I've been on a crazy work project since we got back from our trip, so I haven't had the time for a report...until now. I'm going to break this up over a few posts in this thread.

Day 1

12 of us (ranging from our 1 yo son to our early 60's parents) flew Jet Blue to San Juan for an overnight at the Marriott Stellaris. Great hotel with a couple of awesome pools.


Day 2

Wife and I grabbed a taxi into Old San Juan to pick up a big box of Mallorcas. SO GOOD!



Now the exciting part...flying Seaborne to Virgin Gorda. Most of us have never been on a plane this small so it was neat to go so low over all the islands that we've previously only seen by boat. Everything went smoothly (on both legs) and I wouldn't hesitate booking Seaborne again.



Picked up a safari truck for the group, and a jeep for me, my wife, and our two boys. Couldn't believe we were back on the islands! This trip we stayed at Beachcomber Villa which is situated beachfront. WOW...this place is a stunner!







We all ran around the compound like kids on Christmas. For some reason even things that are mundane back at home elicit comments like, "oh cool, it's got an ice maker!" or, "check it out...there's an extra sink over there!". Anyway, the layout of the villa is perfect with an enormous great room that opens to a nice deck and pool. The best part, and something I'd be a little jealous if I was staying at the other Mahoe houses, is the covered deck right at the edge of the sand. This was perfect for getting our baby back in the shade, storing gear, eating lunch, etc.



After a few minutes of looking around we decided it was definitely time go get some alcohol! Us guys went to Bucks to get the beer, whiskey, wine, rum, and ingredients for what turned out to be some awesome painkillers.

The women headed out to get the groceries and then swung by Coconut Junction to get dinner. It was excellent.

Day 3

Everyday with your kids is amazing, but this morning I had one of those moments you'll think about forever. We had been hyping up snorkeling to our 6yo, and while he's seen boring fish with a mask here in Florida, he's never seen a real reef like the one 100 yards from our villa.

It wasn't even 7:30am and he was ready to explore what that dark area out in the water had in store. We made our way towards the reef and within about 15ft from it's edge we spotted a big ol' turtle having his breakfast. Jackson jumped on my back, squeezed my neck like a python, and made the most awesome squeal noise through his snorkel. He then raised his head out of the water and yelled, "Dada, a turtle...THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!"

My smile got so wide it almost broke the seal on my mask.

The only downside was his thrashing and screaming made the turtle go bye-bye...oh well.

The rest of the day was spent just limin around Mahoe and finding old pirate gold bullion. Gold bullion??? Yep. Before we left I went on to Amazon and bought 30 pieces of replicas. We had told Jackson all about Blackbeard, Treasure Island, etc. and told him to always be on the lookout for their loot. That day we dug an enormous hole while making a sandcastle. When he turned his head I sneaked one of them into a tunnel we were making. He just exploded when he found it, and it wouldn't be his last one for the week!









Day 4 & 5 coming next...