Vacation to Paradise 2011!

We had an AMAZING time in Turks and Caicos last month.   Before we even boarded the plane to come home we were brainstorming which friends we could convince to come back with us next year.  I could totally see this being our "thing" and going back year after year for the forseeable future. 

There were more activities for the kids to enjoy than I could count on all my fingers and toes.  From the on-site water park, to the gorgeous beach with perfect castle-making sand, to the day camps that were so fun Jack nearly cried when we came to take him home, to the 24 hour help yourself pizza and ice cream buffet, to the Xbox game garage with 30+ flat screens and games loaded up...it was pretty much heaven on earth.

Poor Molly was so ovewhelmed with all the goodness she'd break down in tears at breakfast every day because she couldn't stand to eat with that gorgeous pool staring her in the face.  The girl just wanted to SWIM!

And for the grownups there were candlelight dinners, an on site spa, gym and french cafe for daily capuccino (and pastries!), kids activities that actually left us with FREE TIME, and that beautiful Caribbean ocean to gaze at.

I narrowed down over 700 pictures to 160 - I'm sorry, but it was necessary to detail all the fun we had! 

Of all the things we did;

Molly's favorite was kayaking

Jack's favorite was snorkeling

(in the OCEAN!  For the boy who HATES the ocean!! 
This was a breakthrough of major proportions)

Marc's favorite was sitting in the sun doing nothing

My favorite was sitting on the beach next to my honey reading a funny book, and scoping out the best sand castle ideas for next year!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Sadly, we did have 2 days of clouds and rain. It was one of the lessons we learned on our maiden voyage. We considered this a 'scouting' trip. Next time we will remember to;

• Stay a whole week so that a few days rain won't eat up half our trip
• NEVER TRAVEL ON A WEEKEND!! The Providenciales airport that was a cake walk on our Tuesday arrival was a NIGHTMARE on our Saturday departure
• Fly American Airlines at our own peril (three out of four flights were delayed for HOURS due to mechanical issues. It took us 13 hours door to door to come home, with only 4 of those in the air)
• Get the kids hooked into the kids camps ASAP
• Check in before arrival (we missed the cutoff for this and it caused a few headaches and hiccups on our trip)
• Bring sand toys (the shop was sold out!)
• Get Mom's and Molly's hair braided on the first day to keep it hassle free the whole trip
• Bring twice the number of bathing suits and half the number of shoes

I think I speak for all of us when I say we can't WAIT to do it again!