Spring Break Stop #4 - Aruba

Richard and I are still dreaming of palapas, windy days, delicious food, books, frosty beverages, and lots of rest and relaxation! To say that our vacation was wonderful would be a complete understatement. The two of us haven't had a vacation by ourselves since our honeymoon six years ago. It was much needed and much enjoyed! The best part of our vacation is that we didn't do a whole lot of anything which is what I requested. I didn't want to be on a schedule. I wanted to sit, read, and do exactly what I wanted to do when I got ready to do it. I read four books while we were there! I had downloaded two books to my new Kindle (which I LOVE, by the way) and I took two real books.

We stayed at a beautiful Marriott resort. Our good buddy, Carter Marchant, got us upgraded to a spectacular room with a beautiful view! I think he also had a basket of fruit sent to us which we enjoyed ALL week! Like Richard says, "Sometimes it's not what you know. It's who you know!" Thanks, Carter!

Our awesome room! I love a Marriott bed. They are so comfortable! I want one at my house!


Our beautiful view!


These little iguanas and lizards were running around everywhere. One even ran across my foot when we were eating at a beachfront bar and grill. I almost died and certainly screamed outloud!


This was outside the first restaurant that we visited when we arrived.


I was amazed that Richard actually enjoyed sitting on this vacation. Prior to having children he always wanted to be on the go when we went on vacation. Having Kamdyn has definitely made us appreciate being still and quiet!


Enjoying an afternoon beverage! He worked hard for his case of Coronas! I will tell you that story later! :)


A glimpse of the Marriott Resort in the background.


A view of the many palapas on the beach.


Yep, a self portrait while waiting on the elevator!


Take my picture, Kim!


Iguana Smokey Joe's


Richard was all about taking pictures on this night!


My favorite....a yummy margarita. I had to work hard for this ONE margarita. Luis, our bartender, wasn't very good at his job. As you can see there is no one else in sight at the bar, but he thought that he was BUSY!! We felt the need to tell him how inept he was by the end of our short visit because I never could get him to bring me a 2nd margarita. Shame on him!


CHEESE!


The water sports down from us....jet skis, kite surfing, parasailing!


I was oblivious that he was taking my picture. He was attempting to get me as I stumbled on the ridge of shells just as you walked into the ocean. The shells hurt my tender feet! This is one of the only times that I got in the water. It just wasn't that hot there with the wind blowing. Kamdyn looked through our pictures and said, "Mommy, I want to see pictures of you and Daddy in the ocean!"


This HUGE box cracks me up because he carried it all the way to me on the beach so I didn't have to leave my lounge chair. So sweet! The funny thing is that there is only 3 pieces of pizza in here. They didn't have a smaller to-go box!


Richard walked almost everyday to get us lunch from somewhere on the island. Today's menu was Sbarro's pizza!


My favorite pair of flip flops. I couldn't wait for summer to get here so I could pull out my rainbows again!


Our palapa that I waited in line for each morning from 6:15 until 7:00. They opened at 7:00! After reserving our palapa I would go to the health club and run 2 miles on the treadmill. Then, it was off to our room to wake up a sleepy Richard for breakfast. He stayed up late every night enjoying blackjack in the casino.


My view for 5 days! I was in heaven!


The palapa was a great photographer!


Richard was creative with setting the camera up to take our picture so we didn't have to ask random people.


The beautiful sunset!


My final book in Aruba! I had to borrow one from the resort because I read everything that I took!



The view down the beach from our palapa.


Gotta have the Clemson koozie!


I could only sit in the sun for a few minutes at a time on our last day in the sun because I got a little bit burned the day before.


The only difficult thing about traveling without friends is that you don't have anyone to take pictures of you. :)


Check out the heavy duty steel umbrella in the background. It's so windy in Aruba from the tradewinds that everything is secured very tightly to the ground. There was no such thing as a good hair day in Aruba. The good thing was that you never got hot!


Yummy BBQ chicken cooked on a stone. This was really interesting. They brought anything that was grilled out on a stone. Most of it was cooked, but you were supposed to cut a bite and sear it on the stone. The best thing was that your meal stayed hot the entire time. LOVED IT!


One last dinner in Aruba.....he was tired of fish so he ordered pasta.


Taking in our view for the last time....it was overcast and cloudy, but still beautiful!


Self portrait on our last day before leaving Aruba. Little did we know the headache that awaited us at the airport! It took us two hours to get our boarding passes, check our luggage, go through security the 1st time, get our checked luggage back, take it through customs, give our checked luggage back to them, go through security again for the 2nd time, and finally to the gate! I have NEVER waited so long at an airport. Luckily, we were warned to get there very early! Even with the hassle at the airport, I would go back again tomorrow. Aruba was very Americanized. It was quaint and we loved it! I hope we get to go again soon!