We had such a nice, relaxing weekend just hanging out at the pool! It was incredibly hot, but floating around the pool with a good book makes it way more tolerable!

You'd think two full day of the pool would be enough for us, but here we go again (to the neighborhood pool this time) with the Stickel boys for the evening!

Now that the longest softball season ever has ended and we're back from Jamaica, our evenings should be pretty free! Of course there's always youth on Wednesday nights and then Small Group every other Monday, but still, that's a whole lot of Tuesdays and Thursdays with nothing to do! What ever are we going to do with ourselves??

Jamaica - Day 7

Going to be a short one! It got late quick and we need a decent night's sleep!

Spent the entire day by/in the pool...Hottest day of our trip!

On the way down the beach to lunch we saw tons of starfish in the water...They're big fat starfish unlike the little skinny ones we've seen back home! (And yes, this picture was taken in the incredibly clear water!)



And a quick picture on the beach this evening!

So now our Jamaican vacation is coming to an end...It's going to be so hard to leave in the morning (especially knowing we have a long day of travel ahead!), but it's been an a very awesome week! We'll definitely be coming back as soon as we can!

Until next time...All our love from Jamaica!

Jamaica - Day 6

Today was our excursion day and we are so glad we went! We took the Black River and YS Falls trip. Well worth it!

We had a wonderful bus driver/tour guide that stayed with us the entire time...He was an older man and so incredibly kind. It can be a little sketchy outside the resort, but he kept us very comfortable and made us feel completely safe the entire time!

We traveled about on hour east along the coast to the Black River where we boarded a tour boat with another awesome guide! The river was very scenic with all the mangroves growing everywhere and the mountains in the background.


We have some of these egrets around the resort and we learned this morning at breakfast that they can be quite the little scavengers! (One was hanging out on our table with us just sharing Matt's omelet!) - We particularly like it though when they get flustered and all their hair stands up on their head like this little guy here!



Our guide was one of the only river guides that's not afraid to get up close and personal with the many crocodiles in the river! He brought along some chicken and would stop the boat, call the crocs and feed them to get them to come right up to our boat! He would even reach in and hold them by the arm and shake their hand to give us a chance to pet them!



After our boat made it back to the dock we had lunch at a local restaurant. We were not sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our meal with another couple staying at our resort who's from Oklahoma.

After lunch it was on to the waterfalls! The countryside leading up to the falls was so incredibly pretty! It was the kind of place I (and Matt Nicolosi!) could have stayed for hours taking in the scenery through the lens of a camera!



The falls itself were absolutely amazing! There were guides there who would help you into the water and lead you right into the falls and take pictures for you...They were so helpful!






Also, a little farther up was a platform with a rope swing so you could swing off and drop into the water below....It was a lot higher than it looked, but we both took the initial swing and then went back for more!




We got back to the resort about mid-afternoon and just in time for the rain! We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed up for a nice little nap!

Tonight we had a late dinner at Bayside's and then stopped by The Caberet to see a cultural show...

It's been an exhausting day but tons of fun! Tomorrow's plan involves getting as much sun as we possibly can, hanging out with our Indiana & West Virginia friends and just enjoying our last day to the fullest!

Jamaica - Day 5

Another beautiful day here! (But hey, ANY day in Jamaica is better than a day back home and at work!!)

This morning we went snorkeling out at the reef. Very different than our last snorkeling adventure in West Palm Beach. Here there was coral all around...Like you were swimming all through it! Mostly just small fish in the area we were but several brightly colored ones! We had a disposable underwater camera with us so hopefully we got a few good shots!

Self-portrait on the snorkeling boat...



And looking back at the resort (well, PART of it!) from the reef...



Self-portrait on the beach before lunch!


We got in some good sun time at the pool this afternoon and were heading in to get ready for our massages just as the afternoon clouds were moving in...

Self-portrait on the way into the spa!
(And yes! We LOVED our massages!! Can we go again tomorrow??)



Mountain view out our door as we headed down for dinner...



Tomorrow is our trip down the Black River and to YS Falls!

Jamaica - Day 4

o our fourth day here and we've pretty much got the weather pattern figured out...Sunny in the morning until about 1 or 2...Then a quick shower hits. The shower doesn't last long and the dark clouds blow over to reveal blue sky again, but the sun stays hidden! Good weather for reading on the beach though!




It's just after midnight and we just got back from the chocolate buffet! We had to say goodbye to the first friends we met here, but we also made some new ones! It's so fun meeting people and finding out their story! Our first friends were two couples traveling together from Charlotte, NC. The six of us were actually the only ones on our bus from the airport to the resort. These friends have been to most of the Sandals and Beaches resorts multiple times, but this was their first trip to Whitehouse and they were just as impressed with this one as we have been! Yesterday, we met honeymooners from Indiana who arrived Sunday to find out their luggage didn't make it on their connecting flight! We felt so so bad for them! Luckily their luggage came late last night and all is well! Tonight we finally had a conversation with another couple that we'd been running into all over the place...They're from Connecticut, but the girl (originally from Taiwan) had lived in Columbus, GA for a couple years!

Tomorrow we'll be getting up early to go snorkeling and we may even try skiing! Hopefully we'll get some sun by the pool late morning/early afternoon before we head in for couples massage at the spa!

Time to crash for the night! Until tomorrow...

Jamaica - Day 3

Another great day on the island!

Both mornings so far we've had breakfast at Baysides...A very yummy buffet with everything you can imagine! My faves are french toast and grilled potatoes while Matt has a made-to-order omelet. Oh yeah, and don't forget the fruit! Especially the pineapple! Yum yum! It looks like the hard white part of pineapple back home, but it's so incredibly soft and juicy!

Our view at breakfast...



Laying by the Riviera pool...

The sea is directly to my right and is in plain sight from anywhere in or around the pool. You have your choice of chairs around the pool, chairs in the pool or floats in the pool...Yeah, with no kids allowed you can actually float in the pool! Oh and we decided today that this pool is by far the largest we've ever actually laid eyes on and perfect in every way possible! (Right down to the swim up bar with bar stools in the water!) And I just love the colorful buildings all around...

For lunch today we had some awesome quesadillas over at Arizona's...Also right on the water of course!



"Well hello Mr. Peacock! I was just asking about you! So glad you came over for a visit while we're just reading here by the pool! Go ahead and hop on up on that chair right behind us and keep us company!"



On our way to dinner...


(Yeah, excuse the odd lighting in that picture...Even though it was only 6:30 it was almost dark. Jamaica doesn't do daylight savings time so this time of year sunset is right around our dinnertime!)

Tonight was the Grand Buffet (overlooking the water!). There was so so so much food! Even if no one's in line in front of you it still takes like 10 minutes to get all the way through!





Also tonight was the beach party! Complete with fun island music from Silver Bird Steel Pan, "Crazy Chris" and a fire dude!


Tomorrow night there's an art auction so the auctioneer auctioned off a spa gift certificate and a gift certificate for a trip to YS Falls. We're planning on taking an excursion to the falls Thursday, so I figured it couldn't hurt to go ahead bid on the gift certificate and maybe get it a little cheaper that it would be otherwise...The gift certificate was worth $73 and I actually had the winning bid with $40! We were thinking it was a good deal until after the mini auction was over and the auctioneer told us that we were all getting the items we won the bidding for free! We were so excited! Definitely going to book our trip in the morning!

After that Crazy Chris had a bunch of us come out and dance while Silver Bird Steel Pan played...Then he'd call out a number and everyone had to get into groups of that number. I was tempted by the fact that the last five dancing were getting good prizes so I had to drag Matt out there...Unfortunately I was the one to get out after the first round, but Matt hung in for a couple more!


Now we're in for the night and thinking of all the things we still want to do while we're here...A week's just not long enough!! Guess we'll just have to stay a few more days! Maybe we'll make it back in time for the 4th of July!

Jamaica - Day 2

It's been a nice, relaxing day, but no sun! We woke up around 8:30 (relatively early for us when we're on vacation!) and enjoyed a very yummy breakfast buffet with a great view of the sea...During breakfast it started drizzling so we headed back to our suite to watch a movie - "The Guardian." Afterwards we had lunch at Bluefields...Also on the water!

By mid afternoon the sky was looking a little more blue, but still overcast...It was nice and warm and not too hot so we laid by in the pool (b/c there are actually chairs IN the pool!) and took a dip in the hugest hottub ever! (All while overlooking the sea of course!)

Tonight for dinner we went the Italian route and tried out Giuseppe's. Yum yum!! The pasta I had was fantastic! (And not to mention the house specialty "punch!")

So now we're just settling in for the evening and looking forward to several more days here at Whitehouse! There are definitely plans to go snorkeling and sailing and anything else that may interest us!

On the way to dinner...

And a peacock looking in the lobby door!
(Because peacocks just wander around everywhere here!)

Jamaica - Day 1

Wow! What a day it has been!

Our day started at 3:30am and we were out of the house at 4:00am! We arrived at the Atlanta airport after parking and shuttling about 7:00...Plenty early for our 8:30 flight! After a 3 hour flight we were finally in Jamaica! After getting through the airport in Montego Bay we rode a medium-sized bus/shuttle with two other couples to our resort in Whitehouse...We arrived at 1:00, checked into our room, grabbed a bite to and CRASHED! I guess all the traveling caught up with us pretty quickly because unlike every other day of the year, MATT was crying for a nap! We slept til about 6:00 and then took a walk around the resort to start getting a feel for where we are...Very interesting! It's crazy how there's mountains on one side of us and SEA on the other! (Yeah, I said "SEA" as opposed to "OCEAN" because I've learned we are in the Caribbean SEA and not the Atlantic OCEAN!)

It took me a minute the first time I saw the beach from our balcony to realize why it looked so different...There's no dunes and there's TREES on the beach! It's so interesting! Really peaceful looking!

I snapped a couple quick pics of the views from our suite, but it was already getting dark so I'll have to get some better ones tomorrow!






Gosh...I have so much more I want to try to wrap my head around and actually put into words about how different everything is here, but Matt's already fallen asleep with the light on and I'm thinking now may be a good time to join him! (Especially since it's an hour later to our tired bodies!)

Maybe one day I'll go back and post about the last week and a half, but for now it's time to start vacation posts live from Jamaica! Stay tuned for updates and pictures!

We've been back from our trip to Hilton Head with the Stickels for over a week now and I'm just getting around to blogging about it and posting pictures...Horrible, I know, but I swear life's just so busy with softball still going on! We play Thursday in the semi-finals and if we win we play next Tuesday in the championship...After that (and after Jamaica!) life should settle back down to its normal pace!

We hadn't had a beach trip with the Stickels since Grey was almost 2 so we figured now that JACKSON is almost 2 it was time for another trip! We picked Memorial Day weekend so we'd have the three-day weekend without having to take off work and found a GREAT place on VRBO in Shorewood that was right on the ocean! Unfortunately the weather forecast was looking pretty bad for the weekend, but we all headed down Friday evening anyways hoping for the best!

Saturday morning we all awoke to torrential downpours with no end in sight! Luckily we found an indoor jumping place called "The Island Playground" where we spent most of the afternoon...Sunday started off about the same, but the rain stopped about mid-morning and we were able to head out to the beach! Then of course on Monday (the day we have to leave!) it was all nice and sunny like the beach should be, but we were able to get a few good hours of sun in before we had to make the long drive back home!

A few random thoughts/comments about the weekend:
*Jackson has a crazy fear of elevators and sunscreen
*The girls beat the boys at Pop 5
*Grey has taught Jackson how to eat dropped food off the floor like a dog

At "The Island Playground"

Jackson LOVED this slide!! Up and down! Up and down! And he always stopped at the top to make sure everyone was watching him!

Playing dress up...

Finally some beach time!

Oh yeah, Stickels boys, big and small, love them some ice cream!

Our only picture! (But hey, that's just the way it always goes for the photographer! Besides those little boys are just WAY cuter than us anyway!)