It was too good a weather to stay at home. Clement and balmy out.
Without a second thought we whisked ourselves off to a very quiet still really busy fishing village lying by the Gulf coast. As all fishing villages go that one has different color rickety shacks with squicky doors and flaked wooden walls, boats of all sizes impatiently bobbing up and down along the pier and, last but not least, the laziest hence the happiest cats in the entire world. Are they ever hungry?

It’s noteworthy how everyone seems to be very engaged and occupied here so even pottering around and chitchatting with neighbors need no justification and somehow look like a very important thing to do. I don’t twiddle my thumbs either. Need to run past the men tinkering with engines and fishing gears, help to set up the table, unfold and try out the chairs, greet the boats gliding past and have a nose around in the cabin. Jars, cans, boots, rods and nets. Evidently my uncle takes fishing very seriously, he says, there’s no two ways about it.

Back to the pier. The tarp is off the boat, the engine is aroar. Hop aboard, throw the life jackets on and off we go sailing off into the sunset and letting everyone know it by honking the horn not once but twice eagerly and excitedly.

Our scenic and very hands-on boat ride is the highlight of the day as we cut through the waves and zoom forward, wind whipping through out hair, splashes reaching our bright happy faces.

Take it from me, after such thrilling ride even the pickiest food connoisseur is happy to pig out on some warm flatbread and roasted sausages in order to get our second wind and keep on enjoying the seemingly simple but serendipitous and exceptionally real life-by-the-waterside day.

Meet us at the ??0⃣. ??‍♀️

The place where the monkeys swing on the vines, the tiger zooms around, the giraffe has a leafy snack and the polar bear dives deep to beat the heat. ??‍❄️??

The moment when Alice was talking to the grumpy toads is precious. I think even toads themselves couldn’t stifle a laugh. ?

P.S. The day we went to the zoo my English was not hitting the mark and I wasn’t very articulate but I decided to go easy on myself, stick with English and just not overcomplicate it. This is how our bilingual life goes with its ebbs and flows, with days when we’re on fire and go-through-the-motions days.

This vlog-like, not very eloquent video might be not enlightening vocabulary-wise but entertaining and reassuring* for those whose judgmental self-critical voice refuses to pipe down.?*

?:
No cutsies = no cutting/jumping the line- не нарушай очередь ?‍♀️
Take a plunge - нырнуть ?
Don’t be a chicken - не будь трусишкой ?
Show me what you’ve got - покажи, что можешь ?
Be full of zoomies - быть полным энергии ?️
Favorite animal of all time - самое любимое животное ❤️
Lazybones - лентяй ?
Hug midair - обнять налету ?
Turn your back on smb - отвернуться от кого-то ?‍♀️
Not for the faint-hearted - не для слабонервных ?
Coil itself - скрутиться ?
Grumpy toad. What a grouch- сердитая жабка ?
Send chills down my spine - сильно пугает меня ?

Feeling excited with a tinge of nervousness she tiptoed onto the stage for the first time in her life today. ?

I couldn’t help fidgeting in my seat and blinking back tears. ❤️

There’s something very aesthetic about the tense “behind the stage” moment as everyone is busy doing their hair, fixing the costume, taking deep breaths and clenching the fists in anticipation of their turn. ✨