Thursday, January 29, 2009
2009 Caribbean Trip - Travel & Day 1 - Barbados
These will be long posts as I’m using them as a “diary” of our trip. Check back in a couple of weeks if you want to see the photos that go with the posts as I forgot my camera cable so that I could download the photos.
January 27 & 28, 2009
Wow, what a long flight! We left SFO for Miami around 11:45pm. Kyle fell asleep in his car seat shortly after the flight took off, but after about an hour he woke up and fussed until I took him out of his car seat. He then fell asleep on me. We slept for about 30 minutes and then I was woken up by a commotion behind me. The man sitting in the row in front of us had gotten up out of his seat and walked to Ian’s Dad, who was sleeping in the row behind us, and had pinched his nose and covered his mouth. Ian’s Dad woke up because he couldn’t breathe and Ian and his brother Shea had grabbed the guys arms and were telling him to sit down. The flight attendants quickly arrived and told the man to take his seat. He kept saying that he was sleep walking and that Ian’s Dad had grabbed him. The flight attendants told him to sit back in his seat and that the authorities would be waiting in Mimi to talk to him. He was clearly very drunk. After that he kept looking back at Ian’s Dad (or Ian, we couldn’t tell) and glaring and shaking his fist. We were nervous to go to sleep after that, so I got total of 30 minutes sleep that whole night.
We arrived in Miami around 8am and got off the plane for a 2 hour layover before getting on another plane to fly to Barbados. Kyle slept in my arms for most of the layover, but was then awake for the whole second flight until 5 minutes before we touched down. He then slept in my arms until we had our luggage, were through customs and were getting in a cab to go to the Villa we had reserved.
We were so happy when we arrived at the Villa. It was beautiful, clean and spacious. We had the beach right out the back door (and down an elevator as we were on the 4th floor). After we dropped off our bags and freshened up we went down to the beach and Kyle, Ian, Shea and Ryan played in the water. Kyle loved it! Ryan, Shea and Ian took turns body surfing and lifting Kyle over the crashing waves. It was a lot of fun to watch. The water was really clear and the perfect temperature. We then went to the resort next door and ate dinner at their beachside restaurant. The food was Ok, but the view and atmosphere was great. I almost wished we could spend the whole week there.
After dinner we went back to the Villa and Ian got Kyle ready for bed. I had arranged for a crib to be delivered and set-up so after a quick shower and a few books Kyle was asleep. The rest of us attempted to watch some TV but about 10 minutes into it most of us were asleep. I got up and went to bed in our room with Kyle. It was only 9pm in Barbados – 5pm our time! Around midnight (Barbados time) Kyle woke up crying. We realized it was because it was like an oven in our room. After 30 minutes of fiddling with the thermostat we were able to get it on and we all fell back asleep until 10:30am (Barbados time).
I got up before Ian and Kyle and took a quick shower. Ian’s parents and brothers were gone (they had gone to breakfast) and they got home just as I was getting out of the shower and Ian and Kyle were waking up. I got Kyle dressed while Ian did some work on the computer. Then the three of us walked to a little store on the corner to buy cereal, milk and yogurt for breakfast. Ian’s Mom had thoughtfully thrown our dirty clothes in the washer that was in our villa, so we were just waiting for that to be done so we could head to the cruise ship. We called the taxi driver who had driven us from the airport to the Villa and he came and picked us up and took us to the port. We just barely made it on the ship in time!
After getting checked in we went to our rooms to drop some stuff off and I wanted to make sure that we had a crib in our room for Kyle (which we didn’t). Then it was up to the Lido deck for a late buffet lunch. I then took Kyle back to our room for his nap while Ian went to check out the ship and hang out with his brothers. Kyle slept for about 2 hours and then it was time for dinner (we had the 6pm seating). The food was good (I had a quesadilla starter and a mushroom risotto main course followed by a melting chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream). Just as we sat down the ship set sail.
After dinner I took Kyle to the kids “Camp Carnival” for a trial run. I filled out the paper work and then gave me a cell phone so that they could call me if he got upset. I said “Bye Bye” and went to go find Ian and his parents/brothers. They were right around the corner playing ping pong. After about 45 minutes, just as we were about to go to the Comedy Show, I got a call on the phone saying Kyle was crying for me. L I went and got him and he went to the show with us. He lasted until the last 15 minutes, and then Ian took him outside while I watched the rest of the show. Then it was “dinner time” for Kyle (we were keeping him on CA time so that we weren’t stuck in the room with him starting at 7:30pm). We ordered him room service (they didn’t have much for him to eat – no kids menu) and then Ian washed him up and put him to bed. I stayed in the room with Kyle while Ian went to hang out with his brothers.
~ Christina
Next Caribbean January 27 - February 5 2009 Post:
January 29 St. Lucia
January 27 & 28, 2009
Wow, what a long flight! We left SFO for Miami around 11:45pm. Kyle fell asleep in his car seat shortly after the flight took off, but after about an hour he woke up and fussed until I took him out of his car seat. He then fell asleep on me. We slept for about 30 minutes and then I was woken up by a commotion behind me. The man sitting in the row in front of us had gotten up out of his seat and walked to Ian’s Dad, who was sleeping in the row behind us, and had pinched his nose and covered his mouth. Ian’s Dad woke up because he couldn’t breathe and Ian and his brother Shea had grabbed the guys arms and were telling him to sit down. The flight attendants quickly arrived and told the man to take his seat. He kept saying that he was sleep walking and that Ian’s Dad had grabbed him. The flight attendants told him to sit back in his seat and that the authorities would be waiting in Mimi to talk to him. He was clearly very drunk. After that he kept looking back at Ian’s Dad (or Ian, we couldn’t tell) and glaring and shaking his fist. We were nervous to go to sleep after that, so I got total of 30 minutes sleep that whole night.
We arrived in Miami around 8am and got off the plane for a 2 hour layover before getting on another plane to fly to Barbados. Kyle slept in my arms for most of the layover, but was then awake for the whole second flight until 5 minutes before we touched down. He then slept in my arms until we had our luggage, were through customs and were getting in a cab to go to the Villa we had reserved.
We were so happy when we arrived at the Villa. It was beautiful, clean and spacious. We had the beach right out the back door (and down an elevator as we were on the 4th floor). After we dropped off our bags and freshened up we went down to the beach and Kyle, Ian, Shea and Ryan played in the water. Kyle loved it! Ryan, Shea and Ian took turns body surfing and lifting Kyle over the crashing waves. It was a lot of fun to watch. The water was really clear and the perfect temperature. We then went to the resort next door and ate dinner at their beachside restaurant. The food was Ok, but the view and atmosphere was great. I almost wished we could spend the whole week there.
After dinner we went back to the Villa and Ian got Kyle ready for bed. I had arranged for a crib to be delivered and set-up so after a quick shower and a few books Kyle was asleep. The rest of us attempted to watch some TV but about 10 minutes into it most of us were asleep. I got up and went to bed in our room with Kyle. It was only 9pm in Barbados – 5pm our time! Around midnight (Barbados time) Kyle woke up crying. We realized it was because it was like an oven in our room. After 30 minutes of fiddling with the thermostat we were able to get it on and we all fell back asleep until 10:30am (Barbados time).
I got up before Ian and Kyle and took a quick shower. Ian’s parents and brothers were gone (they had gone to breakfast) and they got home just as I was getting out of the shower and Ian and Kyle were waking up. I got Kyle dressed while Ian did some work on the computer. Then the three of us walked to a little store on the corner to buy cereal, milk and yogurt for breakfast. Ian’s Mom had thoughtfully thrown our dirty clothes in the washer that was in our villa, so we were just waiting for that to be done so we could head to the cruise ship. We called the taxi driver who had driven us from the airport to the Villa and he came and picked us up and took us to the port. We just barely made it on the ship in time!
After getting checked in we went to our rooms to drop some stuff off and I wanted to make sure that we had a crib in our room for Kyle (which we didn’t). Then it was up to the Lido deck for a late buffet lunch. I then took Kyle back to our room for his nap while Ian went to check out the ship and hang out with his brothers. Kyle slept for about 2 hours and then it was time for dinner (we had the 6pm seating). The food was good (I had a quesadilla starter and a mushroom risotto main course followed by a melting chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream). Just as we sat down the ship set sail.
After dinner I took Kyle to the kids “Camp Carnival” for a trial run. I filled out the paper work and then gave me a cell phone so that they could call me if he got upset. I said “Bye Bye” and went to go find Ian and his parents/brothers. They were right around the corner playing ping pong. After about 45 minutes, just as we were about to go to the Comedy Show, I got a call on the phone saying Kyle was crying for me. L I went and got him and he went to the show with us. He lasted until the last 15 minutes, and then Ian took him outside while I watched the rest of the show. Then it was “dinner time” for Kyle (we were keeping him on CA time so that we weren’t stuck in the room with him starting at 7:30pm). We ordered him room service (they didn’t have much for him to eat – no kids menu) and then Ian washed him up and put him to bed. I stayed in the room with Kyle while Ian went to hang out with his brothers.
~ Christina
Next Caribbean January 27 - February 5 2009 Post:
January 29 St. Lucia
