Back to the beach

Along with our new raft, I invested in a $5 pair of goggles to play with at the beach.  They were ostensibly for Ella, but she had trouble with leaks her first time in the water and decided she was better off without.  And so I took the googles out, myself, to see what there was to see.

I was really surprised to find how much was swimming around just there in our little cove.  There were quite a few schools of larger fish, some as big as my forearm, I think, and even many swarms of tiny finger-nail-sized fish. And I think my favorite were the some palm-sized black ones that looked a bit like angel fish.  It was incredibly peaceful.  Apparently squid and cuttlefish are also quite common off the coast of Lošinj, but our beach was probably a little too busy for these.

Can I please stay forever and ever?

Meanwhile, my kids were busy on the beach, still looking for treasure.  Even Joey has gotten into the game, bringing Dennis and me little pieces of glass, always asking "Is it sharp?" and throwing away the pieces that didn't pass muster.

One of the funnier things about Croatian beaches, and European beaches in general, I suppose, is the population of tiny naked children running around.  Even in the Zürich public pool, it's normal to see little girls aged six or seven running around just in a bikini bottom.  Here, as often as not, the kids are bare bumed. I suppose it saves mom from having to wash a bathing suit.

Today was cartoon day in the Pino club, and after a morning of fresh air, we checked the kids in to snuggle up and watch Gnomeo and Juliet, while we grownups picked up our card games and coffees.  I, at least, have finally hit that vacation rhythm, where we've slowed down and things seem simple.

Kael's big moment!

One of the rhythms we've settled into is a pre-dinner second swim, and today, finally, finally, Brie and Geoff managed to cajole their little Kael into the pool.

Alex, too, seems to have entirely gotten over his issues with the taste of seawater, and chugged happily around the pool this evening.  The salt was never the issue with Kael; rather, he loves the taste of it, and was happily licking the seawater off his legs after Brie put them in the water.  "Kael, you may not lick your legs," Brie told him, "but I'll totally let you drink the water if you just get. In. The. Pool."  There are some things you just never imagine yourself saying until you become a parent.

I don't know if the anticipation of a tall, cool glass of seawater was the tipping point or not, but soon after, Kael was happily kicking around with his mommy.  The triumph of the day.

After his swim, Joey fell fast asleep before supper, and so Dennis and I decided to try something different.  The hotel desk offered long-range baby monitors, and so I kept Joey awake long enough to give him a chicken nugget and a bit of banana, and then we tucked him in for bed before going down to dinner.  That little guy just wasn't made to stay up past 7:00.

And guess what they had for dinner, mom!  Those Hungarian stuffed peppers that you used to make for dinner: another wonderful surprise.  And they were almost as good as yours.

Tonight the counselors had a special treat for the kids: apparently, while we were swimming this morning, other kids were busy transforming into Smurflings, and they and the counselors put on quite the Smurf skit for us all.

Now, the only exposure my kids have had to the Smurfs is the smurf-themed playground ball that they use for soccer, and they were absolutely riveted.  As soon as the show was over, Ella pounced: "So...I have a few questions..."

Dennis and I had to dig deep into corners of our minds that hadn't been accessed since the 1980s.  Blue. Three apples high. But that wasn't sufficient. "We want to hear stories about the Smurfs. Tell us a Smurf story!" I suppose I'll be doing some browsing on Hulu or Netflix or Youtube, later.

But, until then, the kids will have to be content with this: