Hi! Sorry for the absence...again. But after we got back from our trip, I ended up with Charlotte's croup (maybe bronchitis?), and I've been feeling awful. Unfortunately, as Jon keeps reminding me, "mommy doesn't get sick days", so I've just been struggling through hopped up on cough medicine :(
So anyway...we took our first real vacation with Eloise over MLK weekend. We went to San Juan to the Caribe Hilton, which is where Jon always used to stay with his parents--he and Pat wanted to take a trip down memory lane! We had great weather, and it was very nice to get away. The hotel wasn't great, and we could've done without Eloise crying/whining/fussing the entire time we were on the plane, but I would still consider it a success (even though Jon has "grounded" our family for a while haha). Here are some--okay LOTS--of pictures!
Kids were a little excited about our ride to the airport!!!
Eloise had no idea what was going on. And she was facing forward, which boggled her mind. She was so happy and excited the entire time, pointing at everything and shrieking haha.
Happy passengers ;)
We got through security in record time (I think they probably felt bad for us traveling with 3 kids!), so we had plenty of time at the gate watching the planes!
The three musketeers!
On board, still confused, probably her last smile for 4 hours haha
Opening up her little puppets from Aunt Emilia!
She slept for 21 minutes. 21 minutes out of 4 hours!!!! I purposely made the flights during nap time, hoping she would nap for an hour or two. No such luck. Ugh. The rest of the flight she cried, screamed, whined, and threw every single toy/object I had meticulously packed to the floor one after another. Good times.
Meanwhile, in the seat behind me, Jon put his noise canceling headphones on and watched The Martian. Charlotte and Henry were angels and occupied themselves the entire trip. Later that night when he told me that he really enjoyed the movie, I almost punched him haha. The trip was off to a great start :)
She was blown away by the luggage carousel haha
Waiting in the lobby while daddy checked us in...
Tropical drinks = happy kiddies :)
Sister hugs
Getting into the "swing" of things haha. I kill me.
The view from our suite
Dinner our first night
Cuties
With my love. And my big, well-earned glass of wine haha
Making herself comfortable! Amazingly, Eloise got the master bedroom all to herself. There were two bedrooms upstairs, and we slept in the second room with Charlotte and Henry. Pat slept downstairs in the living room.
First real day of vacation, and this little sweetheart is ready for fun! She also fully enjoyed the big buffet haha and ate more than her older brother and sister.
Loves
So sassy haha
Baby on a beach! Every morning we were at the beach early, and we pretty much had it to ourselves...not too shabby ;)
Cutest little heinies around...
This is relaxing, right?!!! How mommy vacations...
With my sweet boy...
A close-up
I love that he always entertains himself (unlike both of his sisters!)
So this area looks kind of strange, but the hotel has a protected lagoon area, which is perfect for kids because it's so calm. Puerto Rico water can be rough--in fact, a few days before we came they had 10-15 foot waves, and Jon even surfed some big waves while we were there. At no other hotel could the kids have free reign to play in the water, so this was really nice. Plus, there were tons of cool fish swimming all over :)
The kids and Jon kept swimming out to this floating dock...they finally got me out there on the last day :)
Oh, hello there!!!
Grandma got out there too!
View from the kiddie pool
Daddy love
Iguana stalking :)
Enjoying their piña coladas...
The unprotected water...clearly no swimming here!
Mommy hugs
An iguana walked into the pool, swam across, and then was having a hard time getting out...he stayed like this for a few minutes, and then the boy here gave him little boost!!!
Attempting a family pic...I asked Pat to take it, but they didn't come out so well haha
Someone was shot after a long day! Dinners were kind of a joke...the service was AWFUL at all of the restaurants, the older kids were exhausted from a long day, Eloise is 21 months and is a pain in the neck, etc etc. One of us usually had to leave midway through our meal to walk away with Eloise, so it wasn't ideal :)
He's awake!
Love how she looks at him :)
More attempts!
Enjoying the breakfast buffet again!
"Do they realize they gave me a coffee cup?!"...she could not have been more excited!!!
Just like mommy!!! :)
Grandma has a hidden talent--master sandcastle builder haha
Swimming with Eloise
My littlest love
He looks mighty comfortable at the bar haha
She wanted a selfie with mommy :)
Another night, another picture attempt :)
Posing with their dinner dates haha
Careful little one!
Lizards crossing :)
Leave it to Charlotte to find a hula hoop competition (and decimate the competition haha)--she's so amazing!
More vacationing on mommy's lap haha
Doesn't it look like the bird is landing on her head?!!! Don't worry, it's not haha
She's totally judging me here :)
#bossbaby
Mommy & daddy selfie ;)
Another night, another photo shoot haha
Lookalikes
Enjoying her morning "coffee" haha
The one on the left wanted to join our crew :)
My loves
This boy loves his piña coladas!
This is the life!!!
Still vacationing in mommy's lap!!! This child wants to be attached to my body at all times!
Wandering a few feet
I think if you asked the kids, their favorite part of the vacation was probably playing with the woman who worked at the pool, Xayanna. She was so sweet, and fell in love with Charlotte and Henry. She played with them everyday, gave them floats and stuff...she even came to the hotel on our last day--her day off--to give the kids presents. She emailed me a few days after we left and said that Charlotte & Henry were her favorite kids who ever came to the hotel...so sweet. They all wanted pics together before we left. Silly!
Henry's face here just kills me haha
Cuties
Fun in the lobby!
And a family picture from our last night--love!
They saw Xayanna and had to run off for one last hug!
And some more silliness...
I'm not sure why Charlotte looks cold--it was about 80 degrees haha
Love this one
The flight back was even worse than the flight there! Again, 25 minutes of sleep and lots and lots of whining and crying. This one needs to shape up haha. Here she is taking her shoes off and checking out her toes before we had even taken off--good times ;)
Henry fell asleep a minute before we landed and wouldn't wake up haha. Long day!!!
Big sister was happy to try and poke him to wake him up :)
They were mesmerized by the "robot" at JFK haha
So, although the trip had some ups and downs, overall I would definitely consider it a success! Hoping Eloise knocks off her plane nonsense for our Florida trip though haha.
Xoxoxo
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