Getaway!

Last week, we surprised our kids and told them we were going to the beach that weekend to celebrate our 1yr anniversary (we really believe in milestones and celebrating them with the kids). They were very excited. However, none of us really knew what to expect because we had never been to this place before. When you live here, you learn to keep your expectations pretty low....because you never know what you might find. A few friends had been to this beach before so they gave us advice as to where to stay, where to eat, what to do, etc.
Turns out.....we had a great weekend, and can't wait to go back.

Thanks to Hannah and Hudson's school principal, we stayed in a BEAUTIFUL hotel. We were very excited to have a lot of space to spread out and relax. This hotel also had a wonderful pool. It was clean, big, and beautifully landscaped.

We arrived Friday evening, after we all finished school, checked into our hotel, and headed to the local token Western restaurant called Tommy's. Coincidentally Tommy was eating there too. Hudson was so impressed because he had never eaten at a restaurant were the restaurant' s namesake was also there. It was really not a big deal, seeing Tommy is a retired man from Australia who lives on the 3rd floor of the restaurant. The food was excellent and we were happy. We walked down the pier after dinner and took in the vastness of the dark ocean in front of us then returned to the hotel.....Hudson wanted a late night swim. No one else was willing to swim because it was too cold. (He lasted 15 minutes)

On Saturday we hit the beach. As I sat with our stuff (see massive number of people in the pics, we were told not to leave our stuff alone) I watched the people. We all laughed quite a bit that day watching people. Some of our highlights were the grown men doing cartwheels and handstands or sprints and leaps as they enjoyed the beach (never in America would you see this....especially when the men are wearing speedos). Or there was the 8yr. old kid who wore only his birthday suit. WOW, my kids didn't know what to think of that. The best was when his parents asked for him to take a pic with Hannah and Hudson. The look on my kids faces was priceless. Then there was the man who wore a spandex swimsuit, made to look like denim. Hmmm.....not the best choice.

Here Hannah is being bombarded by picture takers. Each one of those girls wanted their own picture with her. Rob had to go and rescue her because more and more people kept coming up joining the crowd to have their pics taken with her. It was very overcast, windy, and a little cold......perfect beach weather for the locals who hate being out in the sun. My crew braved the cold and swam in the ocean, played in the sand, and had a very good time. I, however, was the party pooper and didn't swim, it was too cold for me. Rob was the hero. After cleaning up we found a great dinner place, walked around the main square, rode in some pedicabs, and made it back to our hotel. On Sunday we slept in, ate lunch at Tommy's again, then went back to the hotel pool and swam for a few hours. It was warm, beautiful and the pool was very refreshing. After that, we boarded the bus for the 3 hour trip back home. It was a great weekend! Perfect retreat before the busy weeks ahead!!