TOMS_familyportrait copy

If you were to think about large-scale efforts – mapping the human genome, searching for monster prime numbers, developing the TESLA, you would be wise to add planning a family Caribbean vacation to your list.

There’s the organizing, packing, passport-checking, last-minute snack shopping, the rounding up of coloring books, crayons, headphones, medication, sunscreen and whatever sand-caked plastic shovels that can be found from the last vacation.

Rodney imposed house rules against me asking him to exfoliate my back and apply sunless tanner the night before a trip, so now I leave that job to the professionals. Which of course never gets done. Time, who? what?

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_9
TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_4

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_5

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_15

This year I got my act together and scheduled an appointment that I promised I wouldn’t break. I stuck to my guns, shed my clothes in front of a woman whose name sounded like Mary but wasn’t, and stepped into the booth. After a few passes of her spray gun, she declared that I looked “owa-some” and I skipped back home, a burnished shade of bronze.

My kids weren’t impressed. Over the sobs of one child, another demanded to know what happened to my “other skin”. The third was found later, hiding in a closet. This pre-tan effort, I imagine, won’t happen again.

It was the least I could do to get ready for what promised to be the trip of a lifetime.

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_16
TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_rocky_beach_18

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_6

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_2

When traveling with kids, Rodney and I have always leaned towards big hotels with big pools, big restaurants, and a bigger set of amenities. The kind of place where a kid can race around and find plenty of entertainment.

This year though, we booked our trip through Inspirato. After looking through their list of properties, we found a house that seemed like it would be a great fit for our family: our own pool, an empty beach, ocean-facing bedrooms, and the icing on our Tortuga rum cake….a well-stocked kitchen.

I’m not sure how many times the word “idyllic” was dropped into the conversation during our stay, but I’m pretty certain that were in three-digit territory.

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_house_18

TOMS_Inspirato_beach_grand_cayman_rocky_beach_8

continue reading

315 comments