Jamaica

Kyra and I are back from our 5 day/4 night trip to the lovely island of Jamaica. We got a great deal to a new all-inclusive resort, The Grand Palladium in Lucea, Jamaica. We spent all day Friday traveling. It took a little bit longer than expected because it started raining as soon as we landed in Jamaica. The roads completely flood in Jamaica when it rains like that so we waited on the bus for at least an hour at the airport before making the very slow journey to the hotel. But, we finally got there and got to see a beautiful sunset. The rest of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we mainly sat in the sun (got burnt), went swimming, had a few fruity cocktails, ate some great food (especially the Creole and Indian food), and enjoyed the entertainment. Check out the photos below:

A view of the Villas

From Jamaica

Sunset on Friday

From Jamaica

The pool with built in chairs and hot tubs

From Jamaica

The "Paparazzi" taking photos at the pool. They were doing a photo shoot for the hotel while we were there. They followed us everywhere.

From Jamaica

Kyra

From Jamaica

Sunset on the Beach

From Jamaica

Sunset

From Jamaica

Kyra again

From Jamaica

Entertainment one night was a Poker and Blackjack tournament. Kyra and I played. My chips are next to Kyra's. I nearly won the table. They also played bingo at the same time. I did manage to win that and came home with a little bottle of rum.

From Jamaica

More Paparazzi at the beach. Can you find the models? (there are at least 4 of them)

From Jamaica

The Real Models

From Jamaica

Kyra and her man, Happy Feet. Kyra was a big hit with the Jamaicans. We didn't tell Happy Feet about Kyra's lifeguard boyfriend.

From Jamaica

An angry crab

From Jamaica

Because Ruth Complained

Ruth said I need to make a new post so here it is. :)

I haven't done any traveling since July but based on our experience camping with my brother, Matthias and I bought our very own tent. We camped in my backyard the other weekend.




What's up next?
I'm off to Jamaica next weekend with my friend Kyra to sit on the beach and forget about work for 4 days. We got a great deal on a new resort that opened in July. The reviews have been steadily improving since then (which is good because the early reviews were not so good) and the hurricanes have kept north so it should be a good experience. Kyra is trying to get me to go cliff diving but I'm 90% sure that won't happen.

We'll see what comes up next from there....

Camping Photos

Well we had a good time camping. Matthias seemed to like S'mores. We pretty much spent the weekend avoiding the rain and keeping the fire going, but it was nice to just relax and hang out with the family.

Matthias building a sand castle:


Lucas destroying it:


Matthias checking out a bike at Walmart:


Lucas in new favorite toy:


At the camp site:

Camping for the Weekend

After I head into work for 2 hours tomorrow Matthias and I are going to head off to Ohio for the weekend. We're driving so we can bring the bikes along. It's been a long time since I've made the drive from Maryland to the Cleveland area. We going camping with Andy and his family out near Sandusky. We'll spend Sunday evening and Monday morning in Cleveland with my parents before driving back. I'm not sure what exactly we have planned for activities. We'll definitely make S'mores and ride the bikes. Given how hot it's supposed to be we'll probably want to jump in the lake at some point.

I wrote "camera" on my packing list so with any luck there will be pictures posted next week.

They Followed Me

I survived two weeks in Kansas during tornado season. I'm in Maryland for 5 days and what happens? Yep, tornadoes. We had to shelter-in-place at work on Wednesday afternoon because of a tornado warning. They're investigating 3 tornadoes in the D.C. area. Craziness...I think the tornadoes followed me home!

Kansas - May 19 to 30th

So I spent two weeks in Kansas for work. I did get to come home over the weekend, thankfully. I didn't end up getting to see much of Kansas, and specifically Lawrence, because I was working crazy hours. My coworker and I explored downtown Lawrence along Massachusetts, had some great food and browsed the shops. I took a bike ride one day thanks to a bike-loaner program at the Holiday Inn Express I stayed at. My coworker and I also took a trip to the Kansas City Zoo. The zoo is absolutely huge and very nice.

And that was about all I had time for. I didn't even get to use the hotel pool or go to the movie theater that was 100 yards away. We were so busy at work! Oh well, it was a good trip all-in-all. No tornadoes!!!

Cleveland - May 11th

For the weekend, Matthias and I flew up to Cleveland to get the grand-slam of spring celebrations. We missed Andy's 30th Birthday and Dad's birthday in April but made it up for Lucas' 1st birthday party and mother's day. So, everyone was happy to see us because they all got presents. Mom, Dad, Matthias, and I took a quick trip to the Cleveland Zoo. Unfortunately, it seems to be undergoing a lot of renovation and upkeep and a lot of animals were not on display. Some photos from the weekend...