We took a little break from the beach to get some groceries in town, chill, swim in pool, cook a dinner, roast some marshmallows and lay in the truck bed under the stars. Another perfect day 🙂

waiting for Dada car selfies 🙂

No dollhouse, no problem! Little nuggets created their own dollhouse with water bottles, towels and pillows…oh and a decorative wooden bird.

Breakfast, snorkeling, lizard feeding, and dinner 🙂

playing pretend with their forks while waiting for dinner…these two will bring anything to life 🙂

We decided to stay in Westpunt which is the more rural part of the island but known to have the most beautiful beaches. There are two really popular tourist beaches on the opposite side of the island so we took the girls down there to see what it was like. We first went downtown to walk the bridge and have some lunch followed by ice cream of course.

Once we filled their bellies we drove to the first tourist beach area called Jan Thiel. The girls were sleeping in the car, Will and I took one look and said ummm let’s give the other one a go. It was packed with cars, tourists, banners, and everything commercial that didn’t exist where we were staying.

Next we drove to Mambo beach b/c i read they had a bouncy climb type thing for the kids in the middle of the ocean so i figured the girls would love it. We pulled in to an enormous parking lot (unlike the dirt lots by where we were staying) and they had a directory for the beach and restaurants and all the stores lining the beach. Sophie’s first comment was “Um, that’s weird, you have to pay to sit at the beach”. hahahaha. CR kid.

Anyway, once we got inside there was techno music, big beds (that you could rent), and the ocean was cut off by big rocks to create a separate floating space (bc the water wasn’t already like a beautiful pool- aka so unnecessary). The beach was crowded with people in rows and felt like a beach in Miami. We didnt say anything and stayed so Sophie could go climb and have fun on the play thingy in the ocean. Sophie swam out, spent 5 minutes climbing on to the bouncy thing, found out she needed a bracelet, swam back and said “This beach is too crazy and crowded. I like the other beaches were it is nice and calm. Plus, my sister can’t go on the bouncy thing. Can we go back to the calmer beach and snorkel?”. Wohoooo! Coolest kid as always. She is such a mermaid.

Downtown and the floating bridge

Mambo beach for the 15 minutes we were there

Actually after looking at the pictures, this is prob a beach in florida on a really, really slow day. I think we all are a bit spoiled with isolated, private beaches b/c this felt chaotic. haha.

Here is the beach we went to instead 🙂

and then of course, Bath time!

Time to get our snorkel on! Wow, it was amazing. Sophie and Will swam with two turtles…i spent the rest of the vacation trying to see just one (failed). Sophie and I swam with schools of fish and the most colorful fish i have ever seen. The water was crystal clear and full of life to see. Pookie lived out her mermaid dreams and snorkeled so much that her goggles irritated her nose by the end of the day. Swimming out with her and listening to her so excited about every single fish just made my heart melt. Pookie was in her element and i was just along for the ride. I can’t remember where we ate- oh yea we ate at a restaurant that was highly rated (it sucked) and the girls got a brownie fudge sundae for dessert (that didnt suck). The girls and i rode in the back of the pickup home from the restaurant (it was close on rural roads) and looked up at the sky. Pretty sure they were in water more than out of water all day. Actually pretty sure that is the story of their life everyday. Momma’s little mermaids.

Our morning view from bedroom

The only way Sabi will ride in a car that doesn’t smell like rainy season mold, or beach. This is her “too clean car smell” rag.

Pooks and Sabs first time trying Planter’s Cheeseballs (they love CR version, which actually ended up being better now that ive tasted both but no complaints from little ones obviously)

Of course Sabsy finds the animals (who likes Planter’s cheeseballs too)

Home to the pool

Followed by the bath

Followed by dinner and dessert 🙂

Followed by bed

3:30am wake up. 5:30am flight. Plane transfer in Panama. 45 min car ride and we arrive!! Travels were fun and easy. Girls were a blast as always. They woke up at 3:30am with smiles on their faces and ready to tackle their new adventures (seriously, they were smiling at 3:30am). Will rented a pick up truck and they were so stoked b/c that meant they could ride in the back for fun. We stopped at a grocery store near the airport because they told us that it was the biggest and best place to stock up for the week (we ended up going back there 4 times). The drive to our condo was not a beach road so it was pretty rural and dry looking. Once we got to the condo and saw the water, we knew we were in for some pretty amazing snorkeling! I dont know what excited the girls more…the turquoise water or the epic bathtub…it’s a toss up.

2nd plane

Curacao airport

Our ride

Our home for the next week 🙂

There she is…the queen of all tubs

We all headed to SJ on the 9am ferry and everything was super smooth. The girls were stoked that Ash was along for the ride and going to spend the day with them in SJ. We took Ash to the multiplaza, avenida escazu and one of our favorite restaurants. They wrapped up the day with a swim at the hotel pool and hallway races. Yippie! Great start to a great trip! OH, and no one puked- WIN!