Jamaica!

Well...Here we go...
Day #1 Thursday, June 30th: We left the house at 4:00 and were ready for our fabulous family vacation to Jamaica. We arrived at the airport for our 5:35 flight only to discover that (UH-OH) Kirsten left her carry-on (which included E-TICKETS AND PASSPORTS) at home. Good thing we live close to the airport!

We arrived in Montego Bay around 1:00 and stood in the un-air conditioned line in customs for one hour and fifteen minutes. I thought that Meghan and James were going to die of boredom. Fortunately nobody got in trouble! We had a two hour ride to the resort, which was actually quite interesting. It made me glad that (a) I'm not broke and (b) I live in America. After we checked in, we ate at the buffet, went swimming, and went to bed. Everyone was VERY tired!!!

Day #2 Friday, July 1st: We started the day on the beach and Meghan and James had a ball. There was a vendor floating in his hollowed-out boat selling junk necklaces, bracelets, and conch shells. Ron actually bought some because the kiddies wanted something. The rest of the day was spent at the pool, eating and (I'll admit it) enjoying a wee bit of Red Stripe. For dinner, everyone ate a restaurant called The Venetian. Surpise, surprise! Meghan got spaghetti. A cute quote for the day...There was a coconut tree outside of our room. Meghan says to me: "How are we supposed to get those coconuts down if we get thirsty?"

Day #3 Saturday, July 2nd: Nothing too different or exciting here...Breakfast at the buffet, followed by the pool and beach. We ate dinner at a 'Tex-Mex' place called Arizona. James' cute quote for the day. He was going to try chili bean soup but decided not to because 'it looks like water with dots in it.'

Day #4 Sunday, July 3rd: The day began (again) with breakfast at the buffet. Nicholas really, really likes pancakes. We took the kids on the glass bottom boat and it was pretty neat. I'd never been on one before. There was actually a cannon on the ocean floor from some long-ago battle. We snorkled later in the day too. As luck would have it, as we geared up and ready to go, the boat's motors broke and the driver was unable to stear the boat. Who else would that happen to (besides Dad)? So we floated along for a while until another boat could come 'rescue' us. While we waited, we saw more sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea snakes (Be sure to tell Dad.). We finally got to snorkle and Meghan and James LOVED it. Meghan did have a bit of trouble with her mask, but once she figured it out, she was just fine. She said, "Do you know why I like to snorkle? Because I'm so good at it." We ate The Venetian again and, what do you know? Meghan had spaghetti again. Later that evening, we actually took Meghan and James to the 'Kids Camp' to play with other kids for a few hours. They had fun and decided that they wanted to go again Monday night.

Day #5 Monday, July 4th: HAPPY 4th of JULY! We had another great day of swimming at the beach and the pool. Later in the evening, we took them to the Kids Camp because they were going to eat together and have a pj party. Unfortunately, Meghan didn't take her pj's with her...So...Ron, Nick, and I were planning to go to Eleanor's. This restaurant has Caribbean cuisine and guests have to dress up and be at least 12 years-old to attend. As we were getting ready to leave the apartment (as Meghan called the room), the Kids Camp called us to tell us that Meghan is sick. We picked her up and told her that she needs to get her pj's on and go to bed. She agreed--She said that her stomach hurt and she was actually crying. We got back to the apartment, she put on her pj's, and laid down. 30 seconds later, she announced: "I'm feeling much better now. I'm ready to go to the pajama party." What a little stinker! She even had fake tears when we picked her up. Nicholas, Ron, and I went to dinner, picked them up at Kids Camp, and everyone went back to the apartment. By this time, Nicholas had make a few 'friends' and he left to hang out with them by the ping pong table. He got back to the apartment at 1:05. I almost went to search for him, but I figured, how much trouble could he get in??? It turned out, none.

Day #6 Tuesday, July 5th: For some reason, this turned out to be my favorite day. We began the day at the breakfast buffet and we decided that we were all going to either use our middle names or make up our own names for the day (That's something that Dad would do!).
Ron = James
Kirsten = Big E.
Nicholas = Dale
James = Fernando (which we're still calling him)
Meghan = Little E.

We went to the pool and took another nice snorkle later in the day. This time we went to a reef that was much deeper and clearer that than the first spot we used. It was around 35 -40 deep and we saw some wonderful sea creatures, including puffer fish and sting rays (James told me to add that in.). We ended the night at The Venetian (again) where Fernando and Little E. were able to enjoy some pizza and spaghetti. By this time, they both had swimmers' ear. Fortunately, the gift shop had the drops to help them feel better (at the bargain price of $9.00). We went to bed and Nicholas went to 'hang out' with his 'friends.'

Day #7 July 6th: Unfortunately, I woke up feeling not too hot, but I managed to muddle through. We had to check out of the room by 6:00 for our long journey home. We boarded the bus at 7:00 for our two hour ride back. This driver was very entertaining and pointed out the 'sights' along the way. We saw Mick Jagger's house and the HUGE new cruise ship that Royal Caribbean has in the port. HUGE!!! The driver told us that the very large and beautiful homes situated on the top of the mountains only cost around $500,000-$1,000,000. Not that I'm in the market for one, but I was very surprised. I figured they would have been much more!

We ate at the airport in Montego Bay (one of the most delicious cheeseburgers I've ever had) and waited for our flight to Atlanta (which was actually on time). We had an uneventful flight and arrived ten minutes early. Of course, we had to sit on the runway for 25-30 minutes because a jumbo jet was using our gate. This caused a traffic jam on the runway. The pilot said, "Folks, we're sitting in the middle of the runway at the world's busiest airport. We really need you to remain seated with your seatbelts securely fastened." We finally got the gate, had to go through customs again, pick up our baggage, and re-check it. That was kind of a drag because we were hoping to catch an earlier flight, but we missed out because of all the nonsense at the airport. We decided to eat dinner at Checker's (which was as delicious as ever) and had Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert. Our flight was on time and we had a safe flight home.

We finally arrived at our house around 8:45, played with good old Maggie, and went to bed. I'd say that everyone had fun and looking forward to another fun trip together next year.

Thursday, July 7th: Laundry, laundry, laundry. Oh yeah...No more junk food for a long, long time....