Early 2016

In early 2016, Polina’s parents flew to Florida and we met them there! We stayed in Key Largo in a VRBO rental. This first pic is Alexander, Polina’s dad. Don’t have any pictures of Kevin and myself or of Elena, Polina’s mom.

We all stayed in the same house and it was plenty roomy enough. It was right on the water. At one point, Kevin rented a boat that the rental agency delivered right to the dock where we were staying. We all went out for the day and explored the small islands and waters around the area. We saw wild flamingos, iguanas, and even an alligator! The flat islands are all covered with mangrove trees and are very dense. Then Kevin and Jasper went fishing the next day and Jasper ended up hooking into a shark. He let it go but it was pretty exciting.

 At one point Jasper, Polina, and Polinka went to a water park and swam with dolphins...this is them before the dolphin experience, all smiles. Not so smily afterwards though...one of the dolphins decided to bump Polina and Polinka quite forcefully twice! Polinka ended up with a big red spot on her face. It was very scary and Polinka was traumatized! Poor little thing. The trainers don’t know why that happened. Needless to say Polinka got out of the water and was very disappointed. We were too! It was supposed to be the highlight of the trip.

But we did a lot of really cool things. We went to Key West and visited a butterfly exhibit while Kevin and Elena went to see the Hemingway House. We had lunch at a great beachside restaurant and watched the sunset from there.

Everyone we met were friendly and the scenes from the house were breathtaking. The neighborhood was great for walking. Every house had a dock out back. The wild iguanas were everywhere. Just a really cool environment.

Over all we would like to go back. Getting there is the hard part. You have to fly in and out of Miami and it takes all day to get there from Boise because there aren’t any direct flights. Once there, you rent a car and fight with traffic and toll roads until you hit the keys. Once you are in the keys, the pace slows down and it’s all lovely.

Just remembered that I took painting supplies and painted some small canvases. I also taught Polinka to paint a little. I wish I knew then what I know now about painting, I might have liked my work a little better. But still, it was a fun time with Polinka.