Jamaica Trip/Happy 10 years to us!!!

Part 1

A whole lot of selfies...

 

Our anniversary was in December, but this trip has been a long time in the making.  I am SO thankful we were able to get away, just me and Ben...for the very first time!  We always thought we would go back to our honeymoon spot (Mexico), but decided instead to explore a new place. 

 

We took the kids to friends' houses Sunday night, since our flight Monday morning was so early.  Normally, I would have been so excited for a quiet house, but I realized very quickly how much life they bring to our house.  Ben made a comment how someday this is how our life will be...some day they'll be grown and it will just be us again.  I realized right then how important it was for us to just be Ben and Jen for a few days; how important it is for us to have a relationship and not just be mommy and daddy.

Monday morning I was up at 2:45!  It was ridiculous, but worth it.  We flew to Atlanta and then had a 5 hour layover.  We watched movies and read and tried to find non-fast food options for breakfast.  Sorry, but Chick-fil-a sounds gross to me in the morning.

We flew into Montego Bay and a shuttle took us the 1.5 hours down to Ocho Rios.  I was nervous about that drive, but ended up being so thankful to see the Jamaican culture.  Houses were a few boards nailed together and most buildings looked like they were abandoned.  However, I noticed that although people were actually living in these places, they didn't look like it.  Everyone looked clean and put together.  Their clothes looked nice First thing we learned; Jamaican's are loud and like loud music.  Our driver serenaded us the whole drive! 

Sitting on our balcony...view from our room

We got there in time for dinner.  That evening they were having a beach party, which worked out perfect for us.  We just walked onto the beach and started eating!

I just wanted to crawl in bed by this point, but who can resist some coconut water?

Tuesday morning we discovered Jamaica's secret...their coffee.  It.is.amazing.  Paired with their real brown sugar and I was in heaven.  After breakfast we went kayaking and then camped out on these chairs.

We quickly realized that we needed no entertainment and no need to move for hours.  We sat there, with our chair practically in the ocean, waiters would bring us drinks and we watched other couples attempt kayaking and paddle boarding.  We had books with us, but they were used more as shields to hide our giggles.  It was very windy that day...well, let's just say we saw some really funny situations.

That afternoon we played some tennis.  These may seem like big deals, but both activities were things I've really wanted to do, but haven't known how to do them with the kids.  So it was huge to me that we could just pick up any time and play a game.  Naturally, Ben creamed me, but I was happy that I at least got it across the net.

That night we went to a cocktail party, where we got to try several different kinds of Jamaican cocktails and we had dinner 2 different restaurants.

Wednesday morning we went snorkeling.

 It was wonderful and all I could think about was how small I am in this big world.  I learned that morning that sea sickness is contagious.  I was feeling fine until we got back on the boat and I saw another man about to lose his cookies.  I immediately felt sick too and wouldn't have made it back to land without Ben's help.  We camped out on these couches and sipped some "coke light" until we felt better.  I was thankful that some quiet and fresh air was all we needed to get over the queasiness.

We spent the afternoon by a pool reading.

A lizard spent some time with us, trying to get a taste of our drinks.

 

 We found our favorite restaurant that night.  We watched the sun set over the ocean and ate really yummy food.

That night we went to a "white party".  You were suppose to wear all white and they had massive amounts of chocolate and wine.  I think really it was their ploy to get you to buy clothes from their gift shop, but we rebelled and went in our normal clothes. 

Thursday we went kayaking again, but ventured out a little further this time.

 All that work required a second cup of coffee :)

That afternoon we went to Dunn's River Falls.  It was just a short drive from the resort and was lots of fun to climb. 

When we got back to the resort we went to a wine tasting.  I was so excited...I've always wanted to do a real wine tasting!  It was the saddest thing I have ever been to.  This guy handed us a glass of basic merlot and tried to entertain us with riddles.  Thankfully we had dinner plans and an excuse to leave!  So wine tasting remains on my bucket list and we returned to our favorite dinner spot.

So apparently my hair turns white and crazy in Jamaica...it was out of control.  I took this picture one day to remind myself that at one point I relaxed.  In future days when I'm longing for a break, I'll look back and remember these couple of days that I soaked in relaxation.

We had a fabulous trip and I'm so glad we made the investment in us.  We realized how much more we need to make an effort to carve out time for our marriage.  Perhaps it seems easier now that our baby is almost 2.  It didn't take long after returning home for us to say "remember when we were in Jamaica..."