Nolin and I left the airport ready to head over to the hotel. At this point I was beyond excited to unpack our things and meet up with everyone. I guess Nolin was too, he just kept saying, “yeeeah” and clapping his hands.
We caught a taxi to the hotel. It was definitely different riding in an American style car (steering wheel on the left) on the wrong side of the road. Not to mention the cab driver had no problem coming within 4 inches of a car in front of him before applying the breaks…but it’s the islands so it is all good. He also offered up babysitting services (several times) for Nolin if I wanted to go snorkeling or scuba diving. “Here in da Caymans we do dat for you” he told me. And I kept thinking well back in the States we don’t give strange cab drivers our children to look after. Even though we were on island time, I decided to not to partake in the local babysitting custom.
As we got to the hotel, we immediately had 3-4 greeters meet us at the taxi. One set Nolin’s stroller up as I started to strap him in. Another grabbed my bag as I got Nolin’s book bag and the camera case. I paid the taxi driver (minus babysitting services) and turned around to find my bag (and more importantly) Nolin gone. WTF? I haven’t even been here for 30 minutes and I have already lost my son. I rushed in the front door as one of the greeter’s was trying to get my name, only to find my suitcase over by another group of guests (and no greeter within site) and Nolin still being wheeled away and laughing. I mean what is it with these Caymans and their desire to babysit…do they think I am that incapable of taking care of him?!
I decided to forgo the suitcase at this point and catch up to Nolin. I finally got Nolin from the runaway greeter, walked back over to my suitcase and then checked in. So much for island time being relaxing.
We got to the hotel room, quickly unpacked the essentials and I covered Nolin in Sunscreen from head to toe (no sunburns on my watch), got him dressed in his matching lobster bathing suit, muscle shirt and hat in preparation for a little time on the beach. I tried for sunglasses to complete the cool ensemble, but after he ripped them off, I figured I wouldn’t press my luck.
We got to the beach, and I was instantly amazed at how nice it was. With the sun blinding my eyes (I forgot to pack my own sunglasses), I heard a loud “There he is”…I guess people were really excited to see me. At that moment my sister and cousin’s friend Cristina came running out of the ocean bypassed me and grabbed Nolin. Guess I wasn’t really the man of the hour.
We spent about an hour on the beach and in the pool before we went up to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. Nolin went crazy for both the ocean and pool, so I knew he would enjoy his time in the Caymans.
We arrived at the rehearsal dinner to this elegant setting around a color changing pool and canopy tents surrounding the tables. I felt like I was entering a dinner scene from The Hills (minus the Heidi/Spencer drama).
We had an awesome dinner, and it was great to meet the members of Don’s family who were able to make it to the wedding. Nolin was cracking everyone up and finally fell asleep in his stroller until we left to head home. I was expecting a rough night of sleep when we got back to the room, but he was a champ and slept until 9am (10am East Coast time) when my cousin called for us to come hang out in her room. In less than 24 hours Nolin had already quickly adapted to island time…this was going to be a great trip!
Our Modern Family 