Great Exuma - Take II

We were lucky to be able to go back to paradise - Great Exuma.  Even luckier that the Wellmanns came too as well as Papa and Nona Lisa.  We had such a great time that Doug is already talking about another trip in 2012! 

It was as beautiful as we remembered.  The water is the prettiest blue color and the sand is so perfectly soft.  The kids had a blast.  I will let the pictures do the talking.  Here is Day 1 on the beach at our house.  Marlie being silly (I love this picture) and guess what Matt is doing?  Yes...beach baseball.  We had to remind him that we were at the beach so it was time to start surfing!!

The kids picked up a few new nicknames on the trip.  Marlie's was Cracker Jack.  None of her bathing suits fit without a swim diaper! Matt and Caden thought this was hilarious.

A few days later the Wellmanns arrived and it just got better.  Our first stop was to Chat-N-Chill on Stocking Island.  The kids played in the water, made sand angels, got buried in the sand and the adults drank A LOT of pina coladas!

Melissa and I had run to the ladies room, only to come back and find our hubbies sitting in the water in pink chairs with their pina coladas!!

By this time I had lost track of days...maybe day 5 for us...back to the beach at home for fun.  We laughed the entire time about Joel's "bag of tricks".  He had this huge bag with every beach toy you could imagine.  He was like a magician pulling one thing out after another.  There was never a dull moment...

Ok this kayak was not in the bag of tricks, but I don't think I would have been surprised if it were!!!

The kite...yep in the bag!  This was the cutest.  Joel gave Marlie the kite and we all screamed at her to run!!  She kept running down the beach and back.  She was so excited.  Finally Doug got her to stop and pose for a picture.  We laughed so hard!

On Tuesday Papa and Nona Lisa arrived and we were off on a day trip.  First stop was to the beautiful sandbar in the middle of the water.  I could have spent all day here.  Here is the best shot I have of the sandbar.  You can see Joel and Melissa on their hunt for sand dollars.  We found...or should I say Nona Lisa found quite a few. 

Then it was off to see the swimming pigs and swim with the sharks.  We had to bribe all the kids to get in with the sharks but eventually all of them did.  Matt held out for $11, Caden was promised an IPOD touch from his parents (well at least that's what Doug told him) and Marlie went in for a $1.  Matt and Caden thought this was so cool and even got shirts to prove it!!  Matt's new nickname..."shark bait".

After that we fed iguanas and then stopped at Big D's Conch Shack to try some conch.  I don't think any of us cared for it, but at least we can say we tried it.  The kids even tried it too.  We told them it was like chicken!

Day...whatever...we never got tired of just being at "home" playing on the beach.  It was so relaxing and fun for all. 

Day whatever +1, back onto our own boat now to do some exploring.  We found so many starfish and lots of sand dollars too.  It was really neat and the kids were amazed. I was too!

And guess where we ended up then?  Yes Chat-N-Chill.  We lounged around and drank more pina coladas.  Joel had perfected the recipe by the end of the trip so we made lots at home too. 

It was an awesome trip!  Thank you guys for coming and making it so fun.  We can't wait to go again! There are more pics in the slideshow that are super cute too!!!

Thank you to Anders and Anne-Grete for sharing your home with us.  You are the most gracious home owners we have rented from.  Here is the website if you'd like to stay there.  The home has everything you could possibly need!  http://www.mermaidhouse.info/