The Third Part of Camp and the Bahamas

This post is making me really miss these friends...even more than usual.

I took this photo because I thought the Bahamian woman and her daughter were beautiful.  What I didn't notice was the banana boat in the background.  The third day of our trip was the first day that we had any inclination to do anything besides read, rest, talk, eat, swim, laugh...or, in other words, refuel.  On day three, we decided to have an adventure and take a banana boat ride.  We didn't know exactly how adventurous it would be - to be pulled by a motor boat out on the ocean - so we didn't bring our phones to take pictures.  I wish we had, though, because we saw some of the most breathtaking scenes of the whole trip.  We will just have to remember the cove in Millionaires' Row and the dolphins feeding for ourselves, because there are no digital pictures...but it was a highlight of our trip.

One of the themes of this trip became the waiting.  We didn't mind this quirk of Groupon travel or this particular all-inclusive resort or whatever it was.  We had no reason to rush and no children waiting on us (although we had, collectively, left 14 children at home with our husbands,) so we took advantage of the time together to talk and laugh and relax and talk some more.  We had plenty of chances to have uninterrupted conversations about deep things...and not so deep things, too.  We were all encouraged in our faith, our marriages, and in just about every other way you can imagine.

We are pretty much never together for our birthdays.  There was talk or celebrating our milestone birthdays with a trip - first for my 40th, then for Anna's 40th...but those days came and went, and Laura and Cherissa won't have those birthdays for a long time. So, I brought candles and birthday crowns, and we celebrated over a little dessert on our last night together.  We attracted the attention of the staff, and they serenaded us with the birthday song before we blew out our candles.

Click on the picture above, and it should get really big.

It really was that beautiful.  More, really.

Goodbye to our resort.  We couldn't believe it was over, but we all agreed that it was time to go home.

It was really hard to say goodbye in Dallas.  But I'm going to skip that part.

I loved being home with my sweet little people and Jeff.  Jonathan wasn't home from camp yet.

On Saturday, I went to my sister's baby shower.  I got to see my local twin nieces who were getting ready to be big sisters...

and Corinne with my darling youngest niece.

Those cheeks need to be kissed.

Here I am with Mom...

and my sister who was getting ready for her baby boy to be born.

Jonathan continued to do what boys should do at camp.

He was fascinated by his counselor's phone.  I don't think there should be phones at camp, but perhaps I am a throwback.

These are out of order, but here are pictures of the youngers while Jeff and Mom took care of them.  I am forever in debt to everyone who helped with the kids so that I could get away and come back refreshed and equipped to be a better wife, mother, and friend.

The Second Part of Camp and the Bahamas

This screen was kind of a joke for us.  We didn't use our phones very much to stay in touch with the world, but when we used them, we had to make a concerted effort to log into the network.  Every. single. time.  My phone was the one that had a texting plan to keep in touch with our husbands, and we made any calls on the room phones in the hotel.  It took us a couple of days to learn how to used them because the directions provided were wrong.  Just another quirk of Groupon travel.

We liked to have lunch here.  We made friends with our server, Carol.

Laura looked like a cute 40s movie star.

We spent a lot of time lounging under our thatched umbrella.  We'd get in the water and talk, then move back to the shade and rest or read, then move our chairs to keep up with the shade, then get back into the water, then go eat when we were hungry.  That took up most of our time.

Our home away from home.

The water was as blue as you see in pictures, but pictures will never do it justice.

We got in the pool when we were tired of sand.

I did a lot of reading with this view over the top of my book.

More lunch overlooking the water!

We ventured off of the grounds one time to see the shops across the street from the resort.  I didn't buy a thing until we went to the airport.

And more ice cream!

The grounds were pretty...

But it was just breathtaking to walk by the ocean.

The waves were so calm, and the water was comfortably warm.

Oh, and Jonathan was at camp!  He took pictures.

He did what boys should do at camp.

And the youngers had adventures with Jeff, who is always my hero for taking such great care of our kids.