Aruba!

In July of 2002, we went to Aruba for 2 weeks - all four of us.  We met Miss Adventure there and had lots of fun with M&D (G&P/K&P).
Here are some of the things we did:

The first week we stayed in the Playa Linda Beach Resort.  This was our favorite resort and we are considering buying a timeshare week there.  Maybe you can tell from these pictures how nice it was?
Here is a distance shot of Playa Linda from a sailboat cruise we took:   It's actually shaped like a U, with the outer edges of the U sloping down as it goes towards the ocean.  For more info on PLBR, go to: http://www.playalinda.com/.
Here is Mitchell (with Papa) floating in the hot tub on his "Sockem Boppers" (not flotation devices!) 
See the pool behind the hot tub through the waterfall?  If you peek carefully, you can see the ocean beyond the pool, so nice and close! 
Here are M&M&M (Mitchell, Monica, and Mom!) being silly by the pool.   Monica got her hair done on the beach by "Tammy" - only $2/braid!! 

The high rise hotels were all located on Palm Beach.  There were other beaches, with other hotels, such as Eagle Beach, but we really liked Palm Beach.  Here are some pictures of the beach from the 10th floor room at the Divi Phoenix Beach Resort where we stayed our second week.

If you can see the construction crane way down the beach, directly out from that is where the Miss Adventure was moored.   Doug and Mitchell snorkeled all the way out that right breaker, with Monica floating alongside hanging onto a floating boat cushion!   This is the Divi Phoenix's area, can you see the pools directly below?   Miss Adventure is one of those boats way off in the distance! 

From the room's balcony, we used walkie-talkies (Family Radios) to communicate to the Miss Adventure.  It came in really handy since we couldn't call them on the phone!  It became our ritual to wake up, turn on the radio, and call to see what the morning plan was! 

Early on in the trip, we went to Baby Beach to introduce Mitchell to snorkeling.  His first reaction upon putting his mask into the water and seeing all the fish up close was one of shock!  It was so neat to see him really understand what it's like to see fish in the water!  After that first day, he became a very good snorkeler, even could clear his snorkel easily.

Most days, M&M had a choice of whether to sleep on the boat or in the "building".  They liked to mix it up and keep us guessing, although near the end of the trip, Monica liked to cry about whichever choice she didn't choose, she really wanted everyone together all the time!

Aruba had it's own Butterfly Farm, here the kids are checking out the pond.   And Monica gets a really close look at a butterfly!  Look at that hot sweaty face!   What are you doing to the kids, Grammie? 
 

We saw this ship offshore and found out that it was sunk intentionally to create a reef for the fish.  Unfortunately, Hurricane Lenny drug it so close to land about 4 years ago that now it's barely underwater.   We still snorkeled on it, but it was a long walk! 
Mitchell enjoyed snorkeling but his favorite thing was "Sea Critter Hunting"!  Here is holds a star fish that Doug caught: 

The kids loved seeing all the different critters on shore! 
One of the many free activities we enjoyed (thanks to visiting timeshare presentations!) was a sunset cruise with an open bar!   We even had dinner on the pier (included!) afterwards.

Tessa the Tiger lived next to a restaurant in downtown Oranjestad.  Grammie & Papa took the kids there for breakfast one morning, and ever after Monica asked to go back for another "Tiger Breakfast".   Can you see the foot up in the air in this shot? 
 

Another free activity that Grammie & Papa took the kids on, while Doug & Kim SCUBA dived (dove?) was the Atlantis Semi-Submarine Explorer.  It was above water, but you could go down to the viewing windows to get an underwater view.  Here is the partial gang heading out: 
And here is the excitement! 

Another thing Mitchell really wanted to do was FISH!  Grammie took him out bottom fishing which was obviously tremendously exciting:   Is that kid awake?!?!  But he did catch a fish or two! 

Did I mention we had free activities?  Here's yet another!  Dad, Mom, and Kim went horseback riding to the Natural Pool.  They lead you on a ride and when you got to the ocean, they let you snorkel in the natural pool. It was an ocean-fed pool that was flat calm with a few interesting fish inside.  Then, we rode back (while drip-drying).  Lots of TROT, TROT, TROT-ing on this ride!  We did have some brief exciting canters though!
  Kim & Dad's horses here were boyfriend/girlfriend! 
A cute colt and mom were back at the ranch.   Cute, huh?  Did I mention that colt bit Kim's arm?  Yeah, cute!

Someone working at a local marina store remembered M&D from their previous 1998 trip and gave us free passes to the Renaissance Private Island.  Are you sensing a trend yet?  Yup, lots of free stuff!  This island was exclusively for hotel and resort visitors of the Renaissance (formerly Sonesta Suites) hotel, but we got in anyway.  You take a free shuttle to the island where there is beach, snorkeling, and other water activities like paddle boats.  Also a bird exhibit.    And a turtle or two. 
There were lots of iguanas and lizards on Aruba.  Here on the private island Monica got close to one.   While Kim & Dad relaxed (nice bunny ears, Kim!) 
 

When aboard Miss Adventure, Monica liked to climb onto the foredeck (she knew all the boat terms by the end of the visit) and scream through the plastic "window" with her face pressed up against the plastic.  Hair blowing, dirty face, it was kind of scary! 

SCUBA diving off Miss Adventure required lots of helpers to get the gear up front, setup, and just imagine how we managed to get over the edge without breaking anything! 
But we did - here's proof as Doug & Kim are about to descend!   We did a total of 7 dives during the trip, a lot!  2 of our dives were free (free again?) because we volunteered to participate in the 9th Annual Reef Cleanup.  For picking up trash underwater, we got free equipment rental and boat rides to the sites.
But the best dive as far as seeing marine life was on the "South Coast" - beautiful, felt like we were inside an aquarium!

M&M had to do something to keep busy while we dove, here they had "Splash Day" on the deck, Mitchell is dumping sea water over Monica's head!   And of course swimming in the open ocean with life jackets!   Looks like a workout for Papa's legs! 
 

Monica spent a LOT of time in the pools, both at Playa Linda, and our second resort, Divi Phoenix Beach Resort.  We didn't like this second resort much, but Monica liked the pool.  She got really good at swimming, including jumping in from the side and doing a 'dead man float' and pushing off the bottom of the pool!   Here, Monica and Papa play while Doug & Mitchell head off for snorkeling in the background.   And here is Monica during a 'dead man float' in the pool. 

On the last day, we did a family picture, and we spent a lot of time finding the right location that would show the "Chickee" huts behind us, with the ocean and sand, etc.  Unfortunately, the bottom of the picture did not come out well, and this is what we ended up with:

On the way home, the flights were sooo long, but the kids did well sleeping at every opportunity.  Here in Chicago, they take cat naps near our next gate. 

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