clear blue water

after philip's graduation, my parents encouraged us to go on a nice little vacay while they watched kayla.  i was hesitant and quite reluctant to be away from my kbear for a few nights, but after some discussion and a lot of convincing on philip and my parents' part, i knew she would be in good hands with halmonee & harabuji :)  who better care for and shower her with more love (aka. spoil rotten) than them?  honestly, they were THRILLED to have her all to themselves and have us out of the house for a few days while we jet-setted away to west palm beach.  and what a nice way to celebrate philip's completion of one chapter and the start of a new one.  we missed kayla a TON and called home to check in on her multiple times a day, of course, but it was a great little trip for us to really reconnect and have some "us" time :)  gotta love awesome grandparents who go nuts for their grandchild :)  thanks umma & appa.

arriving at the resort ~ gotta love the palm trees and 85 degree weather. made me feel like i was back in cali again.

we got a free upgrade (woot woot~!) w/quite an amazing view. when we arrived at our room, they already had chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne waiting.  what, did they RUN to the room? the chocolate message on the plate: "congratulation!"  FOB maybe? nonetheless, we devoured the ma-HASSIVE strawberries. yum.

first night, we ate at the hotel restaurant. ummm...DELICIOUS. avocado w/lump crab, ahi tuna, jumbo shrimp, hand made pasta, perfection.

the next day, philip and i decided to rent the hotel bicycles provided free for guests and go for a nice little stroll.  when we said we wanted to bike to Worth Ave, all the concierge and front desk staff responded with, "ummm, are you SURE?  it's 7 miles...."  we were up the challenge.  so we hopped on our bikes, filled with ambition.  our butts and legs were sore by mile 2.  but we tread on...and before we new it, we were there!  the most ah-may-zing thing about this bike ride was it was pretty much all along the ocean...riding alongside clear blue water.  oh, and we also passed a gazillion mansions and kept screaming to each other, "what the HECK do these people do, and how do I get in on it?" :P  too much fun...such a BLAST.  the only thing we realized by the time we got to our destination was, uh, we have to ride 7 miles BACK. haha fun fun.  needless to say, we got a nice little suntan/burn and a GREAT workout.  buns of steel, baby :P  thanks to my awesome partner in crime, he made the 14 mile bike ride such a fun adventure :) the top left picture below - phil swore he was in tour de france. yesss. go baby!

when we got to our destination, we stopped at this place the concierge had recommended: charley's crab house. O....M....G.  worth EVERY sore muscle and butt cramp.  ahi tuna on ciabatta, lump crab club sandwich, views of the ocean, 2 refreshing iced drinks...this place was the perfect reward to a nice long, sweaty bike ride.  anyone who ventures to west palm beach MUST try this place.

of course we frolicked in the ocean during our stay there...the water was so warm, so clear, and so fresh and so clean clean.  unbelievable beaches with not much of a crowd...for the win!

we did enjoy a lot of our time poolside ~ best way to unwind and relax.  great service, quiet resort, just what we needed.  yup, the far left picture below is philip on the beach dreaming of being in a corona commercial...just without the corona :P

another day, we rented bikes again and rode into "town".  it was interesting...some shops and random restaurants...definitely the "local" feel.  so off we rode with starbucks in hand to a local breakfast spot.  very hippy/vegan/all natural-ish, but quite tasty!  spinach, mushroom omelet in a spinach tortilla for me and a jalapeno, cheddar, and bacon omelet in a sundried tomato tortilla for philip.

we really had a great little vacay exploring west palm beach, biking all over, eating some awesome food, swimming in the ocean, and relaxing poolside.  after a nice few days of relaxation and fun in the sun, we were ready to get home to see our kayla bear.  next vacation, we can't wait to take her with us!