We're back and we're brown!

Cuba was beautiful, I love going there so much. The people are lovely and when you are nestled in between the mountains and the sea with fresh pineapple in your hand, how can you beat that?

This was the view from our window...the gorgeous thatched building was the bbq restaurant we ate at when we wanted a change from the non-stop buffet. The mountains wrapped around the entire resort, the ones in the picture were just the point jutting out into the ocean. It was breath-taking! I think that we will go back there again.

The kids had a great time, snorkelling, swimming in the sea and the pool, eating dessert after every meal including breakfast and frolicking in
the Kid's Club. Our only mis-hap was Melia cracking her head on the first morning and having to get 4 stitches. Thank goodness there was an on-site doctor who was very kind and the had a local anesthetic. She still screamed bloody murder and I wonder what the other guests who passed by were thinking. But she was laughing and running around within 5 minutes like nothing had happened. Only the poor thing couldn't get her head wet so had to stay out of the water. But by the end of the week, she was wet and happy as well as getting over her fear of the ocean. We couldn't get our two mermaids out of the sea!

The resort - Brisas Sierra Mar in Santiago de Cuba - was lovely. The food was good, especially in the a la carte restaurants, the ice cream divine! The staff were friendly, the rooms very clean, yes, occasionally we lost power because the generator died and there were no phones in the rooms or internet...but that was a blessing, because then we were really on holiday. The kids loved the Yule tree in the lobby and were impressed with the fine art of Cuban bed origami! They even showed the kids how to make their bedsheets into hearts.

We saw so many beautiful animals, birds, lizards, fish, lobsters, giant crabs and the tiniest hummingbirds in the world...unfortunately, we were so busy enjoying them that we forgot to take pictures!

Well, so much for our sunny vacation in Cuba...now we are in the thick of getting ready for Yule and then packing up our house EEEEKKK! I didn't get as much knitting done as I would like (although I freaked Matt out by bringing my plastic needles on the plane with no difficulty - that goodness since we were delayed coming home by 5 hours!) but I'll post some pics of that tomorrow. Time for bed, it's a big day of cleaning, baking and wrapping tomorrow!