Well sorta. This was the family vacation that almost didn’t happen. It’s no secret that I’m a incorrigible workaholic cheapskate when it comes to vacations (what’s this “leisure” thing that you speak of?). The original plan had us in Aruba for 2 days, 2 nights for work, but something just didn’t feel right leaving our two kids with their grandparents amid the wintry misery of NJ. In fact, it it weren’t for Karis’ folks helping us raise our two little monsters, these past 2-3 amazing years at Ben Lau Photography wouldn’t have been possible.
And it’s also no secret that I have a tremendous weakness for always doing the right thing.
So a few weeks before our departure, we received the blessings from our bride and groom to bring our family out for a few days before their big day, if only to show our appreciation to my in-laws who sacrificed so much for us these past few years. Granted, they would still be babysitting for the two days Karis and I would be working, but hey…at least we were no longer in NJ :).
“Guess what kiddo? You’re going to Aruba!”
So we packed up our bags and headed out before sunrise.
Lil Monster wasn’t too fond about waking up at 4am.
2.0’s all like, “I’ve already been up 5 times by 4am!”
We arrived in Aruba without much incident, which is an unbelievable feat in and of itself (especially with two kids in tow!).
We only saw a few hours of daylight before passing out.
We woke up to the bright lights of the souvenir stalls across the street, flickering to the sounds of Caribbean techno beats.
From the Garden State to a Garden View. We’ll take it!
Lollipops: the breakfast of champions.
We drove around the island, and somehow ended up here.
Drove around some more, and ended up here too…
…if only to thank my in-laws properly with some authentic Aruban seafood fare.
It wouldn’t be a Caribbean vacation without a visit to the beach.
Of course, we did some of that too.
Saving the best for last: our favorite image from the entire week.
This melts our hearts to no end :).
After a week in paradise, it’s back to the real world for us. We need to thank my in-laws for everything they’ve done for us these past few years, and to Rosalen & Chris for all their awesomeness. We’ve captured some crazy amazingness during our stay, and we can’t wait to share them with all of you!
Much love,
Ben & Karis
