A few months ago Thad decided it was in our best interest to plan a caribbean vacation before baby dos arrives in February. I was a bit anxious about leaving for a whole week when I still had a lot to do to get ready for the baby but ultimately I gave in and I am so glad I did! We left the saturday after Thanksgiving (which was also Thad's birthday this year) and stayed at the Marriott Ocean Club, next door to the Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino where we got married in 2007. Thad found a fabulous deal to rent out a one bedroom time share there and we love this resort area so this worked out great. The flight was relatively uneventful other than Julian not taking a nap but he was so excited to play with the airplane phone, how could he possibly sleep?! We arrived in hot, sunny Aruba, got our rental car, and headed to the grocery store to stock up our fridge. We haven't been back since our wedding but once we were driving through downtown Oranjestad, it felt like we were just there. It's such a happy, wonderful island and we were really excited about our week vacation!
Right away Julian LOVED the beach and the resort. He loved being able to run around barefoot and in only a diaper (or nothing!) and he loved the food, too! He was talking up a storm and within a day of being there he was saying "beach" and "potty." He loved playing in the sand and once he figured out we could carry buckets of water up to the beach, he was even more excited!
For those of you who haven't been to Aruba, there are a TON of filipinos there. They came to work in either construction or on the cruise ships and never left so everywhere we went we met filipinos. We went in search of a filipino take away restaurant but it didn't work out.
There has been a lot of construction and development in Aruba since we were there last. TONS of restaurants and shops have gone up so we actually were able to try a new restaurant each night we ate out. Of course we returned to our favorite, Iguana Joe's, but it wasn't the same without the drinking....oh well. We went to Yemenja and it really turned out to be, in my humble opinion, our best meal we've ever had in Aruba. Period. Julian loved the blonde waitresses, too. :) Our last night there we went to Marandi, which has the same owner as Yemenja. We figured we just had to try it after our experience the night before and we were not let down. The food was spectacular, especially the dessert, and they even gave us bread to feed the fish off the side of the dock. The restaurant is supposed to be a large beach hut (palapa) and it's right on the water. Beautiful!
All in all it was a great vacation and it was so nice to take Julian there. Hopefully in 2011 we can go back with Baby Dos! Enjoy the photos and if you ever have a chance to go to Aruba, GO! You won't be disappointed!
Technically this isn’t our first family vacation but it’s definitely our first one with Julian being so active! We decided that we couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving for a possible trip to Aruba so we looked into houses and three weeks later there we were in our little oceanside cottage in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. If you don’t know where this is, it’s in the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina. You can see the Wright Brothers Memorial from our window.
Day 1-
The drive from Fairfax is about 5 hours but considering how bad beach traffic has been this summer (HORRIBLE), we left the house at 7:00am on Saturday hoping to pull into our cottage by 2pm, optimistically. Thad was driving and we pulled into the parking lot at 11:45am, even after a leisurely breakfast in Williamsburg. Bam! After a quick bite at The Good Life Gourmet and a stop at Food Lion for some supplies, we checked in and unpacked for the week.
Our friends, Jessica, James, and Jack arrived around 5:30pm for a long weekend with us. Jessica and James were in our Bradley class and their son, Jack, is 5 weeks older than Julian. She is due in December with their second and her friendship has been fantastic (and priceless) as we navigate this crazy parenting thing together. We ate dinner at the American Pie Pizza and Homemade Ice Cream (somewhat disappointing, I expected something better for a small $25 pie) and relaxed at the house for the evening. Not a bad start to our vacation!!
Day 2-
We woke up bright and early with the kids and were able to have breakfast and coffee and still hit the beach by 8:45am. Unfortunately the biting black flies also hit the beach by 8:45 and after a quick run to Rite Aid for some bug repellent, we had a fantastic time playing in the sunshine. It was very hot and sunny and the boys were having a blast!
We ate lunch at the house and returned to the beach after naps for some late afternoon –fly-free beach time. Dinner was a smorgasbord of corn (much to Julian’s excitement!), shrimp, chicken, salad, green beans, and watermelon. Yummy! Needless to say after a day of sunshine and running around, the boys slept soundly and so did mommies and daddies.
Day 3-
Poop. The clouds rolled in but we were able to go for a walk on the beach before Jessica and gang left to go back to DC. James bought this fantastic $6 kite that was SOARING with the gusty winds. Unfortunately, by lunch time the clouds opened up and it rained the rest of the day. I went on a mission during Julian’s nap to acquire some sweatshirts and long sleeves as we weren’t prepared for the yucky, cold weather.
The highlight of our day was dinner at this wonderful restaurant- the Outer Banks Brewery and Restaurant. It was ranked #2 in Kill Devil Hills on Yelp.com so we decided to come check it out. It didn't hurt to learn that this is the first wind powered brewery in the United States! With a homemade cream soda for me and a microbrew for Thad, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinners. Julian loved the fried ravioli, I had a corn and mushroom risotto with bacon and seared scallops, and Thad had the filet with a demi-glaze sauce, topped with crabmeat and asparagus. Outstanding! For dessert we shared a homemade carrot cake with a caramel sauce on the side. No, we don’t have giant bellies; we ate it a few hours later back at the cottage. As for the weather, I’m glad we packed some DVDs.
Day 4-
We decided to go to the aquarium first thing in the morning if it was raining in the hope of having a clear afternoon….what luck! After breakfast we headed south to Roanoke Island to visit the North Carolina Aquarium. We grabbed a coffee at a local coffee house, The Front Porch Café, and visited old town Manteo before the aquarium. What a cute place! Roanoke Island is one of the first English settlements in the new world, and even if it didn't survive, there is a lot of history on this island.
If you ever get a chance to visit the area, definitely go to the aquarium! It is FANTASTIC. Julian LOVED running around and trying to kiss the different fish through the glass, and he loved touching the starfish. We even saw some river otters and a shark, but I don’t think Julian could quite get just how big that shark really was compared to everything else. It was a great indoor activity but when we got out of the building, we noticed the clouds were starting to lift so we headed home for some beach time.
The sun played peek-a-boo for a few hours but by the time Julian was up from his nap it was out so we ran out to the beach to play. Downside is that it was very, very windy and poor Julian was having a hard time with the loud, strong wind. We got to see some kite surfers and dig for some shells before it was just too chilly to be out anymore.
For dinner we went to Mama Kwan’s, a tiki bar/restaurant in Kill Devil Hills, and it was ranked #4 on Yelp.com. It was delicious! Unfortunately Julian didn’t want any of our food (we really have a fickle toddler on our hands, folks!) but we thought it was great. We started with ‘Thai Money Bags,’ a fried bundle of cellophane noodles, ginger, and other veggies, with pickled cucumbers. For our entrees Thad got the pork dish (which tasted a lot like Korean BBQ), and I had the coconut shrimp. If you like tropical food with an Asian twist, this is the place for you! They play great music which inspired Julian to dance all over the restaurant. His particular favorite that night was "Rock the Casbah."
Day 5-
The weather in the morning was the best we got all day, and luckily we took advantage of it by spending the morning on the beach. The sun started to disappear around 10am so we got in the car and went souvenir hunting until lunch and then relaxed at the house for a while. It wasn’t raining but it was very, very windy so after Julian woke up we took a drive down to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and explored the island some more. We got an early dinner and headed home.
With the unexpectedly chilly weather, and the forecast for more rain, we decided to come home a day early. We were supposed to come back home on Friday but since it was forecasted to rain all the way to tuesday, the figured we'd just head home. All in all, it was a great first trip to the beach and we hope to make this an annual event for our family. The beach is such an easy, fun, and cheap thing to do with kids! They can scream as loud as they want, run as fast as they want, and dig as deep as they want and it doesn't make a difference! Next year will be very different with two kids to pack for, but that's a whole other issue. Hope you enjoy the pics!
We have just returned from our first family vacation. We flew up to Burlington, VT last wednesday and stayed for 4 days. It was the perfect time to go up for the foliage and check out what this "San Francisco of the east coast" is all about. Suffice it to say that we were trying to figure out every way possible to stay up there forever.
The flight was great; Julian just nursed and played with us and he barely fussed at all. It was a cheaper flight up to VT by way of BWI so we drove up luckily during Julian's long nap of the day. By the time we got to the hotel (Hampton Inn Colchester) it was already late afternoon so we stopped at Shaw's to get supplies (read: popcorn and beer for the hotel room) and went on search for dinner.
I think it's honest to say that we truly did eat our way through Vermont. Our first night there we ate at Junior's. The pizza was EXCELLENT and because of the delayed dinner we got back to our hotel room with our large pizza and proceeded to demolish it within about 10 minutes. While we were waiting for our pizza we sat in the dining room and ended up talking with the couple next to us. They were a very nice couple; she was about 4 months pregnant (unexpectedly, they had to add) and we talked with them about life in Vermont, raising a baby there, and all the fun things there is to do in Vermont. We left the restaurant with excited for our visit...it was a great start.
In the morning we drove out to Essex to check out houses and neighborhoods and ate a fantastic lunch at Joyce's Noodle House. Our first observation about Vermont was that it is extremely baby-friendly. When we walked in with Julian we didn't get any bad looks. In fact, the waitress and the fellow diners all cooed and played with Julian. It was great. We wanted to see what the culture is like with children there and from the get-go all we got were positive vibes.
Later that day we drove out to the Ben & Jerry's factory as well as the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, both in Waterbury. We ate our fill of apple cider donuts, fresh apple cider, and ice cream. We rolled out of Waterbury pleasantly stuffed and on a sugar high. :)
For dinner we joined my friend, Liz, with whom I worked at the Little Beginnings Child Development Center. She and her husband, Deane, are from Vermont and they were living in DC while Deane was working on his Masters. She was very excited to show us her city and we were very excited to see the city with a local. We met up at the Church Street Marketplace and had dinner at Sweetwaters. They served this beer there- Switchback- that is made by a local brewer who only sells it in kegs out of his basement. It is an unfiltered beer that is DELICIOUS but unfortunately not sold commercially....too bad, as it would be a hit outside of Burlington!
On friday we first went to Essex to check out the new baby store. We thought if the baby store would be a good place to see what the culture is like for raising babies around Burlington. We were VERY excited to see this shop! The first thing we saw when we walked in were ponchos to wear while wearing your baby (very good sign). All the things they sold were in line with how we are raising Julian (organics, natural, attachment parenting) and they even had a whole room dedicated to cloth diapering!! They had a play/comfortable room for kids to play and moms to nurse and they even had a cute changing room complete with a table. The women were so helpful and nice and we got to meet a couple local doulas. Needless to say, I felt right at home. We got such a cozy feeling about the family culture in Vermont from this one store that we were seriously ready to just find a house and stay there! If you're ever in need of a baby shop in Burlington, check out Bebop Baby.
Then we went downtown to check out the Harbor area and had lunch at Cobblestone Deli right by the water. Despite the chilly weather we took a (brief) walk down by the Harbor, just long enough to see a naked 5-year old run by. Welcome to Vermont, right? Then we grabbed a coffee and crepe at the Skinny Pancake. We noticed that almost every business we visited had social and environmental missions. Everything they did lent to sustainable development, supporting local farmers/businesses, and growing long-term community wealth. Seriously, why can't more businesses be more socially conscious?! The market in town is a coop which supports all the local farms and if it isn't local, you can definitely bet on it being organic and from another small farm elsewhere. City Market (or "Shitty Market" as locals call it...not because it's bad but because they wanted it to have a fun name) was just perfect and everyone came in with their own bags (yay reusable bags!) and everything they carried was stuff you'd find at Whole Foods/Trader Joes/Wild Oats. Thad and I were so excited since we love to cook and a big question mark for us moving up there would be the availability of the foods we like to eat/prepare.
On friday afternoon we drove down to Rutland (not before Thad could take a stop at the Magic Hat Brewery for a taste test and a free growler....he talked death metal with the bartender and he gave him a free growler for talking music with him....sweet) to visit with a dear high school friend that I haven't seen in years. Katherine and I were super close in high school and after she moved to Albany after college it's been difficult to see each other so Rutland was midway for both of us for a quick visit.
On saturday before our flight home we met Liz and Deane for breakfast at Magnolia's in downtown Burlington. It was started by University of Vermont students and it is a totally green restaurant. It was a fantastic way to wrap up our vacation in Vermont. As we left there was a saturday morning farmer's market and they were playing live music....seriously, as if they needed to sell Burlington anymore to me, the acoustic live music on a sunny morning was the kicker. I was seriously ready to just set up shop forever in Burlington and send for the animals later.
All in all it was a definitely worthwhile trip and we can't wait to go back. Our next goal is to visit during the dead of winter to see if I could really handle how cold it gets. Everything else about Vermont was perfect so I won't let a little thing like below-zero weather and tons of snow slow me down! Enjoy our pics....it doesn't give our trip justice but it's just the beginning....I know there will be more pictures up of Vermont someday again soon!
Last saturday ago my mom, Terri, and I took Julian down to VA Beach for the weekend. Daddy stayed home with the animals and took care of a massive "honey do" list for mommy (thanks, daddy!!). It was a good trip. We strapped the seat into my mom's SUV which is so much more luxurious than my Subaru. The way down wasn't as catastrophic as I was expecting it to be as we only had to stop a couple times extra for Julian-related issues, and I only had to hang my boob over his car seat once. We drove straight to the Marriott on Atlantic Ave. and Terri stayed with Julian while my mom and I went to my cousin's bridal shower. Here's a Gap baby shot of little JD on the bed. I may be biased but he just may be the cutest baby ever. :)
I thought briefly about taking Julian with us to the shower but then I realized that a bunch of Filipino women in a house would be incredibly loud for him and I just didn't want to make him deaf so young in life so Terri was kind enough to come down with us and hang out with him while we stepped into the Virginia-based outpost of the Philippines for a couple of hours. We stayed long enough to see my cousin bask in her bridal bliss and open a few presents before my boobs reminded me that I had a baby who was ready for a meal.
For dinner on saturday night my aunt (mom's sister), my uncle, 2 cousins + 1 partner, another aunt (mom's best friend) and her two daughters all joined us for a fantastic seafood dinner.
Julian was such a trooper without daddy, through the long car rides, unfamiliar places, and new people. We even stopped in at the beach sunday morning before we left for home so Julian could at least see the ocean. (Side note: A few weeks back I bought an 'ocean sounds' cd for bed time thinking that the rhythm of the waves crashing would be a bit nicer for white noise rather than just the room fan. I was wrong. Every time the waves would crash he would startle. Maybe I can revive the cd when he's a bit older and has had a chance to associate it with the ocean, because I could fall asleep to that sound in about 2 minutes flat).
Here are some pics of his reaction to the ocean. He LOVED it!
