Harbour Island, Bahamas

On 2/18, we left the house at 3:45am in the middle of a snowstorm to get to LGA for our flight to the Bahamas!

20180218_033943 (2) 20180218_054753 (2)

Here we are transferring in Ft Lauderdale.

20180218_092600 (2) 20180218_104831 (2) 20180218_104858 (2)

Sadly the original flight we boarded was delayed due to mechanical difficulties!  But two hours later we finally had convinced Blaine to change out of his PJs and we were back on our way!  After arriving in Eleuthera we took a short cab ride and then a boat to Harbour Island!

20180218_142741 (2) 20180218_143654 (2)

We arrived at our beautiful rental house in Dunmore town, called the Strawberry House, and Andrew cooked a delicious dinner for us.  He’d done his research and found that even the locals bring frozen meats to the island, given the prices, so we’d brought enough to cook for three nights at home.

20180218_175539 (2) 20180218_175556 (2)

The next morning Blaine and Daddy explored the rooftop balcony.

20180219_074238 (2)

Then we headed to Arthur’s Bakery for some yummy cinnamon rolls and other breakfast items.  Sugar!!

20180219_082506 (2)

We spent most of our time at the beach.  Sitting, reading, eating, drinking.  Playing in the sand, cooling off in the ocean.  It was pure relaxation.

20180219_095946 (2) 20180219_100025 (2)

Here we are for our first night out to dinner with the kids at a beautiful bay side restaurant called Aquapazza, with a sunset view.

20180219_174807 (2)

Our house also had a small private pool, which was a nice change from the beach.  One day the kids found a tiny frog swimming around and we rescued it.

20180220_105910 (2)

Here we are on another day out to lunch at the Blue Bar at the Pink Sands resort.  It was a gorgeous view!

20180220_115404 (2)

We brought along an inflatable boat to entertain the kids in the pool.

20180221_160636 (2)

Another day we went to lunch at Sip Sip.  It’s a lunch-only spot which is so desirable people line up well before opening to get a seat.  It was tasty.

20180222_113030 (2) 20180222_115238 (2) 20180222_134900 (2)

Sarah really started to enjoy swimming with this floaty on.

20180222_162546 (2) 20180223_121051 (2)

There was a guy who would bring around these horses you could ride down the beach.  That used to be my childhood dream, though now it doesn’t seem nearly so appealing so I was content to watch others.

20180223_143538 (2)

Ice cream by the pool!

20180223_154005 (2)

I forgot to mention the golf carts!  I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture.  Most people get around the island on golf carts, so we rented one for the week.  The kids loved it, and it made going anywhere into an adventure.

The only downside to staying in the town were all the roosters!  Here’s one below.  These guys would crow at all hours and disturbed our sleep on numerous occasions.

20180223_173956 (2)

Andrew and I went out for two delicious dinners sans children, not pictured.  We went to the Dunmore Club one night and the Rock House on another (and our property manager arranged a sitter, who happened to be her mother).

The last night we went out for one more family dinner at the Landing.

20180223_174147 (2) 20180223_182049 (2)

Sarah ordered a cheeseburger which was described as having bacon on top.  This girl loves bacon, so when that component was missing she was pretty upset!  Our waitress explained she’d rushed the order out for the kids rather than wait on the bacon (?) so we requested she bring it out later on for Sarah.  Sarah was finally happy when it appeared.

20180223_182058 (2)

The next day we left for home via golfcart, boat, cab.  The airport in Eleuthera was across the street from this liquor store where everyone would hang out drinking beer or wine after checking in.  We’d brought along some conch salad from Queen Conch and it was a tasty lunch while waiting for our flight.

20180224_133449 (2) 20180224_151322 (2) 20180224_151343 (2)

Here we are before the last leg of our flight, transferring in Orlando.  We had some pizza for dinner and then boarded the flight home.  It was pretty late at that point but the kids were really well behaved despite blowing past their usual bedtimes.

20180224_175156 (2)

It was a wonderful trip and we’d all love to go back sometime!

February 2018

Here are all the other photos from February!

IMG_3117 (2) IMG_1949 (2) 20180202_135719 (2)

This is a dog Blaine made in the maker space in his Kindergarten class.  Note the face and the leash attached!  The dog is also named Blaine.

20180202_195110 (2)

One day I got to visit Blaine’s class for a #BetterTogether event.

20180206_091930 (2) 20180206_094313 (2) 20180207_164340 (2)

When Andrew got back from India he brought both kids some new lego sets, and it was Sarah’s first chance to put together some real legos all by herself!  She loved it.

20180208_134614 (2)

Sarah also needed some new sneakers and specifically requested this rainbow pair of “Twinkle Toes” shoes with lights that many of the other girls in her class have.

20180209_130116 (2) 20180209_142848 (2)

Passports in hand for our upcoming trip to the Bahamas!!

20180210_085053 (2)

Making Valentines…

20180210_090343 (2)

And an orange chocolate bundt cake.

20180211_181759 (2) 20180213_144627 (2)

Sarah was disappointed that her Jewish preschool does not celebrate St. Valentine’s Day!  So she was pleased when one of our regular crossing guards was giving out bags of Valentine’s candies.

20180214_123328 (2)

Here we are in Flint Park finally trying out the stomp rockets that Blaine got on his birthday!

20180217_104235 (2)

Then we went home and Daddy tried out his new drone!

20180217_112337 (2)

Superbowl / Parenting Fail

Andrew was away in India on Superbowl Sunday so I decided to take the kids on what turned out to be an ill-advised outing.  First, we went to Shake Shack!  Yum!  Definitely a good idea.

20180204_112053 (2)

Then we went to the Hudson River Museum, which is where I got into trouble.  The kids had never been to a planetarium before, and we’d never been to this museum because it doesn’t open until 12.  Now that Sarah isn’t napping I wanted to give it a try, so we bought tickets to the 12:30 show which was supposed to be appropriate for kids.

20180204_120041 (2)

Sadly, the 12:30 show turned out to be the animated story of Perseus defeating Medusa, and a sea monster!  Blaine started screaming midway through and we had to leave.

20180204_122638 (2) 20180204_122649 (2)

That night he couldn’t close his eyes without picturing the “sea monster” (due to bad animation it was simply a pair of sinister eyes emerging from a black underwater cave).  So eventually I brought him downstairs to watch the superbowl with me (YAY EAGLES) where he finally fell asleep.

20180204_221913 (2)

I would say “lesson learned” but I believe I should have learned this lesson two years ago when the lego movie frightened him at Legoland.  So maybe it’s a lesson I need to relearn every two years.