Aruba

On June 19, the kids and I left for Aruba. Mr. Cash did not join us since he was up in Ohio for our niece's high school graduation party and some work related visits. He also went to a Detroit Tigers baseball game with his dad for Father's Day. We went to Aruba with many members of my family including my mom, sister and brother-in-law, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Min and Joo with grandma and Aunt S
Joo with her cousin from Oregon

This was our first trip to Aruba and we were very excited. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort for the week so our food and drinks were included in the price.

Min's favorite part of the trip was eating and drinking. Every day he had a standing play date with a friend he met at the pizza bar. They would order a pizza and a strawberry daiquiri with no alcohol and would sit at the bar talking. By the end of the week, they knew the chefs and bartenders by name. He also had numerous ice cream cones and bags of popcorn. His other favorite activity was boogie boarding in the Caribbean Sea.

Joo's favorite things to do were swinging in the hammock and playing in the pool.

The kids also loved seeing the many iguanas at the resort. Some were tame enough to touch and feed.

Most of the days, we just stayed at the resort and played in the sand, sea and pool, but some days we did leave the resort. On Monday, my uncle took Min and I along with my cousin and her husband out in the jeep that he rented to explore the island. Aruba is a very interesting island, the side that we stayed on has beautiful beaches and calm water, but if you go to the other side, it's very rocky with rough seas. Most of the jeep ride was off road and it was very bumpy. Min loved it, but my cousin and I were jostled every which way. It was worth the bruises to see the sites though.

On Wednesday, we did some shopping for souvenirs. We bought Mr. Cash a hand painted picture of an Arubian Divi Tree and an Arubian Beer t-shirt. Min got a shirt and Joo got a dress while I bought a beach towel and sea glass earrings.
Two of the nights, our entire family ate dinner together. There were 20 of us total. One night was at a steak house and the other night was at the Italian restaurant, both were good. One of my favorite meals was the Asian restaurant that we went to with my cousin, who lives in Oregon, and her family.

It was a great trip, but I returned home very tired. It's hard work to take care of 2 kids by yourself!!! We also missed Mr. Cash very much and will make sure he goes on the next trip like this with us.