Anyway, we were in GC for 10 days, so needless to say I have a ton of pictures, that I'll break up over a couple posts to highlight some of the fun things we did there. You can also read more about our trip on Katie and Brent's Blog. When we booked our trip several months ago, I had major buyers remorse in that I wish we would have planned a trip after Lucy's first birthday for just Ben and I to go see Katie and Brent... going on the trip didn't change my mind, don't get me wrong, Lucy was a really good baby and extremely happy as usual, but the last 4 nights she would not sleep at night unless being rocked in our arms and there were a lot of activities I felt like we had to say no to or leave early because Lucy was getting sleepy/fussy. Oh well... we'll know better next time!
In spite of those feelings, I was super thankful that Katie and Brent were extremely gracious hosts and accomodated our family of 3 as best they could in their 1 bedroom apartment. They let us stay in a studio they had rented out for half of our trip and gave up their bedroom for the other half - 10 days is a long time to put up with house guests, so I am extremely thankful for their generosity!
Highlights from the trip:
So this pictures brings a lot of thoughts to my mind... 1. This was Lucy's first plane ride! Overall she did amazing, she didn't sleep much, but she didn't cry much either, so I was very thankful for that. Apple juice and puffs were my saving grace, I swear that girl drank and ate her body weight on the plane, but it kept her happy! Everyone said, "just nurse her the whole time", I tried this, but unfortunately, Lucy is at the age where nursing only takes about 10 minutes and she is easily distracted... thus apple juice became my best friend. 2. I was exhausted! We woke up at 3am to leave for the airport, making it even more surprising that Lucy didn't sleep. 3. Lucy's little red nose reminded me that right before we left she got a cold and her top two teeth started coming in... exactly what you want before a vacation, right?!?!
We made it! We got to walk out of the plane straight onto the tarmac - how fun is that!?!?
As I mentioned, Katie and Brent were extremely gracious with us, they gave up their bedroom and let us bombard their space with luggage and tons of baby gear... it's a good thing they like us so much :) Due to the tight quarters, we lived out of our suitcases the entire trip... this gave somebody a new toy to play with and climb in...
We spent most of our time at the beach or at the pool. The Kruithof's live less than a 5 minute walk from the beach and the pool is right outside their front door. This was great for us because we could go to the beach for an hour, come back, lay Lucy down, set up the monitor and lay out by the pool while she napped. This made for some relaxing afternoons!
Note the clear skies - we had beautiful weather every day but one... and by that time we needed a break from the sun anyway!
I wanted to get a picture with the cruise ships in the background - Ben and my first visit to GC was on a cruise ship on our honeymoon. It was nice being at the island for a more extended trip this visit because we were able to do and see so many more things than you can fit in the 8 hours the cruise stop gives you. It was also nice to do things in the evenings and on weekends, once the cruise ships had left, everything was much less crowded.
The water in GC is typically very calm and clear, but one day we went to the beach and the waves were enormous! I wouldn't let Lucy go in, but here you can see how big the wave looks compared to Ben...
Lucy watching her daddy and thinking he's crazy...
For meals, we spent about half in and half out. Again, we were thankful to have the Kruithof's as our guide as they had already been to several restaurants and had great recommendations for us and we were thankful that they were ok with us eating breakfast, lunch and some dinners in their home... made the vacation expenses not so bad!
I took this picture because Katie said the sky looked so pretty, but it actually reminded me to post about how we had to feed Lucy. Without a high chair, we had to feed Lucy on our laps for every meal which was not only a little time consuming... it was also a little messy! Fortunately there were lots of birds and lizards that picked up all the residue (I think!)
Some pictures from our other meals...
We went to Hagandaaz one night to get their buy 2 get 1 free scoop deal.
"Thanksgiving" at Jenn and Nate's house
I guess the sign does all the explaining here...
Katie and Brent watched Lucy one night while we went out on a date. The restaurant pictures I took were too dark, but I wanted to point out that Ben did some driving on the island - all on the other side of the road! He did really well... didn't hit anyone or anything!
Those are the highlights of our trip- all in all a great time, and we miss the Kruithof's already! Crazy to think we might not see them for another year and a half!
Great post! Probably my favorite so far ;) We had so much fun with you guys. Glad you were able to rest up once you got home too. Hopefully Lucy is back to sleeping through the night?
ReplyDeleteShe is sleeping again, PTL! I think the trip home was exhausting enough to get her back on schedule... I kind of think maybe she hit a growth spurt or something? Maybe not, but she is back in the groove!
ReplyDeleteAw that looks great Jessi! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it!! I just wish our passports weren't expired so maybe we could have cruised to that beautiful place :) love the tan- and we miss lucy!!!!
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