Aruba! One Happy Island.

For our 10th wedding anniversary, Cody wanted to take me on a big vacation somewhere. Since, Truly was still too young and not a fan of anyone but me, that wasn't a possibility last September. We had some free plane tickets that expired at the end of March and Cody's work schedule made March the perfect month for us to go somewhere. Cody's parents agreed to come out and stay with the kids, so on Monday morning, March 2nd, Cody and I boarded a plane set for Orlando and then on to Aruba. We had heard from a few people how wonderful Aruba was and we wanted to go somewhere unique and peaceful and warm! Aruba was perfect. 

(sidenote: we almost didn't make it because on Sunday afternoon the 1st, Southwest Airlines texted us that our flight to Orlando out of Akron/Canton had been cancelled the next morning because of another snow storm. We quickly...sat on hold forever, and finally spoke to someone. She eventually found us the same flight leaving Columbus, Ohio Monday morning. Luckily, we have some friends who live near the airport in Columbus, so after we put the kids to bed Sunday night, Cody and I headed to Columbus to crash for a few hours before heading to the airport. It worked out perfectly and the rest of our travels went off without a hitch. Phew!)

Warning: the pictures are all out of order, so I will do my best to make sense of everything.

The water was amazing on our way from Orlando to Aruba.

Cody, relaxed and ready to enjoy some alone, grown-up time!

The view from the walkway, balcony leading to our hallway in the hotel. 

Our hotel had a private island just for hotel guests. We spent pretty much all of Tuesday just relaxing on this island and loving every second of it. Pure heaven.

The island was mostly made up of boardwalks, rock-walled lagoons and mangrove trees.

The hotel spa had a private area on the island for massages and what-not.

There were two lagoons on the island. One was adults only and the other was for everyone. We spent most of our time at the adults only area. We found a very nice shady spot and set ourselves up for the day.

When Cody asked what I wanted to do on our vacation, I told him I wanted to lie on the beach somewhere (in the shade) and read a book. Check!

There was a flamboyance of flamingos living at the adults only lagoon and it was fun watching everyone trying to take pictures with them. Those birds have freaky white eyes!

Cody taking pictures of fish in a little stream running through the island.

Hermit crabs everywhere.

Looking back towards the main island and the airport. Aruba is a volcanic island and since that hill is the only mountain-like area of the island, I'm guessing that used to be a volcano. 

A mess (can you tell I like weird group names) of iguanas also lived on the island and they fed them on these stairs everyday at noon.

The restaurant on the island was over at the family-friendly lagoon.

Aruba's motto is "One Happy Island." It was on all the license plates and I really liked the saying. 

Our hotel room's window was right over the B.

You could catch the water taxi to the island from the lobby of the hotel. They arrived about every 20 minutes all day long.

A funny older gentleman insisted on taking our picture for us. It was nice having at least one picture of the two of us.

We were back at our adults only lagoon on Wednesday morning as well. This day was cloudy and rained on and off all day. The island is SUPER windy and not very big. It never rained that long because the clouds would blow past pretty quickly.

Our hotel from the water taxi.

We decided to head back to the main island for lunch on Wednesday afternoon and to walk around a bit. I hate to admit that I had NO idea where Aruba was before we were in Orlando getting ready to fly there and I finally looked it up on a map. I did not realize that it was off the coast of Venezuela and that it was a desert island. It was very brown and there were cacti everywhere. Pretty much all of the trees, besides the mangroves, have been brought in and planted for shade.

Loved all the colorful buildings.

A cute little family asked us to take their picture with this statue of Anne Frank and then insisted on returning the favor. 

Our only other non-selfie, couple photo of the trip.

The queen of the Netherlands. Aruba is still owned by the Netherlands, another fact I did not know until we got there.

Some more crazy, wind-blown trees.

A view of the private island from the main island.

Cody relaxing in the shade at the pool area of the hotel.

It started to rain again, so Cody and I decided to do something we both enjoy and went to the movies. It was a nice new little theatre. We saw The Kingsman, which was an ok movie. One unexpected difference about movie-watching in Aruba, the previews were NOT rated G for everyone. Yikes!

The airport in Aruba on Thursday afternoon. We were told we needed to be at the airport FOUR hours early to make sure we got through customs and everything. We got there early and had no issue getting through everything just to find out our flight was delayed another hour or so. It was a LONG afternoon at the Aruba airport!

Hahaha, caught Cody off guard!

Looking out over the lagoon area on the main island hotel area.

The first night we had dinner at the steak house at the hotel. It was our best meal. So delicious and very romantic. A thoroughly lovely night with a very nice waiter.

Looking down from the walkway/balcony onto the hotel bar. At night they would play music and project videos onto a big white wall. Luckily, we could not hear it from our room.

The hotel also had a casino attached to it and a super, swanky mall. We did a lot of window shopping and played just a few dollars on the slots while waiting for our dinner reservation.

My FAVORITE meal of the trip was this insanely delicious dutch pancake topped with candied walnuts, ham, brie and honey. Oh. My. Goodness!

Back to Tuesday morning relaxing  in the shade.
"Ahhh....we plan on staying right here all day!"

Wednesday morning. Me taking a picture of Cody taking a picture of me.

The lobby area of our hotel from the water taxi.

Saying good-bye to the private island.

My spicy salad from Tuesday night dinner.

"I swear I'm missing my kids. Teehee. Yippee for celebrating 10 years with this amazing man! Love you, Cody!"

On the private island there was a nature trail that you could take through the mangrove trees. There was a sign posted before you entered warning you about the mangrove mosquito. We decided to check it out anyway. We didn't get very far before we started to notice some bugs. Surprisingly, they weren't biting me but when I looked at Cody, he was COVERED!!! His entire elbow and side of his face was black from a swarm of mosquitoes stuck to him. We ran back out and brushed Cody off, who was already streaked with blood. So crazy!!!

If you look very closely, there are a lot of crabs in this picture.

The main hotel area has an adults only pool near the bar. We spent Wednesday night here, swimming and eating a light supper. We had the whole place to ourselves and it was just perfect.

The mango sorbet and candied mango on the top of this creation was to die for!

A late lunch by the pool on Monday shortly after we arrived. We know how to get straight down to business relaxing!

Our dutch pancakes were so delicious on Wednesday afternoon, that we decided to go back there Thursday morning for breakfast. Nutella, bananas and whip cream for breakfast? Yes, please!

Servers would wander around the beaches on the private island and take food and drink orders. And we could pay by just giving them our room key. A very dangerous combo for two lazy parents without their kids!

Lots of cruise ships and yachts about.

The Columbus airport super early on Monday morning. We still had our coats on because it was like 14 degrees outside!

Live music playing in the Aruba airport when we arrived.

"We made it! And we are finally warm!"

Looking out over the cruise ships while at dinner.

"Trying our luck at the hotel casino before enjoying a delicious steak dinner. Loving Aruba with Cody!"

Two mornings we ate breakfast at the hotel buffet restaurant. They had tons of choices and it was all very European. My granola and oatmeal creations were super yummy.

"Our new beach companions. Pretty but freaky eyes!"

Our quick selfie before the bugs tried to devour Cody.

Cody floating around in the lagoon.

"Yes, we do! Side note: our hotel room is pretty much right over the heart."

"My new favorite food: a Dutch pancake topped with Brie, ham, caramelized walnuts, honey and chives. Delicious!!!"

"Dinner poolside. Last night, boo!"

"Saying good-bye can be so hard."

For Cody and I, this was the perfect vacation. We didn't really do anything besides eat, relax and spend time together. We loved every second of it and would totally recommend Aruba to anyone! It was clean, safe and super friendly, even away from the touristy areas. Hopefully, we will make it back again one day, and this time we might even take the kids!