Words from the heart: The sun, the sand, and the sea.

We had a great trip to Nassau this year. For Steve and I this was our 6th year going, and Kevin's second year. Steve's brother in law, Eric, and his mom and sisters have been going for MANY years. As time has gone on and each family has grown more people have come.

This year Vivian, Monica and Rudy, and their four kids (Josh, Ben, Sarah, and Emma), Amy and her husband Gene, Kim and her two boys (Daniel and Phillip), Barbara and Harvey, Steve, Kevin and I went. It really was small group for us this year. Amongst us there are 3 condos and we always stay at Guanahani village.

We left on Saturday the 13th and came back on the 20th.

Since this was Kevin's second trip, I was really hoping he would take the flying a bit better. In order to prepare I did purchase a CARES flight harness. It is the only harness that is approved by the FAA and was the only secure way we could keep Kevin in his seat.

For our first flight to Dallas Kevin wasn't that bad, we did our best to keep him entertained with a bag of toys. At DFW he loved the moving sidewalks, to help get some of his energy out I let him run up and down them. Unfortunately he didn't get any time to wind down before getting on the plane. And he let everyone know he was unhappy. He did take a quick 30 minute nap, but the rest of the time he was kicking, screaming and crying. My heart broke for him. I knew what he wanted to just get down and run and just couldn't let him.

Once we got to Nassau he was a happy child again. We pretty much dropped everything off, did a little unpacking and then hit the pool. He loved it! Last year he enjoyed staying in his floaty, but not this year.

He was pretty funny because he kept asking to get down, but I was holding him so he wouldn't go under the water. He just didn't understand that he couldn't get down.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were pretty low key days, all we did was play in the ocean or the pool. We did get a lot of ocean time this year because the pool was closed for two days because of an algae bloom and they were repainting. But the ocean was very calm and very warm this year. Kevin liked bobbing up and down in the water and would occasionally play in the sand. But what he really liked was trying to run down the beach or climb up the rocks next to the beach.

When we weren't swimming he did have fun playing with the other kids. The condos have stairs and Kevin constantly wanted to go up and down them. So Sarah and I formed a team and would block Kevin from going up the stairs. He really enjoyed all the attention he got from Sarah. He also really enjoyed playing with his cousins Daniel and Phillip.

Here are some of the photos we took. We did find a new starfish just about everyday and the kids loved touching them. I didn't know they were so colorful!

Steve chasing Kevin down the beach.

Kevin really wanted to climb the rocks, but they used to be retention walls so there is rebar sticking up in areas and the salt and water has caused them to rust, so we didn't want Kevin playing on them at all.