Florida Fun Part 2: The Pool

Yes, we love the beach, but we also loved stepping about 10 feet outside our condo to enter the pool!!  No adjusting to the water necessary!!  Just jump in and enjoy!! 

I promise, no one is drowning in this picture.

Florida Fun Part 1: The Church

Our first full day in the Sunshine State, we woke up bright and early (not too early) and attended Mass at a pretty church, the name of which I cannot remember. The first photo I took was a test shot into the bathroom mirror. The humidity was doing funny things to my camera...

The church walls are windows into gardens. Very pretty, but perhaps a tad distracting...

Outdoors, walkways lined with Stations of the Cross and a stunning, life-sized crucifix lead into the church building.

Also outside were 2 unique and beautiful statues of the holy family.

 

It was so hot and oppressively muggy that day...  As soon as we were able, we donned bathing suits and hit the water. 

Sunscreened

I am writing today about my liberation.

From what, you may be wondering.  Let me explain.

As a kid, atarting as a fairly young age, it seemed a main summer goal of many people I knew to achieve the deepest, darkest tan possible.  My neighbors, who I thought were authorities on about everything, would slather on the suntan oil (not sunscreen, mind you, as he point was to literally fry the skin), and lie outside in the Sun for hours.  I could never go that far, as it did strike me as boring, hot, and a huge waste of time.  My mom got annoyed if I tried to pull that off, anyway.

But, having a nice tan was not optional in the summers, especially during those fun middle and high school years.  Every girl I knew spent mental energy achieving a deep brown skin tone or lamenting the fact that she could not.  My small hometown was not terribly diverse, you might be noticing.  There were lots of Hispanic folks, and even those girls wanted tan lines.

So, you see, we basically ignored the fact that some people were much darker completed than others.  No one I knew paid much attention to differences in melanin endowment.  If you wanted to look respectable, you better get some brown legs, or else.

Alas, I have pasty, freckly skin that should never come in direct contact with the sun's rays without  at leat SPF 50.

I know that now.  And it only took about 20 nasty sunburns and an encounter with a precancerous lesion on my nose to figure it out.

As a teenager, I did get pretty dark in the summer, mostly because I worked as a lifeguard and had ungodly amounts of sun exposure.  And a few friends who were similar in the complexion department agreed that we just had to burn first in order to tan.  As if getting through our skins'  initial resistance opened the door for a nice healthy glow. Duh.  Can you say 'massive skin damage? "

If you were lucky enough to get to the beach on an actual ocean shore, you were expected to come home with the coppertone tan lines to prove it.  Hence, beach vacations involved a great deal of lying still, perfectly positioned in accordance with the angles of the sun, absorbing UV rays in exactly the right places, turning over on schedule to ensure even distribution of color.

By the time I graduated from college, I had gotten a clue and was completely over it.  Well, maybe not completely, since my BFF and I spent some, but not too much, time achieving a sun-kissed look for our wedding days....

At age 32, I had a precancerous spot removed from my nose.  Now, I wear SPF 50 (or higher)  sunscreen pretty much anytime I'm outdoors, even in the winter.

If that doesn't sound like liberation, you are mistaken, my friend, and I'll tell you why.

Now, when I'm at the beach, I can enjoy the beach.  I splash in the waves with my children, take in the beauty of the water and waves, and build sandcastles all afternoon without a second of mental energy spent on avoiding tan lines in the wrong places or, heaven forbid, ending up darker on one side than the other.

Culturally, thanks to public service announcements and general awareness of the dangers of tanning, I thought we were by and large over our obsession with all this.  Now that I'm at the beach, I'm not so sure.

My own children, biological and adopted, as well as my husband, have nice, naturally dark complections. Even so, I keep them covered with sunscreen.  I'm very used to being the whitest person in our house.

Now, however, I think I may be the least tanned person in all of Florida.

And that is really fine with me.

Greetings from sunny Florida

After 2 days of (somewhat grueling) travel in our caravan of Suburbans ( my parents drove theirs and we rented one for the trip), we arrived in the Florida panhandle last evening!   Wow, it is ever beautiful here.  Such clear, blue water and white, sandy beaches!  Yes, it's hotter than the devil's armpit,  as one of my brothers-in-law would say, but no worries.  We plan to spend as much time as we can stand in the water.

Sound bytes from our vacation so far:


Just as we crossed the Florida  state line, Kid118 was sure he spotted lightning.  His fear of storms is rather serious, so in all sincerity he whimpered, "can we please go home?"

----------------

The drive through Alabama was long, especially because we got caught in a massive traffic jam that kept us Birmingham for over 2 hours.  With about 2 hours to go, Kid118 started to complain of boredom.  His sister Yo-yo, who had pretty much devoured our entire snack supply, piped up cheerfully, "I don't know what to do either, 'cept eat!!"

----------------

Kid118, who was again reminding us how ridiculous we were for bringing him to Florida for storm season, informed us of his plans for the $3 burning a Hole in his pocket: "I'm going to buy hurricane insurance."

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddies out there!  I'm going to take some great beach pics of my husband to post next week in honor of his special day. I'll snap some of my dad, too!

Have a great week!

More One-liners

Kid 118, after his UFO-sighting the other day:  "When no one will believe me, I eat pickles!"

Yo-yo, singing to herself:  "Love is better than going swimming, ice cream..."

Yo-yo, with my iPad in hand:"Mommy, will you tell me your code (password)?  I've been dreaming about typing in your code..."

Baby (ok, not exactly one-liners, but his current list of words): "mama, dot-ee (daddy), Shzzzz( cheese), bye bye, hi, kee (kitty), nite nite, boon (balloon)"

Happy Wednesday!  We 're heading to the basement to take cover from the storms rolling in...

Sure Signs of June

The annual piano and voice recital!

 

Germanfest!

Our friends William and Moncia are performing!

Dancing on the sidelines

Picking Strawberries!

 

Making strawberry jam!

 

Eating everything in sight!!

 

The weather here has been mild - 70 degree days, some rain...  Pleasant, but not swimming weather yet...  Good thing our pool is always warm!!

 

Have a great day!