtime

Caleb hated the beach time, but loved the pool time. He may or may not have only loved the pool because it meant that he got to wear Daddy's spare swim goggles...

This day, Caleb tried to eat lunch and take his nap in those goggles, which were so foggy that I'm pretty sure he couldn't see through them.

Despite the fact that we rented a real crib for Daisy, instead of using a pack n play, the girl didn't sleep well. Normally she naps three hours each day, but on vacation she cut that back to 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Caleb, however, napped like a rockstar all week long. Most days, he napped for four full hours. Really. 

But when Daisy didn't nap, I quickly grew frustrated. I was very thankful that Chris was there to share parenting duties with me! Today, when Daisy didn't nap, Chris took her out to play so that I could have a break.

Twenty minutes later, as I sat on the balcony with a glass of wine, I looked out and saw this: 

And then my heart melted.

I snapped away, and the two of them didn't even know I was watching. I love them.

After Caleb finally woke up, we went out to dinner at a restaurant nearby. Aunt Gladys was very worried that if we took the children to a restaurant, they would be so disruptive that people would complain to the manager and we would be asked to leave. Really.

So we went to dinner without her.

Three different groups of people approached us to tell us how delightful and well-behaved our children were.

Boo-yah.

It's just too bad Aunt Gladys wasn't there to hear how much everyone else adores our children.

Read about day 4 here.