Grand Cayman, 2017

So first of all, I'd like to say that the girls helped me go through all of their toys and belongings, and we donated over 7 large bags/ boxes/ old backpacks full of items.... THEN, we sold a giant tub's worth of items to 2 different Once Upon A Child stores and the girls earned $60 to spend on the trip! WIN-WIN - - NICE.

This is the count-down-board, made by Myla :)

Finally! We got up extra early, and Debbie saw us off to the airport! <visualize airplane noise>

The colors in the water were stunning, and the clouds looked like a dream.

Joel took this shot with his phone.... Fl. Keys.

We arrived in the afternoon on Grand Cayman - and were greeted by live Caribbean Reggae as we waited in line to go through the airport. The girls and I were already jammin' (jammin', jammin' jammin' -- jammin' in the name of the Lord, ooh yah). Love it!

Here is our abode for the 11 day venture... On the north side (quiet part) of the island, up near Rum Point, Kaibo (Phase 2). Gorgeous views of the bay and the yacht club from our second story windows and screened in lanai. (Our fave feature!)
Our slogan for the trip was, "Not gonna lie, love this lanai."

NOTHING was well marked. What was marked on the map was not marked by signage on the streets, and vice-versa, so it was an ongoing guessing game to find our way around this island. But we nailed it!

Night number 1 - we found ourselves at a restaurant called "Over the Edge". It's perched, as you may have guessed, on the edge overlooking the ocean. Yum. I was a tiny bit apprehensive (like I always seem to start out, and need to learn to stop doing!) - about the availability of gluten free options... Their menu didn't specify much detail as to what was included with various meal options, and they didn't say anything about gluten. But as it turns out (like it always does!) - they are well-trained (more so than many in the States, in fact) - and were exceptionally cautious for me! 

I found myself relaxing more as I sipped my first rum punch of the trip. ;)

It was SUPER windy, so we were under the covered porch portion of the outdoor eatery (all open-air.) You can see the FULL MOON (woot!) behind the girls in the pic.

Yep - rum punch helps to calm those initial gluten-free-finding nerves. ;) ;) No gf appies, so this was my appetizer. Teehee...

First full-fam selfie of the trip! (Known for years as "our shot" or "our shot with kids" - well before 'selfies' were even a thing.)

Joel also approves of the rum punch - (*although it's not quite the same as in St. Kitts!)

After round 2 of 'appetizers' (ehem) - I had my first OUTSTANDING seafood meal of the vaca - grilled Wahoo, with an array of veggies - including my fave fried plantains. [This may have partially inspired the name we will be applying to our island home one day.... but it's a secret for now! Each home has a sign post with its personalized name. We love it.]

That night, there was a wedding taking place outside at the Kabio yacht club (walking distance from our condo on the sand). This made for a fun first night of music and dancing on the lanai. Joel & I discovered that we can swing dance to The Cupid Shuffle! :D

Back at the abode... One could relax all day in the outdoor lanai overlooking sun, sand, & surf...

We had no trouble following the house rules during our stay. :D

Love when the girls wanna get their hands into the food prep. This mango was divine.

We literally ate EVERY meal el fresco (outdoors); breakfasts on the lanai, dinners on various beaches perched beside the ocean, and a couple of take-out pizza nights (gluten-free ones too!!!!!) on the lanai. BA-MAAAA!

Upon exploring our very own 'back yard' - we saw a number of critters right off the bat... including this cute lil' crab.

And many starfish!

The "our shot" tradition continues.... (22 years & counting)

The fishing pier near our condo rental...At one point, we 3 girls were hanging out on the dock waiting for Joel to return from a pee-run, and I said, "Just think... It's February, 6pm, we're outside in a sundress, with bare feet, watching the sunset over the ocean, with palm trees swaying in the 85-degree breeze..."
{High fives all around!}

Here is a puffer fish after a young man's bait! We saw many squirm-inducing creatures in our bay - puffer fish, lion fish (beautiful to see!), jelly fish, urchin, and barracuda... Yeah. Needless to say we didn't swim in this spot.

Walking along the shoreline was lovely. Having our personal photographer (Myla) was also a nice bonus.

Saw so many starfish along this shoreline!

We saw many "Herman Crabbies" - per Addie (Hermit Crabs)

Dead Tarpin.... Just had a weird abstractly artistic vibe laying on these roots. (I know I'm strange, and I'm very okay with that!)

We need to be sure to keep their underside in the water/ not lift them up fully. It will harm them. We mostly just 'pet' the starfish. (Addie - of course = every single one, lol!)

She tried to 'pet' the little geckos - but they were took quick for her.

In watching Addie chase little sea birds along the shoreline, I'm immediately propelled back in time to a trip to FL when a 2-year-old Addie chased the seagulls asking "Pease! Pease!" ("Please") - wanting to play with them...

WRINKLE IN TIME!
HERE's a few pix of Addie chasing seagulls at age 2.... "Pease!" 

And we're back to 2017!

I have a thing for bare toes in the sand.... So - you know. Here ya be.

Where's Polly? (Saw parrots all around the place.){Hint:: Very center}

Walked to Starfish Point (loved this walk!) and saw oodles more starfish - as well as a resident baby stingray.

This night, we tried the local yacht club downstairs restaurant (casual dining)... Not our food 'style' (though some of it was delish- like the freshly made guac, pico/salsa, and hummus you see in the center of the table, with home-made (gf!) chips!) Myla put down every bite of those bbq ribs (that a girl!) and Addie - well - pizza is pretty much her favorite thing. She finished the rest at breakfast the next day! No shoes required here! We actually forgot Addie's under the table, and realized we should have just walked barefoot along the shoreline to get here. Toes in the sand is our kind'a eatery!

They are more known for their mojitos here.... Delish & refreshing. Ahhhh.

About the only other thing I could eat here - but one of my fave salads EVA! Shrimp, feta, watermelon, pumpkin seeds, vinaigrette ... WOW!

Some pix with Joel's phone... Our flower child. :)

Kiddie mock-tails!

Sunset in the back yard!!! (Sucker for sunsets.... as you may know.)

A new fave family-selfie ('our shot') in the glow of the 'golden hour', mmmmmm.

Joel's pic with his phone. NOT BAD! And while he was doing that....

He needed someone to hold his beer, lol!
(She's the Master Brewer's Right-Hand-Lady, after all, and a master-in-training.... She's used to this.)

Dusk, feet up, girls playing in the sand, drinks in hand, reggae music at the yacht club, and shooting stars (first ones witnessed in the Caribbean!).... Time to follow those house 'rules' (relax, relax, relax.)

These 4 shots are also taken with Joel's phone...

We pretty much swam in the pool every night, and Joel and I sat in the hot tub.
We had it to ourselves almost every evening! We had a loud neighbor (a local who rented a condo near ours) for a couple of nights....
But we got one good thing out of it: In island dialect - WTF is now "Wut Da Fook?" Lol!

Decided to venture back to Starfish Point now that it wasn't as busy with the hustle & bustle of yachters and cruise ship excursions. The variety of colors was pretty amazing. Beautiful lil' creatures. This is one pet I wouldn't mind having...

We're so glad we went when we did - because something changed... (Tides? People?? Not sure what) - and there were ZERO starfish on Starfish Point... or around our shoreline anymore. NONE! We had timed it just right!

We spent one day exploring the whole Eastern end of the island... This was a 'public beach' (one of many) that are mostly very shallow reefs. Some areas can be good for snorkeling, especially since the reef surrounding most of the island protects the shoreline from the waves. (You can see the breaking point of the waves way out in this photo.)

 Heart-shaped coral. :)

This is with Joel's camera. So glad he got this - as they were blinking in my picture!

That is the "Cayman Castle" (giant home for sale) on the far right... only several million!

Our little red Kia. (Most uncomfortable car ever - seats suck - but was brand new!)

Some beautiful waves crashing. Had to stop.

We found the infamous 'Blow Holes'. A fun little natural phenomena where the incoming waves have carved out patterns that result in blow hole style bursts of water - similar to a whale, I'm sure (and to mini geysers.) Super fun.
My fave things to explore while traveling - Mother Nature's handiwork.

This one is Joel's perfectly-timed photo via his phone.

I just can't get enough - which turns out great in the end, because I capture every 'moment' of 'delivery'!

This photo cracks me up every time!

Back to 'Over the Edge' (a fave dinner spot with FAB fresh fish & home-made delights!) This was the Grouper special - with a home-made "herb" mango & avocado salsa. HELLO delishousness! TRULY OUTSTANDING - prepared perfectly. Never one disappointing meal!!!
[T'was a good thing, since we splurged by eating out for dinner every night of this get-away! Partly because it was in honor of Joel's milestone birthday, but also - because the food prices at the grocery store meant we might as well just sit back along the shoreline and let the professionals prepare things to perfection!]  NOTE: When grocery shopping for other needs, HURLEY's is the place for organics!

We stopped across the street at a stand where locals sell stone carvings and Queen Conch shells, and there was a little 3 year old with her mother - who was QUITE the sales girl! (Adorable.) She starts talking to the girls right away - holding up a carving saying, "What's your name? You like da fish?? Here, here - you like dis?"

We did have fun experimenting with our own versions of rum punch. Note: dark rum is my fave.... We eventually stepped it up from the white to a nice dark Caymanian rum. :D

Addie asked one night, "Can we have some treats, please, please, pleaaase?" I said, "Yes, yes, yessss..." Then she whispered in my ear, "And mommy can maker herself a little 'cocktail' (pronounced: coook-taaaale)". OMG, that child cracks us UP!

Mmmmmm.

We forgot our coconut machete - but thankfully they came fully stocked with a cleaver & hammer - lol!

Addie makes animal friends wherever we go.

So - the 'wild' animals of this island are chickens (everywhere!) as well as parrots, & iguanas. Not often you see chickens by the sea.

This is yet another fave restaurant! Excellent food, staff, and ambiance!

On one visit here, I also had the fresh catch Snapper with shrimp & home-made fruit salsa. EXCELLENT!

DIVINITY! Lionfish tacos - (gf!) - Oh. M. GEE. (to die for!) We came back a few times for these... Lionfish are invasive here, so this is their creative way of helping the environment while cooking up something RIDICULOUSLY DELISH!!!!

More chickens on the oceanfront. (lol)

We girls have a tradition - during dad's pee-breaks while abroad - girlie selfies!

I'm beginning to look a little bit like the lobsters on my jammies. :) Best sunblock out there, and we somehow always still burn in these locale's so close to the equator. (NOT a complaint!)

Lovin' that view... This is from our bedroom window.

Avocados bigger than Addie's hand!

Lobster-man!

It only took us 3 trips to the Caribbean to finally realize it was a wise investment to purchase a UV shirt for the Scandinavian fella.... Third time's the charm, I guess. You'll see him decked out in his new duds in future photos.

We had stopped in to Del Sol with Shannon & Andy - whom we met up with for the day while their cruise ship was in port in Georgetown! (PIX coming up, from water camera, further down the scroll.) This was the color of the 2 bottles we originally chose - when in the shade....

This is what they turned into in the sun!!!
[So excited that Shannon turned us on to this phenomenon!]

Le trio de feet... SHADE...

SUN!

Our building - with the cute lil lizard greeting us as we came by.

Joel's island beer samplings

More pix of our abode.

On this day - Myla exclaimed, "I couldn't TAKE it anymore! I had to organize our room and make it nice again..." THAT is definitely my girlllll! :D (Mini-me)

Their little nook where they read and played...

More seaside dining... (I always get the lyrics, "I keep on hopin' there'll be cake by the ocean" in my head when I see these pix, lol! Diff underlying innuendo, assuredly, but you know...)

Addie's face is FULL of  'bwead fwitters' (bread fritters; aka: fried bread. Yah.)

Today I had Codfish Ackee (a local fruit that is cooked with cod, and comes out similar to scrambled eggs....) DELISH!

Face. FULL! She was addicted to these things.

Sooooo - we were eves dropping as a fun-loving waiter was showcasing his magician skills with his table behind us. The group was super fun themselves, and they started talking to us about their travels together over the years.... I think we were meant to chat with them, as we'd been considering a future trip to Turks & Caicos. They'd been there - and recommended the perfect beach. Mental notes! After leaving the restaurant, we made it back up to Rum Point just in time for more of Mother' Nature's magnificence! 

TA-DAH!

The following series was taken by Joel with his phone, of me in my element. :D

Back to Tukka! At 5:30pm they bring out the chum from the day's fresh catches-turned meals, and feed the Frigate Birds and the Tarpin.... They let the kids take a turn too! Tonight, both Myla & Addie had their opportunity.

While Addie & I were in the restroom, Myla spotted a shark fin just off shore - she & Joel got to share that moment!!!!!! (SO COOL.)

Dessert. A rare treat. Especially for this gluten-free girl. Creme' Brulee - coffee flavored, and mango - with a scoop of ice cream. Woot!!! We shared.

We girls have a thing. We love to find functional 'souvenirs' during our vacas - and dresses/ clothing is a top-pick! (Along with jewelry.) They found THE perfect dresses on sale at a place in town.

We had to get the Rum Point photo opp...

Joel has a sudden fascination with selfies! Love this one...

We're back to "Over the Edge".... for a night-time dinner following sunset.

The below are taken with Joel's phone...

Addie's 'fwavowit bwead fwittews' (see vid clip below).... They were super busy this night, and they ran out of the bread fritters, so we thought we missed out. However, it slowed down later, and they had made more - so we asked if we could take ours 'to go'... Our waitress brought out THIS - and Addie pretty much landed in Heaven. 

This was our final night. We waited until the last evening for a 'fancier' meal here at "The Lighthouse". I knew immediately when I found it online before our trip that this was going to be 'the place' for us... I think Grandma had a hand in this.  We had enjoyed a couple of take-out pizzas from this place (gluten-free too!) - to enjoy on our lanai.... But our last night, we dressed up, and enjoyed some fresh fare from the sea. (Well, Joel & I did! The girls still had their stone-fired pizza, lol!)

Some kind patrons offered to take a pic of all of us.

We made it for a stunning sunset!

They took such fab care of us.... including the gf grub! I got gf bruchetta! WHA? Yeah - SO happy!

One of our handsome waiters took some family pix for us...

THIS! THIIIIIISSSSS! Signature Seafood Platter for 2.... 2 prawns, 2 lobster tails, 2 perfectly cooked pieces of swordfish, and 2 pieces of juicy delish fresh snapper. 2 Potatoe cakes (home-made), plus beets, carrots, and spinach. We also indulged in desert... Girls shared the molten lava cake, while I enjoyed a chocolate mousse cake made with almond flour (gf!!) DI-VINE.

Some photos with Joel's phone...

Small wrinkle in time - as we move into the photos taken with an underwater digital camera for our water-logged adventures! Here are some more excursions that we captured with said camera.

This is 'Cemetery Beach' - right next to a cemetery... But when you come out the other side - you get THIS! Crystal clear, turquoise water and white sand beaches! This is on the northern tip of 7-Mile Beach - where we are away from the crowds. Aside from the hustle & bustle of 'town', and the draw of 7-Mile, we LOVED this area of the ocean - particularly for swimming!
*{We 'snuck' in through the Marriott one time to get a taste of that hustle & bustle on that end of 7-mile. While that hotel is ridiculously luxurious, this was NOT our style at all! WAY too many people to share with, lol! But FUN to see.}

This was our day spent with Shannon & Andy!

Here is Andy & Joel just checking out the area.... This catapults me back in time once again - to when we first met Shannon & Andy in person in St. Kitts in 2012!

Wrinkle in tiiiiime!!!! Andy & Joel exploring the Black Rocks in St. Kitts 7 years earlier!

Okay - back to the present! Shannon & I on Cemetery Beach, GC!

The group!

The one day it rained, it lasted roughly an hour during our visit with Shannon & Andy. We left the beach, found this little spot with a covered open air restaurant for some lunch, and a view of all of the ships in port that day!

Here we are for lunch! Once we finished our food, the sun came back out! We wandered a bit, found our fancy color-changing nail polish, and then headed back to the beach! It was a fun day to spend with our Texas friends! XOXO

Here we are practicing with the snorkels in the shallows at Rum Point beach - before our excursion with the Stingrays!! The girls took to it like little champs - especially Addie. She tends to float more when she swims, and likes to stay near the top - so this came super naturally to her. Myla likes to dive and do acrobats in the water, so it took more getting used to for her.

Here we are on our glass-bottomed boat, heading toward Stingray City Sandbar!

This gives you some perspective as we're pulling into the spot.... That big mama stingray next to a speedboat. She's not small! These are wild stingrays, who have grown used to people - as they have been feeding them for years. It all started many years back when fishermen would come to clean their catches on the sandbar and toss the chum into the water. The stingrays nearby would come in to feed on the squid bits, and the rest is history. They are amazingly friendly creatures!

And we're in!

Our excellent tour guides showed us all about these guys. He explained how they move, and that they are not trying to 'sting' anyone in their side-to-side motions... Showing us the barb here. Ouch. He just holds onto them and they let him do his thing for the tour. Amazing!

Here he's allowing us to touch them.... This family behind the stingray was EVERYWHERE we went - literally. They stayed in a different area of the island, but somehow we ran into them constantly! SO funny. They are from Ohio... We saw them in town at the same time. Saw them for this excursion (same day, time, and boat!) Saw them at various restaurants. Saw them at beaches.... Saw them in stores, and then saw them in the airport on our final day! Smallllll world.

This is my hand.... camera in the other!

He says, "1, 2, 3" to quickly show us their cute mouths! I snapped it just in time!

Joel got to feed this mama. :)

This one was rubbing up against my feet and legs.... Helloooo there fella!

This camera was SO worth the investment! The guide took several pix of our family with this mama stingray.... SO happy!

She was swimming away... They are pure muscle!

Between the sunshine and the splashing of this cute mama stingray (I swear, she was splashing my face on purpose, lol!) - I feel like I was flinching in nearly every photo - but still awesome memories!

Then we each took a turn kissing her - for 7 years of good luck. :)

Before the end of the excursion, he asked who wanted to be the first to experience the "Stingray Surprise"? I asked, "What is the Stingray Surprise?" To which he replied, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? Come on over here sweetheart..." (How could I refuse, with their awesome island dialect??) I basically got a back rub from mama stingray! They are so soft too!

Joel was into snorkeling, as were the girls. I was into looking through the goggles without a snorkel. (I have an aversion to breathing under water. Just. not. natural! Couldn't do it.) So - Joel took the camera for a while and explored...

Love this partially under water shot of the girls and I swimming at him!

I smiled!

This cracks me up - Looks like I have a stingray tail. :D

Family "our shot"!

Back at our pool & hot tub overlooking the ocean.... ;)

1, 2, 3 - jump!

We kept heading back into town to swim in that gorgeous ocean water. This time, we stopped at a place called Smith's Cove... Stunning.

This location was dedicated in memoriam... Loved these 2 quotes on the memorial statue.

Iguana!

Back at Cemetery Beach - we found out that we liked the layout of the water even better (and the very private and less traveled area) near the northern rentals called The Anchorage, Christopher Columbus, and a few others nearby.... We were able to park there, and use a path to the public areas out front on the beach. There was gorgeous white sand that went out forever, where I could just swim and tread water like I could do all day.... And, nearby there were reefs that Joel and the girls could explore with snorkeling gear. PERFECT!

I had the camera just above water here with the sun dipping behind a cloud. Unique perspective.

Look at this hawt beach bum! (Wearing my hat on his as I ran back inside for something before heading to our pool, lol!)

Ah, relaxation time again. Gotta follow the rules. ;)
(Yeah - since I'm such a rule-follower, puh-lease! But these rules were easy to follow.)

These guys ran around from palm tree to palm tree...

Pretty sure these photos made this camera purchase totally worthwhile! Okay - the stingrays too - but THESE. OMG! These were all by Joel :)

Pretty sure this is a Parrot Fish!

These are my fave 2 of Addie underwater!

And then there are THESE!!!

I had to try to capture my serenity as I just enjoyed a solo swim out over this sandbar...

Later Joel came over to show me his treasure he found by the reefs!

I snapped this shot accidentally - and turns out it is one of my faves :)
See his fancy new UPF 50 sunshirt?! :D

More serenity. I could easily wake every day - walk the beach, swim out in this amazing water, and just hang out in the sun, sand & surf all day. No problem, mon.

Thanks to Del Sol - my toes now matched the water.

Our little creative one...

Another fun & unusual photo-opp.... The wave coming in DIRECTLY at my lens!
'Tis a water-camera-only endeavor...

I almost forgot! These were taken with a throw away underwater film camera (for the girls, and back-up for the stingray excursion.) Not much worth the cost of developing these now - but here are the faves captured with it!

On our way home - the sun was setting beyond these uber-dreamy clouds... Grateful to have had a window seat on this trip!

'Tis a tradition with these 3, who all shared their very first flight during that trip to FL in 2010...

Relaxin' with their turtles. :)

AND - they are OUT!

These are my 'functional souvenirs' from the trip. Caymanite is only found around the Cayman Islands, and I couldn't decide between these 2. I finally decided I'd better bring them both home. :)

The girls found some goodies like necklaces, bracelets, and Addie found this ring, which we found so cute. It's a mood ring. Next time we're here, we'll have to visit the Turtle farm - where they help & protect sea turtles!

OTHER NOTABLE MEMORIES:

- We were complimented on 2 occasions from older couples about how well-behaved and 'quiet' our girls were. <proud smiles>

- Kaibo had live music on a couple of different nights. We were in the hot tub while the girls were in the pool for one of the nights, and we couldn't hear them well from that angle. I walked over to the edge of the bay and splashed some of that salt water on my face, and I could hear the music. We'd just been talking about needing some 'Marley' during this trip - and "No Woman, No Cry" was playing at that moment! I got chills.... It was one of the songs I danced on the beach to in St. Kitts. So - I of course started dancing... (They all thought I'd lost my mind, because they couldn't hear the music from there - lol!) Then, they played "Lean on Me" - and I cried anyway - because I knew Grandma was there saying hello. :)

- We picked up some healthier popsicles for the girls from Hurley's for Valentine's Day!

- On our final night - we got to listen to live music from our pool at night and watch shooting stars again! This time, we got back and changed into swim suits, and we could hear their rendition of Bob Marley's "Stir it Up" (One of my ABSOLUTE FAVES! - the girls' too!) So we RAN outside and danced on the beach - and we were joined by another older couple in a nearby condo who seemed to enjoy our enthusiasm! We got to hear 3 other Marley tunes that night, including 'One Love', and 'Three Little Birds'... which rounded out the trip nicely. And, I had that "The Tide Is High" song by Blondie in my head all day for some reason. Turns out, the live band covered it that night too! That's what I call manifesting, babaaay! :D
- Before arriving to our condo on that final night, "This is What You Came For" by Calvin Harris (ft. Rihanna) came on in the car as we pulled in. Addie & I (in true local Caribbean style) opened up the doors of the car, and turned up the volume, dancing in the parking lot while Joel and Myla ran in to pee! Fab memory shared with my littlest little. We got some 'culture' on. ;)
- On that night when they gave us a load of bread fritters to take home, Addie freaked out in excitement, exclaiming, "Give them ALL of your money! Give them your WALLET!" Lol!
- *Notes for future reference.... Remember access to all 4 of our emails for mobile tickets for online departure check-in! (Separate email required for each, even kids.)