Hilton Head - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Momma and Daddy went to the exercise room on Tuesday morning. It was a treat for them to have treadmills and weight machines to use, so they took advantage of it! The fitness center was right by our villa and right next to the indoor and outdoor heated pool. They also had three adoring grandparents to mind my every want and need. At 9 am there was a welcome breakfast at the heated (outdoor) pool by our villa. Isn’t it great that so many activities are by our villa? Anyway, when everyone got up, they decided that they did not want to go to the welcome breakfast because they were hungry. Oh, did I tell you that I am the alarm clock in the villa? I was ready to be up and playing by 7:15 or 7:30 and my job was to make sure that everyone else was ready to go too!

Anyway, Momma finished her workout close to 9, and knew that Papa Larry would want a danish (he has a real appreciation for danishes). She grabbed a plate and picked up a raffle ticket too. Last year, Momma and Nana went to the welcome breakfast (which had to be moved inside because it was so cold and rainy) and won a couple of things. This year, Momma wondered if their luck would be the same. She headed up to the villa and told the rest of the crew that the breakfast was starting but the raffle was not yet underway. Grandma and Papa Larry hustled down there to get another danish and some raffle tickets too. When they arrived, the raffle started, and guess what? Momma won a sun visor and Papa Larry won a mug. What fun times! Momma came down to pick up some more goodies along with Nana. You need to get your value out of these places!

After the welcome breakfast, I got to go swimming. This time, Daddy took me in the pool. It was still chilly so we stayed inside. I spied the hot tub (although I just called it “that”) and really, really wanted to go in. Daddy had gone in there the night before and it looked really fun. He let me put my feet in when he sat in it. Boy was it fun, and much warmer than that pool, even though it was heated! While Daddy and I were swimming, Momma and Nana were at another activity, writing postcards. They were the only ones at the activity so were able to make more than just one postcard and talked to the very nice activity coordinator, Rachael. It’s amazing how much information you can get from someone in a very short period of time! At least if you are one of our group. You already know that Momma and Nana are talkers, but Daddy, Grandma and Papa Larry also can strike up conversations with people, especially ones who see one of Daddy’s shirts. He had many people talk to him about Toledo (because he had his Toledo shirt) and Cincinnati (because he had this Bengals shirt). There are many people from Ohio that visit Hilton Head. Rachael lived in NY, though, and Daddy was not at the postcard activity because he was in the pool with me.

I love to play in the villa. We brought my baby, her stroller and blanket, my colors, some books, some balls and even my puzzle. I don’t think I told you yet how good I am at putting together my puzzle. It is a little Mermaid picture and I might not be the one who decides where the puzzle piece goes, I am good at putting it in place once I know. I don’t even need to know the exact place; I am getting better every time at turning it in different directions so it will fit just right.

You know the next drill. We got dried off, had some lunch, then I took my nap. Momma was on a tear on Tuesday, trying to get to as many activities as possible. At 1:30 (while I was napping), Nana, Grandma and Mommy went to Facebook 101. Momma knew she was in trouble when a) she brought down the average age by 30 years and b) the first question was “what is Facebook?” The woman next to her said she did not like the invasion of privacy, would never use Facebook, but wanted to learn about it anyway. She was mildly disruptive. Momma hung in there because she thought that there would be a nugget she did not know yet. There was just one.

The weather got progressively warmer throughout the week, and until Friday, there was literally not a cloud in the sky. It was such a beautiful bright and deep blue color; it almost looked like a picture. You just can’t recreate a sky like that, so I won’t even try. The pictures won’t even be able to do it, and pictures can recreate lots of memories.

I got to go swimming in the outdoor heated pool after my nap. There was a little boy named Adam who was jumping and jumping in the pool. By watching him, I got the nerve to do it myself! So I started jumping in the pool too. Daddy was not there, but Nana saw me do it. After I was done (I only swim for 15-20 minutes), Momma and I went to the “Dr. Seuss” Reading time at the pavilion. I was the only one there, so Miss Rachael read “The Cat in the Hat” as a private reading. One other little girl came, but I had my one book and was ready to go. I did get some lemonade too, and that was good.

Daddy and Mommy made burgers and brats on the grill. Daddy would not let Momma go back to Publix (due to the incident, he was not very happy with the customer service of that store), so they went to the Piggly Wiggly. I think that is a funny name for a store, but I did not go there either, so cannot comment on the experience. Besides Momma and Daddy taking forever to grill the food because they met some nice people at the grilling area, it was an uneventful night. The person they met that night was actually someone who was in the aqua fitness class that morning, named Anne. She was there with her daughter (Sarah, who I met later in the week) and Sarah’s friend Katie. After dinner, with much playing and running around, I, again, was a bit excited about vacation took a long time to fall asleep.

After dinner, we went to another activity, making smores with Rachael and the Activities Intern, Leslie. This event was on the garden side, which is across the street from our area. At first, we were the only ones at the activity. But as we were finishing, more kids were coming over, which we thought was good for Rachael and Leslie because they worked so hard to make nice activities. I did not quite understand the concept of a smore and just ate the pieces separately. I did not want the marshmallow roasted either because I am not a fan of hot things. Even with dinner, I would prefer things cold.