THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

We had an amazing family trip to Jamaica at the end of April. We figured it was our last big vacation for a while - one last trip before the baby gets here - and before we have to start paying for a plane seat for Rosie. We found a great place online recommended by tripadvisor. It was called Nirvana on the Beach - and it was truly a blissful, relaxing getaway… no phones, no TV, no internet access. It took Joe a couple days to get out of “work mode” - but we really enjoyed a lot of quiet family time.

Our place was a little cottage about 100 feet from the beach - the whole property only had 8 cottages on it - and they were only 1/2 full - so it was very quiet and secluded - we could see and hear the ocean from our veranda - but it was far enough away that we had privacy too…

We spent the majority of the time just hanging out on the beach - reading, swimming, playing with Rosie. We brought a little blow up pool so Rosie could play safely in the shade - and we could take a break from keeping our fearless daughter from running headfirst into the ocean…

There was also a little playhouse filled with toys that Rosie would go wander off and play in. It was so cute - she would just start to walk off and say “bye” and we would say “where are you going” and she would say “play toys” - and she would go play by herself for a while while we kept an eye on her…

Rosie was such a cutie all week - and her hair was a big mop of curls in the heat and humidity… she LOVED playing in the ocean and running in the waves and rolling around in the sand…

Most of the week we stayed salty and sandy and didn’t really bother showering- we did get cleaned up and went out to a couple nice dinners…

We hired a boat and drivers one day and took a glass bottomed boat out to a reef and did a bit of swimming and snorkling out in the middle of the ocean - it was a nice change of pace and a lot of fun…

Here is my huge 28 week pregnant belly in all its glory -

and Rosie loved looking at the fishies through the bottom of the boat.

There was a big family of stray cats living on our property - and they had 5 new baby kittens - Rosie loved chasing them around and petting them…

She would say cute things like “where kitties go?” and then as soon as she saw one she would run after it - saying “I pet kitty”

We ate a lot of good food in Jamaica, most of it from tiny roadside (or beachside) shacks - and we are literally talking shacks - with tin roofs and no kitchen- sometimes just an open grill. Some of it was REALLY good - some of it was just OK. We had Jerk chicken, pork, fish (of course)…

and the standard “rice and peas” which is rice with red beans - Rosie loved it…

Joe was a little freaked out by the fresh fish with the heads still attached… but he ate it anyway….

We did branch out and leave our little property one day and we ventured to the huge Beaches all inclusive resort. We mostly wanted a pool for Rosie for the day - and they have a whole kids program with Sesame Street characters - and we thought Rosie would like that…

The pool was great and Rosie actually swam on her own with only swimmies helping keep her afloat - she really got the hang of keeping her balance and kicking her legs, she was amazing…

She was a little freaked out by the Sesame Street characters - I think they were too big and scary in real life… It was a fun day - and a different experience - but we decided we are definitely NOT all-inclusive people. It was dirty and loud and the food was horrible - we are so glad we didn’t pay the $800 a night they were charging for rooms….

We had a really great relaxing week, it was a treat to get out of the normal day to day grind of things and relax, read, eat and play…

I don’t know if Jamaica is our ideal vacation spot - it was unquestionably beautiful, but there are so many places on this earth that we want to see - I am not sure if it warrants a second visit… but we are glad we did make this one visit - we will miss the beach, ocean and beautiful sunsets….