Turks Trip

We planned on a return trip to Destin in September but with the disastrous BP oil spill, I just didn't want to pull the trigger on a beach condo without a full oil spill guarantee. After getting conflicting reports about water and beach quality, we decided to spend a little extra money and get a condo in the Turks and Caicos, a place I had always wanted to travel to.


What a good choice it turned out to be. Wow. We stayed at a small nice resort right on the beach no more than 50 feet from the ocean. We had a 2nd floor unit in the only oceanfront building. Abby was the only kid there under 10, and there were few if any kids at all, but it had calm, crystal clear warm water and sand that felt like powdered sugar, and so Abby was set! Being the low season, there were no more than 20 people on the beach at our resort at any given time, so we almost had the place to ourselves. Our condo had a full kitchen and great view of our little playground each day. I could tell that most of the guests (about half Europeans, half Americans) at the resort were not too happy to see a 3 year old arrive, however, by day 2, most of the guests personally came up to me and told me that Abby was the most happy, joyous, well behaved child they had ever seen. I would have to agree with them on this vacation. Abby's behavior from start to finish including air travel was exceptional. Abby is pretty well behaved anyway, but she was just a dream on this trip. She just loves loves loves the beach and could not get enough of the water. She would just take off without her floaties and run toward the ocean, and I would have to go from a sitting position to a full on sprint to catch her. I don't get how she is afraid of insects but not the ocean - not at all.

I don't have any pictures but one of the highlights of the trip for Abby was watching a rather large bird stalk a huge crab that was crawling on the pool deck into the bushes. Next thing we know, the bird grabbed the crab and crab legs and body parts were flying everywhere. It was totally crazy and probably the most violent thing Abby has witnessed to date! Abby actually thought it was amazing, but I had to keep her out of the line of fire because the crab was just virtually shredded right before our eyes.

We did only minimal sightseeing because we wanted to have a low key vacation swimming and just playing in the sand. Also, we went in the off season, and a lot of the island was shut down. Next time we go, we will do a few excursions and go a little earlier in the season as well. I just can't wait to go back!

Three

Abby was really looking forward to turning 3 or at least the most important part of it - the birthday party. We had been talking about it for weeks and weeks, and I had been stressing about it for months. We had it the weekend before her birthday on 8/28 since her birthday fell on a weekday. I always stress whenever I have to host anything, and this was an important event. I decided to have her party at My Gym because she was so comfortable there having attended weekly gym classes on Saturday morning for over a year. I stressed out about whether her friends would show up, what kind of cake to get, party favors, but most importantly, whether or not all the kids would have a good time. It is pretty insane to stress about this stuff, but I did.

What a waste of time. All that stress. The party was a great!! All eight kids we invited came. The Dora the Explorer cake looked perfect and tasted amazing. And, I think each and every kid, age 10 months to age 6 including all the 3 year old friends, Matthew, Madison, Emma, Maya and Ellie, had a really good time. The teachers did a fantastic job catering the activities so that the two older boys could still have a good time at a 3 year old party. It could not have gone better. The only regret I have was paying a kings ransom for the cake. Never again. While it was great tasting, you should not spend a third world country's GNP on a birthday cake when your main constituents are 3 year olds. As it turns out and I fully expected, Abby didn't even eat it except a little frosting. She doesn't have a huge sweet tooth. My mistake was that I promised her a Dora cake, and to get Dora's full body on the cake, it had to be large. Abby just likes the idea of cake and doesn't need to eat it. I wish it was that easy for the rest of us....






































14 Minutes After the Party Was Over

We had a mini celebration at home on Abby's actual birthday on the 2nd. She got a tricycle, scooter and computer. She was a happy camper.

The week after Abby's 3rd birthday party, Abby attended Emma's 3rd birthday party at Jump Town. It was a Jump Town designed for kids under 6 years old, so it was perfect. Emma had a huge turn out of family and friends. Abby simply loves being around Emma no matter what the forum, and she had a fantastic time jumping, going down the big slides, and eating birthday cake (kind of).

At three, Abby is 34.5 inches and 26.6 lbs. (10th and 3rd percentile respectively), so she is still very petite. Her doctor says she is perfectly proportioned with a 50% BMI. Abby continues to LOVE to go to the doctor which makes things so much easier. Her wellness check up went off without a hitch, and Abby didn't even flinch when she got her shot. Her verbal abilities continue to improve daily as her vocabulary grows, and she can count to 20 now.

Abby has developed empathy for others and is extremely affectionate with those that she is close to. She used to laugh when she saw me cry or stub my toe, and now she asks if I am OK. She is constantly stopping what she is doing to tell me she wants to give me a hug or a kiss. Of course, like all 3 yr olds who have learned or mastered the art of manipulation, sometimes she has an agenda. But, most of the time, it just comes out of the blue. Boy, does that feel good too. These are the moments, I want her to stay 3 forever. Jekyll and Hyde behavior and meltdowns over not being able to watch "Bob the Builder" makes me yearn for her to turn 4. But, 99% of the time, I try to enjoy the moment and the phase she is in because once you blink, it is over.