Irie

I have a lot of catching up to do! We have been busy, busy this Summer. The days have sure flown by quickly... cannot believe August is almost here!

I hope to get caught up on the fun times we've had this Summer within the next week or two, but in reality, I'm sure it will take me longer than that. You all know me and how sporadic I've been with blogging lately. :)

So, let's start with our family vacation to Jamaica this past May. If I could choose one Jamaican word to describe our trip, I would pick irie. It means, "to feel good and/or everything is alright." As soon as we stepped foot on the white sandy beaches and felt the warmth of the sun on our faces, we knew it was gonna be a good week. And it was.

It was perfect.

I had a hard time deciding which pictures to use for this post because I took so many {imagine that!}, so I just decided to make it easy on myself and pick out a few of my favorites to share with you. Here they are {in no particular order}...

This was Noah's first time to experience the beach, and as you can see he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He played in the sand with his beach toys and loved running and splashing through the ocean.

And after hours of playing...

Guess who got buried in the sand by Dad, Uncle Bibi, and Aunt Abby?

Love the dreads, bro. Once again, my brother providing us a few laughs. :)

Family having fun in the sun!

Josh and Matt played a few rounds of beach volleyball. They were fun to watch {when I wasn't napping under a beach hut}.

Noah's favorite drink to cool off was a strawberry daiquiri {just like his momma!}. I love this picture of Noah drinking one of many, many daiquiri's. Haha :) {And no, they weren't alcoholic... wouldn't want someone to get the wrong idea and call CPS on me!}.

Noah and his Mimi on the beach. ♥

We took excursions to Dolphin Cove and Dunn's River Falls, and they were both awesome! I highly recommend both of them!

Dunn's River Falls was incredible. It is a famous waterfall near Ochos Rios where visitors can climb right up the falls. The water was icy cold and we were soaked from head to toe right from the very beginning, but it was totally worth it. Definitely one of my favorite excursions we've ever done.

The highlight of Dolphins Cove was swimming with Dolphins {something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember!}. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they don't allow you to use your own camera. Boo! Noah was too young to actually swim with the dolphins, but he and Mimi got to get close and touch them and watch then jump through the air. We also saw a shark show and touched and swam with sting rays {a pretty weird feeling being in the water with them!}. And Noah made a little friend while we were there...

Noah and his Aunt Megan hanging out by the pool. See the little dandelion in Noah's hand? If there is a dandelion to be picked, Noah will find it. :)

Noah surprised us all and was calm enough to get his hair braided while we were in Jamaica!! Can you believe it? This is the same little boy who hates getting his haircut. Yep, he sat and got his hair braided. Of course, it took a little bribing from all of us with candy and fruit snacks, but he did it, and we were so proud of him! There were lots of "Oh, look how cute he is in his braids!" anywhere we went. He was soooo cute... he looked just like a Jamaican.

Hi, dad! Relaxing and watching Matt and Josh play a little volleyball.

Noah and Mimi having a little dance party on the beach.

We weren't sure if Noah would nap on the beach, but he did. One day he took a three {yes, three!} hour nap and woke up happy and ready to play!

I love this next picture. While we were waiting to ride a banana boat, one of the Jamaican guys was over in our area cleaning up the boats for the day. As soon as he saw Noah, he took an interest in him, and they instantly became friends. He asked Noah if he wanted to help him and together they went from boat to boat tying up the sails. It was the sweetest thing.

Mom and dad in the dreads now! I love my dad's expression. Hahaha.

Matt and Josh swimming with sting rays and snorkeling.

Noah stole the dreads from Mimi and Granddad!

Definitely, without a doubt, my favorite picture of the whole trip.

Oh Matt, you should have known better. :)

Thank you Dad and Mom for making it possible for us to all get together... especially in Jamaica! What a wonderful trip we all had!