Aruba

Mike and I just got back from an amazing 4 night no-kids VACATION to Aruba! We had such a wonderful time. Jill was kind enough to come down and watch all 3 of our kids in Bogota. I can't believe she was willing to do it, she is so kind! We went with 3 other couples, Nate and Alex Tenny, Cooper and Nina Smith and Manny and Monica Canino. We rented an incredible 4 bedroom 4 bath penthouse apartment in the Oceania Resort on Eagle Beach and it couldn't have been more perfect. The beach had such fine, white sand and the view of the ocean from the balcony was to die for. It truly was paradise!

Our flight to Aruba was very late so we didn't get in until about 2 in the morning. After exploring the penthouse like kids in a candy store we settled down and slept (with no fear of kids waking me up at night!!!). We awoke to that incredible view, quickly donned beach clothes and went in search of breakfast and a grocery store.

We found breakfast down the road. We were living the dream! Nina's smile in the second picture says it all.

This crazy waiter told us they didn't have any ketchup or mustard because it's against Islam to eat prepared sauces on Thursdays. All I could think was, "What a specific rule to follow." He completely had me going! Obviously he was kidding... I'm so gullible. He was very friendly and gave us directions to the grocery store. I love how on vacation even grocery shopping is exciting!

We couldn't believe how easy it was to cross the street in Aruba. Since we all live in Bogota and have to sprint across the street so we won't get hit we were shocked when a car actually slowed down and stopped (!) to let us cross!! We were even more shocked when it happened multiple times!

The grocery store actually was a pretty fun place. It's a Dutch chain and had SOOOO many yummy things! We were pretty excited to see all the American and European products and may have gone a little crazy. We made some seriously tasty meals though. After the grocery store we headed to the beach for some relaxation.

Later that night we went to a famous Aruban restaurant called The Flying Fish, named for the fish you can see jumping out of the ocean while dining on the beach. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was pretty much perfect. The perfect end to the perfect day!

The next day we decided to venture out and explore the island. We found a place that rents 4-wheelers and took to the road!

Just a little arm wrestling to get the day started :)

Waiting for George to pick us up...

Crammed in the van... check out my fabulous nails curtsey of Disney Castle House. Jess and I got our nails done before I left as a treat to ourselves. Whenever we're together it's work, work work so we finally got to just hang out as friends! And DCH footed the bill.

Mike and I ended up in front so that he could lead. Everyone was happy to let him figure the map out ;) We only were separated once and thankfully Mannica and Nalex saw me waving before heading in the opposite direction.

The first place we headed was to see the California Light House on the island. It was named for the ship California that wrecked on the Aruban coast. The Californian actually received and dismissed an SOS from the Titanic before it went down. Karma??

Nate demonstrating how a group of Colombian women were posing at the beach ;D

Check out this beautiful view. The island is definitely a desert island but has the most perfect sand. The side of the island with the lighthouse is know for having "rougher" waters. We didn't see many waves anywhere though! We did see home hot male models though! Hahaha!

Driving along...

The rocks in the upper right hand picture are stacked on top of each other. It's a huge stretch of the island where people stack rocks and make wishes. It's like being a giant surrounded by a thousand palaces. It's pretty incredible to see visible evidence of all the tourists who have passed this Aruban coast like us.

We found this pretty little church in the middle of nowhere. It's called the Pilgrim's church and is thought to be one of the first churches to be built on Aruba back in 1750!

After seeing the church we continued on to the historic gold mine ruins. Mike, Nina, Cooper and I were in front and after a few minutes we noticed the rest of the group was missing. After waiting about 15 minutes they finally showed up. Manny had crashed into a huge bolder! He was going pretty fast and it was either crash into the boulder or try to take a turn and most likely roll. In the end Monica's little toes and arm were a bit bruised but it was better than rolling. We were so glad they were ok!

We found this cool little natural bridge as we were going along as well. Made for incredible pictures!

The gold mine ruins were pretty neat too. The mine was used until 1824 and over 3 million pounds of gold were found in Aruba before it was shut down!

After seeing the ruins we headed on to Aruba's famous "natural bridge" Well, it used to be famous. Now it's called the "broken natural bridge." It wasn't very exciting but somehow it has hung onto #11 on Tripadvisor's "Sights and Landmarks" list. The best part was stopping in at the little restaurant/bar for some much needed refreshment!

After the broken bridge we drove on to the much anticipated Donkey refugee!! Nina couldn't wait to see this place! She was in heaven. There were certainly lots of donkeys there. Although to adopt one you had to pay a TON of money, so we all just donated a little instead. Monica decided to feed the donkeys and ended up being attacked! They were pretty cute though ;)

Our last stop was at a beautiful beach where we rested our bums and enjoyed the view.

 We teased Alex mercilessly for using her Blackberry on vacation :)

 Is that a bathing suit or whitey tightys? 

 Since it was Nate's 40th(!) birthday we decided to have a big birthday dinner for him that night. Cooking in the kitchen was a dream! The dinner was pretty awesome. We had steak, barbecued vegetables and yummy potatoes.

After dinner and a yummy cake made by Alex we gave Nate his birthday present. We all pitched in :) After some coaxing he even put it on!!

After the dance party we decided to play a game of Pictionary. Girls versus boys. Guess who won???

The next morning we woke up and headed to the beach. We were all laughing hysterically when Nate actually came out with his birthday thong on!!! HAHAHAHAHA! The boys then played a game of frisbee and out of no where we saw a breaching whale!! LOL

Caution: objects in picture may be smaller than they appear.

After beach time Manny, Monica, Mike and I rented some bikes and went for a ride. The views were spectacular. We road through a nice neighborhood with some beautiful houses and then along the beach into town where we had a yummy lunch before heading back.

Our final dinner was spent in town at a yummy seafood restaurant. Manny and Monica couldn't come because they were meeting one of Monica's newfound siblings! The dinner was delicious.

It was a quick trip but we had such an amazing time! It really was unforgettable. The group couldn't have been more perfect and we can't wait to start planning our next trip together. Aruba 2.0!!!!