Samantha's vacation at Nana and Granddad's House

While we were in Grand Cayman, Samantha had a vacation of her own at Nana and Granddad's house.  This was the longest they had ever got to spend with Samantha, and everyone loved it.  She didn't even cry when we left, and pretty soon we were getting pictures in our email of tea parties and swings.  She definitely got spoiled by her grandparents :)

Love that my parents saved Kerri and my stuff from when we were little.  Samantha loved this little table and all the play food in the refrigerator.

Successful tea party.  Unorthodox pouring.

They went to Heckscher Park and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the swings.

Samantha met some friends on the swings.  Turned out my parents knew two other grandparents with their grandkids that were already on the swings.  

She also played outside at my parents' house a ton.  My dad came up with some kind of game that involved golf balls and a metal bowl.  He seriously is the master of coming up with random games for kids.  I wish I got that gene.

Nana and Granddad also took Samantha to a little petting farm. My mom said she was a little hesitant but also interested.

And after a nap they headed for a little hike

What a busy and fun weekend for Samantha!  She LOVED hanging with her Nana and Granddad.  Made our vacation that much easier :)

30th Birthday Trip to Grand Cayman!

Warning-this lieucrew post doesn't have any Samantha pictures- I'll make sure to post Samantha's vacation pics very soon.

Anyways, last weekend Andrew and I headed to Grand Cayman to celebrate my 30th Birthday.  We didn't get to do anything really special for our fifth anniversary or Andrew's 30th (thanks to a child that never took a bottle and thus went basically everywhere I went for 13 months), so when I weaned S in February we decided to do something legit for my birthday.  We flew out Friday morning (on my birthday) and came back Monday evening, all the while knowing that Samantha was in great hands with my Mom and Dad.  And boy, was Grand Cayman perfect for our first trip just the two of us since Samantha was born!  

Grand Cayman was only a three and a half hour flight from JFK, and after flying across the country to California with a walking toddler, the flight felt like a vacation in itself.  Free Direct TV and time to read plus free popcorn chips- yes please, Jetblue. My uncle lives in Grand Cayman and hosted us at his wonderful apartment.  And when we arrived at his place, he had these festive balloons waiting!  (Love this Gary family tradition- my parents also had balloons outside my door in Long Island when we woke up there on Friday morning- definitely felt loved!)

And this is the view through his apartment.

Screened in porch, right on Seven Mile Beach, with ceiling fans going- this is the life!

And his condo complex's private beach.  No joke.

After some lounging on the beach and reading, we headed out to a fancy birthday dinner at Luca.  We had some delicious tuna, lobster ravioli, and tomato and mozzarella.  Yum.  And we got to watch the sunset.

The next day was another beautiful day in the Cayman Islands (Uncle Don says that's how every day is!)  Laying on the beach.  And while Uncle Don and Andrew snorkeled and swam, I read.  I finished this book and this book while we were there.

After a really tough morning we headed out to lunch, but first we stopped at the pond outside Uncle Don's apartment complex to feed the turtles.  There were probably forty turtles in the pond.

We had lunch at Rackams - beautiful view and best fish and chips I think I've ever had.

Afterward Uncle Don took us for a driving tour of the island.  Iguanas on the golf course- they are everywhere!

And then randomly- Saturday afternoon was Grand Cayman's turn to host Carnival.  Apparently, it moves around the Caribbean from island to island- we just happened to be there for the craziness.  The parade started right outside my Uncle's complex.  The view of the start of the parade appropriately had one of the nation's Rubis stations in view (Rubis is the oil company of which my Uncle is the Cayman CEO).

Basically the parade was a lot of music, scantily clad women and men in ridiculous costumes, floats, and drinking.  Sort of hilarious to watch.

The rubis truck/float.

I forgot to take a picture, but we had dinner in Georgetown at Guy Harvey's Grill in Georgetown.  Delicious tuna for all three of us!  And yes, Andrew ordered tuna every night we were there!

Sunday was another beautiful day in Grand Cayman.  

After a fantastic brunch at Cimboco, Andrew and I headed out on a tour of Stingray City.

The Cayman water is actually that water (and 80 degrees)- it's wonderful.  Even I loved swimming in that water.  Our boat stopped at the Stingray City Sandbar and we spent 45 minutes swimming with the Stingrays- we touched them, kissed them, and Andrew even fed them!

Then we headed to the reef to snorkel.  Gorgeous!

And back at Uncle Don's apartment we witnessed a beautiful sunset.  Yep- west facing beach views!

 After the sunset, we headed to Ragazzi for another delicious dinner.  Mmmmm delicious food- the way to the Lieu heart.  And we woke up on Monday to another beautiful day on Grand Cayman.  We squeezed in a little beach time before we had to head home!

What a wonderful long weekend and way to spend my 30th!  Thanks to my parents for watching Samantha and special thanks to Uncle Don for the wonderful hospitality :)