Jamaica, mon! Days 1 & 2

Thanks to Grandma and Papa, the last week of July we went on our first beach vacation with the kids!  I spent a couple of weeks in June researching different resorts and narrowed it down to a few for Roy to help choose between.  We decided on Jamaica over Mexico for several reasons, including the fact that my parents and sister went there for a family reunion when my mom was pregnant with me, and I've always felt like I needed a turn to go (out of the womb!) too!  Someone had recommended the Bahia Principe Runaway Bay and had a contact there, so we went with it!  I was happy to stop comparing and contrasting the countless resorts and just focus on getting excited (and shopping for everything we'd need!).

Day 1
Our flight was in the morning, but not so early that we needed to wake up ridiculously early, not that the kids mind when we are leaving for a vacation!  As we waited for our flight, we were messaging with Clyde because Melinda was in labor and we were trying to get all the details we could before being out of communication range for several hours.  We were hoping she'd have the baby that day because then their baby would be born on the 23rd just like Leighton and Riley!

After a pretty quick and easy flight, we landed in Montego Bay.  I had read that the immigration line could be long.  Really long.  And it was.  NOT the best way to start a vacation - so many people lined up and hot and tired and annoyed!  But eventually we got through that line, and the customs line was super fast, so we were able to get out and look for our shuttle to the airport.  While we waited, the kids took the opportunity to take a couple pictures at the Margaritaville outside.

The bus ride was about an hour to the hotel.  It was along the coast so we got to see the ocean and a few little towns along the way.  The driver was very informative with various facts and anecdotes.

Riley asked us about 4 bajillion times if we could swim when we got there, so after (a looong wait) we checked in and got to our room, we changed into bathing suits, grabbed the water camera and some new balls for the pool, and went down to swim.  Riley was thrilled to see a kitty there!

And both kids were excited to finally get a chance to sit on the stools at the swim up bar that we had seen in pictures online!  Unfortunately, the bar was already closed for the day since it was right before dinner, so no drinks for us (but don't worry, we more than made up for it every other day!!).

It was then time to get ourselves to the buffet for dinner.  We were given reservations at the a la carte restaurants for all of our other nights, so this was our only night at the buffet.  Both kids kept their promise to be willing to try new things.  Leighton even took a piece of pork with some sort of sauce all over it!  I think the fact that it was from the Canadian section of the buffet made it enticing to him!  And Riley loved that she got a wine glass for her water!

And I got the wifi working on my phone, so we did find out that Clyde and Melinda's baby girl, Azeliya, was born!  Very exciting!!!

Day 2
After breakfast, it was time to head to the beach!  Riley was eager to get there with all her new items - snorkel, water shoes, goggles, bucket & shovel, and we even surprised her with a new Barbie (you'll see a lot of her ... Barbie really enjoyed her vacation and accompanied us everywhere!)!

Leighton took the underwater camera and got us some pictures of fish.  And lots of seaweed.  And open water.  It's hard to see anything on the screen of the camera, especially when you are moving underwater!  So sometimes it was just the head of the fish or the tip of a fin.  Or a blur.  But we appreciated seeing the different fish he saw!  Roy went with him snorkeling a bunch, but Riley and I never went deep down with them, so we appreciated all the pictures so we got to see, too!  Here just a few:

we loved that this fishy was looking right at the camera!

The kids and I were pretty excited to find some little kittens living under the wedding gazebo.  They were so cute and little!  Unfortunately, the underwater camera had smudges on the lens so the pictures weren't so clear.

We all went out over some rocks and swam around into the little beach area.  I took a picture of Roy and the kids before I climbed down to meet them.  It was too windy the other days to do it again, so I am glad we did it this day!

We all appreciated the beach bar for water and juice and alcohol.  Here is Roy happily floating around with his (already empty!) rum and pineapple juice!

At lunch we had a wonderful server, who figured Roy needed a lot of beer.  All at the same time!  I guess in Jamaica you triple fist!

Here's Leighton looking super cute in his new American flag swim shorts, swim shirt, and hat.

In the afternoon, we did a bit more snorkeling time at the beach.

Then we went to the pool for a bit before dinner.  And we all finally got to have a drink at the pool bar and to sit on the stools in the water.  Leighton liked the pina coladas and Riley liked the strawberry daiquiris.

Our first a la carte dinner was at the Italian restaurant.

After dinner, we went to the village for the kids' entertainment.  This night it was a magic show.  And both kids got to be on the stage at the end.