Turks & Caicos in Review

This is going to be a photo-heavy post.  Hopefully it won't take forever to load...just wanting to preserve some family memories of our trip...

Day 1

It was our first evening on the island and we hit the ocean right away (that's Ava emerging from the water).  As I mentioned in the previous post, it was cloudy most of the time we were there but in the end, I really liked it that way.  Perfect temperature, really...

Ava's favorite part of this vacation was snorkeling to look at the fish and to find seashells.  She came home with a baggie full of shells.  Made for a nice souvenir.

This little sandy girl was not as enthused about the ocean as her sister.  She quickly named it the "crazy ocean" and was not keen on going down there to spend time.  We were surprised at her reaction because she does love the water.  After observing for awhile, we realized she didn't like the "crazy ocean" because the waves would wash in and knock her off balance or destroy whatever sand creation she was building.  After I showed her how to sit beyond the reach of the waves, she was better about spending time at the ocean, but still not entirely happy about it.  Funny girl!

We were surprised to find our room had an awesome ocean view!  We weren't expecting that but really enjoyed it (of course).  We were in the older section of rooms but because of that, we got this great view and the room was HUGE!  Bigger than our first apartment by a long shot.  We also had two rooms, two big balconies and a kitchenette.  This was our first night there and was probably one of the best sunsets as well...

Day 2

This began our second day on the island.  I am frequently amazed at the genuine love between these two.  I am so thankful for the friendship they are developing...

Dinner at Mario's that night had Ava in fits of laughter over something she had done.  Both she and Amelia have wonderful, infectious laughter.  

After dinner we strolled back to the ocean and we hit the shore at the right time because the sun reflecting off the water was just gorgeous!  Such beautiful oranges, pinks and yellows.  Really one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen...here are a few more pictures from that evening...

This is just a cute one I shot of the girls at bedtime.  As you can see, they had a trundle bed and Ava slept on the upper part...most of the time ;-)

Day 3

Our third day in Turks and Ava and Amelia finally got to play with this large chess set the resort had sitting out.  Even though they don't know how to play, they had fun pretending to know how and moving all the pieces around.

Jason smartly chose a good seat to watch their chess antics from...


Day 4

They had a wonderful water park at this resort as well.  Amelia's favorite thing to do is play in shallow water and the toddler section here had plenty of places for her to play.  What a cute girl!

This was such a funny shot - Amelia had found a thin blue piece of plastic and she was bent over like this for at least 5 minutes at a time, trying to tie it on like an ankle bracelet.

Another shot of Jason and Ava snorkeling...

This resort has the Sesame Street characters there and usually one to two of them stopped in at the children's camp each day.  Amelia just really fell in love with Zoe so when we saw her walking around the resort, Amelia asked if she could have her picture with Zoe!  

Today marked Amelia's second anniversary of her Gotcha Day!  We celebrated by going to a fun "Benihana" style restaurant at the resort.  I was able to order a yummy chocolate cake for her as well and everyone at our table sang to her and shared in our cake.  It was fun evening!

Ava and Amelia were the only kids at the table and our chef was quite happy to have Ava help him cook the meal ;-)

Amelia's yummy chocolate mousse cake!  The chefs were very confused about what a Gotcha Day was, but they spelled it right on her cake! ;-)

Day 5

We started off our fifth day by going on an excursion!  We took a huge catamaran out into the ocean to do some snorkeling, then some swimming, exploration of an uninhabited island, conch shell collecting, lunch, playing on the water slide on the boat that emptied in to the ocean, etc.  It was a great morning!!  Here are some pictures...

Back at the resort, I was able to snap a shot of Ava utilizing the swim up bar in the kids' pool to order one of her favorite fruity, sugary drinks.

There was also ice cream and cotton candy to be had for free at anytime of the day or night.  It felt it little like Pleasure Island on Pinocchino - anything you wanted at anytime.  

As expected, the landscaping was gorgeous.  Ava was a little sleepy for this picture, so I did my best to wake her up

Day 6

Just another day in paradise....

You know it's going to be a good day when your feet start off looking like this...

Little hard to see, but right in front of that woman's hand, in the water, you will see the outline of a shark.  Yes, a dark-colored shark, about 5 feet long, came swimming by this morning.  And yes, that is the shoreline in the bottom left hand corner.  He just paralleled the shore line by about 10 feet and swam the length of the beach then headed back out to deeper waters.  Little freaky!

We made a quick stop in the Martha Stewart craft studio so Ava and Amelia could glue some glitter on some shells and wooden skateboards.  It was fun for them and made a great memory and souvenir for them to take home.

Even Ava likes to stop and pose with the celebrities there...

Amelia finally found a slide she liked (translation = a slide that didn't have sprays of water hitting you in the face as you went down it).  After she found this slide, she went down it over and over and over and over again for about 1 1/2 hours!

More fun at Elmo's birthday party!

Our last evening on the island and we decided to eat at Mario's one last time.  There was a wait so we relaxed on some comfy chairs nearby.  If I remember right, a rain shower had just passed through and it was so nice to sit and listen to the rain...

I think our girls had one of these fruity drinks in their hands at all times while we were there.  It was an all inclusive so they were constantly ordering these yummy treats!

Our last morning there and we had some professional shots taken on the beach...here are a few more...

I think I shared how Amelia finally began to enjoy the ocean waves just hours before we left.  Well Jason was standing up on the boardwalk area and caught these cute photos of Amelia running away from the waves, having fun!  So cute!

Well that was our trip in a nutshell...we loved it so much and hope to go again soon!  Thanks for hanging in and letting me share our photos with you...

Video of the Week - Week 22 - Turks & Caicos

I shot this video on my phone about 45 minutes before we left for the airport.  Our luggage had already been taken to the "departure lounge" so the girls had to frolic in the ocean in their clothes.  I pulled Amelia's pants off because I knew she would get them wet. Luckily, she wearing a long shirt  :-)  What astounded me about this video, is that this was the most Amelia ever played in the water the entire time we were here!  Yes, the last hour we were in Turks, Amelia finally discovered that the "crazy ocean" (as she called it) can be fun.  I think she didn't like how the ocean waves rolled in and knocked her off balance but here, in the last few moments of our time on the island, she finally negotiated where and how to stand to keep from getting knocked over.

Project 365 Days 149-155

Still playing catch-up...at this rate, I'll still be posting about 2011 in 2013!!  Yes, Ava starts school on Monday and I'm just now posting about the first day of summer!  Oh well, better late than never...here are the daily pics from our time in Turks & Caicos...

Day 149 - May 29

We literally got off the plane, onto a shuttle to the resort, dropped our bags in our room, changed into swimsuits and hit the ocean.  Well, the girls hit the ocean.  Jason and my bag was lost!  We were quite concerned but the airline employees were very relaxed about it.  Apparently this happens a lot there.  We did get our bag back about midnight so by morning, all was well.  Ava was so excited to go swimming in the ocean - she's a fish!

Day 150 - May 30

I think the sun only came out for about 6 hours total the entire week we were there.  At first, I was a little bummed at the overcast skies but I quickly realized how scorching the sun was when it did come out and how nice and balmy it was without the sun!  Ava and I still managed to get a little burned but overall, I ended up loving the warm, cloudy skies. And besides, when you're snorkeling, you don't notice whether it's sunny or not (because you're always looking down)!

Day 151 - May 31

They have many great restaurants at this resort, I think 16 in all, and on this evening, we chose to eat at a restaurant directly on the beach.  As in, there is no flooring, only sand!  The kitchen is out there too!  Anyway, it made for some soft lighting as the sun set and I got this beautiful picture of Ava.

Day 152 - June 1

We also did lots of swimming in the 4 or 5 enormous pools they have there.  This picture was taken after an evening swim, before we went out to celebrate Amelia's Gotcha Day with dinner at a Benihana-style restaurant (new post to follow on that!).

Day 153 - June 2

Today, we took a huge catamaran out on the ocean, did some snorkeling, sea shell collecting and exploration of a small, uninhabited island.  Amelia got very brave and walked out onto the canvas strap "netting" that was stretched between the two "arms" (don't know if that's the right term) of the boat.  Love how exotic she looks here.  We had a great time on the boat too!

Day 154 - June 3

I wasn't kidding.  This is really how Ava spent MUCH of her vacation time here.  Glad we thought to bring her snorkeling gear!

Day 155 - June 4

Our last day here and we booked some time to have one of the professional photographers at the resort snap some pictures so we could get everyone in the picture.  And the sun actually came out for a bit during the shoot so we got some photos where you could really see the aquamarine color of the water! 

I Heart Faces - Beautiful Eyes

Just got back from vacation last night and saw this week's challenge.  As soon as I saw the theme - I thought of this picture immediately...

Video of the Week - Week 21 - Amelia Singing

This is a cute video I shot in the car...I love how Amelia sings "Padda cake padda cake..."  ;-)

Project 365 Days 142-148

Please bear with me as I try and catch up - hopefully I can start blogging about things other than just our mundane, day to day activities!

Day 142 - May 22

The girls had their end of the year awards ceremony for Awana.  Both of the girls did very well - we started late in the year and yet Amelia finished 1/2 of her first book and Ava finished one entire book and got through the first 1/4 of the second book!

Day 143 - May 23

Here is a recent family portrait that Ava drew.  Notice how I am dressed in a muumuu and Ava has drawn herself, well, shall we say in a voluptuous manner? :-)

Day 144 - May 24

Gorgeous butterfly I shot through the window in our bedroom

Day 145 - May 25

Rosie looks like she's been attacked and is lying here dead!  But instead, this was to document my first foray into shaving her.  If you go online, a great battle wages about whether to shave your Pyrenees or not.  But with temperatures getting warmer, I decided to try it and see how she does.  This was about half-way through the shave.  I did not take an after picture, though, because I did not want to embarrass Rosie with my poor shave job.

Day 146 - May 26

Speaking of shave jobs, this one was a much better job because I took Nicky in to have it done at the vets!  Every year, Nicky is very lazy about grooming himself and usually, come spring time, he is one big mat of fur.  So, I take him in, they give him a little sleepy medication, and he comes back looking like this!  Not so pretty but oh so much more comfortable!  Notice his little poochy belly - he is not missing any of his mealtimes, obviously.

Day 147 - May 27

Ava's last day of school!  She is posing here with her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. B.  Her teacher this year was a much different personality than last year's teacher and it was interesting to see how Ava did under the different teaching styles.  She did very well and yet was excited for summer to begin!  Here are her first and last day of school pics side by side:

A little bit hard to see a comparison because I didn't take the shot at exactly the same spot but you can see her face has changed some and her hair is definitely longer!

Day 148 - May 28

The day before we left for Turks & Caicos on vacation, Rosie turns up limping badly on her front leg.  So a quick trip into the vet assured us it was just a sprain but on the way to the vet, Rosie couldn't help but sneak her head out the sunroof to get some fresh air!

Next week's pictures should be FUN because we were in Turks & Caicos all week!  Can't wait to share some with you...