Super-Gabe Hits the Beach

I'm way overdue in writing this post. Our annual family vacation to St. George Island, Florida, ended a month ago this weekend, and I am just now taking the opportunity to put down some of the more memorable moments. Over all, it was probably the most enjoyable trip we've had even though there were certain concessions that had to be made considering we were travelling with a 6-month old.

Sam had his first water experiences, aside from the bathtub that is. He loved the pool and even seemed pretty interested in the ocean. He's a splasher. Unfortunately, he must have been nursing an ear infection all week based on the fact that his eardrum ruptured by the following Monday. The only signs we had on vacation were a runny nose and constantly goopy eyes -- well, and the fact that he never once slept through the night.

Gabe was really fun this year. We broke down and bought a portable DVD player for the trip to keep him occupied. Little did we know that he would be so mesmerized he wouldn't even sleep for the entire ride. Nana bought him "Toy Story" right before we left, and he must have watched it 20 times or more over the course of the week. Hence his new fascination with Buzz Lightyear and Woody the Cowboy, which we take as a welcome break from all things Darth Vader. Gabe also got to sleep in a bunk bed for the first time -- he did great, not one mishap. He was fearful of getting in and out of the ocean, but once he was in, he twirled around in his Spiderman ring like an indiginous creature. This leads me to the funniest moment of the whole trip. Combining his newfound admiration for space rangers and his desire to get in the water, one day after playing in the sand, he wanted to wash off his hands, which meant he needed one of us to take him in the water. We told him he could do it by himself. Well, to compound the issue of his fear of the waves at the shoreline, the sand itself had been eroded into a cliff-like formation by the tide that was probably 18 inches to 2 feet in height. Determined to wash his hands and unable to convince one of the adults to aid him in his mission, Gabe resolutely turned toward the water and contemplated the feat ahead of him. Now, at this point, I have to stop to give you a clearer visual picture. Gabe was wearing his navy blue Body Glove swimsuit, which resembles a diver's suit, his Nemo boating cap, his Power Ranger arm floats, his Spiderman ring float, and his beach shoes. He put his swimmie-clad arms in the air, squatted down, and released his battle cry, "To infinity and beyond!", upon which he leapt off the sand cliff and landed at the water's edge. Then, as though he had landed on a trampoline, he immediately sprang back up, doing a 180 degree turn in mid-air to face the beach and landed safely away from the waves, to his own amazement and our amusement.

Crying baby beckons...