Trip Report – Beaches Negril Resort, Negril Jamaica – June 2011
Prologue.
As we have done for several years, a summer vacation was chosen based on our rotating schedule. This year was my pick. A natural pattern seemed to be emerging – Brian picked a national park, Lily picked Disney World, and I picked some exotic beach-y location. So it had been, and my original plan was to continue this. However, with our financial situation having changed when Owen was born, I thought perhaps I should do something more reasonable, and spent several months planning a trip to southern California. We would go to Sea World, Universal, etc, and maybe even sneak in a Character meal at Disneyland. I had a tentative schedule made, hotel and car reservations made, and was considering buying our airplane tickets soon. And then realized that the Beaches Resorts in Jamaica had a nice sale going on.
So I canceled everything and booked Beaches quickly, before the rooms sold out or I changed my mind. After all, this would fit our normal pattern nicely, and they had childcare which would be great for Owen. However, over the next several months I would find myself constantly second-guessing this decision, and even mourning the trip I felt like I had “lost” by changing my mind so suddenly. So I was hoping desperately that I wouldn’t be disappointed and left wishing I had stayed with our original plan.
As the trip neared, I realized I didn’t have the same level of excitement and anticipation as I normally do before vacation. Lily was plenty excited about the beach, but it felt like it was missing something. Hopefully we would find it once we got there. In the days before we left, the weather forecast did little to increase our excitement, as a tropical depression was moving in, and much rain was expected. Great, I thought. Instead of going to fun theme parks were going to sit in the room for a week and watch it rain. So this is unfortunately the mentality that I would leave with. But at least we would be on vacation together, I thought, away from the mundane stresses of everyday life at home. If nothing else, I supposed I could check Owen into childcare and spend some time relaxing and reading in the room. Plus, we had some fun Sesame Street character interactions booked, which were not weather dependent, so there was that to look forward too. I clung to these thoughts to keep all anticipation from being lost.
Chapter 1. Getting there is never half the fun. Or any fun. (Thursday)
We drove up to Denver the night before, to stay near the airport. Naturally, it took much longer to get loaded and on the road than I wanted, and we were all a little tired, stressed and grumpy by the time we got there. Which is never a good combination. I’ll just leave it at that.
After only a few hours of sleep, the alarm was ringing for us to get up at catch our 4am shuttle to the airport. Yes, that’s right, we had to be on the shuttle at 4am. At the airport, check-in was fairly smooth and we were relieved to be rid of our checked bags so that we were more mobile. Security wasn’t bad either, so early in the morning.
The trouble started as we were getting ready to board. We had earlier been told we would get a gate-check for the stroller as we got on board. Instead, a rather grumpy ticket agent informed us (quite rudely, I’ll add) that we were not allowed to gate-check our stroller, and another standing nearby practically accused us of sneaking it past the ticket counter when we checked in. We tried to explain that it folded up very small, and was actually very light, but they would have none of it. I asked, just to clarify, if this meant we would not have it during our connection in Dallas, and she snapped back that it was exactly what that meant. I was furious by now, I couldn’t believe they were taking our stroller away! We wouldn’t get it back until we pick dupe bags in Jamaica.
I suppose I should have been more grateful at the moment that they had missed telling us this when we checked in, or we would have had to surrender it much earlier. What a stupid policy. I later looked it up, and they had just yesterday stopped gate-checking anything but umbrella strollers. Which of course don’t work with infant carriers anyway. She started to give us a hard time about taking the carrier on board, and I not-so -nicely informed her that we had paid for a seat for Owen so YES we were taking the carrier. I was past being polite. Okay. Try to shake it off, just get on the plane, we’ll manage I thought.
The flight was uneventful, and luckily (more for American Airlines I would say) our next flight was at the gate right next door. If we’d had to lug his carrier around several concourses they would have been hearing from me much sooner. The next flight seemed so long, and Owen was very fussy for the last hour of it . The flight attendants had been yelling at everyone as we got on to get our immigration papers filled out, but kept very curtly pointing out that they had no pens for us to use. I had none either, and was not in the mood for anymore bad customer service, but we were getting it anyway.
The weather had been clear, until we neared the airport in Jamaica. And sure enough, the dark clouds and rain set in. Getting off the plane, we spotted Owen’s stroller near the gate. Thank goodness we had it back, glad we were one of the last ones off, otherwise it might not have come up yet and we would have gone on to baggage claim, which is where we had been told it would be taken. At least they seem a bit more accommodating in Jamaica, I thought. Immigration was a slow process, but finally we were through it and grabbed our bags. Sandals has a lounge in the airport where you can chill on nice couches with a drink until it is time to take your shuttle. For the first time, we started to relax and feel like we were on vacation. Soon, they called us to go, and we ended up being the only one in our van.
Our driver was very friendly and told us a lot about Jamaica while we drove. It was good that we got to see some of “real Jamaica”, since i knew we would be pretty isolated from it at the resort. A very different way of life than we are accustomed to for sure. And driving is a very different thing there too, our driver assured us he had a clean record but several times I was pretty sure we were about to die. But we arrived unscathed (a fact which he proudly announced as we pulled in) at the resort after about 2 hours. It was still raining, but he had tried to convince us it wouldn’t last the whole time. Hopefully he was right.
Chapter 2. Time to Settle in. (Thursday)
The bellman met us and helped up get our bags out of the van. Then instead of directing us to the check-in desk, he led us to some couches in the “Great Room” and brought us drinks and cold towels. We didn’t really need them since it was raining outside, but had it been a hot muggy day that would have been a nice touch. Eventually he brought us our room keys and information we needed to complete our check-in. They definitely know how to make people feel welcomed here!
He helped us get everything to our room, which was in the Savannah block. A great location, very close to everything! Then Brian and Lily changed into swimming suits to hit the pool, even though it was raining. Nothing was going to stop her from swimming! I set about unpacking, as I can’t stand to live out of a suitcase.
After they got back, we went to eat dinner at The Mill, the main buffet-restaraunt at the resort. It would take a few meals to get used to not having to pay for anything, when we were done eating we could just get up and leave! I could definitely get used to this…
The rain was lessening and stopped completely by the time we were done. So we took a brief jaunt onto the beach. Unfortunately I had forgotten the bug spray, and stopped by the store on the way back to get some. We would definitely be needing it! Owen’s crib had arrived, and we all set about getting ready for bed. It was a restless night, for me anyway. Owen woke up several times, and the AC unit was very loud. But at least we were here. The weather might not cooperate, but we were in a lovely hotel, and would make the best of it.
Chapter 3. Livin’ it up at the Resort… until it rains!(Friday)
We were up early this morning, thanks to Owen. So we headed on out to get breakfast. Most of the resort hadn’t really woken up yet, and it felt very peaceful walking to the Mill. After eating, we jumped right in the pool – the main one by the restaurant. I was a little disappointed that there was no zero-entry area where it would be really shallow for Owen to splash around in, but he loved his little starfish boat I had gotten for him before we left. I pushed him around, he splashed, and we all generally had a good time enjoying he pool that we still had all to ourselves.
The forecast had again been for rain, but so far it was just overcast. The sun would even peek out sometimes. This wasn’t so bad! A little later, we thought we would go over to the waterpark section, but we instead got distracted by the beach on the way there and found some chairs under a shade. Owen loved playing in the sand, hopefully he didn’t eat too much of it! We spent a couple of hours going back and forth from the water to the chairs, and Owen finally fell asleep in the stroller after having a very big morning so far. He even got to swim in the ocean for the first time! While he was asleep a beach photographer came by and got a picture of the three of us in the sand.
Lily wanted to go back to the pool so we washed off the sand and headed over. She and I went down the waterslides, and I took Owen to the water-play area with the shooting water. Here was a place he could sit and splash! He loved it of course. But he started getting restless after a while and I thought maybe it was time to check out the childcare situation. So Brian stayed with Lily and I took Owen over to Kid’s Camp.
I got him registered, but they were closing for lunch in 40 minutes. But at least it would give him a chance to get used to it for a while. After we picked up him, we went to get lunch at Arizona’s, the Tex-Mex place by the pool. Brian loved the jerk-chicken! Owen was asleep again after lunch and we probably should have left him alone but Lily wanted to go to the Kid’s Camp for bracelet making which was about to start, and it made more sense to check them both in at the same time.
We got him settled, though he wasn’t too happy about being woken up. Suddenly kid free, we headed back to the beach. The chairs we had used earlier were still empty, so we settled in again. We played catch for a long time in the ocean with the water bombs, then spent some time in the lazy river, which was much faster and more fun than most I’ve been in! As nice as it was to not have to worry about the kids for a while… we found ourselves worrying about them anyway. For no good reason I’m sure, but after maybe 2 hours we were on our way to get them back. Right about that time it started raining.
Lily had made a nice bracelet, and seemed to have a good time. And Owen already had the ladies in the infant room wrapped around his finger 🙂 We went back to the beach for a bit, even though it was starting to rain harder. Lily didn’t like it after a while, so we headed back to the room. She was tired, and upset about the rain, but a bath with Owen cheered her up a bit. The next few hours were tedious though. It was raining far to hard to go out and do anything now, and even a thunderstorm moved through. Sigh. This is what I most feared. Stuck in the room watching it rain.
Chapter 4. A Special Visitor.(Friday)
Finally it was time to go get seats for the Sesame Street show, and we stopped by the store for Lily to pick up a souvenir on the way. Now it had just about stopped raining finally. She got some more toy boats to play with in the pool. The show was cute – I was afraid Lily was getting too old for Sesame Street, but she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Sadly, Owen slept through the whole thing. He probably would have loved it, but it wouldn’t be the last character experience of the trip for sure.
Having eaten most of our meals at the Mill so far, we wanted to do something different for dinner. So we went to the Seville. Which is a much more upscale Italian restaurant. One of the few that is actually “totally inside” as Lily put it. (As opposed to just having a roof but being open on the sides.) It was much fancier than we were used to, and it was great food but a little stressful trying to keep Owen quiet. It was late and he was getting fussy. Whenever the servers would come by, they would always cheer him up though – he just loved all the attention he was getting!
On the way back to the room. we went by the pool bar where Lily I and I got icee’s and then we played a bit of ping-pong. We had special plans for this evening – Elmo was coming to our room to share a bedtime story with the kids! Lily was already getting excited, and once back in the room, the excitement must have been contagious, because Owen got very hyper too. I was afraid he would be too tired to get much out of it, and the wait for Elmo seemed so long, but as the clock neared 8:30pm, he was still going strong, and in a great mood.
Finally, we heard some commotion outside, and there was a knock at the door! One of the girls from the infant room came in first and asked Lily and Owen (who she already knew of course) if they were ready for Elmo! I wasn’t sure how Owen would react – when Lily was small she was terrified of any type of character. But not Owen! He squealed with delight when he saw the furry red monster! Elmo spent several minutes playing with Owen and letting him grab his fur. It was a magical few moments, I’ve never seen Owen so excited about something! I wished I had my camera handy to videotape it, but it’s a memory that I’m sure will last forever anyway.
They settled onto the bed where Elmo’s assistant read a story, and Elmo himself tried to keep Owen from crawling off the bed, or eating the book. The hotel photographer came in and started snapping shots during this time too. After wards, there were more posed shots, then Elmo hugged everyone goodnight. He also had a present for the kids – a fully-dressed stuffed Elmo! Lily became attached right away, even though she already had a simpler Elmo that she brought with her, she decided that one could be Owen’s now. As he stepped out the door to leave, we heard a sudden eruption of “ELMO!!!” from people outside. That must have been a rather unexpected sight for anyone walking by!
It would take a little while to get both kids settled down after this. It was supposed to be a night-night tuck in, but good luck getting them to go to sleep now! Eventually though, everyone calmed down, and we settled in for our second night. I had noticed how much attention Owen was getting from everyone, and while he was soaking it all up, I worried a little that Lily was going to feel left out. She hadn’t said anything, but I caught a wistful looking her eyes while Elmo and the others were cooing over Owen. We would have to make a point to do some special things with just her tomorrow.
Chapter 5. More water fun.. in between rain showers. (Saturday)
We woke up fairly early again, and this time before going to breakfast I went over to the pool to save us some chairs. Yesterday we had been moving our stuff every time we moved to a different part of the resort, thinking we didn’t want to be taking up chairs if we weren’t there. Unfortunately, no one else seems to take that approach, so by mid-day all the chairs were taken everywhere and we couldn’t get one. So today we would just leave our stuff in one spot, so at least we would have chairs somewhere. We chose the family pool, closest to our room, that had the kid-swim up bar. After breakfast we were ready to swim! Owen was already a bit tired, so before long I headed back to the room with him and got him settled down for a nap.
Brian and Lily had gotten reservations for the 10:30 snorkel trip, but the boat was broken so they were rebooked for the 11:30 one. While they were waiting in between, Owen woke up and we went back to the pool for a bit. He wasn’t enjoying it as much this time, so not long after they left for their snorkel trip, I took him back to the room for some lunch. Then we went and waited on the beach for Brian and Lily to get back.
Lily had had an absolute blast, despite being little freaked out at first and having some trouble with her snorkel. She was telling me about all the stuff they saw, and wanted to take me on a trip tomorrow. We had all snacked a bit that morning, but hadn’t had a true lunch so we went back to the Mill (the buffet) to grab something quick. It started raining while we were there, and was coming down really hard by the time we left. My bag that had my Nook in it was still by the pool, and I figured it was protected enough, but ran to get it anyway.
After not too long in the room, the rain let up and we got ready to swim again. I took Owen over to Kid’s Camp, figuring he needed a break, then joined Brian and Lily at the pool. We wanted to do a banana boat ride, but after getting loaded up they couldn’t get the boat to start. And the rain came back. So we swam in the ocean until it got too hard to be pleasant, then went back to the lazy river in the pool.
The rain finally lessened up, and Lily was having a blast in the river. She loved picking up the little pink flowers that would fall in the water and give them to me as little bouquets. Some drinks at the swim-up bar were in order, then Lily was getting a little worn out (especially after a battle with some sunscreen) so I took her back to the room for a nap. Later I went to get Owen, who was also ready for a nap. Lily was still sleeping so I sat in the room with them while the rain poured down outside, and Brian went to work out at the gym.
It looked like our special candlelight dinner on the beach that was planned for the night would have to be moved to our own room balcony unless something miraculous happened with the weather. A tropical depression (the first of the season) was hovering nearby, and threatening to turn into a full blown tropical storm. Not the best luck 🙁 Next time we’re coming before hurricane season starts!
Chapter 6. A Romantic Evening (Saturday)
Lily and Owen both slept for a long time, and when they woke up it was time to start getting ready for the evenings special activities. I had books a private candlelight dinner on the beach for Brian and I, but with the weather not cooperating they called and said we would have to indeed move to our own room balcony. So that was a bit of a bummer, but hopefully it would still be a nice evening together. After getting dressed, Brian went out in the pouring rain to gather up the stuff we had left by the pool and on the beach. Notice I said AFTER… so his nice shirt was all wet! I made him sit still on the bed while I attempted to fix it with the hair dryer when he got back.
I had also rescheduled our family portraits for tonight, right around sunset, thinking it would be good timing since we would be dressed up for dinner anyway. it looked like the rain was going to ruin those too, but it finally stopped just before our time came. The photographer took us to the beach – on the way I was holding up my long dress to keep it out of the sand, but once we got near the water she had me sit down in the sand and spread my dress out over over. So much for not being sandy! I was thinking that would be the one advantage of not doing dinner on the beach. Oh well. She took a ton of shots, different combinations of people and poses. Even had Brian lift me up and kiss me for one of them! And wrote Lily’s name in the sand for another. As usual, Owen was more interested in eating the sand than having his picture made, but hopefully we managed to get some good ones anyway.
We had to cut her session a little short because we were due back in our room any minute for dinner, and still had to get the kids checked in to the Kid’s Camp. However, Avril (our private server) was a bit late getting to our room, and we spent a nervous few minutes wondering if we had been supposed to meet her somewhere else instead. But finally she made it and the dinner event began!
First she led me outside to the table, then had a rose for Brian to give me as he sat down. She had indeed transformed our balcony into a magical evening wonderland, with candles, flowers, and fine linens on the table. All around us were the sounds of singing frogs, and in the distance we could still hear the hum of fun going on at the resort. The rain had finally stopped, and it was turning into a beautiful night. Too bad we couldn’t be on the beach, apparently it was still too soggy. But this was nice anyway.
Avril continued to bring out our meal, course by course, and several times broke into romantic ballads for us. She said everyone outside was very jealous everytime they saw her coming into our room with a delicious looking set of food! WE had a Mediterranean antipasti for an appetizer, feta cheese salad, and a Buddha bowl (Indian cuisine I believe) for our main course. It was all prepared exquisitely.
So what did we talk about, now that we were being treated to a romantic evening without the kids??? Well…. mostly about parenting. And how we though we were doing at it, LOL!. In our defense, it isn’t often that we have a chance to strategize about such things without other listening ears about. We also reflected on how proud we are of what we have done in the last 11 years, and how grateful we are that we have the life we do. We wondered nostalgically if we would have imagined 11 years ago that this is where we would be today. (Our only other trip to the Caribbean was on our honeymoon, so it was brining back memories)
The evening at last was drawing to a close… Avril seemed to be hanging around in our room waiting for us to leave so she could clean up. Which is what would have been the natural thing for us to do.. except that it was our room! But we thought a walk on the beach might be nice anyway before we had to pick up the kids. So we strolled down the beach about the length of the Beaches property, then headed on back to Kid’s Camp.
Lily was peering through the window of the infant room smiling at us as we walked up. Apparently she had been the only one her age there, which was a bummer but I don’t think she minded too much because it meant she got to pick what activity she did. Of course she made another bracelet and did some more arts and crafts.
We went back to the room and settled in. Avril had also turned down our beds for us and tidied up the room a bit before she left, which was nice because we had missed earlier maid service when the kids were taking their nap. That seemed to be a common problem. The storm was still looming out there, and who knows what tomorrow will bring, but already we had experienced some great times and made some wonderful memories. So all would not be lost on this vacation after all!
These kinds of organizations provide cost of viagra prescription in innovative, sturdy, safe and tamper proof packaging. It is the best possible option to surgery, and a lot of individuals cost of prescription viagra have already felt positive effects. While these toys are normally used for raindogscine.com cheap viagra mastercard self-pleasure, they are also delivering the medicine to coveted date. Customer’s feedbacks generic cialis price are like life-saving medicines that can help our bodies in several ways.
Chapter 7. Breakfast with Sesame Street! (Sunday)
We got up much earlier than we needed to again, welcome to life with Owen! So we headed on down to the beach. We had a character breakfast later on (because the Sesame Street Gang has apparently relocated to Jamaica recently, LOL!), but might as well enjoy the nice weather while it was here. Lily was just a little bit sunburned on our back and shoulders. It really wasn’t bad at all, but I don’t think she’s ever been sunburned before so she wasn’t dealing with it very well. She had some fun in the ocean with her dad though.
Lily had really wanted to take me snorkeling today so I went over to the watersports desk to make our reservations. Owen woke up from the nap he had been taking in the stroller about that time and we went to get dressed for breakfast. He was wearing his special Elmo overalls that I had bought just for this trip!
We met up with Brian and Lily in the waiting area, and before long the Sesame Street gang started coming out! Having done lots of character meals at another kid-friendly resort (which is geographically not so far away), not to name any names… I wondered how this one would compare. Overall, I think the characters seemed much more accessible and laid back here, no surprise. Things were not as rigid and structured, as they would go up to random people and dance, take candid pictures, etc. Lots of fun. Elmo really liked Owen’s outfit!
We got a family picture done before being seated, though Cookie Monster was late arriving so he wasn’t in it. (he actually got there right before our picture, but they wouldn’t let him be in it, probably so that people who had gone before wouldn’t get upset). Then they did the typical visit to the table while we were eating. I really liked that they had hotel photographers traveling with every character snapping shots. I’m sure theirs came out much better than mine. That’s something I’ve often thought that “other-place” ( I feel like a traitor somehow to mention it) could really use.
After we ate, the characters had a little dance party over by the pool that we all joined in. The Sesame Street gang, especially Elmo, have learned some reggae moves since coming to Jamaica, LOL! Owen really liked watching everyone. He was a little tired and fussy, but all morning whenever he would start sounding upset, several of the servers or photographers (who knew him by name now) would rush over and cheer him up. He just loved all the attention! They would even feed him or hold him to make him happy. So far everyone at the resort had been so super-friendly, definitely something to put in the reviews!
After breakfast, I briefly tried to get Owen to nap in the room, but that was a no-go so we joined Brian and Lily on the beach instead. We all had a great time splashing around in the water and playing in the sand. I had stopped bothering to look at the weather forecast by now. It changed dramatically by the hour, basically meaning that they just didn’t have a clue. So far today it was holding out, though there were very dark clouds to the south, no surprise.
Owen took off crawling across the sand at one point, he was having a blast and Brian crawled right along beside him! He also liked sitting right at the edge of the water and playing in the gentle waves as they would roll in. And of course Lily was running about generally doing her thing. It’s nice that we don’t have to watch her so closely now, though I always knew where she was.
When it was time to get Lily and I ready to go snorkeling, I decided to get Owen all changed and cleaned up. Inside his diaper was coated with sand! All over his bum and everything. So I did what any self-respecting, concerned mother would do. Carried him in his birthday suit (with a shirt wrapped around him) to the ocean and got him all rinsed off. Fortunately there weren’t too many people around to notice or care. Hopefully. It was time for Lily and I to head off on our adventure!
Chapter 8. Snorkeling! (Sunday)
We went over the the watersports center and got fins, then headed to the boat! We would be going in the glass bottom boat, so no need to schedule one of those tours later. After finally getting everyone loaded we were off. The reef we were going to was only about 10 minutes away, and you could still see the resort in the distance.
Since Lily had gone yesterday, I declared her the expert and told her she had to show me what to do. She took that very seriously and explained everything in great detail during the whole trip. It was pretty cute. Once in the water, watched numerous schools of fish and tons of coral. There were lots of sea urchins on the bottom that I pointed out to Lily, and the guide also found a sea cucumber and a “Rasta spider” that he pulled up to show everyone. Not sure it “rasta spider” is a scientific name, LOL! But it was very unique looking.
We had about 30 minutes in the water, then they were calling us back. It rained a little on the boat ride back to shore, but was just ever so slightly drizzling when we got to the beach. There is no boat dock, they just pull the boat in to where the water is about 2 feet deep and you walk out, then climb over the side. It was a great trip, and I was glad I got to go with Lily this time. She said she wanted to do it again tomorrow.
We found Brian by the pool, apparently he had taken Owen swimming, but it was now seeming that a nap was quite necessary. So Lily and I grabbed a sandwich from Cafe Carnival to take back to the room. It took a bit to get Owen to sleep, but finally he dozed off in his carrier. He had been pretty good so far about sleeping in his bed, but not today. Just too much excitement, I suppose! After he had been sleeping for about an hour, the rain started. Oh well, at least we had gotten to swim and snorkel already. This seemed to be the pattern that was emerging most days. Fun until the afternoon when the storms arrive. It could be worse though!
Chapter 9. Sesame Street, round 2! (Sunday)
We had another character experience booked for the afternoon – a photo session in the lobby with all the gang. Honestly, if I’d known the character breakfast would include the family shot with all the characters together I probably would not have paid for this one, but since it was already done I figured we might as well go. Brian was feeling a little Elmo-d out though, and opted to stay by the pool instead.
It was still raining off and on, but I got Lily dressed, or at least her swim suit covered up, and took the kids to find the Sesame Street gang! We waited around in the Great Room for a while before finding the characters headed to the other part of the lobby overlooking the main pool. Abby actually came in the photo shop just after we did, and played with both kids for a few minutes. They had a nice interaction with the charters as always, and Lily even got to walk down the veranda with Abby Cadaby’s arm around her! Which was neat because it was usually Owen who got all the attention.
There was another mom and son hanging around who I guess didn’t know that you had to book this in advance, and she was upset afterwards that the characters took off before her son could go. I really did feel bad for her, and especially the kid. But honestly, that’s why it pays to do your research before you go on vacation and plan things in advance. They are all clearly advertised on their website, after all!
After the photo shoot, I took Owen over to Kid’s Camp since I wanted some pool time, and figured he’d had enough swimming for the day. Then I went out to the pool to meet Brian and Lily. We swam for a few minutes, and grabbed some quick drinks from the swim-up bar. Then I wanted to hit the waterslides! We went a couple of times. Lily had been flipping over onto her stomach after entering the slide, and apparently that was a no-no, so she got into a bit of trouble (well not REAL trouble) with the lifeguard. I finally figured out how to pick up some speed on the slide by laying on my back, but one time I didn’t see the end of the slide coming fast enough to sit up before going in the water, and ended up with a nose-full of pool water – yuck!
Next I wanted to go to the hot-tub. We had gone a few days ago, but it wasn’t any warmer than the pool. Brian and Lily had done it earlier today though and said it was very hot. Yea! It was just over the short bridge where the lazy river and splashing fountains were, and it was definitely hot! Lily didn’t want to stay in the water, so she darted through it as quick as she could to sit up on the island in the middle. Then she got out and played in the splash area for a while and we stayed in. Then it was time for some lazy river! Lily had a blast racing us around, and would declare rules about when you were allowed to paddle, touch the wall, start, stop, etc. And a photographer snapped a few shots of us as we went. So far it seemed like this was our best day yet – hopefully our good luck would continue! The weather hadn’t been too bad – not much sun but only a few brief showers and no major storms. Fingers crossed it stayed this way!
We did a little more time in the hot tub, little more swim up bar, and a run to the pool-side bakery for cookies and ice cream. Then as I was heading back to Kid’s Camp (still in my swimsuit) to get Owen, one of the staff was walking down the path towards us carrying him! Apparently he had been a little fussy so they were out for a walk. I took him back to the room for a nap, and as usual it was a while before he settled down. The maids had actually come and cleaned up our room while we were gone, which was nice because we had missed it the las couple of days. Though I felt bad our stuff had been everywhere, since I wasn’t expecting them. But I guess they are used to slobs like us.
Brian and Lily had gotten distracted by the ping-pong table on the way back, and as I heard them coming in the door, Owen was on the brink of going to sleep. So I quickly shooed them back out to the pool. The benefit of being stuck in the room so much with napping kids is that it gives me time to write these reports (and upload photos) while the details are still fresh in my mind. In a few years (assuming no more little ones in the picture) my reports might get much more generic!
Chapter 10. Meeting the “Other Owen” (Sunday)
Owen continued to sleep for well over an hour, and Brian and LIly finally came back all swum out. Brian had gotten us reservations at Kimono’s (the Hibachi grill restaurant) for 8:30. A little late, but it was all that was left by the tme we remembered to go get the reservations, which unfortunately can only be made same day by stopping by the desk in the lobby. Stressful for a plan-ahead person like myself! I much prefer having everything set when I arrive so I don’t have to worry about these details while I am there.
We still had a couple of hours until dinner, so we hung out in the room lounging, showering, bathing and generally being lazy. Owen had woken up around this time, and Lily had fun entertaining him in the confines of the room. I went down to SnapShots, the Photo place to turn in my huge stack of photo tags we had been given every time someone snapped a shot, and to claim the photos from the photo sessions we had done. I would probably wait until the day we left to buy anything, but I wanted to know that all our shots were saved in one place in their system for now. It was a madhouse in the shop, but she found all our pics and saved them for me without much trouble. It would be nice if they had a more advanced photo system like that other place… where you could claim your own photos online…oh well.
We still had a while before dinner, so eventually we decided to go for a walk. It was dark out now, and the resort had a lively fun atmosphere to it everywhere! We headed out past Kimonos over toward the water sports shop, and strolled by the gym on the way. That side of the resort was more peaceful, and we even saw a crab in the grass! There were also several cats running around that LIly loved to try to sneak up on. They seem to have a bit of a cat problem here actually, and set out live traps for them everywhere. One morning going to breakfast I saw at least 6 of them waiting in cages, having been caught the night before.
We made our way back to Kimono’s a few minutes early and checked in. Our hostess, I think her name was Ravolin, knew Owen right away. I had been feeling bad that I couldn’t keep all the staff members straight, but they all seemed to know Owen. Actually, I knew I had seen her several other places – the Kid’s Camp, pool, or maybe the character breakfast that morning. No wonder it was hard, the same people were showing up in different places!
We had to wait a bit for our table to be seated (they seat one large table at a time around the grill) and another photographer came and took a family pic while we were waiting. All week I had been hearing about a “5-star server” at the resort whose name was also Owen, and he was here tonight! He was excited to meet little Owen and posed for a picture with him. He even tried to give him his name tag, but decided he should wait until Owen was a little older 🙂
We were seated next to a family from Arizona and Brian had a nice conversation with the Dad during dinner. Soon our chef came out and started cooking up our dinner right in front of us! He made me a special plate of veggies and rice before he started cooking the meat. Apparently being vegetarian is pretty common in Jamaica so they are very accommodating to it. Lily liked watching the show that the dinner production was, and Owen happily munched on some rice and tofu. We had a bit of an accident part-way through when we dropped a (very nice) water glass on the slate table and of course it broke. I felt bad, but the were nice about it and had everything replaced in no time. And Owen continued to get attention from absolutely everyone.
Dinner came to an end, and we headed back. Our chef, Michelo, tried to teach me some form of Dominican language on the way out, but I was having trouble catching much of it. It had been very late night, so we settled in as quick as we could back in the room. Tomorrow’s forecast looked particularly dreary, but we had already had a great day, so even if tomorrow was a wash it wouldn’t be so bad.
Chapter 11. A Rainy Morning. (Monday)
We woke up on Monday, our only day with no scheduled activities planned, to a very dreary and overcast sky. Brian warned us that today might be the rainiest day of the trip. Hopefully that tropical depression would move on in the next day or two, but for now it was hanging out in our area and making things very wet. Sure enough it started raining pretty hard right after we got to breakfast. We did have a nice meal though, Owen tried out some different foods, and Lily and I had the strawberry smoothies for the first time – delicious. And Big Owen was there again!
It was still raining off and on, but we decided to go swimming anyway. Stopped by the desk on the way to get reservations for Stewfish, the seafood restaurant on the beach. Even though we were there pretty early, the best time they could give us for dinner was 8pm. Really missing the dining reservations system of the other family-meca resort located a hop, skip and jump across the ocean away!
We went over to the family pool, which had become our favorite since it was next to the water park, and had the kid-swim up bar. The main pool was bigger, but the family pool was never that crowded anyway. And there was always lots of fun music and activities going on there anyway. In fact, I was surprised at how much of the music I knew, mostly from the gym. It seemed like they were playing the whole RPM track every day! It was pretty empty and quiet this morning though, not many others were braving the cool rain.
I swam holding Owen since I hadn’t brought his starfish boat, and we mostly hung out under the bridge or the roof of the swim up bar. After the rain let up, we went out in the pool with Lily. She had declared Owen to be small, her medium, and me big. She made a game out of asking Brian to oder a size, and having quickly figured it out Brian always ordered a medium (which Lily found hilarious), so she had to swim out to him and then he would throw her around in the water for a while. She was having a blast!
It was just cool enough that I thought the hot tub would be nice, so we decided to go to the one by the main pool, since we hadn’t tried it yet. On the way Lily wanted to stop by the beach and see if the house she had built for her hermit-crab friend was still there, and to see if he had found it. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well, but there was no discouraging her. Sure enough, everything had been raked away the previous night, and she was heartbroken. I told her we would at least try to find the hermit crab later today, but she was sad for a while.
The hot tub was very very hot! Which I liked, but Brian and Lily both thought it was a bit much. We had been taking turns holding Owen on one of the chairs, and he started getting fussy, no surprise as it was far past naptime. So I headed on back to the room, with them planning to head to the beach. The rain continued to come, then back off, with periods where it looked totally dark overhead, and other times where the sun looked very close to being able to peek out. Hopefully it wouldn’t turn into full-fledged storms all day, and the forecast was at least giving us some hope for Tuesday and Wednesday… IF that tropical depression would just move on out!
Chapter 12. A Rainy Afternoon. (Monday)
Brian and Lily came back, and Owen woke up, probably from the commotion. But they really wanted to go back out swimming so I packed him off the Kid’s Camp since it was still pretty rainy out. We only had about an hour until it closed for lunch – their timing really stunk for us because right after he would wake up from him morning nap and be ready to go, they were getting ready to go on break. But we had about 45 minutes in the pool to do some lazy river-ing and waterslides.
The lifeguards were being extra picky, and seemed worked up about something, I kept thinking we must be doing something wrong but I suspect they were just on high alert about something. Brian and Lily had eaten a quick snack right after we came out, but I was getting hungry so after I went to pick up Owen I got a sandwich from the grill and sat at the tables by the pool to eat it, with Owen in the stroller. I wasn’t really sure were Brian and Lily had gone, but Owen was getting sleepy again so we went for a stroll up through the lobby and back. Lily (who was by the pool when we got back) was tired and ready for a nap so I took both of them back to the room.
We all rested for quite a while, I think it rained off and on a lot during this time. I even tried to sleep a little, not having any trip-report updating to do. Sleeping during the day is always an odd thing for me though, and every time I would almost doze off I would hear something outside that my imagination distorted into some sore of calamity and I would wake up.
The kids slept until it was almost time for us to go to yoga – they were doing a class over at the fitness center at 3pm that we thought would be fun to go to, since it was a rainy and not-so-good pool day. Lily was the only one at Kid’s Camp (her age) again, that was kind of a bummer. They have a really nice set-up over there and are always ready to go with fun plans and activities, but no one hardly ever shows up. But we had a nice yoga class – pretty much all the same poses we are used to but still taught in a different style. At the end we did some harmony breathing, which is where you kind of sing on your exhale, it was neat. The studio was covered but open to the outside, and it was neat to hear the rain falling while we worked.
It was still drizzling afterwards, but I had promised Lily pizza (and they had finally found where the pizzeria was the day before, it wasn’t on the map and I had been wondering where it was hiding) so we headed over by the main pool. We were sitting under and umbrella eating since it was drizzling a little, then suddenly it was pouring rain! We were wishing we had more shelter than just the table umbrella over us, but there was nothing more substantial nearby so we rode it out there.
Lily had found a cute wooden turtle at one of the merchant stands near the pool, but the lady closed up when it started raining so I told her we could come back tomorrow. The rain let up some, and they wanted to swim again so back to the pool!
Lily had a large green pool ring that she brought with her, but had just left in the pool for a few days now. So it had become a bit of a community use item. I encouraged her to take it back tonight, partly so she would actually get to use it, and so the hotel wouldn’t decide it had been abandoned and get rid of it. The weather held out for about a half-hour, then it started coming down hard again. It was quite cool since the sun hadn’t been out all day, and with the rain I was afraid Owen would get chilled so I took him back to the room, and they soon followed.
Chapter 13. A Shipwreck, and a Cricket (Monday)
I had almost forgotten, but there was another Sesame Street show tonight, starting in just a few minutes. Since Owen had slept through the first one, I thought it might be good to go again. So I rushed everyone to get ready. Owen almost fell asleep drinking a bottle in all the commotion, but Brian and Lily woke up him by tickling him. Hopefully we wouldn’t regret that later! But he loved watching the characters dance on stage, and got so excited when Cookie Monster bounced off the stage dancing that he jumped up, squealed and dropped his paci! I thought it was overall a much better show than the first one, and was glad we had come again.
It was still over an hour until our dinner reservations at Stewfish, so we walked along the beach wondering if the sunset would be good tonight. But it was too cloudy and overcast to see anything. We did see a lot of the work going on though to dig up some kind of wreckage just off the beach. They had been working a little all week but things were in full swing tonight – lots of machinery both on the beach and in the water. it was also causing a lot of the debris to wash up on shore – glad we weren’t planning to do any swimming in teh ocean tonight. We inspected it trying to figure out what had happened. Lots of burnt looking wood, christmas lights, a coat hanger, etc. Must have been some kind of shipwreck, or maybe a pier that collapsed, we couldn’t tell for sure. Hmmm. Very odd indeed.
Still needing to kill a little time, we hung out in the room and Owen fell asleep until it was time to go. They seemed a little stressed out that we got there a few minutes early, so they didn’t have a table ready for us right away, but it wasn’t long. Brian and Lily played on the beach for a few minutes while we waited. it was late, and we were all feeling a little worn out. So tonight’s dinner was a little more quiet and subdued, but the food was good. I just got mac n cheese, but Brian and Lily both had different types of seafood and really liked it. Owen slept the whole time, so no dinner for him tonight 🙁
It would turn out to be a long and restless night back in the room. Not having eaten dinner, Owen did not sleep well. And it poured rain (loudly) all night long. But that wasn’t the worst of it. I think I mentioned before the rather beautiful chorus of frogs and crickets that would sing all night outside. Well it isn’t so beautiful when one of the members of the choir is IN your room! A rather lonely cricket, which sounded to be coming from under Lily’s bed serenaded us for much of the night, and even woke Brian up at one point. The next morning as we were leaving, I saw a pair of beady eyes peering out at me from the diaper bag, and we released him outside. Maybe tonight we could sleep better.
So it hadn’t been our best day, kind of a bummer with the weather. I wished we had at least had some kind of scheduled fun today. When I left this day open in our plans, it was because I thought we would want to have one day to just hang at the beach and pool, maybe even rent a private cabana. Instead we had been dodging rain showers all day. Oh well, there’s always hope for tomorrow!
Chapter 14. Braids and Skateboards (Tuesday)
Today we slept in much later than usual, a whopping 7:30am! Even Owen didn’t wake up until we started turning on lights and moving around. He was fussy though, and breakfast would end up being challenging. The weather wasn’t looking any better so far today, sadly. On our way back to the room, Brian and Lily stopped to play a round of pool, and I went to the resort shop to look for some shampoo. We hadn’t brought any, thinking they would provide those little bottles in your room, but they didn’t. So I had been trying to get by with a bar of soap all week, and just couldn’t stand it anymore!
With the dreary, drippy skies, I wasn’t really in the mood to swim, and Owen seemed too sleepy for it anyway. So I sat by the pool, and Owen eventually fell asleep in the stroller. While he was sleeping, Lily came back from the beach (where she had been with Brian), followed closely by a Spa lady who wanted to take her for hair braids. Lily had mentioned maybe wanting to do it the day before, so I let her go. I didn’t want to move Owen since he was asleep, but she promised to bring Lily back (with the bill, of course!) when she was done. So off they went. Maybe I should have been concerned about sending my 7 year old daughter off to some unknown location with a total stranger in a foreign country. Hmmm. It didn’t really occur to me though. Just that we probably could have gotten it cheaper if we had walked a ways down the beach to one of the independent stands. I guess you pay for convenience.
After she got back, she wanted to make a craft over at the Marta Stewart Craft table, so after she took a quick swim I handed Owen off to Brian (he was awake now) and we went to make a glitter skateboard. This wasn’t free either, I guess I was kind of indulging her today, but considering the depressing weather, and the fact that we were planning to dump her at Kid’s Camp for the afternoon, I thought it might smooth things over a bit. At some point during all of this I had gotten a veggie burger from the grill, not sure when I fit that in, looking back! All morning it had been more off-and-on drizzle, and no sun anywhere to be found.
Owen eventually got to fussy and I took him back to the room. He hadn’t had a good nap yet and I finally got him to sleep for about 45 minutes in his bed. Instead of trip-report updating, I did some much needed room-maintenance. We kept seeming to miss housekeeping, and things were getting a little out of control.
Then we watched Brian and Lily swim for just a little bit before it was time to get ready for our afternoon at the Spa! It started really raining just as we were heading back to the room. At least the Spa was all indoors!
Chapter 15. Afternoon at the Spa (Tuesday)
We dropped both kids off at Kid’s Camp then headed to the Spa for our Couples Massage! I had only had a massage once (a prenatal one last summer) and Brian was a massage-virgin, LOL! So we felt a little out of our element walking into the very elegant Red Lane Spa. but we were quickly checked in, robed, and led to our room. For 50 minutes, 2 masseuses dug into every muscle in my body, some I did not even know existed!
Overall it was a pleasant experience. I am a bit of a touch-me-not, so sometimes I had to force myself to relax when her fingers would go a little deeper than I liked. I figured if it hurt, I probably needed it. So I refused to tell her to stop or go lighter. I remembered from last summer that I felt much better after the massage than during, so I used my ujjayi breath that I knew from yoga, and toughed it out. Hopefully I would thank myself later.
The only thing that made it a “Couples Massage” is that we were in the same room, but I guess that was nice. Afterwards we sat outside and ate fruit until they escorted us back to gather our things, then we were on our way. Definitely feeling more relaxed and refreshed than before. We picked up the kids, and this time there were actually a handful of kids in Lily’s class so at least she hadn’t been all alone again. It was raining just a little bit now. Still no sun. We played a little ping pong, then changed to go swimming.
Since I hadn’t gotten to swim yet today, Brian took Owen so that me and Lily could have some waterpark and hot-tub time. I was really learning how to go fast on the waterslide now! We also did some lazy-river before joining Brian and Owen in the pool. Lily found one of the girls from the family we met at Kimonos, and they played together for a while. Owen was getting a little chilled and fussy, so I went back to the room, and he went right to sleep. He continued to get constant attention everywhere we went from the staff. We couldn’t walk anywhere without at least a couple of people oohing and aching over him. And whenever the Kid’s Camp people would see him at the pool, they would always want to know when we were bringing him to them. They were all very sweet.
So we were nearing the end of the day, with only one full day at the resort left. And the forecast (yeah, I had started looking again) was iffy. Not the perfect beach vacation I had planned, and maybe we should have stuck with California after all. But we were making the best of it. And as I was watching Owen sleep, it occurred to me that maybe, just like the massage, the best part of a vacation is afterwards. I was, after all, feeling much more ready to tackle what was awaiting me at home than I had been a week ago. Maybe what we did for a week didn’t really matter. Just the fact that we had a week together, away from reality. And then we would be recharged, ready to make the most of that reality when we got back! And Brian and Lily did have a great time while they were out swimming. Lily met up with her friend Cielo from Kimono’s, and they made plans to meet up again the next morning.
We had some down time in the room that evening waiting for Owen to wake up from his nap. Lily colored some pictures and listened to some stories on her iPod. For dinner we went to Arizona’s, the open air restaurant by the family pool. I loved how that area looked all lit up at night, and they were still playing music by the pool giving it a very festive feel. Owen pigged out out guacamole, not sure what kind of dinner that is but he enjoyed it anyway. And I had somehow planned very poorly for formula, as we were out. So we were going to have to work to collect milk from the restaurants everytime we went. We were in bed by 8:30, about the time dinner had been getting started the last two nights! And I had to send away housekeeping about 15 minutes later, who wanted to do turndown service. Too late! Still hoping for better weather tomorrow… the forecast was once again giving us hope but only time would tell. It had gotten our hopes up before only to dash them.
Chapter 16. Finally Some Sun.. after a Dreary Start to the Day. (Thursday)
Deja vu – awake too early! By 6am we were all up and about, standard Owen time. We were doing the character breakfast again this morning, but not until 8:30. So far the sky looked pretty grey but dry at least. Brian and Lily went for a quick morning swim, but by the time they were coming back to get dressed for breakfast, the sky opened up. And low, dark grey clouds as far as the eye could see. Not again, I thought!
We got in line for breakfast, and tried to huddle under the narrow roof that covered the walkway to Arizona’s. It looked like we wouldn’t be hanging out in the waiting area mingling with characters this morning, we were just trying to stay dry. Finally they started seating, and we made our way to the buffet. Still no characters anywhere. Finally they started coming out, one at a time. It looked like there wouldn’t be a group shot with all of them together today, glad I bought the one on Sunday.
Overall, it was a much less organized breakfast. The characters seemed to wander aimlessly, and it wasn’t clear if as they came by that was our official “visit” or if they were just passing through. The photographers didn’t seem to be sure of anything either. The rain had thrown everyone off their game, it seemed. They tried to do some of the dance party stuff, but with the ground so wet, no one, including the characters, were getting into it much. We did get to see both the Count and Grover though, who had been absent last time.
So I guess I’m glad we did it again, but Sunday’s was much better. I actually just added the Sunday one right before we came. One of the events I had booked decreased in price after I paid for it, and they were nice enough to refund me the difference. Which was the exact cost of a character meal, so I thought, why not? Glad I did now, because it would have been a shame to only do this one.
As we finished eating, the sun actually came out, so we hurried back to the room to get ready to swim. I knew Owen needed a nap, but also knew this might be my only chance for some sunshine all day so I was really hoping he would nap in the stroller by the pool. I could try anyway. And I was in luck, within a moment of getting settled, he was out cold.
So we ended up having a very nice morning at the pool. the sun would come out for a while, then some clouds would cool things off, sometimes a small rain shower would blow through, but then the sun would be out again. I was getting VERY fast on the water slide now 🙂 We really had to make sure we kept the sunscreen on, when it was out – it was hot! Hadn’t had that problem in several days. I really didn’t want to go home thinking of Jamaica as a cool, rainy place!
Lily had been very anxious for her friend Cielo to arrive. So much that she was having trouble enjoying herself until she finally got there. They latched onto each other and took off. I hardly even saw her for the next couple of hours. They swam, ordered drinks together at the bar, and disappeared for a while doing who knows what. We chatted a little with her Dad, Steve, who had some chairs right next to ours.
Owen woke up after a pretty short nap, and I got him ready to swim as well. During one of the rain showers, Brian took him on a boat tour of the pool in his starfish boat. The hotel photographers were out again today in full force, after not having seen them at all for 2 days. And we got some cute shots I think, which was good because my camera battery was back in the room being charged. I was thinking that if every day of the trip had been like this, I would have considered it a very successful vacation indeed. At least we were getting some good weather here at the end.
Around lunchtime, we could tell a major storm was moving in, and at the first rumble of thunder ushered the kids out of the pool. Brian helped Cielo find her parents again, who had gone to the beach, and we changed to go to lunch. Back in the room, Lily was very worked up about whether she would be able to meet up with Cielo again. And Owen was worn out and hungry. Meltdown time, for both kids. Finally they were both calmed down enough to go, and we set out for the Mill, the big buffet restaurant. It was still raining a little, but not as bad as before. Maybe this storm would pass over too and give us more sun later on.
it turned out the Mill wasn’t open yet, they don’t start lunch until 12:30, which seems awfully late to me. So we decided to go back to Arizona’s instead, and picked up some t-shirts at the resort shop on the way. During lunch the sun came out again. Arizona’s has a nacho-bar, and Lily got a kick out of being able to go up there and load her plate whenever she wanted. She especially liked scooping up the “liquid-cheese”, as she called it. All-inclusive is definitely nice – the best part is when you’re done eating you just get up and leave. Simple as that. Owen had slept through most of lunch and woke up as we were leaving, but I could tell he was still really sleepy. So back in the room I fed him some lunch , and then it was lights-out for him in the crib for a “real” nap.
Chapter 17. Friends and Fun, and then the Day is Done (Thursday)
During his nap, the rain and sun seemed to take turns. Several times I thought about waking him up so I could go swim before the sun went away, but by the time I would convince myself to do it, it would be raining again. Finally I took him over to Kid’s Camp and went to the pool to look for Brian and Lily. They were about to head down to the beach to do some kayaking with Cielo and her family! They thought only two people could go together, and I didn’t feel good about going alone with Lily since I have only been in a kyack a couple of times. So I walked out with them to get some pictures. Turned out they had some bigger kayaks we could have all gone in, but I had brought my camera and wasn’t willing to risk getting it wet if we tipped the boat.
Cielo and her sister Amara were briefly left in our care while their parents went to get something, and unfortunately Amara got very upset while they were gone when a loud tractor came by pulling some dive tanks. But her parents were soon back, and everyone loaded into the kayaks. Cielo ended up going with Brian and Lily, which Lily of course thoroughly enjoyed. After taking some pics, I headed back over to the pool and spent some more time at the waterpark. The sun was mostly out during all afternoon, though it wasn’t terribly hot.
After their kayaking adventure, Lily and Cielo continued to run around together, I rarely even knew where they were. Before we came, Brian had this vision of her making a friend and hanging out at the beach with them. I had been doubtful, but what do you know – it had actually happened! Sometimes the stress of a friendship can cause more stress for Lily than it is worth, but this was certainly making her vacation more fun. Brian and I had some fun in the waterpark while she was entertained.
After I went to get Owen from Kid’s Camp later in the afternoon, Both of our families went out to the beach to look for seashells and build sand castles. Lily and Cielo were burying secret treasure on the beach too! We had had a great afternoon, but the rain was about to start, and it was getting late anyway, so we bagman to pack up and head back. Lily and Cielo made arrangements to share addresses so that they could become pen pals!
Back in the room, we got cleaned up for dinner. Cielo and her dad were supposed to be stopping by, but not really knowing when we hung out in the room for a while and waited. Finally they came, the address exchange was made, and we set out to dinner! We had decided to eat at the Seville for our last night, since it had been my favorite.
However, there was a pretty long wait for a table when we got there. It was good timing though, because a Sesame Street show was just starting in the Big Top, which is right next door. It was the same one we had seen earlier in the week, but Lily wanted to watch it again, and since we had to wait for a table there was no reason not to. This time we sat up in their overlooking the theater, a different view from the front row by the stage where we usually sat. Owen started loosing interest near the end, so we waited in the chairs in the lobby and watched the rain pour down on the clear glass roof above our heads.
Dinner was excellent, even better than last time it seemed! And they all remembered that we had been there before, I nice touch I thought. As we tend to do on our last night, we reflected back on our week. I was glad that Lily seemed to have had a blast despite the sometimes gloomy weather. In fact she was devastated at the thought of having to leave tomorrow and kept trying to think of ways we could stay! We had definitely had some fun, even if the rain had tried to spoil it.
On the way back to the room, we stopped by the front desk to check on our arrangements for leaving and getting to the airport, and I went by the PhotoShop to order our picture CD. Unlike the “other place”, they charge per picture on the CD so I had to go through over 100 pictures to select the ones I wanted. And it was still more expensive than a Photopass CD! Oh well. There was especially some really nice ones of Brian and Lily on there.
Everyone was already in bed when I got back to the room, but Owen was strangely in bed with no pajamas! So there was a little more settling in to be done before our last night. I definitely would not miss this humidity, it was especially hard to sleep when everything felt so wet all the time!
Great post, really enjoyed it!
— Sandie
http://www.bigconceptdesigns.com