Hi! I'm The Sand Girl. My Mommy and my Gigi are The Sand Ladies. I'm 3 years old. My brother and I are on vacation at Beaches Turks and Caicos. This is a really special vacation because my mommy and my daddy, my uncle Ubbah, my grandparents Gigi and Popey, AND my great-grandparented Mammaw and Pawpaw are ALL here! We are all having so much fun here.

And I have a BIG surprise to tell you!!

The beach here is SO beautiful! I love playing on the beach with my brother. We move the sand. And I take buckets of seawater and seashells up to my Mammaw in the shade.

Our room is in the brand new Key West Village. My Mommy says it is her favorite.

Davion, our Butler, helps us get all the toys and stuff to the beach. I love talking to him. 

The beach there is really big and there aren't a lot of people around. 

This is the beach right beside it in the Italian Village.

Mommy swims while we play.

Sometimes I swim with Daddy.

After we play on the beach all morning, I sure am glad our butler Davion has saved us a cabana by the pool!

I'm telling you. This is the best napping spot ever!

And guess what!! We got to bake cookies with Cookie Monster!!!

I love Cookie Monster! He was REALLY big!

We've also been playing at the water park. 

And eating icecream at Bobby D's. My Pawpaw loves icecream! and so do I...

The french toast at Bayside in the Key West Village is my favorite, though.

Can you believe how beautiful it is here? I like to look at the ocean after breakfast.

Look who we ran into on the way to the water park yesterday! I love Big Bird!!

 

My Mommy told Davion the Butler that my birthday was 2 weeks ago and my brother's birthday is next month. Look what he surprised us with yesterday! A birthday party lunch with my whole family!!

THIS was a VERY YUMMY birthday cake!!

 

My brother wanted to save it. What a fun morning! We were so tired.

My Mommy told me that Zoe and The Count came by while we were sleeping.

My Daddy is so silly.

My Mommy and Daddy got to have a special dinner just for them while my brother and I were hanging out at the Sesame Kids Camp. We got to have a pajama party with some Sesame friends!!

That's our other butler, Randy. He is always so helpful to my Mommy. 

OK. This is the BIG, BIG, BIG surprise!! Last night ELMO came to read us a bedtime story and he tucked us in before bed!!! Can you believe it?! ELMO!!!! And we brought my brother an elmo doll to have. He brought me Abby. Because he knows I love Abby.

 

Did you see part 1 of my post? 

If you want to bring your family to play on this beach and visit with Elmo, you can just push that button below to contact my Mommy and my Gigi and find out how. Be sure to as them about Personal Butler Service and to schedule a bedtime story with your favorite Sesame friend!

Hi! I'm The Sand Girl. My Mommy and my Gigi are The Sand Ladies. I'm 3 years old. This is my brother's first trip to Beaches Turks and Caicos. And I was just a baby when I was here before. 

Yesterday, I got to fly on an airplane. But today was SO fun. We had breakfast by the ocean at Bayside. My mom says I'm kind of grumpy when I'm hungry. My brother and I love the fresh fruit here!

After breakfast, we went to the pool. Our butler Randy set up this cool cabana by the pool for us. My Mommy says we have a butler because that makes it a vacation for her too!

Then we all went for a swim. I can swim all by myself! My brother likes to play by himself in the shallow areas of the pool.

We got to swim for a LONG time! Then we went to the Sesame Kids Camp for Super Grover's Super Science Fair. We dug in the sand to find treasures. I blew bubbles with Bert, too. I love playing bubbles! Did you know Bert loves playing bubbles, too?!

We were hungry after all that science!! And do you know what?! When we got back to our cabanda, Randy brought us all kinds of snacks!

We even had a cookie and some milk before nap time. Did you know Cookie Monster makes the cookies here?! My Daddy closed the sides of the cabana so we could take our nap by the pool!

He is SO silly!

I loved napping by the pool, too. Our cabana even has a fan in it!

And my Mommy and Daddy rested by the pool, too. That's the shallow baby pool in the front, and a HUGE hottub on the far left.

You just SWIM up to this place, and you can sit on a stool in the water, and they give you whatever you want to drink! I like strawberry slushies.

After my nap, I swam a little more in the baby pool with some other kids while my brother was still sleeping.

Then it was time for my Gigi and the rest of our family to get here! I am SO excited to show Ubbah (he's my uncle) and Mammaw where Big Bird is!

While they were unpacking, my brother and I got Tatoos! I got to pick mine out. It is a mermaid.

My brother is tough like Daddy.

We ate a yummy dinner with all of the family, and then we went to Big Bird's Beach party!! It was SO much fun! We got to see ALL of the Sesame Street friends. We dance and sang. It was pretty much the most fun night ever. 

 I was so sleepy after today. My Daddy carried me back to the room. I can't WAIT to see what we're going to do tomorrow. I want to swim in the ocean. And bake cookies with Cookie Monster. He's going to teach me. I'll tell you all about it.

If you want to come visit Big Bird, you can just push that button below to contact my Mommy and my Gigi and find out how. 

Goodnight!!

Don't miss part 2 of our family adventure!

We are fortunate enough to have a Fall Break during the school year, and this year my family (including my 13 year-old son and The Sandals Dude) led a group of 7 families to Beaches Turks and Caicos all inclusive resort. Kids of all ages had a blast, and the parents had some much-needed relaxation and social time. It was definitely a week of fun in the sun! Here are some of the ways that our group spent their time at Beaches Turks and Caicos.



When we arrived, the Beaches Turks and Caicos staff met our group at the airport and drove us to the resort together. We had a private group check-in, which was welcome after the day's travel. Then everyone was off to their rooms to change into beach attire and explore the resort. The kids were so anxious to see it all!

 

Each family chose how they wanted to spend their days. Most of the kids were between ages 6 and 13. The older kids would buddy up some days and play at the water park together. Some of the younger kids took part in the Kids Camp program activities such as beach volleyball, baking cookies with Cookie Monster, beach soccer, scavenger hunts, Elmo's birthday party, glass bottom boat rides, and pizza making. Some of the adults were found relaxing by the pool or on the beach, sipping cocktails and spending time reading alone or catching up with one another. Others went sailing and  SCUBA diving around Turks and Caicos's world-famous coral reefs. All of the adults enjoyed the water slides at the water park, and some were even seen attempting the surf simulator. Each of the families spent time having fun together and making memories in paradise.

Some evenings families would enjoy the time together alone. Other nights we would see the families getting together and enjoying each other's company over dinner. One night we made reservations for our family and two others to have dinner at Kimono's the Teppanyaki-style Japanese restaurant. The kids loved the silly jokes and songs that our chef told while he cooked dinner at our table.



One of the girls even got to try it out herself!



After dinner most nights the tweens of the group would meet up at Club Liquid or the XBOX® Game Garage. Club Liquid is a "night club" for teens and tweens before 10pm. A DJ plays music, the lights spin and no alcohol is served. At the XBOX Game Garage, kids of all ages get to play the most popular XBOX and Kinect™  for XBOX360 games - or even test some games prior to release - on one of dozens of game systems.

Some nights the adults would meet up in one of the bars or lounges on resort to hang out or even sing Karaoke. One night was family Karaoke night in Cricketer's Pub - the Irish Pub on-resort. This was a huge hit with the kids and adults! The Pub also hosted a Texas hold 'em tournament during our stay.

One day I scheduled a group snorkeling trip for any of our travel buddies that wanted to snorkel an off-shore reef. The Beaches water sports desk setup a special trip for our group, and off we went in search of the gorgeous fish living in the reefs of Turks and Caicos. Some of our group had not snorkeled before, and the Beaches staff took special care to show them how all of the equipment worked and encourage them as they got in the water to try it out. One of younger members of our group had some trouble coordinating the mask and snorkel, so one of the Beaches staff dove in and let him hitch a ride on his back. The staff member swam all around the reef letting Lee tag along and look at the fish. Everyone snorkeled for about 30 minutes, then we headed back to the resort.

At the Beaches resorts, every group is offered a group photo session and private group dinner. We chose to do both of these in the same evening. Just before sunset, our whole group met on the beach. The Beaches photography department sent several of their professional photographers. Each family had a family photo shoot with one of the photographers. Then, we took one big group picture. Each family received a complimentary 5x7 group photo to commemorate the trip, and several families chose to purchase pictures from their individual photo shoots.

             
After the photo shoot, we reconvened for a private group dinner. The Beaches staff went all out! They chose the perfect location. It was a large wooden deck-area over-looking the ocean. There were several tables set with white linen, fine china and crystal. Tiki torches were lit around the perimeter of the area, and a bar was set-up on one end where a bartender was mixing cocktails and drinks for the kids. The sounds of the ocean, the mood reflected off the calm waves, and the starlight above were the perfect setting for great conversation and an amazing plated steak dinner. There was also a kids menu for the children to pick from should they not want the steak. But the steak was SO good!! We had our own, very attentive waitstaff that served dinner, poured wine and cut an amazing cake for dessert. The group lingered for a long time talking and taking in the perfect Caribbean evening.

When we returned home from our trip, I received notes from several of the families about how much fun they had. We will definitely do this again! Here are some of their comments:

"This vacation was WAY better than paradise!" - Lee (age 6)
Lee's mother also shared that when they got home Saturday night and pulled into the garage, Lee wouldn't get out of the car. He was crying. She asked him what was wrong and he said, "I want to go back to Turks and Caicos."

"The time of our lives… Nothing could compare." -The B Family

"This is the best fall break ever!" - Brooke (age 12)

"This is by far the best family vacation we have ever taken. I felt so relaxed and pampered all week. The food was amazing with such a wide variety. The resort grounds, including all pools and beach areas, were so beautiful that we took tons of pictures before we left. My kids loved the waterpark and water sports available. We are saving now for our next trip to Beaches! We will definitely be back!!" - The S Family

"We had an awesome time, but it went by way too fast!" - The L Family

The Beaches resorts love to host a group, and they offer many special amenities to groups of 5 rooms or more. Whether your group is a family, a social group, guests of a destination wedding, or even a corporate meeting or incentive group, Beaches is the perfect place to convene, relax, and catch up. If you have a group that would like to travel together, click below to request your complimentary consultation with The Sand Lady.

Beaches Turks and Caicos is rolling out the red carpet for you and your girlfriends to go on a 4-night best friends vacation in paradise at very special rates, filled with special activities and special goodies. So, grab your girlfriends, kick back, relax and enjoy Caribbean-style fun at the Beaches Friends Forever (B.F.F.) Girls Getaway.

A member of the Sandals brand, the Beaches resorts are resorts for everyone. The Beaches Luxury All Inclusive resort in Turks and Caicos is currently one of the most sought after resorts in the Caribbean. Similar to the Sandals resorts, the Beaches resorts offer more quality inclusions than any other resort in the world. Your stay includes unlimited gourmet dining, premium beverages, watersports, and more. Plus, through their special BFF Girls Getaway promotion, you and your girlfriends have an exclusive opportunity to stay at this resort at discounted rates AND receive extra inclusions such as:

Choose the date that is best for your group:

April 26-30, 2012

October 18-22, 2012

Rates start at $1,299 per person plus airfare, based on two people in each room.

This is a very special girls getaway, and space is limited! The April 2012 offer is filling up fast. Contact Us to let us know that you are interested!