Back to Reality and Atlanta...6-6-15

Kay's flight to Charlotte left a little over an hour before our flight to Atlanta.  The kids wanted us all to go together to the airport.  It was quite crowded at the airport already when we got there but I was glad we came with Kay as another hour would have made the difference between waiting in every line for hours or getting through relatively quickly as we did.  We got to use the new machines they have on the US Immigration/Homeland Security side where you scan your passport and it takes a photo of you and prints it out and does that for all people in your travel party.  You hand it to the agent and they ask you a couple questions and that went much faster.  The kids were good at the machine since they are used to taking selfies.  Paige said she wanted to keep hers since it was one of her better selfies..lol

Debbie and Andy are arriving in Aruba today so we thought since they were coming from Charlotte and that's where Kay was going, they would arrive on that plane when it came in.  We were all gathered there to yell and wave to them and they never got off...what a bummer.  We don't know when they got there or what airline they were on....sadly we missed them.  We said goodbye to Kay (Shrekie) at her gate as she was getting ready to board and walked to our gate. 

Our flight was uneventful and we arrived early and had to wait for a gate.  Our luggage came up in the international terminal and Teresa and Keith were stuck in traffic coming to pick us up.  Chris's phone was dead and he was antsy since he had nothing to do so I gave them funds and they went to the Starbucks across from the luggage carousels.  We all had Mexican close to the house and the kids were excited to share their experiences with mom and dad.  I had forgotten about when we were walking between check points in the Aruba airport we came upon a lady in a wheelchair with a man who had just lost his pants...no kidding...as Paige said his tidy whitey's were clearly showing and he was bent over pulling up his pants!  Everyone was laughing and he said he had packed his belt and his pants were too loose....OMG!  The kids loved telling that story.  Another great trip in the books.

Kay is an awesome photographer and has the best eye for taking photos.  Most of the pictures on this blog were ones she took.  I asked her to take a picture of me with the kids since I don't have many with me in them.  She did that for me and I am grateful.... I will post one here.  These are a few of my favorite photos from this trip...

Friday, June 5, 2015

Its hard to believe that we have been here for a almost a week already.  I am not ready to leave and now wish I had tried to get two weeks instead of one.  I fixed breakfast and I had promised the kids I would take them to Starbucks this morning.  Kay has been having foot problems so was not going to walk with us.  She and I had been talking about Debbie's units at the Divi and she wanted to see that resort.  We took a taxi and went to the Divi and walked around down there and then the cab dropped me and the kids off at Starbucks and took Kay back to the Marriott.  The kids and I walked back on the beach.  We fixed lunch then headed to the pool for the last day.  It was another fun day and we tried to get every minute we had left.

We had so much stuff left over from meals from the week we let everyone warm up whatever they wanted for dinner and then headed to the beach for sunset.  We stayed down there until it was almost dark and the kids wanted to walk the property so Kay and I sat in the swings by the entrance for a long while.  Sadly, we had to get up and get on the packing to go home.  Kay and I both have a Fitbit and it was interesting to see the number of steps we did there each day...nothing topped this day for me...when I finally gave it up and got my shower tonight I was at 14,768 steps...the most ever!  I had to laugh though because it must not have a way to gauge that you are in an elevator instead of climbing stairs because it said I got an award for the floors climbed...that made us both laugh a lot!  I really enjoyed Kay's company and her help with the kids this week. The kids really liked Kay too and had a good time with her.   It was a really fun and relaxing time and I hate to see it end.

Thursday, June 4, 2014

The kids were going to write the blogs while we were here but were too busy to get to it by the end of the day.  Its hard to go back now and remember all that we did.  I know that the kids and Kay went to go snorkel off the beach as I had brought their masks and snorkels.  I got us chairs at the toddler fountain wading pool that was close to the sports pool.  For the second time this week they were back shortly after they left because the wind apparently had the sandy bottom stirred up and the water was too cloudy.  They were disappointed.  I know many wonder why we wouldn't stay on the beach instead of the pool but the kids just love the pool and Kay and I the lazy river.  We all enjoyed the beach at and after sunset.  The kids were fascinated that being where Aruba is situated to the Equator, they could see the sun go down over the ocean and turn around and see the moon rising over the island at the same time!

There are several varieties of iguanas native to this island and all of them live and thrive at the Marriott Aruba Surf Club.  They range in size from tiny to what may be described as pre-historic and everything in between.  I read in a book in the villa that they were on the island before people, they are excellent swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to an hour and are vegetarians with hibiscus flowers being their favorite delicacy.  Knowing they do not like to eat people does not seem to matter to most that are aghast at the sight of them.  Paige does not like them.  Kay had one sizeable guy we named Harold and decided he was the granddaddy of the resort.  He would perch on the rocks high above the lazy river but this one afternoon he was walking around the chairs and people were trying to get photos with him.  He was all about it until a boy tried to pull his tail and he got up quickly and hissed and tried to bite the kid.  That backed everyone up a few yards.  He walked or waddled over to where we were sitting and stared at Kay's toes for a long time.  We concluded he must have thought her pedicure polish must have looked like hibiscus flowers.  There were so many of them sunning on the areas around the lay river that Kay and I started naming them...Harold, Sam, Freda (Sam was courting Freda) Half Tail who we thought must either be aggressive or at the wrong place at the wrong time.

There was also people watching there too..  A color coordinated lady with a pink floppy hat, pink bathing suit and pink tube was too funny.  Kay and I made a new friend with a young man we think may have had cerebral palsy or other disorder.  He was in a life vest and had a noodle and was obviously must less impaired in the water and was really enjoying his freedom.  His dad followed a short distance behind.  He wasn't able to communicate in the usual sense but he seemed to like Kay and I as we would talk to him and if he got ahead of us he would look around until he found us again.  Kay and I talked of the responsibility of those that had to care for children with these types of disabilities and most do it so well.  We then met a woman who was from Slidell, Louisiana who talked continuously and we tried desperately to get away from..  Her son got married the night before on the beach.  They owned two units at the Surf Club and come every year for the last 12 years.  We determined that I was much better off with my situation the way it is than to pay the maintenance fees she is paying for hers...besides what she paid for them when she bought them even getting them at a 25% discount because her daughter worked for Marriott at the time.

After dinner Kay walked to the beach with the kids while I finished up some things.  When they got back we played Head Bandz with the kids and laughed a lot.  The kids were Facetiming with mom and dad each night since they had iPhones so they were able to keep in touch.  Another fun day!

Wednesday, June 3,2015

The best part of a vacation in Aruba is that you can count on the weather being beach worthy.  You can't say that about many places you vacation.  Another beautiful morning.  After fixing breakfast for the kids, we all headed to the pool.  This property is huge and the pools span several acres.  There is a waterfall pool with a water slide, a lazy river (my and Kay's favorite) that wanders through beautifully landscaped grounds and bridges.   There are two separate toddler pools as well that are off to the sides and hot tubs in the center of the lazy river tucked into the foliage.  Then after the lazy river there is a swim up bar pool or "sports pool" as they call it and after that almost on the beach is an adults only pool.  The kids liked hanging at the sports pool since they had organized daily activities there everyday.  They had a DJ that would direct the daily schedule and play music.  At 11 AM they had pool aerobics and Kay did this one morning while I was doing things in the "villa" as they are called.  At 1 PM they played pool Bingo and Chris wanted to do this as they had cash prizes.  He played yesterday and didn't win but today he won $10 and it made his day!  They had dance contests one day and the kids loved watching the drunk people try to dance and they actually participated in the Conga Line that was formed one afternoon.  Chris's favorite was playing pool volleyball which he did every afternoon.

 

 

 

Everyday we would try to find a center place of lounge chairs we could call home base for the day where I could keep track of where the kids were and not too far from one of the entrances to the lazy river so that Kay and I would have easy access.  We actually found chairs in the smoking section this day (didn't matter because there were few people smoking and the wind was so strong that you couldn't smell it anyway).  We would have to anchor everything down because the wind would blow it away regardless of how heavy it was.  Generally the breeze Aruba is known for is about a steady 21 mph which actually makes the heat bearable there.  The gusts this week however were blowing at hurricane force...really.  Kay and I thought we had things tied down when a gust came between the two buildings and blew my swim tube so fast that I couldn't even see which direction it went...it was just gone!  I got up to go find it and a security guard was walking across one of the bridges with it!  We had a similar incident with Kay trying to get in her tube when we were getting in the "lackadaisical river" as Kay called it.  We laughed a lot at all this nonsense and the kids laughed at us!  We would float around the river for hours or until we were numb and wrinkled (the kids would say I was wrinkled before I got in..lol) then get out and sun and do it again.  I fixed dinner each night and Kay and the kids (mostly Kay) did clean up...it worked great and was easy.  Chris helped me the nights we went downstairs to grill.  The kids enjoyed watching the sunsets and just generally walking on the beach after dinner and by the time we would get back each night we either played games or sat on the balcony and enjoyed the rustling of the palm trees in the breeze.  We had wifi so the kids could do their phone thing and communicate with their friends.  Most nights all of us turned in early.