Honeymoonin' (Part 2)

Where does the time go during summer vacation? I had every intention of writing this post last week but alas, I was busy with who knows what that it got away from me. When we left off last week, we had finally arrived in Grenada after a bit of a stressful travel day and a few too many nose swabs in my opinion but we were there! 

We had a lovely dinner at one of the 10 restaurants on the property that first night after getting settled into our room. Particularly given some of the travel restraints still in place, it was so wonderful to be at such a fabulous resort. Where we still got to enjoy dinner at a new restaurant each night and over indulge in all the deliciousness. Our first official full day was spent at the beach. We got up early the next day (husband is an early bird and he's working on getting me to become one too) and headed down to the beach where our chairs were already set up for us, under the umbrella with a cooler of drinks and towels ready to go. While the butler service is definitely not a must, and a bit over the top, it was super fun to be pampered on our special trip. 

The beach at this particular sandals isn't huge but its beautiful. They have two areas jettied off to allow for some calm shores and the chairs are spread out a bit so you're not right on top of your beach neighbors. And it never felt overly crowded or anything less than relaxing. Our butler had also set up a snorkel trip for us for that afternoon so after some relaxation, dipping our feet in the ocean and a walk down the beach we headed over to watersports and loaded up for some snorkeling.

As you can see, we ended up with gorgeous weather for the trip. We arrived on a Saturday and didn't see any rain until Wednesday. And even then, it was a quick downpour and then done, never ruining the day. 

It was after our snorkel trip that we wandered to a separate area of the resort that we hadn't explored yet and found ourselves at the swim up pool bar. So fun!

We toasted our first full day with some yummy frozen drinks (a must when you're on vacation) and decided that this is where we'd camp out tomorrow. At what our butlers fondly call the "party pool". The resort has a couple of pools, including 2 main large pools. One is right off the beach and the other is towards the other side of the property, complete with a swim up bar and some games and entertainment each day. I was a big fan of the trivia! I've decided that trivia, which I love anyways, is even better when you're standing in the pool sipping on a daiquiri. 

And so this is where we spent the next couple of afternoons. Hanging out in our personal lounge chairs, or in the water. We made friends with a few other couple that were vacationing there as well which filled our days with even more laughter and fun. Hubs even played a few games of pool volleyball. And after a day of sunshine, we would head back to our room, maybe take a final dip in our swim-up pool before getting cleaned up for dinner. 

After dinner each night we typically would head over the "living room" which is a communal bar space where there was nightly entertainment. We'd play pool, or enjoy the live music or show for the night. 

Our "couple friends" from the week! And unexpected bonus for the trip was new friends!

Unfortunately due to island restrictions, they weren't offering their usual off property excursions. Initially I was worried, we would end up feeling like we didn't have enough to do but honestly I loved getting to stay on property the whole time and relax by the beach and pool. But even without excursions they still have their usual watersports and activities. So like I said earlier, we were able to snorkel early in the trip. And a couple of days later we took an island boat tour where they take you around the coast to give you a feel of the island outside of the resort. 

The island is beautiful and if we come back, I'd definitely love to explore it more. But we were able to see some of the downtown of St. Georges's, the vet school, and Oprah's house! 

And during this trip we were able to talk with another couple who talked my husband into signing us up for Snuba!  

What is snuba you ask? It is a snorkel/scuba combo of sorts. You have a regulator attached to an oxygen tank like in scuba. But unlike scuba that tank is actually sitting on a float, not your back, and you are connected via a long hose. It allows you more freedom than snorkeling, and you can go to about 20 ft. They have you practice with the regulator in the pool the day before you take your trip so your comfortable. Although I still needed some warmup time in the ocean before feeling comfortable to go under all the way, with the weight belt. Hubby was a rockstar and loved it! I enjoyed it, but was definitely a bit more hesitant. I'm going to share a bit more about our snuba trip hopefully in a later post once we get our underwater photos developed. Apparently, disposable cameras are so rare these days, it takes weeks to develop... So stay tuned on that one! 

That was Thursday, only a couple days before leaving and so that last full day we had, was spent enjoying every second of sunshine we could at the pool and a special last dinner at their french restaurant. 

We were able to snag these pictures before dinner I love them! The evening sky behind us, the palm trees, the sunkissed faces and relaxed smiles after a week of paradise.

It was the perfect celebration of our marriage and all the joy that's to come! 

Here's to many, many more! 

Honeymoonin' (Part 1)

Well multiple loads of laundry are done. Groceries are shopped for. And my weather app tells me that it's only 60 degrees outside. So I guess that means, we're back from our honeymoon. Hubs and I scooted off to paradise last week for our delayed honeymoon. We got married in January, but due to a bunch of travel restrictions opted to wait until now to actually take off. And let me just tell you that even waiting almost 5 months, there were still a whole bunch of hoops to jump through. Travel verification forms, and authorizations from the Grenada government, and several covid tests but we were finally ready to go! 

We have two sweet dogs, and one of them is pretty medically fragile these days so we wanted to leave them with family. So Friday, we loaded up the car and headed down to meet up with our families, enjoy dinner together and leave the dogs. Can I just pause here for a moment to share  how awesome it is that our parents get along so well? I love that my parents and in-laws are friends- it is just the best! Moving right along, we were up bright and early to head to the airport. We arrived at the airport with what we thought was PLENTY of time- 3 hours. But as we walked in the airport we realized that may not have calculated that correctly. Because apparently, the entire state of North Carolina decided that was the day to travel internationally. After waiting in the longest line of my life and running through the airport (an experience I would like to never repeat), we skidded into the gate as they were boarding the plane. Whew! 

But 4ish hours later. We landed in Grenada and headed straight for customs. We were going to be staying at the Sandals resort, which meant we could forgo the covid test at the airport (since Sandals does them on site for you) and after the quick little shuttle we were greeted by the world's friendliest staff with cool towels to beat the heat and our butlers for the week. Yep, butlers- you only honeymoon once right?  After our quick nose swab and negative results we were given a short tour of the resort and escorted to our room where a bottle of champagne and hors d'oeuvres were waiting for us. 

And we toasted to our marriage, paradise and the rest our lives.

This post was a bit more long winded than I had anticipated so you'll have to stay tuned for the rest of our trip until later this week...

It's Hodgepodge Time!

I'm linking up with my mom today for the Hodgepodge. It's a little late. But better late than never! 

 

1. Besides the flag, tell us about something red, something white and something blue from your weekend. 

There was a lot of white in my weekend...white trim paint that is. We painted all of our baseboards on the main floor this weekend. And we had chili one evening which is kind of red. Yep, you read that right, CHILI, in MAY! Because it was 48 degrees and rainy. Blue...hmm we did have some beautiful blue sky FINALLY on Monday. 

2. June is here and it's National Give A Bunch of Balloons Month. Who would you give a bunch to if you could? Tell us why. 

I would give a bunch of balloons to my nephews. Because I think they would most thoroughly enjoy them. We got a big 2 balloon for my oldest nephews 2nd birthday a couple of years ago (is he really almost 4?!?) and he had the best time! I think his almost 4 year old self would still enjoy them and now the little one could get in on the fun too!

3. What are three adjectives you associate with the month of June? Something you're looking forward to this month?

Relaxing, HOT, Leisurely. June is always the start of my summer vacation as a teacher (see my random thought below). But this month is going to be even better because not only will it be officially summer but hubby and I are headed on our honeymoon!! Woohoo!! I actually quite recommend a delayed honeymoon because it gives you something to look forward to that lets you savor that just married feeling for even longer!

4. Tell us about a time (besides the obvious Corona answer) when you felt stuck in second gear.

Waiting to see about job things for next school year. The position I took this year was a permanent term sub position, meaning that while it was full time and through the school year, the position isn't necessarily available for the following year. So I've reapplied for a new position and am waiting on what that will look like as the district is still making their plans for next year. 

5. Sum up your May in fifteen words or less.

May was full of house projects, rain, countdowns to fun and glimpses of summer. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Friday is the last day of school for the kiddos. We made it!  This school year was wild. And crazy. And all around challenging. But I had a sweet group of kiddos that I am confident in sending to the next grade, which is pretty much all I can ask. Happy Summer to all my other teachers out there!