Turks and Caicos

We went vacation to the Turks and Caicos. It was so exciting to take John Hall and see this beautiful place through his innocent eyes. Having never seen the ocean, his first comment about the sand was that it was so soft and then he looked out at the turquoise water and said "Look, a big sand pool!" He loved the sand pool and would wake up each morning ready to go! There was no convincing him it was the ocean, and I can understand why he was so sure it was a giant pool since the color and clarity of the water was the same as pools he's accustomed to seeing.

(I had to get the "toe shot!" The boys are the blur in the sand pool)

The first night we were there, we went to the beach party with Elmo and all the friends! JH was perfectly happy watching the festivities from our table....

...However, something clicked in him overnight! The next evening he was perfectly content being front and center stage performing the "chicken dance" and "the macarena" with lots of other kiddos and Bert. Who knew he was such the little dancer! It was absolutely hilarious!

John Hall had his helpful spokesperson, Sam, to inform the audieunce of JH's name and his hometown.  Sam on the other hand wasn't so forthcoming with any of his information!  He told the emcee that he was just up on stage to tell his "cousin's stuff."

Daddy getting JH ready for night-night and reading stories before bed.

We were waiting for the parade...John Hall has a future in percussion judging by his reaction to the Turks and Caicos local band. It was his favorite part even above the Sesame Street characters.

This fountain was a favorite of John's. He loved playing in the water and generally soaking his entire outfit!

The resort has photographers that will walk around and take photos. Since I "think" I'm on top of it (and really didn't want to pay the fees for their photos), I would refuse their services. One day, a female photographer came by and asked to take his photo. Since JH is typically not the most cooperative subject, I gave in and told her to be my guest. I wished her luck and much to my surprise, John Hall started posing like a swimsuit model!!!! I had to buy this picture so that I would always remember he has a little mind of his own...I should never say never when it comes to John Hall! What a little ham!!!!

We were lucky to go to the island with our good friends, Trey-Brandie-JT, as well as our family (and good friends), Andrew-Jamie-Sam. I couldn't have asked for a better group to be with in paradise!

Is my little guy ever without his cars?

Couldn't have a beach blog without including cheesy beach photos taken by Jamie! She's actually a very good photographer! The only problem was my lens kept fogging up due to the humidity and it made part of all the pictures blurry, ARG!!! I also took their family photos at the same time. We would pose and then they would pose in the same spot. We had to give the photography session lecture to all the boys (including the adult ones) before we left our room so they understood nothing but the best behavior was acceptable for the next hour...Oh, the groans!!!!



The resort had some really great places to eat. One of my favorite spots was the sushi bar. John Hall says he likes to eat with chop-sticks!

As a reward for being so well behaved at the sushi place, I decided he could go play in the "favorite" fountain for a while. Yes, that car did go right in the water!

The resturant we ate breakfast at most mornings had a section completely devoted to little ones (the resort overall was all about kids). John Hall loved having breakfast at a fance table just his size with his Sesame Street pals were all around!


The pools were so great because they had all sorts of zero entry points which was nice for toddlers! He thought he was big time dunking his head over and over!

There were all sorts of activities they had for kids like baking cookies with cookie monster, bird watching with Big Bird, Exploring with Grover, dancing with Bert & Ernie...only problem was JH was typically napping during the times these occurred. We got lucky and one day caught story time with Elmo! He loved it!

As a huge professional golf fan, Jason was super excited that Greg Norman was swimming with us. We didn't want to bother him for a upclose photo....when we could get a stalker shot like this, Ha!

Sam and John Hall playing Chess....the game didn't last long.

One night after dinner, John Hall and Sam went to the ocean and played around. They were in their own little worlds. I couldn't help but be reminded to a quote from Longfellow. "A boy's will is the wind's will. And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."



Playing in the soft, soft sand...

Jason and John Hall celebrating Father's Day.

The little guy was a huge fan of the characters...He just liked them from a distance.



What a cool dude! I took this picture of a table they had set up on the beach for private dining...It wasn't set up for the three of us, that's for sure! Ha!



Sam and John Hall in the departure lounge. We had already planned to stay the night in Atlanta to break up our traveling day to keep in schedule with JH's routine. If only Sam knew what he was in for! They ended up waiting for a flight that ended up getting canceled for hours and hours at the Atlanta airport only to stay at the same hotel as us with no luggage. They left on a later flight than us the following day only to find the airline couldn't find their bags...Wow! What an ordeal that was for them!

John Hall was GREAT on the flights! I couldn't have wished for better behavior from our sweet two-year-old! So long, Turks! We hope to see you again soon!!!