Return To Relaxing In Jamaica

So here I am sitting on the far pier of the Franklyn D Resort, for the second time in five years.

This time Ariel, Jacob, and I are joined by the newest addition to our little traveling party. Just like when we came here with Jacob when he was four months old, we always planned to come back here again with his future sibling.

So… at the ripe old age of 4 months, we officially inducted Ethan into our little adventure culture. The difference now is that Ariel and I have five years of experience dealing with babies and small kids. And actually – believe it or not – Jacob has been a really big help! Ethan finds him absolutely fascinating, so when Ariel and I need a minute to go get something, Jacob has been making him smile and laugh.

Jacob, who at this point is truly a seasoned traveler, has really come into his own over the past year or so. Our trips last year to Bermuda, Hawaii, and Iceland with him really cemented his ability to roll with the weirdness of of leaving your comfort zone. Plus I just finished reading him The Hobbit right before we left, so he’s all in on goblin caves, magic forests, and all the fantasy that Tolkien introduced to adventuring and travel. Perhaps fittingly, this year’s Tolkien reading day theme was about travel and adventure, so going through The Hobbit with him really made a lot of sense.

Our second trip to Jamaica has so far been not that different than our first, although this time we did actually leave the hotel grounds (more on that later though). The resort we came back to is still an incredible value for families with kids – especially infants – with the same reliable nanny service for both Jacob and Ethan. Jacob is mostly spending his time doing kid stuff with his babysitter (although we have also spent a lot of time with him in the pool and on the beach). Ethan is mostly spending his time napping or being entertained by his nanny and doing the things that four month olds do.

And I again went out of my way to get Ariel our favorite fish (that always takes us right back to our honeymoon), the elusive and impossible-to-get-in-the-USA parrotfish.

The biggest difference for us this time was really that we had another family with us that we are friends with. So Jacob had one of his best friends along for the first 5 days of the trip, and Ariel and I could hang out with some of our best friends after the kids were in bed.

Now we are nearing the end of our stay, and our friends have gone, leaving the original adventurers on our own. That means more time as a family, a little less partying at night (although that was a lot of fun while it lasted!), and just relaxing a bit… sitting around listening to the waves come in…

And of course chasing sunsets… always always always chasing sunsets.