An Island Vacation

Liam and I returned yesterday from a lovely visit to Grand Cayman Island. It was so good to be in the sun and be WARM after a long Indiana winter. We had a beautiful condo right on the beach with an almost empty pool most of the time. We relaxed, I read two books, we watched our favorite shows on tv, went out to eat, took pictures of Liam and had a great time together. Liam was a champ most of the time (he had his freak out moments) and I think he had a good time. I know I did. It was so nice to have extra hands to help with him and keep him entertained. I'm sure he will expect the same from me when we are back into our normal routine. But really he did well overall and he was definitely the center of attention most of the time. We said he had a troop of "paparazzi" after him all the time (ie. my in-laws :).

He also did fairly well on the flights and I was thankful for that. The trip down was better than the trip home yesterday as we had a long layover in Miami made even longer by delays for mechanical problems on the plane. We were also patted down (yes, Liam was patted down) by security in Cayman so that was a bit of a frazzling way to start our trip home. But we made it. When I saw Rob waiting for us at the airport I let go of the stroller which contained a screaming Liam (Rob heard us coming before he saw us) and while I embraced Rob the stroller kept rolling away into a potted tree. No harm done, but I think some other passengers were a bit alarmed at us. I was just so happy to see Rob that I completely forgot about Liam!

The hardest part of the week was being away from Rob. I really missed him and it felt so unfair that I was relaxing on the beach while he studied at home. But he had a good week and got a lot done so that was good. He also passed out of his Italian class (yay for no more night classes!) and got accepted into the PhD program while I was away so that was a relief. He has a lot more studying to do this coming week, but he's well on his way.

Whenever we travel I'm always so thankful to come home to a husband who loves me and is happy to see me.

I'm also thankful when we travel for a mother-in-law who has a great camera and as much as we complain sometimes, takes great photos so I don't have to. All these are to her credit.

The view down our beach in front of the condo

Our beach at sunset

Liam and mama hanging out on the beach. Lori bought him the sunshade thing which was really nice so I could still sit on the beach with Liam playing in the shade. You can also see the big cruise ships that would come in and dock everyday.

Liam being a happy baby

Liam really liked the sand. He liked to walk in it and of course put it in his mouth.

Liam hanging out with Aunt Lauren and Mimi

And with Boppy

I thought Liam would really like the pool since he loves his bathtub so much. But it was a bit cold for him. His favorite part was to stand on the stairs with just his feet in. I don't think he could really decide what he thought of the frog floatie.

He liked the ocean a little better, I think because it was warmer. One afternoon we sat like this for about 45 minutes and he was very calm and content.

Liam sporting some island wear before dinner one evening.

Mama and Liam being happy together

Liam turned five months while we were in Cayman. He's almost sitting up on his own. A few more weeks and he will be.

Our last night out to dinner and the only picture of all five of us. We missed Kayla and Rob!

We're home for today and tomorrow and then off to Pennsylvania on Monday to visit my parents for a week. It is a lot of traveling and we will miss Rob again of course, but I'm really looking forward to spending time with mom and dad. Rob has spring break here from IU so he will be studying the whole time anyways so it's just better if we leave.

Thanks to all of you who prayed over our trip. We really felt the prayers, especially when traveling. Keep them up as we travel again this week!