Traveling to Turks and Caicos was a trip of a lifetime, one
I will never forget. Best of all I was able to share it with the people I love
most! I have wanted to go to the Caribbean for a long time and finally going
was a dream. When we first got to the hotel Nick and I went straight for the
beach. My first sight of the white sand and turquoise water brought me to
tears. No picture or movie could ever describe how fresh and beautiful it
looked. Then we both ran and dove in! We were both so excited to finally be
living what we talked about for so, so long. It was the best moment of the
trip.
Sunday August
4th
After jumping in the ocean and swimming around we met my
family up at the pool. Since they all got there a couple days before us they
caught us up on all the fun they had been having. Nick and I were starving so
we all decided it was dinner time. We ate at the French restaurant La Chateau
Petite and ordered every desert on the menu. To top it off we piled our plates high
was treats from the “chocolate buffett”. The running joke all week was how many
dinners we would have each night. I can not tell you how much we ate and I
loved every second of it! We all talked until way too late. At that point I had
been up for over 24 hours and do not even remember walking back to our hotel
room.
First sight of Turks
Chocolate buffet
Monday August 5th
Nick and I slept in and had a late breakfast. We met up with
every one at the beach and played around with the sail boats (Hobi Cats). While
all the men rode the Hobi Cats around the girls soaked in the sun and enjoyed
the super warm water. Before lunch we all went snorkeling just 5 minutes off
the coast. There we saw a huge sting ray. It happened at the end of the trip so
most people were already out of the water and in the boat Since I was illegally
getting a sand dollar from the ocean floor ( you cant take shells J) I was still in. The
sting ray gave me plenty of distraction to just swip the sand dollar unnoticed.
Seeing the sting ray was a highlight of the trip for sure! Oh, and the sand
dollar broke in my hotel room. Risked my life for nothing…sheesh. Then Nick and
I did a scuba review class. I needed it as I had not gone since 2005! Yikes.
Then it was off for more fun on the Hobi Cats. Nick could sail it very good and
would get us going super fast. I would lay on my stomach and look down at the
ocean floor. I kept hoping I would see another sting ray or shark but all I saw
was sand. That night we took pictures as a family on the beach. It was the only
night I actually did my hair. That is a testament to how awesome this trip was.
I was in my swim suit and in the water ALL day. After dinner we went to one of the restaurant bars and had
one of the bar tenders make us all sort of drink concoctions (virgin of course).
My favorite was the dirty diet coke (diet coke and coconut), Mickey Mouse
(strawberry banana), and Miami Vice (pina coloda and strawberry). I proceeded
to drink about 15 of those every day. Then we had dinner over looking the ocean
and talked by the beach/fire the rest of the night. That day was Clarah’s
birthday so we sang her and Emily happy birthday. We all went around and shared
why we loved Clarah so much. All of them revolved around her selfless, kind,
and easy going demeanor. My favorite thing about Clarah... she always makes
time to hang out with me and acts like there is nothing better in the world
than being with me!
Our view from breakfast every morning
View from my parents room
The Hobi Cats
Professional Pics
Tuesday August 6th
We woke up early to go scuba diving. We went ton two dives
and had a great time with everyone. The second dive we saw a shark and a couple
huge lion fish. The second dive is called Thunderdome after a giant cage that
is sunken. It is a fish sanctuary now and at one point I was completely
surrounded by bright yellow fish. It was surreal! After scuba diving we had
lunch on the beach and relaxed for a while. We went on the Hobi Cats again and
went out so far the resort was just a dot. It kind of freaked me out but was
exciting too. We got dressed up for dinner and went to a great restaurant. It
is like Teppanyaki’s where they cook all the food in front of you on a big
grill. We had mahi mahi, steak, chicken, shrimp, fried rice, and the best
vegetables! I ate to my hearts content. After dinner we all sat around and
talked about how much we loved Emily, which is a very easy conversation to haveJ. It was her birthday!
Then the conversation switched to our favorite family memories. Abe said his
was jumping off the cliff at Lake Powell with my dad. Brady said caribou
hunting in Alaska and having to use blueberry scented wipes to wash his hands
after field dressing a deer. We were all busting up. Then we hit the adult
Jacuzzi that over looked the ocean and relaxed/talked until I about feel
asleep. Us girls talked all about our kids and babies and pregnancy. We totally
scared Caity and Clarah… they may never have kids, like ever! This was my
favorite day, just hanging out with my siblings and talking without any
interruptions from kids or work.
All the gear...scuba does take some work
warming up after our first dive. Talking about all our crazy animal sightings
our cabana that we stayed/napped in the afternoons
Wednesday August 7th
We again woke up early and
went scuba diving. This was one of the most enjoyable things we did all week!
The water is so warm, even at 100 feet we did not need wet suits! We saw 4 sea
turtles and one even swam straight up to me and stared me in the eyes. At the
end of the dive we saw a nurse shark. It looked more like a dark shadow than a
fish. Very eerie! I am so glad scuba diving is something Nick and I can do together.
He always preps my tanks and makes sure I have all my gear squared awayJ Underwater he is my “buddy” and is right there, its comforting. After
scuba diving all the family sat under the cabana and ate more pizza than I
thought possible. I also had 4 Miami Vices…delicious. Then all the girls went
snorkeling in hopes of finding some sand dollars and star fish to take home to
our kiddos. Caity was the only one to find a star fish and named it “Victoria”.
Poor Victoria was lost while we were playing at the water park and going around
the lazy river. She shed a tear. We had the worst lucky keeping all our sea
treasures safe! There was a late afternoon rain storm and we weathered it by
drinking a Mickey Mouse in the hot tub. As a family we had dinner at a
restaurant by the beach and watched the sun set on our last night in paradise.
Every night the dinners were so good and we could take all the time in the
world talking and eating. Brady left early in the morning today so we missed
him all day. He always gets everyone laughing with his contagious laugh; I
wished we could see him more often. After dinner we sat by the fire/beach again
and talked about the wonderful memories we made on this trip.
saying goodbye to Brady before scuba diving
poor thing fell asleep while drinking her chocolate shake:)
the infamous Miami Vice
all gone!
Treasures from our snorkeling trip
Afternoon storm rollin gin
Everyone in Turks is on island time
Where Nick and I sayed...Key West village.
Thursday
On our last day Nick and I slept in and then enjoyed
breakfast on the beach. The resort had the best fresh orange juice. We both had
about 4 cups at breakfast to try and get as much as we could before leaving.
Nick and I also took one last ride on the Hobi Cats, sailing around we planned
our grand adventure of sailing around the world…haha. While at breakfast we
took some cheerios and used them to attract fish while we snorkeled. I would
take a couple out of the bag and soon hundreds of fish were swarming. It was
exciting and terrifying! We all snorkeled until we all had to head back to our
rooms and pack up. Before we left the resort I had to have my last meal of 2
Miami Vices, 2 Mickey Mice, and 2 dirty diet cokes. It was the best lunch I
ever had. Then we flew away and even though it was sad to leave I was so
excited to see my girls again.
goodbye my love...chocolate croissant
THE END
