The Lippman Family – the entire Lippman Family – spent the last week soaking up the sun in Venice Beach, Florida. Grammy and Grampy rented a house large enough to accommodate the four of us, Auntie Jen, Uncle Devan and Baby Eva, Auntie Kae, the two of them, and even a special guest appearance by Uncle Keith. The house sat right on the beach, with only a heated swimming pool, a lush lawn, and some beautiful dunes between our living room and the gorgeous, warm, blue water. Here’s my personal “Top Ten” (in no particular order) from the vacation.
10. Gorgeous weather on vacation, while it was snowing at home. I think March is the perfect time for a tropical vacation. It’s the time of year that everyone in New England is so sick of the cold and snow, and getting away from it for a week, while still knowing the nice weather is coming to NE soon, is just priceless.
9) Getting to choose between the beach and pool. Actually, we rarely had to choose. If we wanted to go to the beach for a little while, take a nap, and then a dip in the pool, we could do that. And we did do that. And it was wonderful.
8) Yummy food and drinks. I don't know if it's the warmth of Floriday that makes everything taste better, but we all had our fair shar and more of really yummy food, and terrific drinks. We all took turns cooking dinner one night, and the other nights we ate out. Kaelan was our own personal bartender, and I'm thinking of hiring her full time now that we're home. It didn't seem to matter if we were sitting on the deck of a restautant watching the dolphins swim by, or sitting wherever we could find a sear at the house - every meal was fantastic, and the company even better.
7. Florida wildlife. While we were there we saw many amazing birds - pelicans, terns, sand pipers - alligators, turtles, tons of lizards... It was really cool watching all of them, and in many cases it really seemed like they were showing off just for us.
6. The kids. Little 7 month old Eva was all smiles all the time. She really enjoyes watching her crazy cousins. Zachary entertained everyone as always. His funniest lines; Calling Grammy "Gram Gram", and after Gram Gram gave his two dvds (Max and Ruby and Berenstein Bears) he told me, "Mama! Gram Gram gave me bunnies, paper toss, and polar bears!!" Lexi was a delight as always and really enjoyed taking care of the two younger kids. She was always on the abll is someone was looking for Eva's "stop-cryer-thing" (aka the pacifier). Watching the kids having fun is sometimes more fun than having fun of our own.
5. The house. We stayed in a palatial house with wings for each family. We all had our own bathroom, own bedroom, and plenty of space to spread out and have fun. Grammy even made the kids their own "condo" in the second or "formal" living room. While the house was huge and great, it wasn't so overdone that we were worried about tracking in sand, or sitting in wet bathing suits. It was clear that children were frequent visitors, and it was a worry-free home for our three age ranges. I can't think of a more perfect place for all of us to have stayed.
4. The running. I ran five out of the 7 days that we were there, and only once alone. Many days I ran with both Jen and Kaelan, or Jen alone. It was so much fun getting to run and chat with my sisters in law, and I always find that running on vacation is the best way to explore the area. Our favorite run was around a local alligator habitat. ASide from the alligator that we got to watch, there were several amazing birds flying around, and turtles swimming in the pond. WE did that run four of the five days that we ran, and I'm really going to miss it!
3. The relaxation. There weren't a lot of things "to do" in the area...or, if there were, we mostly ignored them. We took a few side trips while we were there, but the best part of the trip was the complete lack of an itinerary. We basically just hung around until it was time to eat, ate, and then hung around some more. It was the least stressful vacation we've had since having children.
2. The drum circle. One of the few excursions we did take was on Wednesday night to the Nokomis Beach Sunset Drum Circle. It was two hours of drumming and dancing until the sun went down. I was admittedly almost moved to tears by the beauty of it. There were probably a couple hundred people sitting or standing in a circle watching about twenty people drum away. As time went on, people got up and danced around in the circle, some had hula hoops, other instruments, etc. and some just danced. It was great fun, extremely lively, and inspiring. A celebration of sunset - it should be done every day.
1. Family Time. Having little to do but sit around allows for great conversation. It was so much fun to be able to spend time with the entire Lippman Family and talk and laugh about everything. By far my favorite moments of every day were the ones that we were just sitting and chatting about anything and everything. The kids loved having a chance to spend lots of time with their Grammy and Grampy, Aunties and Uncles, and cousin Eva. We left the house already discussing what we would do for the next family vacation...if it were up to me, I wouldn't change a thing.
Of course we took a million pictures.
Here is a link to 167 of them, including some cute videos. Enjoy!
And not to be outdone by his sister's accomplishments - Zachary received a ribbon today for completing the winter session of gymnastics. We'll be back for the spring session, and then we'll take the summer off while we think about a new activity for the fall. Good job, Zachy!!
I'm a very proud Mama.
