Ariba Aruba!

We woke up pretty early because a van was picking us up to go scuba diving. I hopped in the front seat and had a great conversation with the driver whose name I still can't pronounce! I loved that no matter where we went we weren't treated as tourist. I never felt like people were taking advantage of me and everyone I talked too seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me. I think different cultures are facinating. Their language is a combo of Spanish, Portugeese, Dutch, and English. It is very interesting. We drove to a little hole in the wall shop where they fitted us for scuba gear and then took us to the ocean to train. We trained in shallow water for a few minutes which I was already amazed at how much we saw. There were so many fish right at the shore. After we got the hang of breathing underwater and after I learned that I had to stay away from Jared, we went deeper down. Anytime I turned around I was kicked in the face and once Jared kicked the valve out of my mouth?! I was so mad! We only went about 25-30 feet but we saw several different kinds of fish and other marine life. I even got stung by coral. Don't let that pretty little rock fool you... it packs a punch. They say you can be fined $ for touching coral but because I had no idea what I was doing they let me off. I can't even put into words what it is like breathing underwater. It really is another world down there. I would love to be a certified diver and go 150ft. down. It was so amazing. After our tank was out of air we headed back, got cream for my coral sting, and went to our hotel.

We laid out on the beach for awhile. Then we saw people tubing. Why not, I said?! Jared and I went on a two seater tube and had a great time. Jared flipped off 3x. Finally he told the guy driving that he would pay him to flip me off. Oh silly Jared! The guy even let us ride longer because he said he met his match. He couldn't do it. I'll be honest, a few hours later my arms were killing me. I had a kung-fu grip on that thing!

Later we got our pictures taken, split up in different groups, and went to dinner. We went to El Goucho which was an Argentine Grill. The food was amazing. It was so fun to talk to the other couples as well. We had a great time.

Sat. we met at the pier and went sailing/snorkeling! Again, LOVE sailing. Yep I made Jared pose like this with me!We sailed over to a little cove and snorkled. There were so many different kinds of fish. Next we went to a ship wreck. It was a little eerie. Last we went to a reef that had cool marine life. Another boat pulled up next to us that looked like a pirate ship. It had a ledge that you could jump off and a rope swing. The husband of one of my favorite couples asked if I wanted to be his wench and escape to the pirate ship. Of course, I said! We snuck over there and jumped off the ledge. Once they found out we were from the other boat they wouldn't let us go. On the way back I just laid out at the front of the boat while people kept bringing me drinks and the best chocolate chip bread. YUM! Only in Aruba do I not wear shorts when I swim... Sorry just close your eyes! Although I too took advice from 'anonymous' and am trying the no shorts thing. If I can do it anyone can! Bums Ahoy right?!

We got back and had to hurry to get our next van. We headed to the other side of the island which is more desert. It was funny to hear the others in the bus that thought the desert was beautiful. It really just looked like home for us. We got to the ranch where we took horses out on the beach. Let's just say, Pebbles and I weren't friends! The horses have been trained to gallop on certain parts of the trail and I was not ready for it. Not the highlight of my trip. We rode the horses to a natural pool. It was so fun. There were crabs everywhere and a hot spring. We were casually swimming around when a huge wave crashed over the rocks. I loved it. When it was time to go back it was a little easier to just let the horse do what he wanted. As much as I disliked Pebbles, I loved the scenery.

Jared and I then walked around downtown and ate at a cute little rib joint. We were zombies. I think we really wore ourselves out that day.

Sun. we slept in, lounged around, shopped, and packed. When we checked out we found out we had money left over so we ordered more drinks got suveneirs and blogged! Yep I blogged in Aruba. We went to the airport where we had to get "cleaned" off because we were in contact with livestock. Weird! Because we rode horses we had to get cleaned which was dumb. Then we got on the plane and flew home.

It was so nice to have our kids waiting at the airport it was time to see them.

I want to give a shout out to everyone who helped with the kids. Kim and Brian, Trina, and especially Darrel who sacrificed so much to pick us up from the airport!, Mom, Marci, and Christine. The kids had a great time with everybody! I can't thank you enough. You guys ROCK.