Grand Cayman

We had a wonderful trip last week, and committed ourselves to accomplishing everything on our vacation to-do list: which was to do absolutely nothing. It was such a nice change of pace to not constantly be on the go- no meals to prep, no diapers to change, no baths, no chasing babies. A whole week to ourselves to do whatever we wanted was blissful. 

We spent each day alternating between relaxing at the beach or in the pool, drinking far too many frozen fruity drinks and buckets of beer, and then at night moved on to enjoying delicious dinners over evening cocktails and gorgeous sunsets. We were in bed early each night, (I think our latest night out still had us back at the hotel and in bed before 11:00 pm) which worked out well for being up and at the beach before 9:00 am every morning.

The water on Grand Cayman is amazing- the color is out of this world! I have a pretty big phobia of the ocean (I've seen one too many shark movies!) and didn't plan to spend much time, if any, actually in the water. But the beach was just too inviting, and the water was so clear it felt like you were swimming in a saltwater pool. We probably spent 90% of our time in the ocean, which is unheard of for me! I was brave and took out my own jet ski when we went on a snorkeling safari. And I snorkeled without freaking out. All successes for me! 

Where we spent the majority of our days

The sunsets were amazing!

The hotel we stayed at, The Westin, wasn't the best by any means. The front desk staff wasn't overly pleasant or hospitable, and the lobby area was under construction which was a bit of an inconvenience. But to make up for it, we were able to use their non-motorized water activities for free while we were there. So we took advantage of that amenity a lot! I discovered that I'm pretty decent at stand up paddle boarding, which is great as I've been interested in getting one to take to the lake. And we took out kayaks a couple times, too. 

View from our balcony...my toe polish matched the balcony rails perfectly

Inviting waters

This rain never actually made it to our part of the beach, but it was awesome to watch! The thunder there is INSANELY loud, especially during summer storms.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the sunset cruise we took on our own private sailboat! It was just Will, me, and the Captain, Orneil. He was a great person to chat with- he knew a ton about all the Cayman Islands and we learned a lot about the Island culture. He is also a very active member of the pirating community on Grand Cayman! It was fascinating to learn about their pirate week and all the prep that goes into getting ready for the island's big celebration. I likened it to prepping for Mardi Gras each year in New Orleans. Our sailing adventure ended with us helping tow a stranded eco-tour boat back to shore! Quite an exciting evening. 

Some info about Pirates Week: http://www.piratesweekfestival.com/
And Orneil's (AKA "Captain Wes") Pirate Group: https://www.facebook.com/LasTortugasPirates/?fref=ts

"Our" boat for the evening!

Will loves to get these sail photos

On the water, in his happy place :)

The boat we "rescued"

Another beautiful sunset

Towing the boat

Basically the only photo we took of ourselves the whole trip

We were fortunate to get to see an amazing sunset immediately followed by an awesome full moon rising!

And of course, we missed our babies like crazy! They thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled by their aunts and cousins, though, and I am pretty sure they didn't miss us nearly as much as we missed them! Thank goodness for FaceTime, dropcam, and text messages- we still saw them and talked to them every day we were gone. I know they had a great time when they weren't thrilled to see us when we walked into their room on Friday morning to greet them!

Taking the wagon for a spin

Taking Cooper for a spin

Enjoying the ball pit (that Mom and Dad wouldn't open for them but Aunties would!)

Happy morning baby!

Happy morning baby #2!

Rub a dub dub, 3 babies in the tub!

I'm so glad we were able to get away for a perfectly relaxing vacation, just the two of us. It was good for all five of us to have a break from our normal routine! We were certainly excited to see the boys, but Will and I are already dreaming about our next trip, and can't wait until the boys are big enough to enjoy a family trip back to Grand Cayman!