November Part 2: Turks and Caicos and Indiana Fun!

Woo hoo!  Time for vacation!  Joseph had two weeks off in November, so we took our first official vacation of the year, and it couldn't have come a moment sooner.  I think we were all pretty burnt out and were craving some new scenery.  Our first stop was the beautiful Turks and Caicos!  What a wonderful place to be; sunny and temps in the 80s, as we were getting colder weather and snow at home.

William, ready and buckled in to start our adventure.
We left at 3:30 a.m. to make the most of our first day there.

Alex was pretty tired, since our flight was delayed
due to technical problems.  But he enjoyed a nice
movie on the flight.

Silly Alex, ready to get on the next plane.

William's ready, too!

Goofy guys! :-p

William finally passed out right before our connecting
flight from Newark to Turks and Caicos.

Thankfully we got settled in our hotel room and just in time for the sunset!

I was in heaven.  It felt absolutely amazing to shed some layers,
put on shorts and a t-shirt and sandals.

 The first night we were there, they were having a local island fish fry right by our hotel.  So, we hopped over to see what local foods we could dig into.  Whenever we travel, we try to steer clear of touristy places, and eat where the locals eat.  It's usually much better!
We were not disappointed!  There was some fun island music playing while local restaurants had stands set up, selling their delicious foods and drinks.

We got our food (conch fritters, jerk chicken, and fried fish with vegetables,
plantains, corn, and rice), and found a bench by the beach.
It was so lovely to hear the waves crash and feel the
warm breeze as we were eating the amazing food.

Joseph enjoyed a "Turk's Head" beer (local island beer)
and I had to try the Rum Punch (a favorite island drink).

Now it's time to get our little monsters to bed!

We always read books before bed time as part of our routine.

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems is a favorite in our household.

Love.  :-)

Our.room.was.amazing.  This was just the living room area!
I didn't take pictures of the two bedrooms, the full kitchen, or the bathrooms...
but it was absolutely beautiful.

Alex, listening to his audio books on our patio early in the morning.

Our little early bird in paradise.

Breakfast time on our first full day!
We were lucky enough to get a table right on the beach.

My beautiful men with a beautiful view for breakfast.

Stunning.

William and Joseph on the walkway going to the beach.

The view from our second balcony.
I even did some recreational reading!!  I haven't
read a book since William was born!  It was heavenly.

Dinner the first night was absolutely spectacular!
It was at a local restaurant off the beaten path called,
"Mr. Grouper's Restaurant".  We had some amazing fish
and jerk chicken.  After eating authentic jerk chicken,
we vowed to ourselves to have jerk chicken at every meal
while we were there.
Doesn't this restaurant look like Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room??

All I could hear in my head when we sat down was, "In the Tiki, tiki, tiki,
tiki, tiki room...".  :-)

William, getting ready to dig into some fish.

Alex loved the island food, too. 
I love that we can take our kids to a restaurant and
we can order them adult dishes.  They're amazing eaters.

Joseph, amidst the remnants of a yummy dinner.

Alex's attempt at taking a picture of me.  :-)

This guy....this guy right here.  :-)

 Day #2 in paradise.  I can never sleep when I'm on vacation in a new place.  I'm just too excited.  Each morning, I got up around 6 a.m., grabbed my book, and read peacefully on the balcony and enjoyed this view.

Pretty much perfect.

No filter whatsoever.

Then Alex would wake up around 6:30 a.m. (he can't sleep while we're on vacation either).  So, he would read some books or play games while we waited for Joseph and William to wake up.

Time for breakfast again!

Alex really loved Turks and Caicos.

My cup of coffee by the beach.  I would just love to
start my day off looking at this every morning, wouldn't you?

Alex, ready to jump into the ocean!

Our little water baby.

Ready to jump in the water!

William was somewhat intimidated by the waves.

William, running away from the waves.

This is about as comfortable he was with the water on the first day.

Alex, however, wanted to be in the water with Joseph the whole time.

William was beach bound....by choice.

Joseph and Alex, taking a break from swimming.

My beautiful men in Turks and Caicos.

William finally joined them.

Alex, the human fish.

My view.  It was absolutely perfect.  :-)

Our little sand baby.

Time to build some sand castles.  Our hotel had plenty of sand toys
for us to borrow for the kiddos to play with on the beach.

We had just stepped out of the water when one of the hotel employees
told us, very casually, that there was a nurse shark in the water
and that we should probably stay out of the water.
The black blur in the water is the nurse shark.  We couldn't believe how
"casual" the employee was about it.  Lol!

We definitely stayed out of the water.  It was so close to the shore!

On that note, we decided to wash off all of the sand, and have lunch at the hotel room.  After that, we got into the car and drove to the Caicos Conch Farm to learn alllll that we'll ever need to know about conch.

We rented a car and Joseph had to learn how to drive
on the right-hand side of the car, while driving on the left-hand
side of the road.  It was pretty bonkers.  Plus, there's no
traffic lights on the island; only roundabouts.
He did a great job!

The lovely tour guide who told us all about the conch farm.

William posing by the baby conch.

The one on the far left is a newborn, and the far right is a five month old conch.

"80 On-Shore Conch Grow-Out Ponds"

All natural conch chow.

The conch on the far right is a four year old conch.

The Turk's Head brewery on the island gives their
hops and barley that they use to brew their beer
as food for the conch to eat.

Joseph and the boys at the beautiful conch farm.

All of the different rings in the water house different collections of conch.

Alex at the conch farm.

There were conch shells evvvverryyywhere.

Joseph and William, checking out the 5 month old conch.

Joseph, holding a conch.

Joseph, holding the conch.

A conch with its little eyes peeking out.

We had two very adorable boys join us on the tour.
They asked me to take their picture.  :-)

A sea anemone had attached itself to one of the conch's shells.

Here's a four year old conch, crawling around in the water.

There's a conch, peeking out of its shell.

Peek-a-boo!

Alex was fascinated.

Whoa!  That's one big conch!

The conch in the farm.

Alex and one of the boys that accompanied us were
holding hands and walking along the path with one another.
It was so sweet.  :-)

Joseph, William, and Alex checking out the fish in the large tanks.

They also had different types of fish at the farm.

Alex and the boys, petting a 14 year old conch.

The 14 year old conch came out to say, "Hello!"

She was pointing out their reproductive organs and describing how they procreate.

Alex and the kids pet the conch.

What a beautiful place!

See ya later, Conch Farm!  It was very interesting and we learned a lot
about conch.

We stocked up on fruits, veggies, and things to make
sandwich wraps with so we could have lunch at our hotel room each day.
I was QUITE tickled when I looked at our baked Lay's bag
and saw a big "Export" stamp on it.  Lol! 

And now back to the beach before nap time!

My feet next to William's chubby little footprints.  Too cute.

Alex put on his own goggles.

Joseph and I were ready for beverages on the beach.  ;-)
We thoroughly enjoyed the locally made rum that they had
on the island (Bambarra Rum).

Joseph and Alex, practicing some more swimming.

Joseph and Alex, swimming in the water, while William played in the sand.

The waves were really getting in the way of Joseph enjoying his drink.

Joseph's and my turn to enjoy ourselves on vacation!
Drinks on the beach were just what this Doctor Doctor ordered.

We had a blast that day.  (But who am I kidding?
We had a BLAST every day!)

Woo hoo!  William was finally getting more comfortable
in the water.

Cheers!! :-)

Our hotel would play music once the sun set.  It was wonderfully relaxing.

That night, our hotel hosted a jerk chicken dinner, so we decided to stay at the hotel that evening and enjoy their grilled yummies.  Plus, kids ate free!!  Double bonus!  Little did the hotel know that our kids can throw down when it comes to eating.  They each ate adult-sized portions.  Totally worth it!

Me and William, ready to see what was on the grill.

William, by the tiki light, ready to dig in.

I loaded up my plate with jerk chicken, grilled shrimp,
grilled conch, corn, and black beans and rice to share
with the kiddos.  (I got extra corn for William because it's his fave.)

Alex and Joseph, enjoying the yummy grilled food.
We ate right on the beach, and it was so lovely to
hear the waves crash and the rustle of the palm leaves
while we were eating.

We decided to take a stroll on the beach after dinner.

Joseph and Alex, rinsing off before we went back to the room.

Our next day, we had absolutely nothing planned except lots of beach time.  Right after breakfast, we walked onto the beach.  Our hotel was so awesome because not only did it provide sand toys for the kids, but it had a sailboat that one of the employees took us out on a 40 minute ride, and paddle boats!

Alex and Joseph swam far out that morning.

My view that morning.  :-)

Joseph and the boys on the paddle boat.

Joseph and the boys on the paddle boat.

Joseph did a great job, considering the fact that he was
the only one steering and paddling the boat!

Turks and Caicos is such a beautiful island.

William, back in the sand, after having fun with the
big boys on the paddle boat.

That day, we rinsed off the sand, packed ourselves in the car and drove to "da Conch Shack" for lunch.  It was very much off the beaten path, but it was definitely worth the drive.  The food was spectacular and the views were unparalleled.

da Conch Shack

Joseph and the silly boys at da Conch Shack.

We were hungry and ready to eat some more jerk chicken and conch.

This is the main area for dining in the restaurant!
You eat on picnic benches on the beach with a beautiful view of the ocean.
It was absolutely breath taking.

The Franses men, ready to eat!

Me and the boys, ready to eat at da Conch Shack.

Beautiful view, eh?

Unfortunately, right after this, it started to rain a bit and got sort of windy.
So, we relocated to a table that had a roof over it.

Our cheeky little panda.

Time to snuggle with Daddy while we wait to eat!

Awwww! :-)

Alex wanted in on the action, too.

Awww!  Double hugs!

Happiness.

And now for the many faces and the many moods of William Billiam.

Sweet

Mischievous

Cheeky

Ambivalent

A little loony

Mommy and William selfie

Mommy, Alex, and Daddy selfie!

Woo hoo!  Lunch came and not a moment too soon.
Jerk chicken, black beans and rice, conch soup, and
crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside conch fritters.
All washed down with a rum punch for me and a Turk's Head beer for Jojo.

Alex, ready to mess some stuff up (that's his mischievous face).

And now for the sweet boy that we know and love.

We decided to take a stroll on the beach after our meal.

They had some beautiful conch shells for sale.

Thankfully the rain stopped (it was only for a little bit), and the skies cleared.

Love my men!

Me and the lil' ones. :-)

Sweet kisses from Daddy.

A view of the restaurant from the beach.

The restaurant's floor was lined with beautiful conch shells.

The restroom.  Lol!

Thanks for coming!  (It was our pleasure, completely!)
The food was innnncredible (I swear, the U.S. just doesn't
do jerk chicken justice.  The jerk chicken here was unlike
anything we've ever had.)

While we were walking around the Salt Mills shopping area, we saw some little lizards scurrying around.

Hello, little guy!

After some shopping, we stopped by "Turkberry"
which is very much like Pinkberry frozen yogurt,
and it had only been open for four days!  Woo hoo!
The froyo was delish and the boys definitely approved.

Me, happy in paradise.

Another lizard.

Me and my love in paradise.  :-)  It's pretty awesome
that we found each other when I was 16 and he was 15.
It's pretty wonderful to be able to grow up with your best
friend, marry him, and then make a beautiful family together.  :-)

This vacation was amazing.  It was definitely THAT much
better to be in 80 degree and sunny weather when it was
snowing back in Boston.

That night, Joseph was really craving some Indian food, so we found a delicious restaurant called Garam Masala and enjoyed a lovely dinner with incredible Indian food.

My men, getting ready for dinner.

Wine for me and the mister.

Ooohhh yeaaaahhhh!

Me and the big guy.

I warned Alex of this day....the day that William would
be big enough to fight back.  And now here we are...

William tackled Alex!  Thankfully, Alex took it quite well.

Now it's time for some yoga!

Our last full day in paradise!

My beautiful view at breakfast.

Handsome big boy Alex.

Handsome, fuzzy-headed William.

Wow.

A view of part of our hotel from the breakfast table.

I like my morning coffee with a view of the beach, don't you?

On our last full day, we decided to go on an adventure in a semi-submarine.  They said "semi" because it wasn't completely underwater.  The portion that we were in of the "semi-submarine" was underwater, and we looked out the windows of the boat to see the sea creatures and beautiful coral.

Our precious luggage, waiting for the van to come and pick us up.

Joseph and the boys at the port, ready to climb aboard the semi-submarine.

Me and the boys in front of the semi-submarine.

Going down the steps into the semi-submarine.

Me and Alex, ready for the 45 minute excursion.

William Billiam

Underwater selfie!

Beautiful coral

Beautiful coral with mini "Dory" fish (like from the moving Finding Nemo).

A gorgeous, green "brain coral" because it looks like a brain.

Stingray!

A school of fish.

A gorgeous sea turtle with two fish, feeding off of the algae on its back.

Underwater fun!

We all live in a semi-submarine...a semi-submarine...a semi-submarine!

Thank goodness this semi-submarine excursion was only
45 minutes.  At first we thought that wasn't enough time.
However, at about the 35 minute mark, I started to feel
preeeetttty nauseous and had to chew some mint gum
so I wouldn't get sick underwater.  I was sooooo glad
when the excursion was over.

And now...back to the beach once again!

William, digging his little toes into the sand.

He loves the beach!

He loved playing with his own shadow, too.

Little William on the beach

More fun at the beach!

Me, the baby, and our toes in the sand amongst the foamy waves.

Finally!  The last full day of our vacation, and he was
finally comfortable with the water.

He loved scooping up sand and throwing it back into the water.

Alex took a break from swimming with Joseph
to play with William in the sand.

Our last sunset in paradise.

Joseph and I enjoyed some Red Stripe with the sunset.
(For some reason, the filter on Instagram made my hands look like beef jerky.)

 Alex tucking in Elmo

The Franses men walking around the Salt Mills at night.
We were on our way to a seafood restaurant where our waitor's
name was "Five Star."  Pretty.darn.awesome!

After dinner, we ventured over to a local ice cream place and got
a few scoops for ourselves.

Our cuties enjoying their ice cream.

Our last half day in paradise...

Me and the boys on our way to go to breakfast.

William was very serious about his apple juice.

So was Alex.

Me with the see-through pool behind us.
I just don't understand why you would get in a pool
when the beautiful ocean is 40 feet away??

The opposite view from the walkway to the beach.

Alex, ready to go to the beach after breakfast.

Joseph made sure to get the sand toys.

So this guy could enjoy himself!

William eventually joined Joseph and Alex out in the ocean.

So sweet.

Our boys getting ready to dry off and head to our next destination.

"Mommy, do we have to leave the beach now??"

So precious!

The Franses family at Turks and Caicos, November 2014.

Me and the boys in the car, getting ready to head
back to the airport.

William and I sat next to each other on the flight,
while Joseph and Alex sat in a row next to us.

William decided to take off his shoes and socks in the
Newark airport before we headed to Indianapolis...
because, why not?

Since Joseph's parents weren't home the day we got back (they were at a convention in Atlanta, GA), we rented a car and drove back to their house.  However, we had to return the car back to Indianapolis, so we decided to meet up with my friend Erin and her handsome son Grant at the Indianapolis Children's Museum after we dropped off the rental.

Whoa!!  There's dinosaurs were running out of the museum!

Erin and the boys, observing a polar bear.

Alex, William, Grant, and Erin, checking out the exhibits.
This museum was awesome!

Grant, William, Alex, and Joseph observing the dinosaurs.

So cute!

William playing with dinosaur eggs.

This museum employee had Alex convinced that he was observing
a REAL baby dinosaur emerge from an egg.  Alex's mind was blown.

All three boys, checking out the dinosaurs.

William and Grant, looking at a real dinosaur fossil.

William and Grant playing with dinosaur figurines.

Love our boys!

William, Joseph, and Alex, getting ready to climb aboard a train.

There were vibrations and real train sound effects that had William
convinced that he should wait until the train came to a complete stop.
He kept waiting and waiting for the train to slow down so that he could
get down from the bench.  :-P

William, Grant, and Alex at the train table.

In another exhibit, Alex donned some scuba gear and pretended he
was under water.

Our little Jacques Cousteau.

Grant and William discovered King Tut's tomb!

Then, as an ode to Grant's father who works for Indy Car, we felt
it appropriate for the boys to climb in the Indy Car model.

Cheers, Ryan!  We wished you could've been there with us!

Of course, Grant's got the steering wheel! :-)

The gorgeous Grant in another one of the exhibits.

William, climbing around.

So was Alex.

Joseph was close behind.

As it was time to say good bye, William followed
Grant's lead.

Awww!  William and Grant gave each other the sweetest
hug good bye.

Alex gave Grant a hug good bye as well.

William was pretty pooped after that.

That evening, Joseph stayed home with the boys, and I went to an old haunt of mine (and Erin's) called Jake's Roadhouse.  Erin and I had an absolutely wonderful time reminiscing about our younger days.  It was so great to catch up and it's a shame we don't live closer to one another.

Oh goodness gracious!  I went to the bathroom and
came back to find this on our table.  I even asked
Erin, "How old do you think I am??!"  Thankfully
it was very sweet.

Me and Erin getting some Mad Mushroom cheese
bread before we caught a taxi back to Joseph's parents' house.
Love you, mama!!!

That next day, we decided to take the boys to walk around Purdue's campus.  Unfortunately it was quite chilly, so we didn't walk around for too long.

Joseph and the boys near the Purdue Union, where we got married
back in 2005.

Me and the boys with the Purdue lion!  RAWRRRR!!!

They're so cute!  Boiler up!!

Me and the boys with the unfinished Purdue "P."  So proud to be a Boilermaker!

After that, we walked through the Union, did
some shopping, and then got ready for lunch.

I remember walking these underground walkways
as a student.  Never did I think that Joseph and I
would be taking our kids through these hallways
a few years later.  :-)

We took the boys to Potbelly's for lunch.  It's an awesome
sandwich place on campus, where an Indian restaurant
used to be back in the day.

That evening, we met our friends Matt and Stacey, and their handsome son Cooper out for dinner at the Lafayette Brewery and Company.

Here's William, Alex, and Cooper, hanging out before dinner.

That same night, our friend Stacey and her son Cooper stayed the night at Joseph's parents' house so that Stacey and I could catch up.  Unfortunately Matt couldn't stay over because he had an important meeting the next morning.

Cooper, Alex, and William the next morning.  They
were very excited to ride the elevator from the basement to
the first floor.

William pressed the button.

Stacey, William, Alex, and Cooper, ready to ride
the elevator from the basement to the first floor
of Joseph's parents' house.

After playing for a while, we headed to the Route 66 Diner for breakfast.  Joseph and I were craving biscuits and gravy.

Cooper and Alex sat next to each other.

William and Stacey snuggled with each other.

Cooper and Alex being silly with one another.

Stacey giving William one last snuggle.

We saw a giant hawk on our way back home!

That afternoon, Joseph's parents got back and volunteered to watch the boys so that Joseph and I could go out with our friends.  Where did we meet up?  None other than Harry's Chocolate Shop....that has nothing to do with chocolate.

I finished my first drink....who's ready for the next round??

Me and Stacey!!

Love this lady so much!!  We've known each other
since we were newly 21...I won't tell you how many
years it's been...  :-)

I was also lucky enough to meet up with my friend Rus
and Ellen, whom I've had the pleasure of knowing
since high school!  We were also friends throughout
college and Ellen was my roommate for all four years!
It was soooooo great to reconnect after so long!

Love these two so much!!

Me, Joseph, and our friend Jesse (whom Joseph's
known since middle school, and I've had the pleasure
of knowing since high school).  He drove all the way
up from the 'burbs of Chicago to see us.  We had such a great time!

Although he is a biiiiiiit on the creepy side.  :-)
Love you, Jesse!!! :-p

After a night of beverages, we got a little hungry, so we stopped by Five Guys for a snack.  Man....if this place was there when I was in college, I would have been about 20 lbs heavier.  :-p

Stacey and Matt, having a snack with us.

Me and Joseph at the end of the night.  :-)

Time to say, "Good bye," to these wonderful people!
It was so great to be able to see them TWICE in one visit!
Miss them to pieces and whenever we get back together,
it's like no time has passed at all.

Me and Stace-no-face :-)

Woo hoo!!  On the way back to Jesse's car, we found a
food truck that specialized in hot dogs and chili fries!!
WHHHAATTT??!!  Again...if this food truck existed
while I was in college, I would have been MUCH heavier
than I was back in the day.  I had to indulge in some delicious
crinkle cut chili and cheese fries at the end of the night.
Y'know...for research purposes.  :-)

Whenever I go back to Indiana, my Dad always asks me to "stop by the old house" and take some pictures.  Our family lived in Indiana from the time I was in 8th grade to the beginning of my sophomore year of college.  This was a wonderful home for my family and lots of great memories were made here.

Our old house with the same mailbox that my Dad
installed back in the day.  :-)

Awww!  I used to play basketball with my Dad, sister,
or neighborhood kids on that same hoop.  Good times!

On the way back to Joseph's parents' house, we stopped by Jimmy John's (an incredibly yummy and delicious sandwich shop) to pick up lunch for everybody.

They offered "Free Smells" and I obliged.

There used to be a Jimmy John's right by my apartment
when I was in college and Joseph and I got lunch or
dinner there quite often.  We definitely have nostalgic
ties to this place.

Woot woooooot!!!  Ready to dig into the fresh made
bread and yummy vegetables.

"Now it's time to say good-byeeeee, to all our company....".  As our trip came to an end, our hearts were filled with so much love for being able to see family, old friends, take the boys around our alma mater, and to have many yummy foods that we missed.
On our way to the airport, we stopped by P.F. Chang's for lunch.

Linda and Joseph at lunch.  So sweet :-)

Elias and William.  "Nono" loves to be very silly with the boys,
and they LOVE that!

Me and Alex at lunch, right before we flew back to Boston.

 What a wonderful two weeks of vacation!!  We had lots of fun in the sun, got some major relaxing in, had quality time with family and friends, and ate lots of fantastic foods.  Our hearts were full and ready to go full throttle into the holiday season!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki