Living Life with the Rassi's: It was the best of times

We just got back from our annual Florida vacation and I have to copy Mr. Dickens and say, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I will start with some of the lows. Not ideal weather, a 14 month old getting her molars (very cranky and got up at 5:30am every day), a 3 year old who got dehydrated and puked all over the motel room rug, me, and the side of our bed. However, there were not many lows and we survived them all. There were many more highs. I loved being able to sit around the poolside tables talking with my grandparents in the mornings, spending early mornings with my dad (and Anya), sitting at the beach with my parents, watching Creighton’s delight at every little thing, Anya’s love for the outdoors, Kate’s love of the sea aquarium and the beach, Lincoln’s determination to beat Mike at every game they played together, the water taxi date, and the time spent talking with Brett and Tessa, J. Alexander’s, and all the help with the kids made it an enjoyable time.

It was another year full of great memories with Grams and Popsy, Mom and Dad, and Brett, Tessa, and Jocie. It was really fun to see vacation thru the kids’ eyes and the thrill that everything was to them. We are so blessed.

The days when the weather was warm enough, we spent the morning playing at the beach. Creighton would spend several hours running in and out of the ocean. Kate loved the beach more than the other kids and would spend hours building sand castles, searching for shells, and playing in the waves.

I feel like this pictures truly captures the heart of this boy. He loves life and does everything with great spirit. He constantly makes me laugh and absolutely exhausts me trying to keep ahead of him. =) I will share just one of the funny things he said on vacation. On our last day we were at the store, picking out souvenirs. He had 3 picked out and was crying because I told him he had to pick one. A foreign woman felt bad for him and came up to him and was trying to help. In her thick accent she said, “It ok, jus’ pick.” He looked at her and said, “I’m not a pig, I’m a boy!” Oh dear.

One of the cloudy days we went to the Miami Sea Aquarium. Kate loved every minute of it.

The picture on the left is what happened when that dolphin landed right by where they were standing. They got soaked and Kate was delighted. The rest of the crowd opted to get a little further away from the water. =)

Kate wanted to sit in the splash zone for each show and her grandpa graciously sat with her. Notice how they are in the front row for the killer whale show.

I missed the shot where they got absolutely soaked because I was laughing too hard, but notice how they moved up a couple of rows. Dad was soaked clear thru and never quit smiling. He absolutely made Kate’s day. Thanks, Dad!

Lots of diving board fun

Football on the beach

It’s truly hard to capture how completely covered in sand Creighton would get.

Thanks to Grams and Popsy and Dad and Mom, we (Mike and I) along with Brett and Tessa, took Kate and Lincoln on a “big kid” date. We took the water taxi and then ate at The Cheesecake Factory.