Adam and I had a wonderful time at Sandals Resort in Antigua!  We dined, drank, took in all the sights, and participated in all kinds of activities.  All inclusive is definitely the way to go if you’re looking for a no worries kind of vacation.

We had a good flight from BWI (Baltimore, Maryland) to MIA (Miami, Florida), then on to ANU (Antigua).  We caught a van that took us directly to the resort.  That was one crazy ride!  As soon as we got to Sandals we were served hot towels to clean up with and champagne to sit back and relax with while we waited to be shown to our room.  Classy.

We had a beautiful Garden View room over looking the small pool for the surrounding room’s convenience.  First thing we did after settling in and changing into our swim suits was to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant right in the sand.  Barefoot by the Sea.  It was great!  We hung out with this nice couple from Michigan and got to know each other a little bit.  After lunch we hit The Big Pool.  Adam went right out to the swim-up bar and acquired us some drinks.

The entire resort was just beautiful.  All the pools were clean and a crisp, cool blue.  The buildings and private bungalows were all painted in different Caribbean pastels and the landscaping was overwhelming, but well kept.  A jungle of beauty.  There were lizards and birds galore, one of which landed on my coke can while I was sitting out on the balcony.  It took a sip of my syrupy, sugary drink, looked up at me, then took off.  I found out later that it’s called a Bananaquit.  Very cute little guy with black wings and a bright yellow belly.

On our second day Adam and I had a couple’s massage at Sandals Red Lane Spa.  It was heavenly!  I’ve had several massages before, so let me tell you, this was fantastic.  It was Adam’s first massage and he just loved it.  We were pleasantly relaxed for the entire rest of our stay.

Along with relaxing in the sunshine, lazing around in the pools, sipping our drinks, and swimming in the bay we also found time to do some activities.  We went to The Cricketer’s Pub to watch the Penguin’s vs. Red Wings game 5.  It was awful!  The Penguins played like crap!  (But we won the cup in the end, ha!).  We took a snorkeling trip which, we both agreed, was kind of terrifying, but the Captain of the boat said that it was rough waters out there for first timers and that we did well.  We also went kayaking.  This mostly yielded some hilarious pictures.  The most fun we had was sailing a hobie cat together.  It’s a small catamaran.  Two hulls, a trampoline in the middle, a rudder, and a 30 foot sail.  We were chased from the shore out into the bay by a storm!  It rained while we sailed out toward a marker buoy, but cleared as we came back in.  It was our first time sailing anything and we did it by ourselves!  I can’t wait to do it again!

A few other highlights from our trip would be dancing together in private on the look out tower with Reggae playing in the distance, having wine delivered to our room, having breakfast, lunch and dinner by the blue-green sea, visiting the adjacent casino and blowing $26 bucks, and watching Adam compete in a dance contest in order to try and win me a diamond necklace.  Too funny!

On our way home we were delayed for 2 days due to a flight cancellation.  American Airlines was very helpful and put us up for two nights in hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Miami.  They also paid for taxi fair and meals.  We ended up having a good time in Puerto Rico and Miami too.  Then back home to real life… relaxing by the pool.

Enjoy the pictures if you haven’t already seen them!

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YES!  I have family members in Virginia!  HOORAY!

My cousin Kirk, his wife Amna and their daughter Sarah are only 30 minutes away!  Adam and I went over to their place in Winchester today.  They’re living in a great big house, just the three of them.  It’s gorgeous!  Built in the 1700’s with more rooms that I can count on one hand.  They’ve been Nomads lately, moving from California to Georgia, to London and back, then forth again, and landed smack dab in Virginia.  I’m so happy!

Amna made this amazing home made “Chicken Soup with a Kick” as Kirk called it.  It was spicy with curry and had a sort of Indian cuisine taste to it.  It was fantastic!  She had also made a fresh cucumber and tomato salad and home made hummus.  I was in food heaven.

The five of us… and Mr. Giles… went to the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry today.  It was gorgeous, though the leaves have pretty much already gone out in a blaze of orange, red, and yellow.  We parked just off 340 and took a little hike down the mountain to the river bank.  Kirk, with Sarah in his arms, jumped across rocks and ventured pretty far out.  They also climbed above the waterfall near by.  Sarah found a dead minnow, a seashell, and some leaves the size of baby elephant ears which she’ll take to Show and Tell tomorrow.  And Mr. Giles had a big old time rustling in all the leaves and digging a hole in the sand.  We had a really fun day.

Enjoy this little video I made!

Tonight Mr. Rupert Giles scored 38 out of 40 points in The Basic Obedience Challenge Course at A Click Above dog training school.  He’s graduated Basic Obedience!  He is proficient at sit, down, stay, come, kiss, speak, leave it, greeting behavior, walking on a loose leash, and offering me eye contact and attention.  Of course the clicker and the treats gain excellent behavior while at home it’s still a bit shaky.  Adam and I are very proud though!  Now a decision must be made as to what his next course will be.

Should we put him through the Canine Good Citizen Obedience:  Continuation of general obedience training, specifically geared towards obtaining the Canine Good Citizen/Therapy Dog Certification and pre-competition obedience. Skills taught will include: walking on lead, heeling footwork, recalls, stays, manners while being petted/groomed, impulse control; all with human and canine distractions. The Canine Good Citizen Test will be given at the conclusion of the session, free of charge to students taking this class. Therapy Dogs International testing offered bi-annually…?

Or should we take a differnt path with Foundation 1 Agility:  This class is the first introduction to agility.  Skills taught will include:  Targeting, Stays, Circle Work, Shadow Handling, Obstacles (Table, Tire, Tunnel), and Toy/Drive work…?

Giles is going to be 1 year old on December 3rd.  He’s a pretty energetic puppy, always chasing the reflected light from his collar and sometimes walking 4 miles a day with me and other dogs.  But at the same time he’s so floppy and lazy!  He won’t even pick his back paws up off the ground when we play tug and he’s “jumping” for the rope!

My dilemma:  Culture the lazy, floppy Giles in order to create an amazing volunteer therapy dog OR feed the energy and create a focused, playful, eager to please puppy?

When it comes to MY energy level I’m more of a mellow dog person.  My husband is more of an energetic dog person and he would love to see Giles doing agility.

I just had a thought.  I had offered Adam the chance to do the agility class with Giles instead of me, which he said sounds like fun.  What if we did both classes at the same time?  Adam can do agility with Giles on Mondays and I can do the CGC Obedience class with Giles on Wednesdays?  Hmmm…

As always, your thoughts are important to me. 

He loves me.  And I’m a lucky girl.

Adam brought me flowers last week for no reason at all, other than he loves me.  They were beautiful Orange Roses and they smelled like Heaven must.  It was really sweet.  With the gorgeous lighting in the dining room and the warm color of the roses I couldn’t resist snapping a few shots.  Here’s the best exposure!

I hope the photograph does the roses justice.  It made me happy!

Funny story.  While Adam was at the grocery store that day there was a woman smiling slyly at him and giving him the eyes.  She pretty much followed him around the store.  When he was checking out she got in line behind him, but alas, the roses for me were the last item Adam was to pick up that day at Bloom’s.  As soon as he came walking back to the check out counter with them the woman took off like a bat out of hell.  She was either thinking, Those flowers can’t possibly be for me.  We haven’t even been out on a date yet!  Freaky! or, OMG that wedding ring is for real and he really loves his wife.  Crap. Either way the story cracked me up and it’s nice to know that boy is so good looking that he even gets validation at the grocery store.

See, boy?  I’m not the only pretty one!

CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING CMMI LEVEL 3!  I’M VERY PROUD OF YOU FOR ALL YOUR LONG HOURS AND HARD WORK!  I LOVE YOU!