On an island in the sun...

These pictures sum up our Saturday evening. We pretty much just "hung around" the Sheraton all night. And took lots of pictures from our little perch in the palm trees...

Thank you, self-timer sister.

This is where John and I agreed this is hands down the best vacay of our lives...And house in Houston must have hammock hanging trees.

Some places are just more photogenic than others. Bahamas, you could be a model in a Maxim magazine spread...just sayin'.

Just one suggestion...If you plan on visiting this island, you might just want to book one-way tickets...I sure wish we had!

Hotel Hoppin'

When we need a break from our quiet beach we head down to the hotels where the high rollers hang out. My goal is to crash every resort on this island and report back on their posh amenities. It is amazing...When you wear a big floppy hat and hold your head up high...the hotels just assume you belong and send out swanky service...no questions asked. So far, the Sheraton has the nicest pools while the Hilton has the biggest lizards and coolest sand toys (which is kind of a big deal if you have little boy).

James enjoying the air-conditioned lobby of a hotel while he plays with his new turtle toy we bought from the street vendors.

Don’t ask me what I am doing in this picture. It looks like I am blowing the large chested pirate lady a kiss. It is what it isJ. My poses are going to get creative in order to not accentuate the fact that I don’t plan on wearing makeup this month.

My mom asked us if we were going to go see “Pirates” today when I was talking to her on facebook. She meant the movie...but I thought she meant the real thing since they are sort of the rage around here. FYI: This town was actually founded by Black Beard himself back in the day.

We rode the bus to the "big city" to use the ATM. A bustling place with lots of cruise boat tourists, street vendors, and fancy shops.

We are hooked to a yummy bakery across the street. It’s not too expensive so we plan to visit this local’s hot spot a lot over the next few weeks.

I am sad to say that Paradise isn’t always sunshine and lollipops...or boat docks rather. Nope, James has a horrible rash. Probably hand, foot, and mouth disease...(according to web md and John’s bro who is a real md). It should last a week and there is nothing really to do but wait it out. He probably got it from licking the tray on the airplane when I turned my head for two seconds. Hopefully his antibodies will get their butt into gear asap. Because it is too sad to see my baby covered in itchy bumps.

And because of the apple turnovers from the bakery, I’ve started on the favorite exercise of Phelps and Flipper. Yup, you guessed it, swimming in the deep blue is my new workout of choice. It is hard on the hair, but heavenly on the abs...or at least on lap loving Olympians anyway.

I asked John if he wanted to get into one of the housewives of_______ shows while James napped, but he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. So I guess I will be blogging instead. Hopefully James will be back to himself soon so I will have pictures to post. And hopefully it will stop raining in Utah so you’ll have lots of summer love to share too.

Postcards from Paradise...

Dear John... that sounds like we are breaking up...Dear Hot hubby,

Thanks for being such a good saver and not letting me have my way back in the day when I wanted new Nordstrom jeans, or I didn’t want to drive my old Honda from high school. If only I could have seen these pictures when I needed a little more patience I wouldn’t have put up such a fight. XOXO.

Dear Mom,

This is me posing with a book from the “library” that they have here at the apartments. Library is in quotations because it is an entire room brimming with hot and steamy romance novels left from passing tourists. But don’t worry, As sultry as this Sheikh sounds (and I am not going to lie...Danielle Steel has sucked me in once or twice in the past) I won’t disappoint my academic momma. I will order something a bit more thought provoking from Amazon for my kindle. Any recommendations?

Dear Primary Teachers,

The song about the foolish man building his house on the sand is so not true! It must have been written by someone who had never been to the Bahamas. Who cares if occasionally the floods came up and rains came down and washed his house away? The "foolish" man can always rebuild his bamboo hut in an afternoon and be back sipping daiquiris in the shade by sundown. In my book, the foolish man is the dude who builds his house on a blustery boulder in the boondocks:)

Dear Kimme,

Remember in middle school, when we use to beg people to bring us sand from their vacations and then we would sprinkle it in our sheets and pretend we lived on the beach? That probably wasn’t the best thing for our parent’s washers-just saying:)

I wish you had your baby six months ago so you guys could come stay at our condo. But since you can’t ever plan those things with precision... these pictures are dedicated to you. But next year if I am pregnant, and as big as a whale, you better pay me back with lots beachy pictures. Just be kind and don’t post too many of you with flat abs in your two pieces. That is too painful for this c-section momma whose stomach won’t ever look that way.

Dear family in OKC and SLC,

We haven't felt this carefree since we were kids. Case in point...John is watching Bugs Bunny while I type and I haven't changed from my swim suit in two days. Are you convinced that you all need to hop on a plane and come visit ASAP?

Dear Jake,

Check out this crab we found on the rocks. I made John get close for a picture...but we were careful to keep our distance because of his sharp pinchers. Then after a few minutes of evaluating our crustacean friend we started to question if he was alive... That is when we discovered it was just a shell a crab had shed. Ha Ha...We are such city folk:)

Dear Grandma and Grandpa Gregory,

Thank you for sending James with a DVD player when we left your house. Because occasional we need a break from our little man, and The Cat in the Hat knows just how to give us that:)

Dear lovely Commentors ,

If I did this blog for the comments I would have stopped on the days I got numeral uno. But when I get support from all my fabulous friends it is such a sweet thing. Thank you for constantly making my day with your kind words. And P.S... I love all the fun posts so many of you have been blogging, so please keep them coming:)

Day uno under the sun...

First things first...We sold our house! For loads less than we bought if for, and lots less than we originally listed it. But thankfully, John’s work met us in the middle mula wise. So in the end we feel happy with how the whole thing worked out. I am soooo glad to be done with all the showings, shotty realtors, and the stress that went with selling our shack.

Second... We found a furnished apartment in Houston to live in for a few months for when John gets back to biznass...(If we don’t decide to become Bahamian beach bums working at a banana standJ) It's right outside the city and just a metro ride away from more museums, parks, and people watching than I could pack in a parenthood, let alone a summer. It will give us a chance to look around for the perfect spot for a permanent address. It has a pool and a spare bed , so if anyone wants to jump on a plane later this summer, I’d be ecstatic:)

And third... After three days of driving around cities we’ve been looking at online the last few months, I think we've narrowed down where we want to live in Houston. The place I thought I would love to live ended up being GHETTO ...something that I couldn’t quite tell from the google maps:) The new place we like in person is called Cyprus. A pretty community, close to the LDS temple, and only 12 minutes to John’s work.

So now that we've caught up on all the Houston house happenings, Let's go to the beach baby!...

We arrived yesterday at the airport to the sound of a live reggae band playing and a pirate putting on a performance for the passerbys. A perfect way to start the first day of our vacay!

The condo is more than we could have asked for! We found it on Homeaway.com. I highly recommend that site if you're looking for a place to stay on your vacation. Here is a fish's view of our new headquarters... taken from the comfort of my floaty. (with this super cool waterproof camera...in case you are in the market:)

Ahhh, the water here is heavenly. Like Hawaii's sea water- with just a tad more cyan.

My beach baby is loving the humongous sand box in his backyard and taking short swims with his mom and dad.

Our condo's private beach. Mostly locals live here, and I guess this view is old news to them b/c it has just been mostly the three of us soaking up the sun.

Here is our photo shoot of where we will be sleeping for the next month.

James's room

View from the kitchen

I love all the colorful artwork!

And speaking of artwork...These are my new "breast" friends. This risqué piece hangs in the master bedroom.

James's new pet, Pete, who lives on our porch.

People have said we are going to get board being stuck on a small island for a month. But to me, taking things at a sea turtle's pace every so often keeps this sister afloat:)

You better all blog your summer fun too. B/c if you are like me, you are all going to need your beachy bloggidy blogs in the winter when the sun don't shine:)