the BAHAMAS

Paul and I just got back from a fabulous trip to the Bahamas (well it was really two weeks ago that we got back but I can pretend). We went with a group of good friends from St. George and got a much needed break. We had an amazing support team back on the home front that made our trip possible. The kids enjoyed both their aunt Beth and their grandma Wilkins for several days. Thanks again!!!

This is one of the few trips that we have had no travel problems. I honestly just don't remember a single time we have gone to and from anywhere that had anything to do with an airplane and not had at least a little glitch. Airlines and Harmers (at least these Harmers) just don't mix well. I have lots of negative things to say about airlines and the way they handle problems, but I will save that for another post. Well this time was...dare I say...perfect. We left late at night on a Wednesday and reached the beautiful Bahamas by morning.

We stayed at the Sandals resort. It is an all-inclusive resort with meals included. I don't know if we would do that for every trip, but it was a lot of fun. The food was quite good, the water sports were great (since there are no waves to speak of), the sand volleyball was top-notch (more on that), and the service was first-class.

We did a lot of scuba diving since this was included in our all-inclusive. We did a dive with a couple of ship wrecks including some wreck from a James Bond movie; the dive was called James Bond. We also did a free dive with sharks. Our last shark dive we did last summer included a cage for the humans. I was a little leary going into this dive, but it was well worth it. By the end I only wished I could dive longer and watch them more. They are fascinating! They were interested in us and followed us, but none of them wanted a nibble. I guess that was a good thing. I am sure those particular sharks are well-fed.







I also talked Paul and at least one other couple into going to Blue Lagoon Island with me and playing with the dolphins. We got to swim with them, hug them, pet them, and we got to experience the "incredible nose push". They referred to the nose push often and it was pretty incredible. You just lay on your stomach in the water and two dolphins push your feet with their nose at about 25 mph. You get up out of the water and it is pretty thrilling. I think they do something like that at Sea World. Now I just need to take Hailee to do it. She would be in heaven.





On this trip I played more sand volleyball, or any other kind of volleyball, than I ever have in my life. At least half of our group had played volleyball in college or beyond. I am pretty competitive and I hate to be bad at something, but I was definitely the worst one out there. I tried my best and by the end I wasn't too much of a hindrance. I had a lot of fun and I think I might get invited to play again (even if it is just Paul they are after). We ended up in some very heated four on four matches. Well, they got a little less than friendly in any case. At the end we got to play all together and take on some of the people who worked at the resort. It was a ton of fun and as it turns out our stacked team even won!

It was a great trip! I had such a good time hanging out with my favorite person, my husband. I think every couple deserves some time away at least once a year.