Barbados Adventure.

The last weekend in April our ward had an auction to help send the youth to Girls Camp and High Adventure. Miles and I set our sites on a 7 day vacation through one of the ward members timeshares with RCI. And we won! We got a 7 day vacation at a 5 star resort (The Crane) in Barbados for $400, total! It was one of the greatest vacations I've been on. My mom joined in on the fun and was so nice to help us take care of Caiden, which allowed all of us to participate in activities. Caiden got his first two stamps on his passport! What a lucky boy! I waited 22 years to get a passport. We spent most of our time at the resort in the pools or at the beach. The Crane's beach was voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It was beautiful! Caiden loved being in the pool! 
We hopped on a catamaran and went on a snorkel excursion! The excursion was all day. They fed us lunch, which was delish. We stopped at 3 locations to snorkel with sea turtles (my favorite!), to see a ship wreck, and to play on a remote beach and snorkel for seashells. It was such a great day. Caiden swam in the ocean, Miles, my mom, and I all got to swim with the sea turtles, we all got to work on our tans and sample the local foods, and we danced on the ship! Caiden was a hit with the boat crew and Miles drove the sailboat. I would highly suggest Cool Runnings snorkel excursion to anyone traveling to Barbados. It was well worth every penny. 
We also hopped on a complimentary shuttle one day and headed in to Hamilton. It was really hot and humid and our clothes were sticking to our bodies! We didn't have a stroller with us so we had to take turns holding Caiden which made it even hotter. Somehow he still managed to nap in my mom's arms. If you travel to Barbados I seriously would not suggest going in to Hamilton. There isn't a whole lot to do or see and it's really spread out. 
I'm really grateful that we were able to go on this family vacation. It was relaxing and beautiful, and we missed the big hurricane that hit the east coast leaving most of CT without power for a few days. Caiden is spoiled that this was his first family vaca! Lucky boy.
Forewarning: there are A LOT of pictures. It was the vacation of a lifetime, would you expect any less from me?

 The view from our balcony of the 5 pools at the resort and the ocean next to it. 

 The living room and bedroom in our suite. Love the vaulted ceilings!

There was a cliff to jump from at the beach at The Crane.

 The view from our balcony at dusk.

 On the catamaran getting ready to snorkel!

I can now, officially, check this off my Top 25 Things I Want to do Before Turning 25 list!