The Buggy Grahams go foreign...

So our family took a very special trip this month. My father and step-mom have a time share in Aruba, and they invited the Wilsons (Christina and her family) and the Grahams to go and join them for the first week in February.

If you are like me and you know little or nothing about Aruba (except that it has been Dad and Shirley's favorite vacation spot for almost 18 years), you might ask someone about the place, and they'll often answer, "It's one of the ABC islands." If you are still like me and you have no idea what that means, your jaw will drop a little, and then you'll suddenly put (not get, but put) a knowing look in your eyes and say, "Oh, yeah. Uh huh." (Or a humbler person may admit that they've never heard of the ABC islands in the whole of their life, but it really just depends).

The ABC islands are Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. (There's a really cool accent on the second C in Curacao, but I've not actually learned how to put accents on my foreign letters with this keyboard). They are three islands located in the far west of the Antilles in the Caribbean and are less than 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Isn't that fun information? I just like to hear the name "Antilles" because it makes me think of Once on This Island (a delightful musical).

Anyway, it's a lovely island with a very pleasant climate. They speak multiple languages (I'm allergic to Spanish, but I used a fair bit) and have iguanas, gorgeous beaches, snorkling, and happy hour. I have to chuckle, though, because Wikipedia (which I tend to rely on way too much) says that "unlike much of Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate" which I find to be totally false. Okay, I'll concede that I've lived in a more humid climate. Southeast Asia is quite humid in places (my hair was pretty curly on the mission), but Aruba wasn't very far behind it. Most of our clothing, once wet, remained wet until put out to dry on the patio or placed into a dryer. (It took us almost 5 days to figure out the patio trick, by which time some of that wet stuff was just gross). My skin liked it, but I noticed that everyone was a little sticky most of the time. (I tend to noticed such things, which make me a very pleasant companion). I'm sure if I'd surf the net for climate descriptions, I could come back with evidence that the Philippines is more humid, but I've already bored everyone enough with the whole ABC island explanation and the climate thingy. So, I'll proceed with a trip report:

We had an adventure! It was a very beautiful island, and the opportunity to go and stay with Dad and Shirley and see Chris and Kenny and the boys all at once was very unique and nice. Sophie loves her cousins, and she and Josh and Joey were often seen running around or playing in the pool together and making large amounts of noise. Aidan admired them and enjoyed the excitement as well.

I will refrain from giving details about Sophie's near-death experience on our first afternoon there, which frightened David and me terribly, but which is something Sophie is anxious to share with others. (Short people are very interesting.) Suffice it to say, I think we may wait to go to another beach and pool resort until all of our children know how to swim and are potty trained. You can guess the rest (or email me directly for more details).

This lovely photo is of Sophie just minutes before her near death experience. Oh how cute we thought it was that Sophie just "fell in." Little did we know what was coming...

More about the climate (because you came for a weather report): There was a lovely breeze all of the time, and the only time it was remotely unpleasant was if you were just coming out of the water in the later afternoon, and you were suddenly a wee bit frosty. When you were resting in a lounge chair, however, it was comfy.

This is a picture of a couple of natives. Well, the human natives are much more attractive and charming, but these iguanas have their own charm as well. They have keen senses of smell, sleep in palm trees, occasionally take a dip in the pool, and like to come out at lunch time if there are people eating. I rather enjoyed them (unless one was under my chair - then I was afraid of being bit on the bum), but I did not have the exciting experience of having one fall on and scratch me. (Shirley had one of those during a different visit).

About the iguanas: I couldn't tell if it was a sign of anger or something, but sometimes they'd lift their bellies from the ground and start nodding their heads repeatedly. Aidan found them very interesting and liked to recount how "the guanas ate the pineapple off the ground." He only just announced to me a few minutes ago that he "love"s to look at pictures of iguanas.

Unlike the iguanas or other creatures with olive skin, we (the Grahams) all got sunburned. Is anyone who has ever seen my family surprised by a fact like that? Ironically, and you might not believe it to see and know me now, I was once a skinny, bronze little blonde. Actually, it was really just for one summer before I started high school. There was a time, however, when I swam or laid by the pool for hours everyday in our South Florida neighborhood after spraying or smearing generous amounts of suntan oil on my 5 foot 6 inch, 105 pound body. (I did not eat much and was also doing many rebellious things at the time.) Frankly, there is little to admire in that era of my life, but I could've used the tan skin while we were there, because after the first day in Aruba, David, the kids, and I were tee-shirt wearers in order to protect ourselves from the agressive rays of the sun.

So, since anything I say about the trip will be boring, I'll just post a few photos to keep things lively. I can only say that while trips like this are very cool and make special memories, for pregnant and pasty people like me, there really is no place like home. Our family got a little sick and has needed some time to recover (and, in one case, get their voice back). Just the same, our Bishop was standing near me last Saturday at a friend's baptism, and he asked, "So, Sister Graham, how are you liking all that white stuff out there?" I answered him in my husky voice, "Well, I do love home, but the snow sure makes iguanas and palm trees sound a lot better."

Sophie and Aidan enjoyed the beach, both near the resort (above) and at "Baby Beach" (below). Actually, Sophie didn't LOVE baby beach, because it was windy and she was unaccustomed to the salty water sloshing in her face. Also, she may be a bit like her Mom, who does not love sand and the difficulties of managing sand. You can call us party poopers, but I think we may just be industrialists or something. Either way, we like swimming pools (when someone we love is not almost dying in one).

A comment about Baby Beach: It really was beautiful (as was all the ocean water), and if you look very closely at the ant-sized humans, you may notice that the water was quite shallow
for at least a hundred feet. David went very far out (farther than I was comfortable with) before the water began to reach up past his belly. (He was holding Aidan, and I just stared in terror and dreaded the possiblity of my two favorite men floating away together. Again, I really can be a bit of a party pooper. The whole family tolerated me admirably, which I appreciated.)

Another attraction we visited was the Butterfly Farm, which turned out to be just delightful. You can't tell from the photo on the left, but this guy is a gorgeous blue-backed butterfly which typically lives in the jungle. (I don't remember names. Sorry.) A nice view of his "true colors" can be seen in the photo on the right (below). I don't know how they got that photo of him, because he (or she) does not stand still and spread wings for very long. Perhaps it was dead? Or drunk? (It is Aruba...)

The last photo (below) is a fun and famous example of a divi-divi tree. Again, I uploaded the ant-sized version, but if you look closely, you'll see that the trunk of the tree twists and turns and is quite funky. After this photo was taken (Dad has the good poses), David and I walked with Sophie and Aidan back to the resort. It was a beautiful beach, and it quickly proved that Baby Beach is uniquely shallow. Unlike at baby beach, adults stepped into the water here and were up to their shoulders within 20 feet of the shore.

Anyway, the trip was a cool adventure, and, as always, it's fun to hang out with some crazy relatives. So, here's a little shout-out of appreciation to Dad and Shirley for making the whole thing even possible. Thank you, fun people, and welcome home!