The Brown Family Buzz: JAMAICA....YA MON

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We have just returned from a fabulous week in paradise with my Dad, Sandy, sisters Jalynn and Kelley, brother-in-law Dave and nephews Kieran and Quinn, at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Our trip started at 3am on December 26th when we left our house for the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15 a.m. We had a smooth check-in and were at the gate in plenty of time. Our plane left on-time and arrived in Jamaica just before 10:30 a.m. After clearing customs and finding our shuttle bus we were on our way to our resort shortly after 11:00 a.m. The kids were amazing travel buddies. They slept for over an hour on the plane and were very patient as we waited for our rooms to be ready. The rooms took a little longer than we expected but were well worth the wait. When we arrived in the room we realized we had been upgraded to an even better suite than we had expected. Our room had a lovely outdoor terrace with a wicker swing and very comfy couch, a large bathroom with double sinks, a jacuzzi tub and separate shower and a great open room with a king size bed and sitting area. The kids loved the tub and very much enjoyed all the crawling space they had. I was worried before we arrived at the resort about how we'd fit two cribs in the room but we had more than enough space for them.

The resort itself was amazing. It was big enough that we never felt like we were on top of other guests but small enough that we learned where everything was quickly. We spent much of our time by the "shallow entrance" to the pool. Our kids, especially Charlotte, loved the water. The "shallow entrance" of the pool was great because they could crawl and splash around at their own pace. My nephews especially liked the fact they could swim up to the bar and get "slushy" drinks whenever they wanted!

When we weren't lounging by the pool or swimming you could find us enjoying meals at one of the many restaurants around the resort. The kids ate everything and loved the buffet restaurant in addition to the a la cart restaurants (when they were awake). We were lucky enough to keep them on their regular routine from home so we would feed them an early dinner, throw them in the tub and have them in their jammies and often asleep in their stroller before we ate dinner. I had no idea what to expect from the trip where the kids were concerned - but it turned out that the kids exceeded my expectations. Both Doyle and I actually came home feeling like we had a vacation and a relaxing one at that!

We feel very fortunate that we had the opportunity to spend this past week in Jamaica. Thanks to my Dad and Sandy for taking us on such an amazing trip! We certainly had a sun-filled, rum-filled, FUN-filled time away with everyone...I'm definitely going through serious buffet / swim up bar with drawl today ;)