Thanks for Collins: Find the fun

Day 2 of vacation was perfection, that's why I wrote about it first. But, day 1, though still great, was not quite as good. When researching the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, I saw that Saturday was the Turtle Rescue Day. Perfect, time on the beach, more time with CMA, community service for A. What could be better?

Well, A. Has been so into planning these days that she can't focus on the right now. "Mom, after we are done with this, can we go in the water?" "Mom, do we have to walk far to get there?" "Mom, what's for lunch?" AAAHHHH.... B. And I counted 14 questions in 3 minutes where we simply answered, "I don't know, let's just wait and see?" K. Calls her, "A. A., the girl who wonders." I now just simply say, "threshold" meaning that I have reached my question threshold for the next 10 minutes. Man, those are 10 painful minutes for my girl.

So, let me set the scene... R. Did not like sleeping in his pac n play so he slept with us all night. He was awake earlier than normal, we tried to have him nap at the condo but he decided against it. We tried to have him nap in the car but he decided against it. We were already starting with a cranky baby. B. Is not a fan of the beach at all so we had a cranky baby and a cranky daddy. We didn't know exactly where to park so though I packed lunch and towels etc., we didn't want to lug it all the way down the beach to find the service project so we left it in the car. We walk the 4-5 blocks to find the service project area where my questioning daughter, and cranky family members just wanted to get in the water. Why didn't we do that first? I don't know except that there was a time limit on the activities. We get to the service area and I know that the kids would have loved it except they were so focused on the water and R. was totally focused on eating.

Instead of learning and feeling great on the beach, we were all snippy and did not have good hearts ready to serve.

So, switch gears... I took R. and K. down to the water. While the other two stayed to finish some service and check out the booths.

That lasted about 7 minutes before R. was too hungry to be content anywhere. I left to find a shady area to feed him and hope he went to sleep. When I came back about 20 minutes later, the tide and shifted; no more grumpy kids. Instead, they were wrapped in baby blankets and my moby wrap freezing since their towels and clothes were all in the car. They were done with the beach and ready for the next activity.

But, at least not grumpy or planned, just ready to find some relaxing fun.