15

Colin and I wanted to properly celebrate our 15th anniversary and decided on Jamaica. Wait -- Jamaica without the kids! We flew in my mom to stay with the girls for a week and off we went.

We stayed at the fabulous Royal Plantation. They really take the motto "No Worries" to the extreme. Our room overlooked the main beach. One can easily jump over the balcony and be on the sand in no time but we opted to do the civilized way using the door.




















We had all the good intention to explore Ocho Rios. Maybe visit Dunns River Falls, go golfing (we did bring our golf clubs), or even go to the mountains. But the moment we got there all we wanted to do was be on the beach and snorkel. So here's the breakdown of our busy schedule:

8AM Wake up
8:15 Breakfast
9:00 Lounge Chairs on the beach
9:15 Boat ride to snorkel
10:30 Back on the lounge chairs
1:00 Lunch
1:30 Back on the chairs
2:00 Boat ride to snorkel
3:00 Back on the chairs
6:00 Get ready for dinner
7:30 Dinner

We did stray from the schedule at times. We had a cooking class with the chef on Monday. We were expecting all the ingredients nicely cut and ready to be mixed by the chef and be cooked in front of us. But noooo. The chef wanted it to be a HANDS ON class. First, he asked want we wanted to eat. All we can mutter was "Something Jamaican." Brilliant. So he thought for awhile and came up with a menu. Ackee and Saltfish Bruschetta, Green Salad and Fish Chowder. Great! So how is the chef going to concoct this delicious meal? He left for a moment after he gave us our paper toque and plastic aprons. He came back with some ingredients and his knife sets. Wonderful. We were all expecting him to start mixing things up. He sliced the tomatoes and handed the knife to one of us. I took the very sharp knife and was told to cut the rest. He soon put Colin and the rest to work (there were 5 of us). At the end, we had a gourmet lunch we prepared ourselves. We toasted the chef with lots of French wine.















But most of the time were spent in one spot on the small beach away from the rest of the crowd. Our chairs overlooked the beach under the Indian Almond Tree with the sound of the surf.



























If we were not lounging, we were on the boat to either the Wreck or Fish Reef. The Wreck was awesome. A boat sank in the 80's and was in this deep eerie blue water. Nearby there was this reef formation (canals and tunnels) that was breathtaking. We saw lots of tiny colorful fish. Our second favorite was Fish Reef. As the name suggested, tons of fish and on our very last snorkel, we even saw an octopus! The staff at Royal Plantation are great. Especially the watersports guys (Leon and Honor) who went out of their way to make our snorkling trip wonderful.















To take our lounging to another level, one of the peacocks that roam the property took a walk on the beach and sauntered by me.
















..

Coming into Focus

From Lauren:
On April 28th, I gave the glasses that I collected to Lenscrafters in Burlington. From December 2007 to April 2008, I collected 42 eyeglasses and sunglasses. (I even got glasses all the way from Hawaii – thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!) I talked to Manager Stephanie Guzzo and gave her the box of glasses for the Give the Gift of Sight Program. I want to thank everyone for donating old glasses. I appreciate your help. These glasses will be cleaned, repaired and will be given to those who need but cannot afford them. I learned that some people did not know about this program and they were glad to learn that their glasses can help out others. Thank you again, Lauren Chickles, Jr. Girl Scout, Troop 2902




















..