International Traveler

Well, we survived! Bryan, Sadie & I just got back from a 1 week vacation in Providenciales, an island in Turks & Caicos. For those who are wondering (because I was before we went.....) there are 8 islands in TCI & they are halfway between Florida & The Bahamas. They are part of the British West Indies & yes, Sadie got her first stamp in her passport! Here is a map that I found drawn on the side of a random building that may help:

I will warn you that this will be a VERY long post, but it will have lots of pictures. Mostly for the relatives who have already been asking to see photos! We started out at DFW & had a 4 hour direct flight. Fortunately, Sadie was a trooper on the airplane & hardly made a peep! As you can see, we had an extra seat so she either played or slept there the whole time.

As soon as we landed & got to our hotel, Sadie discovered the balcony - we spent a lot of time out there! If only I could give all of her bottles outside on the balcony with a view of the ocean.....

That night we enjoyed our first sunset over dinner:

Most mornings started at the beach. Sadie absolutely loved the sand! I think that is officially the first thing she has picked up & eaten on her own :) She was mesmerized by the waves, but didn't like it when we dipped her in it. She loves her bath time, but apparently her bath water is a lot warmer than the ocean water!

We also spent a little bit of time at the pool, but not much with Sadie. Bryan & I caught up on reading poolside while she napped every afternoon. She did warm up to the pool water a little better.....

We also spent some time away from the water. We took a tour of the island, which Bryan really enjoyed so he could see all of the real estate! We ate lunch at a local dive bar where all the locals go:

We also took a tour of the Conch Farm. In case you haven't had conch, it basically taste like calamari. Conch is huge over there - they don't serve calamari, but they have conch on every menu in town. And they prepare it all kinds of ways & we tried it all - the good & the bad :(

Our resort was close to everything so we did a lot of walking:

And then we would hang out on the balcony again. Sometimes Sadie got to hang around naked & she really liked that!

Of course we topped off every day by going to dinner. We ate at some wonderful restaurants with beautiful scenery. If there was only one thing to gripe about traveling with a baby, it was dinner. We tried to do early reservations - 6:30 every night - which is early for Bryan & I, but she usually got a little fussy during dinner. Of course this is usually her witching hour because she just wants to eat & go to bed.

 

 

One night we went to a beach BBQ & it was awesome! They had individual tables set up right in the sand, pretty close to the water. There were tiki torches everywhere, a DJ playing great music & a bonfire. Sadie was enthralled with the bonfire - she couldn't take her eyes off of it! And this night had one of the best sunsets we have ever seen - the sky was pink & there was a full rainbow.

 

 

Our last night there was reserved for the restaurant on the beach with the best view of sunset, however, it was cloudy that day & we didn't get to see it. We did enjoy the restaurant though & Sadie left us with a surprise - she slept most of the time so we could enjoy our last night together!

 

 

Fortunately, our flight home was as uneventful as the flight there. I think her bottle & the pacifier did the trick & her ears never bothered her. I can't imagine why she is smiling so much - neither of the adults wanted to go home!

 

 

Thank you Bryan, aka Daddy, for planning such a wonderful vacation. We truly enjoyed getting away just the 3 of us & even though Sadie is too young to remember our trip, at least we have special memories & photos we can share with her as she grows up. I look forward to many more trips with this happy family!