Last December, Robert and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. We have both always been terrible at remembering our big day. Not because our life together has ever been anything less than total bliss, but because it falls right smack dab in the middle of Christmas and New Years. That, I believe, is the craziest part of the year. We are usually so busy that we forget all about our big day. In fact, we are lucky if we give each other a knowing nod in passing. (I must admit that there have been many years where the only reason we remembered at all is because Mom and Dad Jones are so faithful with their 'happy anniversary' phone call.)
To make sure we didn't let another anniversary sneak past us, we decided to celebrate after the holiday season passed by. So, last month, with the blessing of free miles (All those work trips eventually pay us back.) we took off for a week at the Cayman Islands. Of course, none of it would have been possible if Mom and Dad Jones hadn't graciously offered to watch the kiddies. They came and took over all Mommy and Daddy duties, from watching baby Jason to getting the kids to all of their activities. (Dad was even able to take Alaina to a school dance, which was pretty cool. I'll post those pictures on my next post.) So "THANK YOU!" again for such a wonderful gift. Not only did it allow us some time away, but the it was even a better gift for the kids to have you both to themselves all week.
Knowing the kids were in good hands, we flew first to Texas and then on to the islands. Even without the crunch of the holidays, we managed to book everything pretty last minute, but it all worked out. (I've never made a hotel reservation while in the security line at the airport, before...) We ended up getting a good deal on a condo on the quiet side of the island. It's a pretty tiny place, so it only took us 45 min. to get to the furthest point of the island.
We had such a great time.
We took a million pictures.
Naturally.
And unfortunately for you all, the only two photo subjects we had were each other...and so that's what you get. A bunch of pictures of us. Feel free to skim or skip as you please.
For those who are gluttons for punishment, onward and forward my friends, to the complete Jones' album:
Here is the view from the sun room of the little condo we rented. It was gorgeous.
Us.
This was a funny little hat I got there. I needed to keep the sun off my face. This will also be perfect while I do all my gardening or visit the Queen of England. They all love their crazy hats in England. :)
This is a conch in a conch shell. When they said, 'conch steak,' I didn't realize what they meant to say was 'conch slug.' But that is exactly what it is. How does such a slimy, gross thing have such a classy pad?
We took an afternoon to swim with the dolphins. Totally worth it.
Us again.
We did a lot of snorkeling and scuba diving. (Well, I did one day of scuba diving and Robert did two. My day was more of a review while he did some really cool deep wall diving. I got really sick that day, so I stayed by a pool and read. Not a terrible way to get better.)
Our guides lured out these two huge eels. They were so cool looking. And a little scary.
Hello gecko.
And again.
Here are some of our scuba pics. Rob has a fun underwater camera that took some fun photos.
This is a poisonous fish. Rob will have to remind me what it is called. It is taking over the reef, and so people gather together once a week to hunt them down.
During Rob's deep dive he went through a bunch of cavernous coral and rock formations. He loved every minute of it.
They also swam above these two sharks. I wasn't super crazy about that picture.
They have this one little place on the island called 'Hell.' It is named for these crazy, sharp, rock formations, where acid rain has broken down the rock to look like a desolate wasteland of jagged spikes. There are just a few fields of these rocks, but it was novel enough for them to officially title the area and put an government post office there so that all your letters can be sent from Hell. I know...a total tourist trap, but by far the cheapest one I've ever been to. It was just the cost of a postcard and stamp.
The one thing that I think I enjoyed the very most, was when we went out to swim with the manta rays. They are very tame and you can feed them squid. They are the strangest, coolest fish I've ever seen. They feel like sandpaper on the top and are soft and pliable on the bottom. Weird. They were aggressive eaters but very gentle when they touched you. Our guides showed us how to handle them properly and they would just stay in your arms for a minute or two. It was such a unique experience.
Robert, walking on water. Like that guy needs any more confidence.
At our favorite beach, Rum Point.
The turtle farm.
And, {sigh} us, yet again. :)
This was my favorite sign on the island. They sold Jerky at a bunch of the food carts on the side of the road. I thought, if you are in the market for one Jerk...you might as well get the second one, just in case you need an extra Jerk around.
They advertised this blowhole on all the maps. Yeah. Not much going one. After living in Hawaii, I guess we were a bit spoiled.
Ahhh.....
Before we knew it, it was time to go home. You'd think that we'd be sad. Well. We were a little. But I was very anxious to get back to the kiddies, especially one little, chubby, curly-haired boy we'd left in Vegas. And not only that, but to make our trip just that much better, we found out we had a layover in Charlotte! Guess who we got to see for an hour? That's right, Sara, Aaron, Preston, Ginny and Lizzy. Look how those kids have grown! I don't like it. Not a bit.
They were so kind to pile in the car and hang out at the airport with us. Seeing our favorite family made me a bit homesick. The only thing that would have made it better is if we could had stayed longer. But, such is life. Before we knew it, we were saying a sad goodbye and we were back off to Vegas. Now, I'm going to start planning our 30th. Any good ideas?
