Tales From The Beach...with Kids.

Happy Hump Day!

On Monday afternoon the girls and I headed out to the beach house for a week of sun, fun, and water! It's become a July 4th tradition the past two years. 

July 4th 2014

The group of us includes my family, plus my brother Jay, Katie, Kennedy, Alisha, Harper, and Josh.

We've been relaxing  hanging out and doing nothing but playing, eating, drinking...and teaching these kids how to share. 

Sitting around yesterday we started talking about what it would be like if we didn't have kids with us and nobody in the group was about to give birth (Alisha's due date is a little over 2 weeks). Basically we'd be over at the beach tiki bar, hanging around at the pool, reading magazines, getting sun, maybe a trip to the spa, and most likely 100% tipsy. 

There is no argument that vacationing with kids, is something some people wouldn't even call a vacation. I'm talking young kids, under the age of 5. 

It's exhausting at times, frustrating at times, but it's all about building these memories and having fun WITH OUR KIDS. But sometimes what we think would be fun for our kids, turns out not to be fun for anyone. 

That's how this morning went. 

We decided to take a early trip to the beach, figuring if there's any "best" time to go to the beach, it's as early as we can possibly get out there. 

We figured we'd only be there for about an hour, two at most, so we packed light. Sunscreen,towels, and water. We loaded the kids up in their strollers and down the road we strolled to the beach.

By the time we made it to the sand, the fun level was already at 70%. It was 10 am and miserably hot. 

A couple meters into the sand, towards the water, pulling two strollers and four kids with us. Fun level 50%. 

Then a very nice couple saw us struggling and helped us with the stroller. 
Fun level 60%.

Thinking about the way back without this wonderful help, I told the nice couple to just park our strollers by the grassy area (probably 100 yards from the ocean). We parked the strollers, gathered our valuables and headed to the water. 

All four kids were racing to the water, screaming "water!!" with excitement! (They've seen the ocean before...)

Fun level 100%!

We get to the shore line and the excitement stops. No one wants to go in the ocean. Partly because we're all secretly scared of getting that flesh eating bacteria and partly because the water was a bit choppy. The girls had little interest, other than looking at the waves come crashing in. 

We walked along the shore for maybe 5 minutes. Took some photos, sat in the sand, smiled, and thought about how much better the pool sounded than this sticky misery.

Getting the strollers back to the road was something out of a comedy. We had Alisha thinking she's about to go into labor, Harper not wanting anyone to carry her except Alisha. Me with the two girls, two beach bags, and a double stroller. And Katie with the stroller, cooler, and Kennedy.

I don't know if you've ever tried pushing a stroller in the sand, but let me highly discourage you from ever giving it a try.

We made it to the house, after all kids had their own kind of melt down along the way, and immediately jumped in the pool. We decided not to give the beach another go until the guys came back to help us with everything. 

While it had it's enjoyable moments, the experience was one that makes us wonder why we ever thought it was a good idea to being with. That's what we get for trying to create these fun adventures with the kids, when they're happiest in the pool with a Popsicle. :) Life with Kids. 

P.S. Alisha didn't go into labor.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week!! 

XOXO

Jamaica Part 2: Venturing Outside the Resort

Morning! How did you like Part 1 of our Jamaican adventures? 

On to the rest of the adventures...

We ventured outside the resort only two times this trip. I wanted the girl's to be able to get in as much pool and beach time as they wanted, but also wanted them to experience some of Jamaica's natural offerings. 

Thursday afternoon we traveled outside the resort to a place called Lobster Daves, which is located by MargaritaVille in Ocho Rios. It's $20 per person and all you can eat lobster, fish, and sides. We brought all the beverages from our hotel room fridge, so we walked up to Lobster Daves with backpacks full of Red Stripe.

I was told these are called Chicken lobsters. They are smaller in size to what I'm used to seeing, but taste delicious! The sauce they put on top was also amazing. 

Fried fish. I didn't eat this but everyone else did and raved about it. 

Sides included rice and peas, cucumber and tomato salad, and this platter of fried goodness. Sweet bead, plantains, and fried bammy (Jamaican bread)

There was enough food for everyone to eat plus probably 10 more people. We ate until we couldn't possibly fit another thing in our mouth. 

All around Lobster Dave's are small shop vendors. This had pros and cons. The pro was that they entertained the kids. The con was that entertainment had a price. We walked away with full tummies, 5 necklaces, and 2 bracelets. After our cash ran out, one guy wanted us to trade Angelo's Oakley sunglasses for a $2 necklace...fair?

After stuffing ourselves (that was a reoccurring situation on this trip) we started the journey to the Blue Hole. We had a tour guide/friend in the van with us to take the ride. If we didn't, we probably would of never made it. 

If you ask for directions in Jamaica expect for it to sound something like this:

Things heard during the car ride to the Blue Hole:

"There's a pot hole, just go to the right." 

"Take a left after this bush"

"Go up the hill, down, then back up"

"Don't worry, that dog/goat will move...keep going"

"Don't stop here, this isn't the blue hole, they just want to you think it is.."  - What does that even mean?!

*TIP* Take a tour guide (or someone who knows anything about Jamaica) with you every time you leave the resort area.

After an anxiety attack and reviving myself to life, we made it to the Island Gully Falls which is a less touristy part of the Blue Holes. We had our guides, Julian and Tony, who colored me beyond impressed! They were SO amazing with all the kids, and fearless climbing trees, WALKING up and down the waterfall, bouncing around the falls like basketballs. We were all wide eyed just watching them do their thing. Along with that entertainment, we all got to jump and swing off the falls too. The water and scenery was beautiful. Highly recommend this excursion!

Our group! Can you picture us all shoved in a van rolling up a mountain? That happened...

Girl power

The falls

Beautiful tropical plants surrounding us

The last of the "blue holes" where we swam around. 

That's all the outside excursions we did as a family, besides going to a local grocery store to get jerk seasoning and Appleton Rum. #Essentials

Others in the group went to Duns River Falls on Saturday. Duns River Falls is another excursion were you climb up a waterfall. We did Duns River five years ago and I highly recommend it if you've never been. 

Picture from the website

The rest of the vacation was spent at the bar..I mean pool. Well there are bars in the pools so same thing really. :)

I hope you enjoyed my Jamaican Vacation Recap posts! 

XOXO

Jamaica Part 1: The Resort Life

Hey there sunshine!

We are officially back from our short but sweet Jamaican vacation! This post will be anything but short, although certainly sweet!! 

Life's hustle and bustle was put on pause for 5 days while we had no worries in Jamaica. I mean really...no worries. Everything in Jamaica is "Whatcha need Princess?" followed by a "Yeah mon" and "No problem!" You might feel like Kate Middleton for a couple days with all those Princess words being thrown around. :)

Usually when we go out of town, I research, plan, and research some more. I want to know where the best places to eat are and the best kept secrets of the towns. I want to know where the locals go, because those are the best places, right?

When we go to Jamaica, I am free from all that. This was our second time traveling to Jamaica. Both times we were accompanied by great family friends, Mike & Karina, who grew up in Jamaica, have many friends there, and are friendly with the locals. They are in-the-know when it comes to anything Jamaica = Total relaxation for me! 

The first time we went was five years ago, before kids, and what a difference a vacation is with kids! While the vacations were similar (same hotel...), they are almost completely different. 

To say we had a great time would be an understatement. The smiles and pure excitement on my kids faces every day was incredible. It's what makes my world go round.

So let's begin!
Here's how our trip went:

Wednesday morning we woke up at 4:30 a.m to make the drive to Orlando. Our plane was at 10:15 a.m. and we landed in Montego Bay around noon. The girl's were wonderful on the plane ride. Penelope slept almost the entire flight, and Sophia was so busy enjoying everything to even make a peep, except to ask for more juice. 

Once we arrived to Montego Bay and went through customs, we rented a van and made the trek to Ocho Rios (about 70 minutes from Monetgo Bay airport).

On our way to Ocho Rios we stopped at a place called Scotchy's where we picked up jerk chicken, pork, festivals (fried bread), and chicken vegetable soup. A wonderful and enticing welcome to Jamaica!

Almost to the hotel, Mike wanted to buy some pineapples from a road side vendor. I won't even tell you now much the Pineapples were but Mike said "no worries, these are the best pineapples you'll ever taste in your life." He was right. He had the waiters at the resort cut a pineapple for us at each dinner and these pineapples were so sweet and delicious. I'll never look at pineapple the same way again. Step your pineapple game up Publix. 

We made it to the hotel, pineapples in hand & on the shirt, and checked into our slice of paradise.

We stay at the Riu Ocho Rios. It's an All-Inclusive hotel very close to Dunns River and all the shops of Ocho Rios. I've only stayed in one other all-inclusive in Mexico (honeymoon trip), so don't have much to compare it to. I know there are tons of all-inclusive resorts, some adult only.

If there is one thing I love about the Riu resort, it is how kid-friendly it is. There are so many activities going on for both us and the kids. They have a kid's club with playground, nightly kid's shows at 7 p.m., and the food buffets have almost everything imaginable, so no worries if you have a picky eater! 

There are two sides to this Riu resort. The adult-only pool on one side and a kid friendly pool on the other. Obviously we stayed on the kid-friendly side, and not only is it kid-friendly, it's the FUN side. It's where the Riu Entertainment team is, so you have water volleyball, water polo, water aerobics, dancing, singing, bars, in-water lounge chairs, and a beach entry for kids. Sign me up! 

Sophia & Nelpe were 100% interested in the pools, beach, and banana smoothies! 

Penelope would like to tell you all about the fresh banana smoothies she enjoyed daily. 

Sophia's swimming got better each day. She is my little fishy and NEVER wanted to leave the pool.

She rested only for those banana smoothies!

Besides hanging around swimming and playing on the beach, we ate. And by golly miss molly, we ate! 

The Food:

Fresh fruit & Juice Bar every morning

Jerk Chicken buffet for lunch. This is usually done out on the beach at a place called Jerk Hut, but since the weather wasn't ideal when we got there, it was brought onto the patio. 

BEST JERK CHICKEN EVER! 

I didn't get pictures of the regular lunch buffets, dinner buffets, 24 hour pizza/pasta buffets, or all the other snacks they have out for you to eat whenever your heart desires. You will never be hungry while you stay there. If anything, you may actually get tired of eating so much! It's possible... :)

There is so much to do at Riu Ocho Rios, we honestly didn't even do it all! Along with everything in this post, they have FREE kayak, sailboat, paddle boat, and wind kite surfing rentals. I saw stand up paddle boards and got so excited to do it! It turns out they were from the resort next door. Hopefully they get some at Riu for next time! (Anyone in Jamaica reading this?!)

We didn't get to enjoy any spa treatments while we were there. If you want a massage by the pool, on the beach, or in the spa, you got it! Sophia got her first massage by the pool! A three year old enjoying a back, neck, and hand massage sitting there at the pool!! {Heaven}

They have a small casino with slot machines and a sports bar which we unfortunately spent some time in. :) Why were there so many "important" sports games going on this past week?! Basketball, Hockey, Soccer...it never ends.   :)

I'm sure I'm missing SOMETHING about our fabulous time at Riu Ocho Rios. Writing this makes me want to hop on a plane and go back. It's truly an amazing vacation spot!

Check in tomorrow for Part 2 of our Jamaican Vacation: Outside the Resort!

XOXO