Jamaica, mon!

We had the much welcomed opportunity to get away for a week at the end of November to Jamaica for a well deserved break.  We stayed at the fantastic Franklyn D. Resort in Runaway Bay, where the highlight is the Vacation Nanny they thoughtfully provide for you throughout your stay.

Kerise, our nanny, was with us every day from 9 am, until about 8pm every evening, and it was because of her that I came home feeling as if I'd actually had vacation ...something I haven't experienced in quite some time!  The resort has a fantastic kids' program, with activities ranging from daily fishing sessions off the pier in the mornings, to bug and frog hunts, shell collecting, shirt tye-dying sessions and beach olympics. 
 

The resort was the ideally sized and fully enclosed, which meant that Lucas was pretty much able to explore as he pleased, sometimes with friends his own age that he'd met there, but often on his own, spending hours patiently hunting for crabs amongst the rocky shoreline.

 

 

We read quite a bit about Jamaica before we went, everything from its history and current social and economic situation, to its indigenous flora and fauna, which is, of course, what Lucas had the most interest in.  We learned that the world's largest centipede, Scolopendra gigantea, also known as the Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede, can be found there (although we thankfully never encountered it, because they grow to be 30cm long!!)

We also were able to research many of the species of crabs and fish that Lucas was able to catch.  His favourites were the juvenile Sally Lightfoot crabs that enticingly sunned themselves on the rocks, within easy reach, only to scuttle away at lightning speed when approached.  With a little ingenuity, and using numerous leftover sausage chunks pilfered from the breakfast buffet as bait, he managed to catch a small one in a bucket and kept it as his prize for a few hours. 

We also found hermit crabs, ghost crabs, tree frogs, a turtle, and a huge carpenter bee, all of which we dutifully looked up and read about. (Thank goodness the resort had decent wifi so we could access Google!)

Although we often hung out near to one another, thanks to Kerise, Kiran could come and go as he pleased, and he was always under her watchful care, which meant that I could really relax, and actually read three (count 'em THREE) books that week.  And that was even with plenty of time spent dreamily gazing at the clear azure waters of the Caribbean.

In short, we all came back feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, and eager to get back into our school routine.  We loved it so much that I'm planning a trip back very, very soon!!