St Lucia

Mark and I got back last week from our vacation to St Lucia. It was perfect and just amazing. We stayed at Sandals La Toc and everything there was great. The room was nice, the food was good (some of the Caribbean inspired food was amazing!), the beach was perfect, and the weather too!

I feel so lucky that we were able to go on this trip together. We decided to do something big since it's our 5th anniversary this year ( in June). My parents were able to come out and watch our kids for the week (huge thanks to them!). Our kids did amazing while we were gone. They cried a little when we left but after that they just took right to their grandparents and had tons of fun. I think it was harder on me than it was on them. I cried for a good half of the trip to the airport (which was 4 hours to Minneapolis). It's kinda funny because it was my idea to take this vacation and I really thought it wouldn't be so hard to leave my kids, but I was so wrong. I was pretty emotional for the first day, I think some of it had to do with the fact that I had to stop nursing Saige in order to go on this trip. I get really sad when I stop nursing my babies. I'm going to miss that. Anyways, back to the trip....

So we flew out on May 5th from Minneapolis, spent the night in Miami and then flew from Miami to St Lucia on the 6th. We got through the airport customs and were ushered into this nice air conditioned room to wait for our shuttle bus to the resort. The shuttle bus ride took about an hour (and we knew that before). It was kinda nice to have that time, we got to see a lot of the island that way. Once we were at Sandals, we ate lunch, got settled in our room, and went straight to the beach and jumped into the water. lol I usually don't like getting into ocean water, but when the water is clear, blue, the sand is soft and there is no seaweed at all then I love it!

Pretty much every day we'd wake up, go to the buffet breakfast at the Pavilion and then head straight to the water. It was hot enough that we wanted to get in the water, but not so hot and humid that we would die if we were out of the water. Most days we grabbed some chairs on the beach and hung out there or in the water. One of the days we spent by the pool. For lunch we either ate at the Pavilion (buffet lunch) or at another place called Neptune's (it was a casual right by the ocean kind of place that had yummy fish). After lunch we went right back to the water. That is why we went on this trip so had to take advantage of it. For dinner we would go to one of the six restaurants that served dinner. All of them were so good, each place had a different type of food at it.

The second day we were there we took a snorkeling trip. That took about 2 1/2-3 hours. That particular day the water was kind of cloudy because of recent rain and all the dirt washing into the ocean. So we didn't go to the good spot that they normally go to. It was still a fun experience. Mark wanted to go again the next day but somehow I convinced him to go by him self so that I could spend an hour at the spa getting a massage. So awesome! I never do things like that, so I'm glad I had the opportunity. Plus it was Mother's day, so Mark thought it was a good gift for me. :) When he went snorkeling again, they were able to go to the good location. It was next to the Pitons (which are these two mountains that St Lucia is known for). He said it was a good trip and he got to see a lot more fish while snorkeling. I have a bunch a of underwater pics that I will post soon, just have to go through them and pick out the best ones.

After Mark got back from snorkeling we took the shuttle bus over to one of the other Sandals resorts, The Grande. We spent a few hours there just enjoying the beach and pool. This resort was nice, but we really liked ours better.

We also took a kayak out for a little while and just paddled around in front of the resort.

Sunset...

The pool was nice, and it seemed like more people preferred to sit by the pool instead of the ocean. We hung out there a little, but it was usually later in the day when a lot of people had already left.

Monday night was a beach party, with food and music out on the beach.

Our last full day there (Tuesday) we claimed some sweet chairs under a tree on the beach. Perfect. Especially since we were trying to avoid the sun by that point to save our skin. I really tried so hard to not get burn, but it still happened. Not bad though. Anyways, that day we stayed on the beach mostly and then jumped in the pool when a lot of people left to get ready for dinner.

One last stroll on the beach together!

And a quick pic of the beach the morning we left. I ran down to gather a little sand to take home and just couldn't resist.

Flying home was a long process and I was just happy to get home and see my babies, but they really could care less that I was back. Kind of sad, but I'm so happy that they loved being with their grandparents too. It was just amazing, we loved it and would go back in a heart beat.

More pictures in my Facebook Album.