Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the beach. Since Byron and I have been married I've become addicted to Caribbean vacations, so of course I can't wait to share that part of me with the girls. To get things started, we took our first full family vacation to the Caribbean in September. It wasn't anything fancy, I had some Marriott Rewards Points and Delta frequent flier miles to burn from all my work traveling, so we decided to take the girls to Puerto Rico. We chose PR because it's an easy, quick flight from Boston and it's part of the US so there's no customs/passport issues which makes it a less stressful trip for parents.
Warning: this blog will probably have more pictures than the entire year combined.
When I travel for work I usually fly out as early as possible to avoid people like us. I don't like families at security and I don't like traffic heading into the airport. So, I decided that we'd also leave early for our vacation. Not as easy when you have to think about getting someone else packed and ready to go at 4am. Honestly, though it really went pretty well. No problems waking the girls up, going through security or waiting in the airport. Even the plane ride down to PR was pretty uneventful. It certainly didn't hurt that we had a lot of open seats around us on the plane.
Arriving at logan bright and early:
Eating breakfast at Logan:
Emily on the plane. People around us were really nice and understanding of the fact that the girls are toddlers.
Byron introducing Emily to the beach
The resort had four pools: a huge free-form pool, a hot tub (a little sketchy), a kids pool with a little water slide and a toddler pool that was about a foot deep. The toddler pool was awesome for Byron to keep the girls in every day while I did my workouts. They really enjoyed the having the shallow pool to themselves.
Of course Abby had to find a way to annoy Emily. It was great to see, though since Abby never stands up for herself. Emily didn't seem very bothered though since it was about 200 degrees (perfect) out.
The resort also had an awesome swing set right on the beach, which was great since Abby loves swings and seems to find a swing every where we go. Seriously.
The standard picture of Abby in a swing by the water. In Maine she loved swinging by the lake. In Puerto Rico she found her swing by the ocean. She was pretty much in heaven.
They absolutely fell in love with digging in the sand, making sand castles and doing what toddlers do...DESTROY.
One day Byron and I surfed. Byron surfed while I watched the girls on the beach and then we swapped. They loved watching us surf while digging in the sand.
Abby liked burying herself. She really loved it when we had to scrape the sand that was got between her and the bathing suit and was plastered to her butt crack later that night.
Of course what's a vacation on the beach without a long, pointy, dangerous object to swing around? Really, to complete the fun you also need to have a blankie that you suck on and is soaked and covered in sand. THAT'S a good time.
Byron surfing:
Abby covered in sand from head to toe while inspecting my sandals. Yes, that's a bottle opener on my shoe. Yes, it was one of the greatest inventions ever. No, I don't care that I walk in dirty airport bathrooms with those shoes and then use them to open bottles.
Here I am surfing. When I first learned to surf I was in Laguna Beach, CA in mid-winter with 10-11 foot waves. Surfing on these 4-5 foot waves was much more peaceful.
Each day the girls were completely beat by nap time. One day we walked to get lunch at a Wendy's and they passed out in the stroller (which is very unusual for them):
Each night we let the girls fall asleep in bed with us watching tv. They loved it.
One of their favorite activities was floating in the pool. Plan to make the girls turn into caribbean bums: SUCCESS.
Now, what would a trip to the Caribbean be without some time spent at the pool bar?
Abby:
Yup. That's Emily drinking from a plastic cup that she just filled with pool water from the toddler pool. She doesn't care that it's probably pee-filled. A little chlorinated pee never hurt anyone.
Abby the beach bum.
This definitely makes traveling for work worth it (well, I guess a pay check also makes it worth it)
What would a blog be without a little taste of the life of terror the girls lead?
Of course as soon as we got there Byron and I went to change for the beach. We stripped the girls to sunscreen and while the sunscreen was drying they explored the bathroom which had an abundance of tissues to tear. Housekeeping definitely earned their money in our room.
The trip home was much less awesome. The girls were pretty unhappy that the flight cut into their nap time and were really antsy. Luckily the flight attendants kept us stocked with food and people sitting around us were really patient. It didn't hurt that Jet Blue has TV's in every seat and people were able to block out the whining.
All in all, the girls had a great time on the trip. Though it wasn't nearly as restful as the trips Byron and I normally take, we didn't really expect it to be. It was a trip for the girls and I'd say it was success. I'm looking forward to all the trips we'll take as they get older. It'll be great to introduce them to surfing, all-inclusive pool bars :), SCUBA, sailing and all the other awesome things to do at the beach.
