{Alivia lounging at the beach.}
My husband finished up term three of medical school last week and it was a particularly crazy one for us. We barely saw him and had been counting down the minutes until term break! We decided to getaway as a family to spend some much needed time together and last thursday headed to the island of St. Kitts just 10 miles south of us. Here are {more than} a few pictures from our weekend.
{The fisherman preparing the boat for our trip. The name of the boat: In God We Trust}
We hired a local fisherman to take us by boat to St. Kitts and let me tell you, that boat ride was an adventure for sure! Riding in a 26 foot fishing boat in the middle of the ocean was both incredible and fairly terrifying at the same time!
{Climbing in the boat. Don’t worry…the life jackets went on immediately after I snapped this photo. The kids were all excited. I think me and the baby were the only ones who were scared out of our tree.} 😉
{Docking at St. Kitts. I was SO happy to be back on land. I’m such a baby, I know!}
The boat ride was a bumpy one and none of us stayed dry but it was pretty dang incredible! We saw flying fish and travelled in the biggest waves I’ve ever seen in my life. We arrived safe and sound on St. Kitts after a 45 minute boat ride.
{The view from our balcony at the St. Kitts Marriott resort.}
We took a taxi to the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and as soon as we were checked in, changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool. We spent most of the week swimming and lounging by the pool.
{Alivia working on her tan} 😉
Alivia started out the weekend pretty scared of the water but when it was time to go she had gotten a lot more comfortable. Yay!
{Carson and Addie at the beach.}
We didn’t set foot in the ocean the entire time we were there. It was too much of a novelty to swim in the pool I guess. The water and beach were also covered in seaweed from tropical Storm Irene stirring up the water.
{Our room at the Marriott was beautiful. We loved our stay and the kids did surprisingly well sleeping at night.}
We spent most of our time at the pool or in our room sleeping in, eating yummy food, catching a nap here and there and of course watching a little tv! We had wanted to take a tour of the island at some point but then the storm hit and we weren’t able to.
{Emily blowing out the birthday candles on her oatmeal cream pie “cake.” No laughing! 😉 Hahahaha. It was all we could find and scrounging up those candles was a miracle in itself. Emily didn’t seem to mind her makeshift cake one bit though and declared her ninth birthday her best birthday ever!} 🙂
Emily turned nine while we were there and we finally gave her the little camera we’d been saving for her birthday. She was BEYOND excited and had so much fun snapping pictures during our trip.
{Sisters at the pool.}
Addie is our little fish and spent every minute she could at the pool swimming, doing back flips with Daddy and playing in the fountains. We were so happy to see these two girls playing in the water together by the end of our stay. Alivia is terrified of the water and it was pretty exciting to see her getting braver and splashing around with her sister!
{Big girl walking around in the water all by herself}
{Taking a little break from all that “swimming”}
{The view from our balcony just after tropical storm Irene passed through}
Tropical storm Irene hit on Saturday/Sunday and it was pretty incredible! The airport on St. Kitts was shut down and of course there was no way we were able to travel back by boat on Sunday like we’d planned, so stay an extra night we did. We were actually pretty lucky to be stuck where we were. Back up generators at the resort meant we didn’t lose power and were able to get a good nights sleep in an air conditioned room. We hardly noticed the storm going on outside. On Statia {the island where we live} power was out and we heard the storm was pretty intense.
{The beach just before the storm.}
{Sandy little toes. We loved all the white sand on St. Kitts. On Statia the sand is black.}
{Saying hi to Jimmy the Vervet monkey.}
There were a few men on the beach near the resort with these little baby monkeys. The kids loved seeing this little guy named Jimmy who was six months old! They even got to hold him and feed him maraschino cherries.
{This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it! Ha!!}
Long story short: we had SO much fun and I don’t think the kids are going to forget our little trip to St. Kitts any time soon! We enjoyed relaxing and spending time together and that’s exaclty what we needed. We wish we had been able to tour around the island a little bit more but there’s always next time! 😉 The boat trip home was a somewhat eventful. The waves were huge {10 foot high swells at times} and we were being tossed around in that little boat every direction, which left me a little sea sick, but the fun family memories were totally worth it!
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Stay tuned tomorrow for a fabulous giveaway sponsored by polkadot bungalow!
🙂
Rebecca Cooper is a 42-year-old wife and mother of four from Alberta, Canada. As a photographer, crafter, author, and blogger, she finds joy and fulfillment in celebrating everyday moments. She loves to read and eat chocolate, and is a firm believer in afternoon naps. Rebecca shares her family’s adventures, photo tips, simple craft projects + more right here at Simple as That.
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WOW! That looks like heaven. Beautiful!
WOW! That looks like heaven. Beautiful!
lovely captures. 🙂 looks like you had a fabulous time. 🙂
It looks so beautiful and your photographs are amazing. I love the first one and the two girls sitting at the edge of the pool. Gorgeous! I always feel so relaxed after visitng your blog!
Jenn 🙂
It looks so beautiful and your photographs are amazing. I love the first one and the two girls sitting at the edge of the pool. Gorgeous! I always feel so relaxed after visitng your blog!
Jenn 🙂
beautiful pictures! what a great adventure your whole stay over there. great memories. i can imagine the big waves. i used to live on an island. must have been “interesting”. 🙂
St. Kitts is one of my greatest Carribbean memories. The Marriot is so beautiful. I am glad you were able to take a little vacation. You deserve it. Boat rides across the ocean are also one of my scariest memories. I am impressed.
Hello Rebecca,
I often read your blog and love hearing all about your adventures! Just wanted to drop a little line to let you know in particular how much I loved hearing about your little vacation! {I too have a daughter that just turned 9 in June named Emily who we also gave a camera to, sony cybershot. She’s always asking me to use mine so we thought what better gift to give than to share my love of photography with her!
Kristy
I love ALL the pictures! Seriously how lucky you are that you get to live in that part of the world. Had I known you were going to stay at the Marriott, we could’ve hooked you up with a corporate discount -hubby is one of those part of the Marriott family- We have been staying at Marriotts for 10 years. Can never go wrong with those 🙂
Seeing your pictures brings back memories of our stay 2 years ago at the St. Kitts Marriott. We too enjoyed it and my little one (then 4) loved the pool more than the beach too! Of course he got a kick out of being able to order a smoothie at the swim-up bar at the pool, and loved the pool fountain I see the kids playing in. Glad to see you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Seeing your pictures brings back memories of our stay 2 years ago at the St. Kitts Marriott. We too enjoyed it and my little one (then 4) loved the pool more than the beach too! Of course he got a kick out of being able to order a smoothie at the swim-up bar at the pool, and loved the pool fountain I see the kids playing in. Glad to see you enjoyed it as much as we did!
@Kristy
Oh my goodness Kristy! My Emily got a kick out of hearing about your daughter and their twin birthdays! I’m sure your daughter is loving her little camera as much as mine is. She’s been taking pictures of everything!! 🙂
It looks so dreamy! What a fun getaway!
It looks so dreamy! What a fun getaway!
@Kathy
It’s such a beautiful resort isn’t it Kathy. The pool was so fun! Did you ever get pizza at the little pizza shack! SO delicious! And the breakfast buffet…oh the breakfast buffet! 🙂 🙂
Sounds like a GREAT vacation!!! HAve you guys figured out what comes next and where yet??
Sounds like a GREAT vacation!!! HAve you guys figured out what comes next and where yet??
@Emily
I’ll definitely have to tell my Emily to have a peek at your picture your mom linked up to! Very good shot, by the way!
@Rebecca
Have Emily take a look at what my emily did for her 9th birthday.
http://emmeandme.blogspot.com/2011/06/rubber-ducky-party-free-printables.html#axzz1VycueScx
PS AND, don’t feel bad about the cake. I actually make cakes and had a mishap with my daughters so she didn’t even get a cake for her bday =(, but she LOVED the candy bar!!
Kristy
Love your photos Rebecca! Looks like you guys had quite the adventure. Glad you slept comfortably through the storm. 🙂
your trip looks like it was so fun! and your photography is stunning!
your trip looks like it was so fun! and your photography is stunning!
thanks so much for sharing photos of your family vacation – I’ve envious of the wonderful photographs you take – such interesting angles, perspective, composition – a constant source of inspirtation.
thanks so much for sharing photos of your family vacation – I’ve envious of the wonderful photographs you take – such interesting angles, perspective, composition – a constant source of inspirtation.
Alivia–love that spelling by the way–is absolutely gorgeous! I see the resemblance there 😉
Rebecca – your photos are simply gorgeous. what a wonderful vacation get-away and an awesome way to spend a 9th birthday:) so glad that you all made it home safely.
Gorgeous photos! Congrats to your hubby – so glad you guys enjoyed a little vacay to get away from the real world (although I’m a tad jealous!) 🙂
Looks like so much fun!
Gorgeous photos! Congrats to your hubby – so glad you guys enjoyed a little vacay to get away from the real world (although I’m a tad jealous!) 🙂
Looks like so much fun!
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca! It looks like you had a wonderful time. Your pictures are beautiful! What great memories you are creating.
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca! It looks like you had a wonderful time. Your pictures are beautiful! What great memories you are creating.
New reader here…
Just wanted to say what beautiful photos you take! Also, your kids clothes are all so adorable. 🙂
New reader here…
Just wanted to say what beautiful photos you take! Also, your kids clothes are all so adorable. 🙂
Great pictures! How cool you live on an island! Nice 🙂 Good to see you over on my blog….being a newbie blogger… I am so happy to meet new friends!
Beautiful photos! This makes me want to hop on a plane and spend the weekend on an island. So pretty there.
I got married 16 years ago in St Kitts!!
super cute! Love the pics…this makes me want to go on another vacaction…like tomorrow! Newest follower!!!
super cute! Love the pics…this makes me want to go on another vacaction…like tomorrow! Newest follower!!!
Beautiful pictures!! Looks like an amazing vacation…and much needed time with your hubby!! 🙂
Beautiful pictures!! Looks like an amazing vacation…and much needed time with your hubby!! 🙂
What beautiful pictures! Glad to hear that Irene didn’t ruin the getaway. You guys are so lucky to live on and near such beautiful islands!
Kitts is amazing… but I challenge you to visit everything FAR away from the Marriott next time around. The island is beautiful and exactly the opposite of the corporate resort atmosphere there. We can’t wait to go back (we stay at Ottley’s).
thanks for the recommendation Kimberly…I’d absolutely LOVE to go back to St. Kitts again to explore the island some more. The day we had scheduled to go around by bus there was a tropical storm and I was pretty disappointed but we had fun regardless. 🙂
You have great pictures and it sounds like you had a great time on the island. I understand how busy med school can be. I’m attending a St Kitts Medical School called UMHS St. Kitts, which has been amazing, but hectic. They have a great program, which means a lot of work. Luckily, during my down time, I can relax on the beach. Which school does your husband attend?
Beautiful photographs! Are you using any special filter or setting w the outdoor photos; the coloring is very nostalgic and I love it! Thanks!
Beth