The Pandemic changed things for a lot of people. It affected families everywhere in different ways. For our family, it made it impossible for me and my family to leave the US and go to Aruba where I am originally from.

Choose to think what you want, but forcing kids at the age of 2 to wear a mask is wrong. With that being said, it’s the main reason why my family hadn’t met my second child Parker until this June 2022. When she was already 1.5 years old. I was petrified of being kicked off an airplane because my 2 year old Olivia wasn’t comfortable with keeping her face covered in a mask. But since the mask mandate has been lifted, we booked flights and headed straight to Aruba!

Flying to Aruba

The flights were much easier this time around now that both of our girls are older and can be somewhat distracted by an iPad for short periods of time. Say what you want, but an iPad on an airplane is Gods gift to parents everywhere.

Meeting Family

My daughter Parker finally met her great grandmother and grandfather. It was beautiful to get the opportunity for them to meet. We never know how much time we have on this earth. It was Olivias Birthday during this trip so her Grandma immediately showered her in gifts to enjoy during her stay.

We also made sure to snap a family session while all together, which is such a rare occasion. As a photographer myself, I was really disappointed in the experience during the session. I believe photographers should be social, happy, communicative and leading during a session. What we got was quiet, irritated and unhelpful. Thankfully he had a fancy, expensive lens and we managed to get a few decent shots. I won’t name who it was but if you ever need a photographer while in Aruba I can personally message you who not to hire ✌️.

Boat Day!

For our first full day we went out on my Fathers boat that he’s been rebuilding. He even bought a second hand tube so the girls could experience it! My brother and I both grew up on boats, tubing and waters ports so it’s extra special to show it to our children now. Especially on the island where we are from. Aruba.

Kids Activities in Aruba

With only 7 days to spend on Aruba, we tried to do as much as possible. We didn’t get to scratch the surface with all the island has to offer. But with 2 littles under the age of 3, I feel like we accomplished a lot! The beaches were calm, and child friendly. It made the girls feel comfortable to play independently (with their floats on as we watched). We made sure to visit the Butterfly Farm as well as Philips Animal Garden. Both were so fun and unique, I had to write two separate blogs on those alone!

Birthday Party – Aruba Style!

My little Niece Chloe turned 1 years old during our visit. Olivia turned 3 and my brother turned 38. We had a giant birthday celebration. We invited all our cousins, hired entertainers, a bounce house, face painters etc and all the kids had the best time!

Precious Alone Time

With family comes free child care. A truly rare and highly sought after commodity for all parents. Michael and I were mostly too tired from family friendly activities to do much of anything after 8 pm. The Aruba sun will beat you to your core and leave you dead in place. It’s wonderful and exhausting.

Regardless, we managed to rally 3 separate times. 2 times to spend an hour at the beach to ourselves, and once to have a romantic dinner that didn’t include iPads and keeping children from running from table to table.

I can’t wait to bring the girls back again. As they get older they will appreciate these times more and more. And hopefully we can manage to fit even more activities into the week as they grow.