Getting to and from Aruba was a complete disaster! Enough to convince me that I will never again travel alone with a child. The “joy” started Friday 22 January at 6am when American Airlines called to tell me my flight was cancelled…. WHAT???? I got on the phone with American and was trying to figure out how to fix the problem. The ONLY flight that would get me to Aruba was on US Air from Philly to JFK then to Miami then to Aruba…. Oy! Well I had no choice unless I wanted to wait until Saturday and fly out (on the 1 and only flight from Philly to Aruba, which might also get cancelled) so off we went! Got to the airport and I had to check in with AA to get Sam’s ticket reprinted since it wasn’t an e-ticket – then off to US Air - Mark drops us off and we are on our own. On my original fights with AA I had 3 free bags – well US Air charges for EVERY bag…. They wouldn’t honor AA’s policy and told me I had to claim the money with AA with I got home, fine whatever. Then he proceeds to tell me that they have my flight ending in JFK so I will have to get my bags in JFK and recheck them – WHAT?? I beg him to please fix this – he disappears for a while then comes back and tells me that he got my bags all the way thru to Aruba – thank you!!!!!!
The first flight from Philly to JFK was at 12:30pm – it was a very short flight and Sam enjoyed smiling and giving high fives to the guy across the aisle.
We get to JFK and catch the next flight at 2:30 – by this time Sam only had a 30 min nap in the car on the way to the airport at 9am so he is extremely tired. We get on the plane and we sit on the tarmac for what seems like forever! Then Sam starts screaming… loudly…. Everyone is looking at me…I try to rock him and hold him and he screams and screams… I have never felt so helpless in my life….. finally after who knows how long he falls asleep. About 20 mins later the girl next to me taps my shoulder and says she needs to get up then says “but don’t move, I will get around you” haha she was probably thinking “please don’t let that screaming kid wake up!” – So, she scoots past me and Sam cries out, she stops and looks terrified – I shove the paci in Sam’s mouth and he goes back to sleep – whew, close one! He napped pretty well. We get to Miami and there is a Military Appreciation Center (similar to an USO) there so my goal is to get there and get Sam some dinner and relax for a bit before our 8:30 flight to Aruba. I knew it was between Concourse D and E – I was in D – I walked and walked – exhausted… no one knew where it was – I called Mark – he looked on line and there wasn’t any more info – sp he called them and they still weren’t much help. Finally I see a guy in a uniform and ask him – apparently I have to leave the gates to get there which will force me to go thru security again when it’s time to leave – I have 2 hours to kill so I go. When I get there I meet Bob. Bob was a Godsend! He gave Sam and I our own room with a door (to keep Sam in) – inside they had a TV, 2 couches, and books. Outside they had a ton of books and crayons and toys for Sam as well. I heated up Sam’s dinner and got myself a pizza and diet coke from the fridge. Then I sat down… ahhhhh… It was so nice to let Sam run around a bit and for me to not have to chase him =) The Center was great! Bob was telling us that Miami Airport only charges them $1 a year for rent and they provide the cable, internet, and phones for free – how awesome is that?? They had lots of chips, pastries, bagels, pizza, hot dogs, sodas, etc available all for free. What an amazing place!
Our last flight was at 8:30 from Miami to Aruba – the flight was empty so Sam got a seat =) He saw his car seat and actually wanted in it =) He fell asleep and slept the whole flight – that was nice! We arrive at Aruba and I take all my stuff to the front of the plane and leave Sam sleeping – Then I get Sam and put him in the carrier and the flight attendant carries his car seat – at this time its midnight (Aruba is 1 hour later) and of course Sam is like “why are you waking me up”??? We get to baggage claim and there is no one there to help me – on previous flights I always had someone offer to help – but not now, when I needed it! Ugh! So, I have Sam in the carrier and the stroller and car seat and carry-ons then I have a push-cart with luggage – I push the stroller 10 feet then go back and get the push cart – repeat, repeat, repeat – until I get thru the security area and mom is there to help me =)
Our week in Aruba was great – here are some of the things we did and noticed
BeachesRight outside the hotel was the lagoon – which is an area that is blocked off from the Caribbean with large rocks – so you can float on a raft and not worry about floating out to sea =)
Our hotel has a private island – we took the boat to the island 2 days and hung out there – the “adult” side even had pink flamingos!!!
Baby Beach and Eagle Beach were 2 other beaches we stopped at during the week. The water is so crystal clear – love it!
Sam’s FirstsFirst trip to the beach! At first he hated the sand but once he got a shovel and bucket he decided it wasn’t so bad – he sat there and played for a long time while grandma and mommy refilled his bucket with water – lol He didn’t like to be in the water alone but if he was being held he loved it and liked to splash and look at the fish swimming by our legs. He also ate sand, not once, not twice but five times! While he was at it he decided to try to eat a rock as well……
First drink from a water fountain. Aruba has some of the best drinking water in the world – the island had a fountain by the gym and I let Sam have a drink – he also enjoying playing in the water.
First snow cone! At the lighthouse they had snow cones so I got Sam a cherry one and he loved it!!!
First donkey and iguana encounter! We went to the donkey sanctuary (that is a whole other “book” on trying to find that place!!) and Sam got to pet and feed the donkeys – at first he didn’t like it then he thought it was fun – he called them “puppies”.
Iguanas are everywhere on Aruba – Sam liked chasing them and feeding them – he also called them “puppies” LOL
First taste of a real coconut. A coconut fell from a tree at the pool – they cracked it open and gave us half – yummy!
First boat ride! the boat took us to the private island – Both days on the way there he sat really still and almost looked like he was going to puke any moment… luckily he didn’t!
Aruba FindingsThe entire island is only 16 miles long – very small!
The locals there LOVE kids. Even the other kids love kids! Everywhere we went people were coming up to Sam saying hello , saying how cute he was and touching him (that part was kinda weird to me). One day on the island Sam was napping in the stroller and people came up and were like “oh look at that little boy” and woke him up! Grrr!!!! One night we were in the square listening to music and Sam was standing there and a little girl his age came over and tried to hug him – too cute! Next thing you know there are 3 more kids coming over – Sam ran around and played for about 30 mins before we left. A few nights later we were walking thru the square and another little girl came up to him – haha – very friendly people! The funniest time was when Sam and I were walking back from dinner and a group of 5 local men were walking towards us – they were all big and buff and nicely dressed – kinda “mob” looking – well Sam waves to them and all of them start waving back saying hello and smiling and calling him something in Spanish- it was so funny to see these big guys melt when a child waved to them =)
There are lots of stray dogs. And boy are they smart - they wait on the side of the road until the cars stop to let them pass! Sam wanted to pet them and everyone said they were friendly but I didnt want to take any chances...
We managed to stay in the shade and not get burnt =) I did get heat rash – ugh! I am still itching today =( The trip was a lot of fun but exhausting too – Sam would go to bed at 7pm and mom would tell me to go out and have fun….. with who? Lol So, the evenings were quiet. The square was right outside the balcony so we could hear the music each night which was cool, except for the one night when the reggae band was there and the bass was WAY LOUD!
Going home should have been a piece of cake but then that would have made for a boring story……
Grabbed a taxi at 6:20am and headed to the airport – the driver was very nice and came inside with me until my bags were checked. Well then you have to go get in line for US Customs. After waiting for 15 mins we all go get all our luggage again – I managed to somehow get everything on the cart this time with Sam in the carrier – the car seat kept falling off and the nice woman in front of me kept picking it up. I was honest and marked down that I had meat and fruit (both for Sam) so they pulled me aside to inspect everything. I gave Sam a grape while waiting for the guy and he yelled at me when he saw Sam eat it – he said “no, no eat! Come with me” – so we followed him and he dumped all the fruit in the trash –said no fruit was allowed past customs – I asked if Sam could eat it before we went thru he said no and I started to cry – that was Sam’s breakfast (he refused to the eat the bagel) the guy could care less – Sam was asking for fruit and pointing at the trash can – I was so mad!! Then I go around the corner and drop off my luggage once again – by the time I got to the airport and made it to the gate it was 90 mins! Once on the plane Sam decides to eat the bagel – thank goodness! We land in Miami and there are 5 of us waiting for our strollers.. finally the guy asks for our tickets – well the ^&~@%!&* person at the gate in Aruba put the wrong ticket on them and they all went to baggage claim!!! WHAT??? So I had to lug the car seat, Sam, carry-on and the cooler thru Miami airport – I was beyond mad….. we get the stroller then have to go back thru security….. once again we find the Military Appreciation Center and get to relax for a few hours – I tried to get Sam to nap but he wouldn’t – so, once again we get on the plane and Sam has a breakdown….. the flight attendant moved us to the back empty row (before he had a breakdown) so at least we were kinda out of the way – I held him very tightly and shushed in his ear until he finally fell asleep… poor guy! He wakes up right as we land in Philly and he is in a good mood =) Mark met us in baggage claim so I wouldn’t have to lug suitcases again and we headed home. Sam was off schedule all weekend – waking at 5am and taking 3 hour naps but this morning he seems to be back on his normal routine – thank goodness! It was an interesting vacation to say the least!
sam's loot
