Well almost the final leg! We have checked out of our room here and are heading to Sandals Whitehouse on the south side of Jamaica. Our trip will be 3 hours in total and we have opted for a nice taxi instead of a cramped bus to the airport and another to the resort.
We have had a good time here, although the weather hasn't been great! Blustery conditions have closed the watersports for the past 2 days and will continue today. We dove on Wednesday, our first dive of the trip. It was great and alot of fun but not enough for us. We will dive on the south side in hopes of clearer and calmer waters.
We've done some sightseeing but mainly just hung around here. The resort has 5 restaurants on site so no need to leave for anything!
We come home in a week and I am looking forward to scrapbooking our adventures.
Must go and share the computer. Cheers everyone!!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Next leg of the journey!!
The last time I wrote we were headed for Barbados (I think!). The turtles were amazing and what a great thing for all of the kids to experience. Sarah even touched one of their eyes (accidentally). We were then onto Grenada, where the kids stayed on the ship all day while we did some adult beach time. No throwing of the sand, no whining! Then a day at sea and then into beautiful Curasao. It was like opening the curtainds to Amsterdam. What a great place! All of the buildings are soft pastels and beautiful architecture. We snorkelled with the kids in the morning and then shopped alone in the afternoon....ahhhhh. Aruba the next day was another smaller European island. Our excursion in the afternoon included snorkelling at 2 places. One a very usual snorkel spot with some fish etc. The next (and the kids stayed on the boat for this one) was snorkeling over a 1944 WW2 German Freighter that had been captured by the Dutch and sunk (split in two). It was the best snorkel ever! The sea and currents were tough and I didn't want to lose anyone so they stayed onboard. The ship is in about 80 feet of water so you can't see what's coming from the bottom, it was a bit scary, but an amazing experience. Sunday we were at sea heading for San Juan and today we flew and drove all over the place.
I will give the broken down version of our trip to Jamaica and start it by saying...never again will Dwayne do the planning (and he knows it!!)!
We left the kids this morning with Kathy and Jeff as they headed home and we headed to Jamaica. Dw was intent on this place as it's somewhere he's always wanted to see. Well see it we have!!
He booked with RBC Vacations, using his Visa and got us into Jamaica, only 13 miles from the resort (told to him by the travel agent). We were thrilled to not have to do much road travel as we were so tired. We were smart and called from Miami to ensure that they would infact have a shuttle for us at the airport. Well, turns out, Dw flew us into the wrong airport! We tried and tried to change it but our bags had been checked through and there were no other flight options until Wednesday. So onto Kingston we flew! We were told during the phone call that an inner-island flight or a taxi would be needed. Dw chose to not give me any other info...hmmmm!
Arriving in Kingston we found a local on the plane who was very helpful and even made it through customs before us finding us a taxi for the ride. The driver watched for us and quoted us a price in US$....$140 for the ride...WHAT???
Three hours later we arrived at our resort. The roads were a combination of the highway to Hells Gate, Pender Island, and the #3 Hwy. It was insane. Turns out, the airport is 13 miles away...AS THE CROW FLYS!! We had to go around a mtn and over another....it was crazy.
We are off to bed now to catch up on some sleep.
Will write when I can think again. Cheers to you all!!
I will give the broken down version of our trip to Jamaica and start it by saying...never again will Dwayne do the planning (and he knows it!!)!
We left the kids this morning with Kathy and Jeff as they headed home and we headed to Jamaica. Dw was intent on this place as it's somewhere he's always wanted to see. Well see it we have!!
He booked with RBC Vacations, using his Visa and got us into Jamaica, only 13 miles from the resort (told to him by the travel agent). We were thrilled to not have to do much road travel as we were so tired. We were smart and called from Miami to ensure that they would infact have a shuttle for us at the airport. Well, turns out, Dw flew us into the wrong airport! We tried and tried to change it but our bags had been checked through and there were no other flight options until Wednesday. So onto Kingston we flew! We were told during the phone call that an inner-island flight or a taxi would be needed. Dw chose to not give me any other info...hmmmm!
Arriving in Kingston we found a local on the plane who was very helpful and even made it through customs before us finding us a taxi for the ride. The driver watched for us and quoted us a price in US$....$140 for the ride...WHAT???
Three hours later we arrived at our resort. The roads were a combination of the highway to Hells Gate, Pender Island, and the #3 Hwy. It was insane. Turns out, the airport is 13 miles away...AS THE CROW FLYS!! We had to go around a mtn and over another....it was crazy.
We are off to bed now to catch up on some sleep.
Will write when I can think again. Cheers to you all!!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Carribean vacation #2
Today we had our first day at sea. A very quiet day on the ocean and I swear we are crawling along, the birds are flying faster. Right now, we are 30miles off the coast of Venezuela. Curacao(pronounced cur-a-so) is our stop for tomorrow. The weather hasn't been fabulous and in Grenada it poured with rain in the morning, but come on, it's the kind of rain you still where your tank top and swim suit in. We opted for a child free day yesterday. The kids club has had it's hit and miss days and yesterday was a hit. We dropped them off at 10 am and proceeded ashore. A water taxi to a small yet 'serviced' beach was only $5 each. We spent the day snorkeling, drinking beer, fending off beach merchants and testing out the local food. It was the best $20 we've ever spent. Grenada is very different from other Antilles islands as it is less developed and the list of excursions is 5 compared to 45 at Barbados.
Tonight is formal night and we are off to the restaurant to have the lobster and baked Alaska. The shows on board are amazing and the kids are having a great time attending dinners and shows.
I think that's all for now. We are in Aruba day after tomorrow and I will blog after that. Must run now and get ready for dinner....YUM!!
Tonight is formal night and we are off to the restaurant to have the lobster and baked Alaska. The shows on board are amazing and the kids are having a great time attending dinners and shows.
I think that's all for now. We are in Aruba day after tomorrow and I will blog after that. Must run now and get ready for dinner....YUM!!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Barbados bound!!
Well here we are....finished at St. Lucia and bound for Barbados. This has been amazing so far!
Our journey started on Wednesday evening with a stay at the airport Fairmont and then up at 5:30am Thursday to get the kids ready for our day. We checked in and everything was great. We got on the plane bound for Chicago and our movie was 'Night at the Museum' (it was actually really good!)
Arrived in Chicago 4 hours later and then realized that our flight to San Juan was delayed and in fact didn't even have a gate to park at (that's never a good sign!!). We have since found out that the east coast has suffered a terrible ice storm and it paralized many airports (some passengers we have met arrived on board 2 days late...ick!). Our flight took off 1 1/2 hours late and we were finally off to San Juan. We arrived in SJ at 12:30am (they're time, 9:30 BC time) and found our airport hotel, which isn't a Fairmont but a Best Western...need I say more ;o) In the morning we got a tour of the old city, parliment buildings and of course the Bacardi plant. It was a great way to start the vacation!
Our ship is lovely and the service is impeccable (spelling is on vacation too!). The food has been out of this world and my weightloss is out the window but we are working out daily and enjoying it. Our first stop was Tortola, BVI, nice place, we found a taxi and the driver took us on a little tour of the Island and then for a day of snorkeling...wow...azure blue has a new meaning! Then we were off to St. Maarten. We shopped and shopped and shopped, and the kids are sick of it! Today we were at St. Lucia where we were on an excursion on the Brig Unicorn, one of the ships used in the Pirates of the Carribean movie, it was the Interceptor (haven't seen the movie but Cam says it's a cool ship!!). We snorkelled and played in the sand and Dwayne and I read our books.
The kids have met many great kids and Sarah has become fast friends with twin girls from Victoria, Maggie and Molly so they are our to dinner together tonight. Cam is having a great time also and is keeping us hopping! Sushi each night as a snack on deck 11 aft and then dinner later.
I will go and make sure I can get some pics onto the disk for room tomorrow.
We are off to Barbados and a snorkel adventure with Green Sea turtles and a shipwreck...check back for an update.
We miss you all but are having a great time reconnecting as a family, lots of great conversation and goals to be set.
Cheers to you all!
Our journey started on Wednesday evening with a stay at the airport Fairmont and then up at 5:30am Thursday to get the kids ready for our day. We checked in and everything was great. We got on the plane bound for Chicago and our movie was 'Night at the Museum' (it was actually really good!)
Arrived in Chicago 4 hours later and then realized that our flight to San Juan was delayed and in fact didn't even have a gate to park at (that's never a good sign!!). We have since found out that the east coast has suffered a terrible ice storm and it paralized many airports (some passengers we have met arrived on board 2 days late...ick!). Our flight took off 1 1/2 hours late and we were finally off to San Juan. We arrived in SJ at 12:30am (they're time, 9:30 BC time) and found our airport hotel, which isn't a Fairmont but a Best Western...need I say more ;o) In the morning we got a tour of the old city, parliment buildings and of course the Bacardi plant. It was a great way to start the vacation!
Our ship is lovely and the service is impeccable (spelling is on vacation too!). The food has been out of this world and my weightloss is out the window but we are working out daily and enjoying it. Our first stop was Tortola, BVI, nice place, we found a taxi and the driver took us on a little tour of the Island and then for a day of snorkeling...wow...azure blue has a new meaning! Then we were off to St. Maarten. We shopped and shopped and shopped, and the kids are sick of it! Today we were at St. Lucia where we were on an excursion on the Brig Unicorn, one of the ships used in the Pirates of the Carribean movie, it was the Interceptor (haven't seen the movie but Cam says it's a cool ship!!). We snorkelled and played in the sand and Dwayne and I read our books.
The kids have met many great kids and Sarah has become fast friends with twin girls from Victoria, Maggie and Molly so they are our to dinner together tonight. Cam is having a great time also and is keeping us hopping! Sushi each night as a snack on deck 11 aft and then dinner later.
I will go and make sure I can get some pics onto the disk for room tomorrow.
We are off to Barbados and a snorkel adventure with Green Sea turtles and a shipwreck...check back for an update.
We miss you all but are having a great time reconnecting as a family, lots of great conversation and goals to be set.
Cheers to you all!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Only 4 sleeps left!
Yes there are only 4 sleeps until we are off for our spring vacation. We can hardly wait! The kids and I have started packing. Dwayne is working hard to get everything off of his desk and ready for some time off.
We can hardly wait!!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Beautiful day!
Today was simply lovely!! What a day, quiet and sunny. Temperature in the high teens and sun that could help with some Vitamin D! It's been a few days since I blogged and thought I had better get on this! (apparently I'm very excited today, there will be lots of excitement marks(my sisters saying) !!)
Our weekend was great! It's not very often that I get to spend time with my girl, when she's not dancing or riding or any other thing that she loves to do. We spent the evening in Vancouver at the Rascal Flatts concert...what a blast! They put on an amazing show, pyrotechnics, confetti and all! With seats in the 9th row, lower bowl, Sarah was going down to the stage every chance she got and got some great shots of up close stuff and even an actual wave from a singer. At one point the security guard asked her if she wanted to go down onto the floor, she squeezed her way up to the stage and got a handshake! She was so happy and although we were only 1/2 way through the concert, she was so happy and could've left then!
It was a great chance for Sarah and I to spend some time chatting on the way in and out and sharing some great memories.
Sunday night Dwayne and I were at the hockey game with the Wild playing our 'Nucks. It was a great game and I was even lucky enough to see my first, in person, shootout. We won, and it was such a great night. Dwayne and I haven't spent a lot of time together lately, snow, work, kids, life, snow, work.....you know the routine! I am really looking forward to being sick of him while we're on vacation!
PS: I can't seem to get the pics off of our camera, so this is a boring post with none! Soon, I'll do it soon!
Our weekend was great! It's not very often that I get to spend time with my girl, when she's not dancing or riding or any other thing that she loves to do. We spent the evening in Vancouver at the Rascal Flatts concert...what a blast! They put on an amazing show, pyrotechnics, confetti and all! With seats in the 9th row, lower bowl, Sarah was going down to the stage every chance she got and got some great shots of up close stuff and even an actual wave from a singer. At one point the security guard asked her if she wanted to go down onto the floor, she squeezed her way up to the stage and got a handshake! She was so happy and although we were only 1/2 way through the concert, she was so happy and could've left then!
It was a great chance for Sarah and I to spend some time chatting on the way in and out and sharing some great memories.
Sunday night Dwayne and I were at the hockey game with the Wild playing our 'Nucks. It was a great game and I was even lucky enough to see my first, in person, shootout. We won, and it was such a great night. Dwayne and I haven't spent a lot of time together lately, snow, work, kids, life, snow, work.....you know the routine! I am really looking forward to being sick of him while we're on vacation!
PS: I can't seem to get the pics off of our camera, so this is a boring post with none! Soon, I'll do it soon!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
A gift??
Yes I am writing this post at 12:16AM on Thursday morning, I'm here and bored and need something to do!You see, Mother Nature has played a nasty trick on the people of Abbotsford. We received about 5cms of snow tonight (is that last night or this morning?). It was actually coming down so hard at one point that I thought it was foggy out!
We now have our salt crews out working and doing our Abby sites and a couple of plowers are working hard too.
The kids automatically think it'll be a snow day and due to my pre-occupation with the snow and the office tonight, didn't go to bed until 9:30 'cause 'we won't go in the morning mom so you can sleep and have some time off'. How kind of them to think of me (or are they thinking of themselves??)!!