Thursday, February 28, 2008

Beach Blanket Bubby


The bubby, hubby, and I spent last week in Florida, visiting the hubby's parents and sister whom the bub has affectionately dubbed "Bop" (that's Grandma), "Boppaw" (that's Grandpa), and Aunt "Shell." The weather was beautiful, and the bub basked in the sunshine and in the glow of everyone's attention.

Vacation Highlights for the Bub:
1. Access to the largest sandbox he had ever seen. Bubby had a blast playing in the sand. He loved it when Aunt Shell buried treasures (like shovels and piggy toes) in the sand and then asked Bubby to dig for them. He loved it when anyone completed a tower by inverting a full bucket of sand--his cue for gleeful destruction of the tower. On three of our days, bubby and his entourage were lucky enough to meet pairs of young sisters on the beach who were happy to play with him. I could not believe how sweet the little girls were to him. When he knocked over their towers, the girls just laughed. If he asked for, "Moi water peeze," they hustled to the ocean to get it. He loved the attention. In contrast, a pair of brothers (little shits?) wanted next-to-nothing to do with the Bubby. If the bub approached their sand pile, they would raise their shovels in an aggressive pose, as if to say, "Watch it squirt. You're on our turf."

2. Access to the largest bathtub (minus the bubbles) he had ever seen: Boppaw, Daddy, and Aunt Shell all took many turns taking bub into the pool. He splashed around, tried to sink his hat in the water, and took pleasure in commanding his dad to go "Under, under!" (which sounded more like "un-ner, un-ner." As I had no maternity swimsuit (and no desire to expose even more of my blindingly white and ever-expanding flesh), I could only photograph the swimming sessions.

3. Prime seat in the "bear chair" during family mealtimes. Bop and Boppaw borrowed a high chair emblazoned with teddy bears from another set of grandparents in the condo complex. The bub really enjoyed sitting in the "bear chair" and the chance to eat dinner at the same time as everyone else, something that rarely happens at home in Chicago because Daddy gets home in time for wrestling, books, and bathtime but not for the bub's 6:00 dinner time.

4. Opportunity to get his Travolta on. The bub was even good at a couple of different restaurants. One of the places had live music, and after dinner, the bub, Aunt Shell, and I hit the dance floor. The bub looked around for about two seconds to read the scene and then started dancing with abandon. He was laughing, smiling, and really, really moving. He got so into it that at one point he fell flat on his back, much to the horror of the onlookers (mostly senior citizens) who thought he had hit the floor with the back of his head (it only looked that way). After about five seconds of cuddling from mom, he was back on the floor breaking it down.

5. More treats than usual. The bub does not lack for treats in his day-to-day life, but he got exceptionally lucky over vacation. Bop made a special batch of nutless chocolate chip cookies for him. He would climb on a bar stool, open the container, and say "Cookie peeze?" -- Who was going to deny him? He also enjoyed some of the Thin Mints his mom bought (for a cheaper price than in Chicago, NTB) from the Florida Girl Scouts standing outside the Publix.* He ate ice cream with Boppaw. On a couple of occasions, the bub filched a Ludens Cherry from the purse of his hacking-cough mom. Finally, this same mom with the sore throat had a sort of hankering for cherry Slurpees, which she indulged on several occasions (mostly for medicinal purposes) and from which the bub benefited on two occasions with his own small Slurpee. To hear the Bub say "Slurpee" was a real treat.


The bub in his float. It should be noted that anytime a couple of older kids got into the pool, the bub wanted nothing to do with the float. It was as if he knew that it was babyish.


A contemplative bub.


The bub supervising to make sure that the soon-to-be-destructed sand towers are made to his satisfaction.

A good time was had by all, especially the bub. Thanks to Bop, Boppaw, and Aunt Shell.

*of course, I strategically placed my treasured Samoas out of the bub's reach.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good stuff. Sounds and looks like fun.

For the record, our Samoas are already gone. Good thing three different sets of girl scouts came to our door as we should have a couple more shipments floating in.

Actchy said...

This child is so stinking adorable that I could cry. I mean, really. That smile would melt an iceberg (and I should know because it's really, really cold here today and I think my extremities may qualify as icebergs.)

And wait. I swear that my niece, my own Goddaughter, told me that because the Girl Scouts were using a new vendor that was partially-hydrogenated-oil-less, Somaoas were no longer available? I ended up ordering a crap-load of other, most-likely-far-inferior cookies. WTF? I have to get to the bottom of this immediately.

mep said...

I believe I read last year that the Girl Scouts had two vendors, one of which was able to produce trans fat free cookies. However, I believe that last year I sampled cookies from both vendors (one set purchased from my neighbor and one set from some scouts outside the Jewel). I could have sworn trans-fat-free Samoas were available. In any case, unhealthy Samoas do exist for sure . . . just perhaps not in suburban New Jersey?

Actchy said...

Okay. Heart palpitations have ceased. According to www.girlscoutcookies.org:

Samoas® or Caramel deLites®: These are round doughnut-shaped cookies about two inches in diameter with a hole in the center, covered in caramel and toasted coconut, and then striped with chocolate. Samoas® are made by Little Brownie Bakers. The ABC version is called Caramel deLites®.

My niece did, in fact, instruct me to get some Carmel deLites. I will have to report back as to how they compare to Somaas...

mep said...

I think you will find that Caramel deLites are exactly the same as Samoas (minus the trans fat).

For the record, my second favorite GSC is the "Tag-along" but I liked these peanut butter treats much more back in the days when they were called "Hoedowns."

Anonymous said...

I love the pictures, seems like the bub has grown since January. I could picture each scenario that you described. Good Stuff. NTB

Steph said...

Oh, wow! Great photos and fun! I'm so glad you had this trip!

 
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