Bahama Baby

Tauri made us all ankle bracelet's to wear on the trip- it's tradition

Ryan's was the sweetest

We are home from our beach vacation! We returned from the Bahamas yesterday and are now returning to reality. We had a great time! Ryan was an EXCELLENT traveler. We took 4 flights total (DFW to Miami, Miami to Eleuthra, Eleuthra to Miama and Miami to DFW). She was NOT the baby that screamed on the flight- she never cried at all!!! I was so worried about it for nothing! Her ears didn't bother her at all and she didn't even need to take a bottle for take offs! She played and napped and was terrific. She enjoyed the beach and loved the delicious cooking! Ryan and I took daily naps together. One luxury she enjoyed was sleeping with us at night. Although we had a crib, Ryan didn't like to sleep overnight in it and ended up in bed with us most the trip. A new habit that we are determined to end now that we are home. I took a ton of photos. Mom and Aunt Mis did too. We haven't had a chance to share pictures yet, so I may have more additions to post later. I had plenty to illustrate the good times we shared! Okay, get ready for the most pictures EVER posted on one blog entry! I tried to describe our trip throughout.

About to leave for the airport
(dressed alike head to toe!)

Headed to Miami

(it was Ryan's bedtime but she didn't want to miss a thing)

Miami at midnight

We spent the night at a hotel in Miami and then took

a puddle jumper to the Bahamas the next morning

Welcome to the Bahamas!

We had an hour drive to our house- beautiful view of the

Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic on the other

Ryan crawled around ad checked the place out! It was awesome! We stayed

at the Capricorn House which was located on 16 private acres. We each had our

own bedroom and bathroom and our own private beach! We had cooks and a

maid and a groundskeeper. We had everything we needed.

We were very pampered!

Ryan hanging out with Dustin

Chilling with Gpa on the couch

Beach Beauty

Now that's a big sand box!

Mamaw brought the sand toys!

The water was BEAUTIFUL!

You could see everything and the sand was soft and pink.

The waves were a little scary for Ryan.

She wanted to stay close to daddy

Mom and I took the kayak out and visited two small islands

far away in the ocean. It was hard work, but fun. Ryan did not

join us on that adventure, but she got in when we returned for

the photo shoot. My sweet Dad never took his eyes off us while we

were gone to the other islands.

There was lots of game playing.

Ryan brought her Hello Kitty cards!

The Ivie family in the Bahamas!

Mawaw and Grandpa

Ryan, Claudya and Dustin

The Cox brothers

Ryan brought her pouty lip with her

At Tippy's Restaurant

I love this picture!

Being pregnant and feeling a little lousy combined with chasing a

10 month old equals a tired mommy- we were so thankful that

my parents and all of our family were so helpful with Ryan.

It would not have been a fun trip had it been

just the three of us.

Her serious pose

Won't be long before she won't need my hands

Our group
in front of a gorgeous sunset

Enjoying some meat!

Cox brothers smoking cigars on one of our many lovely patios

(the male cat laying with my dad is named Karen- I guess

all Karen's, regardless of gender, love him)

The other Karen

The view from our beach

Mamaw and Ryan having a ball!

Unc, Chris and Claudya went deep sea fishing!

We all got to enjoy their catch for dinner and lunch!

Claudya caught a barracuda!!!!

Chris caught a little fella!

Ryan loved the spaghetti lunch we had. Our cooks, Aretha and Janeth,

cooked 3 meals a day for us- it was so wonderful!

A serious pose in her bikini

The Munch!

The only time Ryan is ever allowed to swim topless!

We had a night out with the group (thanks to Grandpa staying with Ryan)

We listened to live music at The Beachhouse!

Love her!

Dustin and his beautiful wife Claudya

Tauri dancing with her dad

The girls dancing!

Skinny dippin in a cove!

Waiting with Grandpa for her daddy to come back from snorkeling

Dressed and ready for the fish fry!

Every Friday in Eleuthra there is a big fish fry/ dance party in the street!

It was my favorite night. The food was delicious and we all danced in the streets!

Right before Chris and I left to take Ryan home Thriller came on and we had to

stop and do our dance routine in the street in front of everyone at the fish fry!

It was so fun - and such a coincidence that they played it. We had performed

our Thriller dance a few days earlier in the family talent show

and had won! We had no idea we would be doing it for the island!

Because of the many requests,I am going to post the video of

our talent show performance soon.

Ryan dancing with Tauri

I got to dance (briefly) with my honey

My parents were tearing up the dance floor/street!

Sleepy baby

Ryan and Grandpa at the pool

Our last night in the Bahamas

Chris and I got to go out alone on a date!

We tried out the black and white mode on our camera

(mini photo shoot!- we are dorks)

My model husband

Unc with Aretha and Janeth- they took good care of us!

It was a great trip!