Jamaica: Day 6 (morning)

Ok, I need to break Day 6 up into a few different posts. Too many pictures, too busy at work,, and oh yeah- GTA 4 just came out :)



Here are the youngsters early in the morning. Eating cheerios out of pink plastic cups became a very popular ritual.

Liam was drawing Flash, and Katharine was drawing Wonder Woman. The pictures came out really cool, but I can’t seem to find them. I’ll scan and post them if they ever turn up.

Lukas might have been drawing ants, Superman, Batman,,,, who knows.

The gardener put the sprinkler on and the kids decided that it was the greatest thing ever. It made me think that we could have just taken a week off, set up a sprinkler in our backyard and then called it a vacation.

The sprinkler soon moved on, so the kids headed to the pool. Lukas drank lots of pool water.

Katharine posed and splashed pink light everywhere.

The kids finally paired up into the deep and shallow end groups, and after some more swimming everyone would be off to the beach.

In the Miami airport, we passed by an exhibit of an artist who takes abstract photos of pools. All of the plastic reflecting into the water made me think of that.

Jamaica: Day 5

So after a little encouragment from Aiden,,, we have liftoff!

Lukas actually ran across the sand and into the water!

And the crowd went wild!

Now that the hard part was over, Lukas could start doing other beach stuff like showing off for girls. Unfortunately, Ava kept calling Lukas “Aiden” for the whole trip, so he still had some work to do.

That aside, he was pretty happy with himself. Everyone had a fun time at the beach that day.

Later on back at the villa, Liam and Katharine got to work on creating their “Jamaican Yogurt” recipe.

The kids got a special desert that night; Jamaica frozen pops (which quickly became ‘Jamaican melting pops’). Katharine, Lukas, Ava, Aiden and Liam all got their licks in and then went off to bed.

That night we all chipped in for a sitter to man the baby monitors, and the couples each went their own way for dinner and an evening out. Iria and I went to an Indian/Thai restaurant which made for a very interesting and satisfying combo, and then we walked up to the beach, sat down on a bench, and watched the ocean for a bit together. I think that this is what vacations are supposed to feel like,,,

New neighbors

This one goes out to Uncle Peter, the newest subscriber to our blog.

Our new neighbors moved in over the weekend. I haven't met them yet, but according to the sign on their truck it looks like Elvis sightings are imminent:

http://www.larry-lvis.com/index.html

Jamaica: Day 4

Day 4 started off peaceful and sunny. The clouds were now gone for good.

With all that sun came the first traces of sun burn; no matter how much we slathered on the sunblock. Katharine would stay in a hat for the rest of the day.

At the beach, Murphy found a little octopus in a piece of corral that he had picked up in the water.

Despite that, lunch was still soy butter pita wraps and fruit again.

Lennon appeared to really like the beach when he wasn’t tired or hungry.

Lukas’s aversion to the seashore continued. After crying for around ten minutes he finally passed out on the blanket. He slept there for almost two hours.

Meanwhile, construction continued on the sand castles and moats.

Back at the villa, Aiden is cracking Lennon up. I wish I had videotaped this. Aiden can make Lennon laugh like no other person I have yet seen. All he has to do is walk up and say “Helloooo, little Lennnnnonnnnn!”.

A dinner favorite for the kids was spaghettio’s (even with a whole bowl full of home cooked jerk chicken in the middle- go figure). Liam found a basil leaf in his bowl that night and wasn’t too happy about it.

Katharine usually lingered by the pool after dinner. She would just stick her feet in when no one else was swimming.

Lukas and Aiden would hunt down – you guessed it – ants.

Lukas goes to bed, but the ants never sleep. I didn’t get a picture of it, but later that night we swatted some cricket/roach type bug in the dining area. Within about 30 minutes there was a column of hundreds of ants making their way in from the outside and picking this thing apart. The dead bug and the ants were gone by the following morning. Good thing they don’t know where Lukas sleeps. They must not have liked him very much by this point (and he would end up with two ant bites on his foot before the end of the trip).

Jamaica: Day 3

On the third day the sun started to shine and we would settle into out daily vacation routine.

Wake up (way too early, of course) and wait around upstairs for a little bit so that we don’t wake the rest of the house up.

Search for ants out front before breakfast.

Hop in the cart after breakfast and then head to the beach.

Hang out at the beach through lunch and then split up for afternoon naps and pool time.

Pool fun (by now, the water was beginning to warm up).

Swim-up bar was always optional, but we never passed it up :)

Most of the time the villa’s cook and butler prepared the dinner for us at the house; but on this particular evening we attended the resort’s “beach barbeque” that they hold every week. Before the barbeque started, Lukas and the other kids had a lot of fun running around the croquet fields that were opposite the happy hour bar.

Katharine looked a little moody that night- must have been the full moon and the long camera exposure.

Off to the beach barbeque- where 70 dollars bought Iria and Katharine both a small plate of assorted fruit. This buffet was priced for big wallets and appetites (maybe I will bring the boys back in 15 years). All of the kids started to get a bit fussy, so we ended up leaving early. Note to self: find out what a dinner is going to cost before you start to eat.