Sunsets

Our favorite time at the beach was sunset.  It was calm and beautiful because the sun would set right over the ocean.

 Kate, Charlie and a little girl he befriended

Kate running in the sand (you can't see it but her crocs are on)

View of sunset

Kate with the sunset in the background

Dinner time!

Every night we would venture out for dinner.  After we got back, Paul and I said we never want to see the inside of a restaurant again!  It was fun though.  The restaurants there are on the nicer side so we would get dressed every night and pray the kids (i.e. Kate - Charlie is an angel) would be good.  Wine helped us keep calm during Kate's moments during dinner.  :-)

On the whole though both kids did really well.  We found bribing with chocolate at the end of the meal really helped Kate behave throughout dinner.  As well as tons of crayons and tons of attention from the both of us.

 Paul and his mini-me all ready for dinner

Kate coloring at the restaurant

Charlie would draw the most elaborate pictures of space ships and rocket ships.   When we asked him to draw a picture of his family he quietly went to work.  When he showed us his finished product, he explained that Mommy and Daddy were on the roof, Kate in her crib, and Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table having a snack.  When we asked why we were on the roof, Charlie explained that we were fixing the chimney.  

A very excited Charlie about to dig into his specially made dessert.

Cuddles

Lots of time away with the family means lots of time for cuddles!

The kids swam pretty much all day so they would take a little rest now and then.

Kate having a snuggle in her favorite spot 

All ready to go out for dinner.

My new favorite picture of the kids

We tried so hard to get a good picture of me and the kids

Kisses for Mommy!

 Cuddles with Daddy after nap

Charlie gets in on the cuddles too

Our self portrait

How high can my kids fly?

Apparently very high!

And they loved every second of it.  All I heard was "again, again Daddy," and "my turn, my turn."

Pool time!

The kids absolutely loved the pool.  It had a 1/2 inch shelf all around it which was perfect for Kate to play when we weren't physically in the pool with her.  It also started at 2 feet and went up to 4 feet before the deep-end, so she could stay in the very shallow end.

Our first five days or so she was an absolute terror at the pool.  All she wanted to do was swim under water over and over and over.  It was difficult to keep up with her!

They both loved to play with Daddy in the pool.

They both loved to be on Daddy's shoulders

Kiss for Daddy

Pouring water on Charlie's head.  He is such a good sport!

 Too cute for words!

So whenever we came in from the beach to use the pool Kate would sprint to the shower and get every little bit of sand off her feet.  So cute!

Lollipops!

Since we were on vacation, I had brought lollipops.  On the plane I pretty much would have given Kate anything to keep her quiet for 10 minutes. Well, Daddy and I realized lollipops would also work on the beach to get 10 minutes of relaxation.  The kids were so excited to get to have lollipops. Another win-win situation.

Swimming in the Ocean

For about three days during our stay the water was really rough.  Pretty much unheard of in the Caymans but there you have it.  Most of the time the water is so calm you can take a raft and just lounge in the water like you would a pool.  After it calmed down again Charlie loved to swim in it.  The waves scared our Kate though.  Finally, on the last day we got her in the ocean.

 Charlie and Mommy in the ocean.  

When the water was rough Charlie would go in if we would hold him.  We loved jumping the waves.  One of them hit me right in the face and Charlie thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Snorkeling with Daddy.

Charlie and Daddy spent a ton of time together in the ocean.  They collected coral and shells, practiced skipping stones and playing a game they made up.  Both of them would take a small shell and throw it out as far as they could.  Whoever threw it the furthest had to give the other one a kiss.  According to Daddy, win-win situation!

Everybody collecting shells

Bathing beauty and her Daddy

Playing in the Sand

After a couple of days, Kate got used to playing in the sand.  But her shoes would most definitely stay on!  During our second week there were several families with children also at our resort.  Kate played a lot with a little girl Meredith.  Charlie became almost inseparable from a little boy his age named Connor.  He also played with Meredith's older sister Avery.

Kate and Meredith playing

Kate playing with Tamara.  Tamara was six and Kate just loved her.  Tamara was so cute and would play with Kate a lot. 

 Charlie and Kate playing in the sand

Another day and Charlie and Kate playing in the sand

Daddy also spent a lot of time building sand castles with the kids.  Ofcourse, Charlie's favorite part was destroying them when they were finished!

 The first sand castle they built.  Charlie destroyed it very quickly.  

The next one they did was more elaborate.  With a starting outline and everything.  Charlie had to promise not to ruin it until they were all done.  Some of the other children at the resort helped as well.  

Putting all the towers in place.  Charlie was very good at this part.

Now all they need is the water for the moats!

Beach Lounger

Our little Kate still is not a fan of the sand.  She would play in it a bit, but had to keep her crocs on.  If any sand got on her toes she would have a complete breakdown pointing at her toes.  So, she spent a lot of time lounging on her lounge chair sucking on her two fingers.

Here is our little lounger.  Notice she has her crocs on.

And again.

 And again...

Yet again.

Maybe she learned it from her Daddy....

The gorgeous Cayman Islands

Our family just got back from 11 days on Grand Cayman.  It was a wonderful family vacation in the one of the most beautiful destinations I have ever been.  The beach was just gorgeous.  Our hotel was quaint and catered to families like us.  We had a two bedroom suite with a little kitchenette so we had a refrigerator, toaster and microwave.  Made our vacation nice and easy!

Considering we have a bazillion pictures from our trip, we'll have to break up the postings.  Here is the beautiful place we stayed.

View back from the beach of the hotel and pool bar (with swim up area).  Right after we got there Paul and Charlie went down to the swim-up bar.  Charlie had an apple juice and Daddy had a beer. 

The beach.  

Paul and I could have stayed here all day every day.  The kids loved the pool and their daily motto was "pool first, pool first."  Why go to a pool when you have this?!?  Being the good parents we are, we compromised each day and spent time at both places.

More beach

You could see the cruise ships in the distance when they were at port.

View of hotel from the beach.

The people who lived there were so incredibly nice and proud of their island.  It was extremely safe and every night we walked around with the kids before we would find a place for dinner.