Jamaica...Part 3

We've been back for awhile, but I just wanted to update with the last of the pics I will be posting on our trip...
We went out a few of the nights to take some pictures by the BEAUTIFUL sunsets they have there. LOOK HOW COOL this picture is. I LOVE it! It looks like we use Photoshop to add Kylie and Brian in, but we didn't! :) This is how it looked when I snapped it. Too fun!!!

Kylie and I posing.


And Matt posing with his significant other. :) (Apparently he's taken pictures like this wherever he goes. Then when he gets married, we really can Photoshop his woman in and instantly they will have been on all these trips together! :) )

We went on a glass bottom boat tour while we were there. To be honest....snorkeling is so much better, but this was a fun way for Kylie to see some fish! :) She loved it and looked so cute in her life vest!

Kylie LOVES to swim! Which is good because 90% of the time we were here, we were in the water or by the water! :) It's so hot...you just want to be in the water at all times. :) There is a lazy river here that is actually quite fast. It's great. Although instead of using inner tubes, you just wear a life vest. It was better because you got to actually soak in the water and be taken around. Anyway: we took the life vest Kylie had on over to one of the pools when Matt and Brian went scuba diving, because she wasn't liking her floaties. It was SO CUTE to see her swimming around. She would just tip over at first, but after working with her for a few minutes, she just LOVED to swim. It was so cute. When the boys got back, we took a quick video of her...

After all that swimming....you must take a break and sip on some fun "Blended Fruit Punch" while you are swimming! (The boys loved to go get these fruit drinks all day. BFP and the Creamsicle were the faves.)

That cutie girl totally focusing on her treading water. :)A great shot of Matt jumping in the water. :)

We went on a little walk down the beach and found some people selling their homemade Jamaican crafts. It was super fun. We both bought a turtle carved out of wood and this was the artist. He called himself a "Jamaican Mountain Man." It was fun.

Brian surprised Kylie and I with a nail appointment together. :) HOW CUTE is she?! Propping her little feet up and holding SO STILL while she got her nails done. She loved it and kept talking about it the rest of the trip. :) My little pretty girl!

Matt taking some time to hang with Oscar.

Kylie LOVED the Sesame Street characters all around. We went to the shows they did at night. The first time she wouldn't get too close. Then all she wanted to do was get up on stage. She would go over to the stairs and start climbing up there to give them a hug. They wouldn't let her up there, of course, but it was so funny. My little shy girl wanting to get up on stage! :)

A family photo taken on one of our nightly beach walks. (Man....posting all these pictures is making me a bit Jamaica-sick! I want to go back!!!!! :) )

One of our fave restaurants is "Kimonos." It's a Hibachi style cooking place. This guy...Marlin...was THE BEST! He was hilarious! He sang all sorts of songs for us and was so entertaining and fun!

One of the nights, Brian surprised me with a private candlelight dinner. It was sunny at first, but we got to watch the sun set right next to the ocean. It was so wonderful!

Here is our personalize dinner menu. (Brian got to pick all the food we would be having.) It was YUMMY!!!!

Look how talented our server was! Yes....we were impressed! :)

Meet Fritz. (Matt on the left, Fritz on the right) We had to get a pic of him because seriously...he was EVERYWHERE! We would see him MULTIPLE times every day. (He worked there.) All over the place. It was quite funny. We actually expected him to be on our flight home with us! :) He was quite a nice guy and we had funny chatting with him. The employees here really are the best! They are so friendly and so good with the kids and so much fun to be around!!!This is the dive boat that would take the guys scuba diving. Brian and Matt went a few times while we were there, and I never got a pic of them. So here you go! :) They had a good time doing it. Next time it's my turn! :) I can't wait to get certified! I just thought this was cool. In the gift shop window, this was on display. The umbrella, sun, and beach chair are made out of flip flops! I think I need a display like this in my home! :)

So they have this desk where you can conveniently book your next trip while you are currently enjoying the one you are on. Brian made frequent stops here! :) We actually did book another one for next year, but we are going to cancel it. (So sad.....I know. But not really. We are cancelling it because we are going to visit Brian's brother and family in Australia!!!! They are moving there for a few years and we want to make sure we get out there while we are there!) Anyway: there was our Jamaica trip. It was a blast and I HIGHLY recommend this if you want a fun family vacation! We know we are hooked! :)

Happy Birthday Kylie!!!!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! My baby girl turned 3 today! I can't believe she is so old! Where did the time go?! It made me cry a bit last night when I really thought about how old she is. She has grown up so fast and is changing all the time. I love to watch her learn new things each day. I love to hear all the funny things she says. I LOVE when she will tell me she loves me out of no where. I love to see the sweet girl she is becoming. I LOVE THIS GIRL!!!! We've had a fun day today and we had a fun party for her on Saturday. I'll post more later because we're still celebrating today, but I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I love you baby girl!!!!!!

Jamaica...Part 2

At Beaches resort they have the Sesame Street Characters around at certain places. Then a few mornings they do a big character breakfast. Kylie LOVED doing this! They all come around to each table and take pictures with the kids and then they have a "dance party" with all the kids afterwards. It was so much fun to see Kylie get so excited. Here she is with all of them...

You didn't have much time to get a photo, so you get what you get. But right after this picture, she gave Zoe a BIG hug!!! It was so cute!

I always loved Elmo myself. :) So I got from behind the camera to get a pic with him too! :)

This was so cute. Each of the characters would come out one at a time. So there was occassionally some waiting time. This is how she would sit and wait and watch for another character to come out. Then she would scream and get so excited whenever they came out! :)

At the dance party afterwards, we all got some time with the characters.

Kylie just wanted to hug all of them over and over again!

Bert and Matt just chillin'! :) I love this photo! :)

I finally caught a smile on her face with the camera! She loved Abby Cadabby and thought she looked like Ginger on "Johnny and the Sprites" show. We had a blast doing this and then seeing the characters throughout the resort on the rest of the trip.

Jamaica Fun...Part 1

We left for a fun family vacation on April 30th. Brian and I went on our honeymoon to Jamaica, to a Sandals (couples only) resort. Brian has been dying to go back but we wanted to take Kylie. So we headed to Jamaica to a Beaches resort (the family version of Sandals) and had the TIME OF OUR LIFE! It was SUCH a blast! We took Matt, my brother, with us. He just graduated from college and so we wanted to give him a big congrats! :) Plus, we wanted someone there that could watch Kylie for us so Bri and I could have some alone time. Anyway: here is part 1 in our journey to Jamaica!

Our plane left SUPER early. 6:00 am to be exact. That means we were up at about 4. Here is Kylie and I on the plane. She's a bit tired...can you tell?! :) We flew in to the Montego Bay airport. How much luggage do you need for 3 adults and one child for one week?! We are NOT light travelers! :) (Plus....have to take advantage of the 2 free checked bags you can take on an international flight! :) ) Couldn't quite tell before how tired Kylie was?! Well...how about now? She was SO TIRED she almost fell asleep sitting on our luggage as we were going through customs. :)

When you get through customs and all of that, they have a Beaches representative waiting for you. They take you into this posh room with air conditioning (something to NOT take for granted!), cool drinks, comfy furniture, nice bathrooms, etc, etc. You wait for your bus here. Then we got on a bus and took about 1 1/2 hour drive to our resort. It was interesting to see more of Jamaica and how they live/shop/etc.

We got to the resort, checked in, and then went to get some dinner. How yummy does this food look?And this?! It was YUMMY! :) This was just the beginning of wonderful food all week long. :) That first night as we were walking around the resort, Kylie found these animals around. There is a trash can inside, but all she cared about was hugging the dolphin. :)

That next day we got up (and ate a yummy breakfast) and headed where else?! THE BEACH...

Here is Kylie all ready to go and heading down the stairs.

We had to stop by and say hello to another one of her animal friends that was basically right outside our door. :) She LOVED this frog and always wanted to say hi when we left. :)

After we said hello to the frog, we headed out to the beach, and saw THIS...

HOW AMAZING! It was absolutely gorgeous! This is the swim area that is marked off. There are jet skis and stuff that go around outside this area. Those yellow rings there are SO MUCH FUN. They are basically floating trampoline type rafty things. They are attached to a cinder block down in the ocean so they stay pretty put where they are. And you can lay out and get some wonderful sun while you are in the ocean water. The water is PERFECT temperature. It cools you off enough from the hot sun, but isn't chilly at all.

We weren't so sure how Kylie would like the sand/ocean, but she loved it. She loved to play in it, loved the waves (they weren't big at all!), and always wanted to go to the beach. She loved to get out in the water and she also loved "build sand castle." That is what she told us when she wanted to get out of the water. :)

Kylie LOVED playing with Uncle Matty in the water. He would be a dolphin and all sorts of things to keep her attention on him. :) Kylie thought her parents were quite boring after she had some time with Matt in the water. Here are just some other pictures of us at the beach throughout the days (we spent a LOT of time here!!! :) ) ...

Here are the rafty things up close. Kylie LOVED getting in these and playing. We would often times be laying in them with her. I need to get one of these to take with me any time I go to the beach now. :)

Little Kylie splashing around.

I sent Matt and Bri to get a massage at the spa so Kylie and I had some beach time alone. Here's a try at a self-portrait gone kinda bad. Oh well....you can kinda see me still and Kylie looks darling. :)

I love this pic of Kylie staring out at the vast ocean. Oh she's cute. :)

Another day bundled up in her towel taking a rest from all the fun.

And walking in the SOFT sand on her way to build a sand castle with Matty. (The sun is SO HOT here...we tried to keep her protected as much as possible. My fabulous friend Margret sent her this outfit and it was perfect to keep her out of the sun but wasn't too hot. :) Thanks Margret!!!)

Having fun building the castle

Then smashing it down!!!

And then walking off to the water to wash off a bit.

(This is the end of the pictures for now, but don't worry....we have more on the way! :) )