10 New Things I Learned on Our Family Bahamas Vacation Part 2

Yesterday I posted Part 1 of the 10 New Things I Learned On Our Family Bahamas Vacation where I talked about Trapezery and Biking X 2. So let’s continue the fun with what I learned about my kids.

3. Our Kids Love to Be on Stage (at least in theory)
I didn’t know what to expect heading into an all-inclusive resort with a Kids’ Club. I thought that I would feel guilty for even thinking of leaving them off with some stranger while we went to the beach. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The first day we took the kids to the Club they met Denise, the most fun 20-something from Mexico that anyone could meet. The kids immediately fell in love with her, and BEGGED to go to the Kids’ Club every day; especially the rainy ones. There was always something to do, and they met lots of other kids their age to hang out with. Every night before the live entertainment there was a mini disco where Mason and Anna got up on stage with Denise to dance silly songs. We thought it was great for Anna who has developed a little stage fright in anticipation of her dance recital later this year.

We had also reviewed the entertainment schedule at the beginning of the week to see what shows to attend. At the top of Mason and Anna’s list were Pirates of the Caribbean and Lion King. So, imagine our surprise when Mason came out of Kid’s Club one day saying that he was going to be Baby Simba. We thought for sure he was imagining a little too vividly. Sure enough by the day of the show, Mason had befriended Gustavo, the resident choreographer and had also volunteered Anna for a part too. This made Anna very excited as she had been jealous the previous days for all of Mason’s squawking about being the star of the show.

Needless to say we were thrilled for our kids to get this unexpected opportunity which made the trip for them. After a week now we are still creating mini-performances of the show in our basement, and the kids are glued to the Lion King DVD. Enjoy the show! Make sure you watch the last minute. They just crack me up.

Mason and Anna perform in the Lion King at Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach March 25, 2008

4. Teenage Girls are Born at 4 Years Old
Anyone who has parented a fiery little girl out there I’m sure already knows this to be true. I really don’t need to give this much more of an intro, other than to stop laughing long enough to click the play button again.

5. Snorkel First in the Pool
Hee Hee. I got a good Daddy lesson after I heard for so many days that Mason wanted to snorkel. Tricia went to Target before the trip and got each of the little ones a snorkel, mask and flippers. Mason couldn’t contain himself any longer when the sun finally came out. He had to snorkel. I’m not sure what came over me, as I thought that the swimming lessons at the Y had properly prepared the boy for deep sea snorkeling.

So, we had fun putting on all the equipment. Sticking a snorkel in his little mouth was a very unfamiliar experience for him. He learned to walk backward with the flippers and how to spit in his mask to keep it from fogging up (he loved that of course). Then I took him out into the shallow water and had him lay on my hands. Immediately he took a big gulp of saltwater that leaked into his snorkel and came up coughing. That was the end of that lesson, and I thought, snorkeling for the rest of his life. This picture gives a glimpse of the brief ocean adventure.

Mason’s First Ocean Snorkel Experience

Afterward I got to thinking. There’s a 1.5′ deep kiddie pool with no salt water and a shallow bottom, why not go over there and learn? So I convinced Mason to give it a whirl one more time. I made sure that the snorkel was actually sealed to his mouth. and that the mask was tight enough not to leak around his face. Then I gave him the Ultimate Challenge. I threw a bottle opener on the bottom across the pool. I told him to go find the bottle opener. Sure enough, that got him to put his face in the watter and use his snorkel to breathe. The rest of the trip he couldn’t wait to keep playing snorkel in the kiddie pool. Maybe next time around we’ll try the ocean again.

I’m still headed toward 10 new things. In my next post I’ll tell you about my experience breathing underwater for the first time too. My dad and Mike and I learned to SCUBA. Plus other oddities that only happen on Rzepkowski vacations. In the meantime keep looking at the Bahamas pictures.