Mark & Mandy

I am so behind at blogging … I blame scott for that, but I digress …

After our florida trip we headed down to Antigua (which we now realized is pronounced ant-tig-ga) to meet up with the Sladdens. Michael and Alison flew direct from London, Chloe via NYC and we flew in via Miami.

Antigua was beautiful and extremely family friendly … we arrived to a rather long customs line and immediately they grabbed us to go immediately through. Michael and Alison rented a house near English Harbour right on the beach. The house had a mini-pool that Elsie spent much of her time in.

The house was on the water, but very private … we only saw a few fisherman and snorkelers …

Grammie Alison was happy to enjoy some relaxation with elsie (and her giant binky)

There was a bird feeder outside and the birds were practically tame – each day alison would fill the feeder up with sugar water and instantly we had some feathered friends …

We picked up a few beach toys for elsie …

And headed to a calm Pigeon beach which was right around the corner from the house

the beach and the water were amazing

Elsie didn’t ever truly realize the beauty of the mask underwater – but she is all for fashion, so she just kept it on for the cool factor of course

Alison took Elsie for a stroll down the beach

Swimming and running on the beach are extremely tiring – elsie was quick to lay down for a snooze

Auntie Go Go read elsie some interesting graphic novels …

The next day we did the same thing … more beach!

Alison gave elsie a few surf lessons (sans board – maybe next year)

Grandpa Michael was brilliant in packing up kitchen gadgets that could be fun on the beach. Mark and I were excited to build a big moated castle elsie was more interested in destroying all of our work

Alison, Chloe and Michael braved the sea to do a bit of snorkeling off the house … we headed down to take photos and make sure Michael was towing Elsie’s floaty tube so we could see where they were

Elsie and Mark were a great audience

Our last night in Antigua we headed to the top of English Harbour to enjoy a sunset barbecue and a steel drum band.

The last morning Elsie woke up early and was happy to crawl into the hammock with grammie alison and grandpa michael for her usual slow get up.

Our trip was fabulous – we enjoyed some home cooked sladden meals, yummy wine, and most of all great family. Thanks to Michael and Alison for starting a great tradition!