Aruba: One Happy Island ... Cael: One Happy Kid

Aruba's nickname is "One Happy Island" and as a visitor to this special place over the past five years, I fully support that designation.  We have been blessed to enjoy an annual Aruban vacation with Zac's entire family and the time spent on Aruba is always a perfect blend of family, relaxation and fun.

The fun factor has definitely increased as we enjoy this vacation more and more through Cael's eyes.  His first trip to the island at the age of 5 months was pretty low-key.  He simply took in all of the new experiences:  first flight, first time in the sand, first float in the pool, first dip in the ocean and most importantly, first visit to Benihana.  He looked like this ...

 

or this for most of the trip.

 

 

We definitely have lots of sweet memories from Cael's first visit to Aruba.

 

 

Three years later, many of the activities might be the same but the fun was entirely different.  Most notably, Cael officially turned into a fish this year.  He showed a lot of independence in the pool this summer but we weren't expecting him to want to take on the waterslide by himself ... or on his stomach going backwards!  He became a slide celebrity of sorts and even spent time sliding without any float on at all ... he loved every minute.

 

 

In addition to plenty of pool time Cael spent his days digging in the sand,

 

 

visiting with iguanas,

 

 





riding sharks (sometimes the shark became a monster truck, of course),

 

 

and occasionally getting a little rest to fuel his busy days.

 

 

We fit in a few favorite Aruba treats too including Benihana ...

 

 

and what seemed like a full summer's worth of ice cream.

 



 



Cael loved all of the fun activities of the vacation but one of his favorite moments was when he found a local vendor selling guitars.  Cael LOVES to play the guitar and his instrument of choice has been the Aruban guitar that he got last year.  We've been short a couple of strings for the past few months so he hoped to find a replacement on the trip. 

 

We didn't even have to look for one because Cael spotted the prized guitar stand as we walked back to the hotel from dinner.  He carefully made his selection and then treated us to many concerts that looked much like this serenade that I received in bed one morning (that would be his "amp" that is "plugged in" to his guitar ... headphones have many purposes!):

 

 

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed being able to share Cael's enthusiasm as he chatted his way through all of the experiences of the trip.  We look forward to our future Happy Island adventures!