Turks and Caicos

Turks and Caicos was amazing.....and I am in a bit of a depression being back home, so I have had a hard time getting motivated to do the things I normally do, like blog! How we got there and timing is all in the last post about Rebecca's engagement. But quick recap: Left at 1:15 a.m. Saturday morning (supposed to be 11:59 p.m. Friday night, 1 hour delay) and flew 3 hours to Charlotte, North Carolina. We had a 2.5 hour layover in Charlotte, where we got breakfast and Cruz slept in the double stroller. All of the kids slept on the first flight and I got lucky enough to get a seat next to me to put Lexi's car seat so I could lay her down (without paying for a seat). We got on the 2nd flight and again all of the kids slept. I didn't have an extra seat for Lexi this time but the flight was just over 2 hours and she slept great in my arms. We arrived in Turks and had transportation there to take us to our hotel at the Beaches Resort. It was only about a 10 minute ride to the hotel. The hotel was amazing...actually I should say the compound. There were several different check-in places and several different types of rooms, there were the French Quarters, the Caribbean Quarters, and the Italian Quarters. We were all in the Italian Quarters and Rebecca, Dave, and my mom were close by in the Caribbean Quarter. All of these quarters had its own feel and restaurants around it. There were pools at all of these quarters and then there was an area where there was a water slide park and a wave pool to boggy board in and surf in. Cruz was tall enough to boggy board but not quite tall enough to surf. The slides were all lots of fun and there was a lazy river. There were swim up bars all over the place and if we could not find Cruz, I would look around and sure enough he would be ordering a pina colada, or a strawberry-banana smoothie from the bar. He was a crack up. One time a bunch of us were in the hot tub at the main pool. At the far end of this pool area there was a swim up bar. I thought Cruz was in the hot tub with us but I couldn't find him. There he was at the bar....the funny part was after he got his drink he proceeded to try to come across the long pool with the drink in his hand to the hot tub. The problem is the pool switched heights at different points. We were all watching him and he was literally going under to save his drink. I quickly jumped in the pool and swam to him to help him. He was so determined to have his drink and swim to the hot tub. During that whole ordeal, even when he was struggling, he would stop to take sips of his drink. It was one of those things where you had to be there, but it was super funny!

Our days were filled with getting up and eating breakfast. Usually we would just go down to one of the buffets with our family. We would try to find grammy when we could, but everyone kind of did their own things and had their own timing in the morning. I really liked the hot oatmeal and they had really yummy fruit and fresh fruit smoothies. Shawn and I traded trying to work out. We both went running (separately) outside of the Beaches resort one day, but most of the vacation we just stayed on property. Turks and Caicos is pretty undeveloped plus there was so much to do and see on property there was really no need to leave. Plus, with the ages our kids were at they were happy, swimming, and playing with their cousins.

Some days we spend more at the water park area, especially in the beginning. That first day Cruz and dad tried everything several times in the water park area. We usually ate lunch with however was around us at lunch time. We kind of tried several different spots for lunch, for the most part the food was really good, and there was quite a large variety for an all inclusive. They had Elmo, the Count, Big Bird, and other Sesame Street Characters walking around and various activities the kids could go to with them, that was awesome.

One day we went out on the snorkeling boat, that was part of the package, and we put Alegra in the kids club and hired a sitter for Lexi. That is another great feature this place had. We actually hired a sitter for Lexi one other day to just sit in the room while she napped so we both could be outside. Usually Shawn and I just traded turns on who stayed in the room with Lexi for her morning and afternoon nap, and that worked out pretty well, but it was helpful to have that babysitting service and kid care.

Also for free we could take out paddle boards, wind surfers, these bike things, kayaks, and the hobies. We tried it all. Most of the time near the end of the week you could find us all out on the beach. We kind of took over this one cabana area and it became the Raddon Gathering spot. The bigger kids would go back and forth between the water park, the hot tub, and the beach. Cruz was so cute and so into playing by the beach water and finding sea shells. He filled his days lots playing by himself near the water. I didn't feel bad for him because he was having a blast. When he felt like playing with his cousins he would, but most of the time he was playing some made up game in his head having a great time.

Isla and Alegra had a fun time playing in the sand together. Luckily Alegra gets along with everyone very well. She is so cute and loves all the kids. She especially loves Granty and she played well with him. Lexi is really into me these days and she really wouldn't let anyone else hold her. One time she let Uncle Russ take her swimming but that was about it!

Dinners we would all eat together. After the first night we had the concierge make reservations at the different restaurants for the rest of the nights. Since there were 24 of us that was best. It was fun to get together....we would usually walk to Bobby Dee's for banana splits after dinner! :) Poor Richards Family.......they got the stomach flu. It was Nick before they left for the vacation...Ezra traveling to Turks....Clara the day after they got there.....and then Katie the day after that....luckily Richard didn't get it. We all thought we were in the clear and then Russ got some stomach thing the day before we left. No one is sure if his was the stomach flu or food poisoning. The boys all went on a 2 hour fishing boat trip and Conch shell trip. The guide got the conch out of the actual conch shell and Russ ate alot of it. I guess it was good but maybe he ate too much!!!

It was such a fun time to be together. We had a lot of flexibility to do either or own little family thing or join the group, it was nice and relaxing, with no pressure. I am in a bit of a funk since coming back because it is cold and the air isn't that great. I keep trying to tell myself how lucky we got to go in the first place. Truly an amazing vacation!!