ARUBA MEGA POST #1: 12/28-12/29

Ok, if you usually come here to see pictures of and stories about cute little blondies, the next few posts won't be for you. 

If you'd like to stay and see pictures of sunshine and loveliness, feel free to stick around.

As I mentioned yesterday, Chris and I spent most of last week in Aruba with my parents, my sisters and their fiancées.

Aruba was generally 85 and sunny all the time.  When we landed back home on Saturday night, we experienced a 90 degree temperature difference from what we felt that morning.  It was a brutal slap back to reality.

But, let's go back to the warmth, shall we?

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2014

We had a long travel day on the 28th.  We were at the airport by 4am central time, and didn't land in Aruba until about 2:30pm eastern time.  The Aruba airport was a pretty ridiculous experience, and we were happy to finally get to our rental house a couple hours after landing.  The rental house was beautiful- perfect for the 8 of us.

145 LG Smith Blvd

We settled in, got ready for dinner, and headed out to our first dinner reservation of the vacation.  It was also the first time we got lost (well, one of the two cars did).  It was our experience that Aruba is an island that isn't very user friendly.  There aren't really street signs, and maps aren't that helpful.  Also, we couldn't use our cell phones.  We got lost a number of times throughout our week there. 

But we all eventually made it to our destination and had a great dinner.  After dinner we walked down to the beach by the house.  We were all anxious to see everything in the daylight.

The Pelican's Nest...and the beach.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29th, 2014

I was up super early, of course, so I spent the early hours of the day by the pool.  Later that morning we left to go on a hike.  We did not find the place we were looking for (non-marked Aruban roads...seriously), and turned back around in favor of a beach run and beach time for the girls, and golfing for the guys.

A sisters run and Arashi Beach

Tierra del Sol Golf Club...amazing views and CRAZY wind.

We went up to the California Light House before dinner.  It was a short drive from the rental house, and the dinner that we had up at the restaurant near the lighthouse was delicious (you'll soon figure out that the food on this trip was UNBELIEVABLY amazing).

The California Light House at dusk

La Trattoria el Faro Blanco at sunset

That was the end of our first full day on the island.  Come back tomorrow for day 2!