Friday, January 21, 2011

Liesl Alexa Hardin

I believe it is high time that I introduce you to my new niece! 
Liesl Alexa Hardin

Liesl was born Januray 2, 2011 at 10:16am, weighing in at 8lb 3oz, 20" long. Both mom and baby are doing great! Plus, Alex makes the cutest daddy ever. Liesl has mommy's eyes and daddy's red face when she cries. So cute! God did one heck of a job with this little bundle of joy. I look forward to seeing her grow into a godly woman. I will be there for her whenever she needs me. Love you, my little niece!

Showing hope -
 ~Aunt Kate~

Friday, January 14, 2011

Why is the rum always gone?!

We have been back in the states for a week now, and let me tell ya; I miss the Caribbean sun like crazy! Wisconsin is the worst state to come back to after a tropical vacation. I will now attempt to recap the last days of our amazing trip.

Wednesday started out with a walk down to Dunkin' Donuts (they're everywhere!) for some morning coffee and donuts. The rest of the day consisted of sitting out in the sun getting tan...or in my case, turning into a lobster. We also did a lot of swimming in the pool there. I probably got another strawberry smoothie. So good!


On Thursday, we got to go to the sea turtle farm. One of the coolest things of the trip. We all got to hold a little baby sea turtle that was 2 1/2 weeks old. I almost died from the cuteness! Then we got to go over to some tanks where they were keeping some of the older turtles. We got to catch some and hold them for a little bit. Sea turtles just so happen to be my favorite animal, so I was lovin' this whole thing. After the turtle farm, we went back into George Town for some final snorkeling and shopping. This was the best snorkeling of the trip...until we swam into the jellyfish field! Ow. Lots of little stings from those little buggers that you couldn't see until they were smack dab in your face. Fortunately no one reacted to the stings.


We spent our last day hangin' out at the hotel packing, swimming, and taking long walks on the beach. No more tanning, for by now Rianne and I were burnt pretty bad. I would rather not get skin cancer, thank you very much. This was a bittersweet day, so we made sure not to waste it. It was a perfect ending to our trip.


As soon as I get all of the pictures, I will put a bunch up. Love you all!


~Katie~


P.S. chocolate rum fudge is delish!


 

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Shopping. Sun. Stingrays.

It is now coming to the end of day 4 in paradise. We are all having a blast! Yesterday we spent the afternoon shopping in George Town. I actually bought a dress. And it is NOT pink! It's coral. Anyways, it's really pretty and I like it. :) When we got back from shopping, the resort had like a welcoming party thing for all of the guests. There was a raffle, dancing, and a fire show. No one in our group won anything in the raffle, but we sure danced a lot! The rest of the night we just hung out on the beach dancing.

Today we went to Rum Point! We had to go there to get out to Sting Ray City, so we just made a day of it. We snorkeled for a little bit, bather ourselves in the glorious Caribbean sun, and swam in the ocean. Then it was finally time to go to Sting Ray City! This was probably one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. We took a catamaran out to a sand bar where there are tons of stingrays just swimming around that you can practically pick up. If you handle them the right way, they are completely harmless. One of the guys from the boat came into the water with everyone and helped them hold the rays. After I held the first one, he had it swim across my back! Weirdest feeling ever, but so cool!

Once we were done with the rays, we got back onto the boat and went over to a different spot to snorkel for a little bit. Rianne and I saw a barracuda! We did that for about 30 minutes, headed back to Rum Point, then back to the resort. As if we didn't get enough swimming in already, the four of us girls headed over to the pool for a while. Oh, and I officially look like a lobster now.

Most of the pictures are on the Nelson's camera, so I try to get them up later. Maybe I'll get a few up tomorrow. I hope you're enjoying the cold!

~Katie~

Sunday, January 2, 2011

We made it!

We made it to the Cayman's and it is beautiful!!! We landed yesterday afternoon and made it to the resort at about 5 last night. Just in time to get in some swimming. Unfortunately it is insanely windy here, so it makes the swimming a little bit chillier. But it felt so good after being up all night and being on airplanes all day! Last night we ate at the restaurant out on the dock. I, of course, got fish and chips. It was mahi mahi! YUM. Everyone was really exhausted last night, so we ended up going to bed at like 9:30.

In the van on the way to Tortuga
Today was super chill. We got up and went into the big pool. This pool has a bar that you can swim up to and sit at while you're drinking. So cool! I got a strawberry smoothie, which was delicious. After that, we went out snorkeling. It was a little rough because of the wind, but we saw some cool stuff, included a small stingray and a flounder! Flounders have really funny lips, just in case you were wondering. After we finished snorkeling, we went back onto the beach and just lay in the sun for a little bit. I have a horrible man-tan from work that I desperately want to get rid of.

The rest of the day we just spent bummin around the pools. Now we're off to have some pizza out in the ocean! Tah tah!


The view from our room!