Aruba

Jason and I were invited by a company that Jason works with sometimes to come on their retreat to Aruba. It was an all inclusive trip so we couldn't say no. We flew my mom out to watch the kids and had everything arranged so that we could go. The trip was November 5-9th. It was a perfect amount of time and a great and much needed get away. The company, Havtech, chartered a plane to take us all there, they probably had around 300 people on the trip. We stayed at the Marriott Resort and Stellars Casino. It was a really nice resort and the rooms were spacious and had a private balcony with a view. Our view was of the main pool and the beach.

The view from our balcony: 

When we got to the resort on Wednesday we were starving (despite the fact that they did provide breakfast on the plane, it had been a while) and went to one of the restaurants to get some food. It was delicious. Then we headed back up to our room. When we were first invited, we figured that Jason would have some meeting to attend, but their goal was just to have fun and relax. The only group things they did have were a welcome dinner on Wednesday and a farewell dinner on Saturday. Our welcome dinner was supposed to be on the beach but unfortunately it started pouring about 30 minutes before the dinner so they moved it inside. It was still nice though. We found out that Havtech does this trip every year but chooses a different island each time. How cool is that? Jason's boss was the one invited but he couldn't come so he told them to invite Jason instead. I don't know that we will ever get to go on another one of these trips again but I'm hoping once every 3-5 years. Even if not, I still feel so lucky we were able to go on this one.  

Jason and I at the welcome dinner. We didn't stay out late ever. We wanted to sleep more than anything. I slept 10-11 hours every night and I woke up on the 3rd night at around 4 in the morning and finally felt like I had caught up on my sleep. One of the best feelings in the world!

 On Thursday morning we had signed up for a catamaran tour and snorkeling trip. Havtech had scheduled several excursions and rentals that were all included in our trip. So awesome! The weather was great, but we learned that even though the water in Aruba is beautiful, it is not good for snorkeling. It didn't help that it was even murkier than usual because of the storm the night before. Our first stop was at a shipwreck. We could make out the mast if we free dove down a bit, but that was all so we just swam for a bit. The second stop I saw a few fish and some coral but it was still pretty murky and none of my pictures came out. But we still had lots of fun. The catamaran ride was great, and it had a slide on it so we went off the slide into the water a few times. They had a surprisingly delicious lunch and the sun was shining and no kids were fighting or yelling at us so we were happy:) 

 Aruba is a desert island full of cacti, rocks, dirt and boulders. The beaches are beautiful though. 

 We enjoyed lots of time at the main pool. They had a swim up bar which was included in the Havtech plan which meant we ordered lots of virgin pina coladas, miami vices, daiquiris and chocolate mudslides. I think I gained 5 pounds from all the drinks! They were so yummy I couldn't resist. 

 One night for dinner they had a dance show and all the dancers were covered in bling.

On Friday we went on the Natural Pool excursion. It is on the side of the island that is mostly uninhabited and the only way to get to the pool is to walk, take a horse or a special vehicle. We took these giant jeeps and it was like a roller coaster going over giant boulders. 

Since it was far away we got to sight see most of the island. This is what most of it looked like. 

 There were lots of goats.

 We finally made it to the Natural Pool. 

 We had to hike down a lot of steps and the bottom was full of dried up coral and shells. 

 Then we had to walk across slippery rocks full of these crabs. They were supposed to provide us with water shoes but they forgot and my flip flops broke so on the way back Jason was so sweet and gave me his flip flops to wear because the ground was full of sharp shells and rocks. 

 This was so cool. This guy took a few pictures for us. The first picture is fine, and then seconds later this huge wave (2nd picture) came over the rocks on top of us. We had no idea, we were just smiling away. It was so funny and a great picture. 

This is the Natural Pool. It was pretty, but the snorkeling was the same as before, very murky and the pool was crowded. 

 One of the stops was at the Natural Bridge. This is the little bridge. The big one washed away a few decades ago in a rare hurricane. Aruba is below the hurricane belt so it hardly ever gets hurricanes. 

 This is a special church, I think it's called the Alta Vista chapel. Obviously it has been rebuilt but it was originally built by the dutch in the 1400s. 

 And the last stop was the California Lighthouse. 

 When we got back we watched the sunset before jumping in the pool and then grabbing dinner. 

 We saw these guys everywhere.

 We ate breakfast here every morning right off the beach. 

 One day when we were at the pool this iguana must have been very hungry. He tried to eat my book, my can of sunscreen and then the pineapple from my drink. But the pineapple wedge was too big for the poor guy so he just ended up pushing it around for a while. 

On Saturday we reserved one of these "napas" (the huts) and spent the day at the beach. Havtech had a bunch of sport equipment reserved for us to use. We did the jet skis first which was really fun. Then I got a drink and relaxed on the beach with my book while Jason went on the jet skis again with some friends. Later we also went tubing which was a little crazy and we were pretty sore after. The beach weather was perfect and with the constant wind you don't get hot so you have to be careful not to get burned. 

 They had weddings every day on the beach at sunset so this was always our view. 

The farewell dinner. You can see Jason got burned. Havtech has a band that they love and bring with them on all their trips. The band plays at the dinners and at the pool happy hours. What a great gig. 

 On our last day we had to check out at 11 and leave at 1 so we couldn't really swim plus I had washed my hair for the dinner the night before so I didn't want to swim again. We ate a late breakfast and packed up. We had planned to go souvenir shopping but everything off the resort was closed because it was Sunday. Luckily they had several shops at the resort and we found some things for everyone. We did one last walk on the beautiful beach and then got on one of the buses to take us back to the airport. 

It was an amazing trip and I'm so glad we got to go. I feel so lucky. I was ready to get home and see my kids though, especially the baby.