Jamaica

On October 15-19, our family went to Jamaica.  Matt and I wanted to go somewhere for our 10-year anniversary but it was 2 days before his sister got married, so we decided to go in the fall instead.  I wanted the boys to go with us, so Matt found an all-inclusive Beaches resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica that was perfect for us!  Beaches partners with Sesame Street (which they boys didn't know until we got there…we kept it a surprise) so they were in heaven.  There were multiple kids camps daily where they boys could do activities with the characters, there were shows at night, and the characters were out every hour.  There were also just fun kids and/or family activities planned all the time that you could participate in if you wanted. Matt and I had never been to an all-inclusive and we loved that part of it!  We actually never left the resort.  There were 5 restaurants (including a Creperie, which was our favorite), multiple pools, a water park, and of course, the beach!  It was paradise and so nice to get away and relax for a few days.  I even got a massage one morning! The weather was gorgeous…it was sunny and upper 80's every day!  It rained our whole way to the resort, but then we didn't see rain again! Landon had Oct. 16th and 19th off of school and I had Oct. 16th as well.  So…I took 2 days off and Landon and Keegan each just missed one day of school.  Our flight didn't get back into Cleveland until midnight on Monday and we all had school/work on Tuesday so we were tired that day, but it was worth it!

We had to ride an hour and a half from the airport to the resort.  Since it was an all-inclusive, Beaches provided all the transportation for us.  Here are the boys in the van on the way there.

 At a stop on the way….Matt ate jerk chicken from the Ultimate Jerk Center! 

 Some pics of the resort...

Some pics with the characters…

We have seen Super Grover many times, but the boys had never seen Super Grover 2.0 in person before.  When he came out, they went crazy.  They were beyond excited!!

Posing like super heroes!

Family pictures for dinner each night…

The shows…

 The water park…

Glass bottom boat ride and snorkeling

Activities with the characters…
Exercising with Elmo.  I took Keegan to this while Matt and Landon went snorkeling and Keegan ended up being the only one there.  He was so excited that he didn't have to share Elmo with anyone else!

The boys baked with Cookie Monster.  They helped make chocolate chip cookie dough, cut out the cookies, then they got to eat them!  They loved it!

Landon and Keegan made sock puppets with Bert and Ernie...

The boys went to a birthday party.  We didn't know who was going to be there and when we showed up, we found out that Count was hosting and it was a birthday party for him….they were in heaven!

They danced, played Pin the Nose on Elmo, ate hotdogs,  chicken nuggets, veggies, fruit and birthday cake!  So much fun!

Matt and I wanted a selfie with Count :)

The best thing of the entire trip for the boys was our surprise for them.  Beaches has a chance for characters to tuck in the kids at night.  Count is the boys' favorite, but he wasn't an option.  We explained this to the people though and they made an exception for us and let Count come tuck the boys in.  Since he doesn't talk, he brought one of the workers with him (in her pajamas).  She knocked on the door and we made the boys answer.  They were a little nervous, but we convinced them that it was fine and they could go in the hall with her.  Count came out and they were so excited!  

They did some stretches before bed...

They read a bedtime story...

Count brought them a present so he covered their eyes with his cape while his friend got it!

He gave the boys a stuffed animal of Ernie and Grover!

He sang a song with the boys and gave them both hugs...

Family pic

Then he tucked in the boys...

One more hug for each of them...

We face timed with both of our parents after Count left because the boys were SO excited!  It was priceless to watch how surprised they were and how much they loved it.  It was awesome!!!

Some pics from the main pool (with a swim up bar)…

Landon under the water fall!

 Just swimming

 Trying to surf on a raft

Playing on the raft

 

Keegan lounging on a chair

 Landon & Daddy at the swim up bar.  The boys loved to order chocolate milkshakes or virgin strawberry daiquiris or pina coladas!  

 Landon & Daddy with their drinks…half daiquiri, half pina colada

 Sitting on the stools

 All 4 of us at the swim up bar!

 And relaxing on a lounge chair

 We put a couple rafts on top of each other and then the boys could surf!  This was the morning we left so we had the whole pool to ourselves!

The beach and the ocean….

The boys relaxing in a raft that was anchored down at the resort.

 My boys...

 Matt attempting to climb a coconut tree...

 Playing in the sand...

 What a great view from my chair….my boys, the sand and ocean!

 Building a sand castle..

 Playing with the sand and water

 Hard at work

 The finished product

 Lots of sand

 Matt and I in the ocean

 Family pic from a balcony

 Love this shadow pic with the palm tree and all 4 of us!

Love this pic too!

 Landon drinking coconut water straight from the coconut

 Keegan holding the coconut

 Matt drinking the water….the coconuts were too high to reach in the trees but this one fell down right in front of us one day so we lucked out!  

All our footprints in the sand...

 Our first night in Jamaica, Cookie Monster came in the restaurant we were at and joined us for dinner for a little bit.  The boys loved it!

 We always saw this chicken roaming around the resort and there was a rooster there too!

 Our sweet boys

  We played Bingo one afternoon sitting by the pool and Keegan won!  He got to pick out a prize and picked this Jamaican turtle figurine!

 Leaving the resort…a couple last pics of the boys

Daddy & Landon on the plane ride home

What a great trip….so fun!!!