Spring Break at Beaches in Turks & Caicos

My kids live for buffets. (If I'm being honest, though, so do I.)

When a 6-foot-tall Elmo visits...and completely freaks your kid out.

 

Hanging with the locals

Well, we're off to spring break in Turks & Caicos! And we're actually going back to the very same resort we went to last year: Beaches. The pictures above are all from last year's trip. Although a few pics went up on Instagram back then, I never posted them here on the blog--oops!

We had an incredible time there last year, so decided to do it all over again. If you haven't heard of Beaches, allow me to explain: But first, let me say that, if you do not have small children, Beaches is not for you. In fact, if you do not have kids, Beaches will probably be your worst nightmare. But, if you do have little kids, honey, it is everything.

Beaches is an all-inclusive resort where everything is beyond kid-friendly. There's great food for them (let's just say, you won't run in to a situation where there's no chicken fingers on the menu), there's fun shows for them (think more Sesame Street dance parties, less Hamilton, though), there's amazing pools, fun activities, and so. much. more.

One of the highlights of our trip last year was when Elmo came to "tuck in" the kids one night. My son (who, at the time, was obsessed with Elmo) was SO freaked out. He laid stiff as a board for the majority of the time, finally warming up to the 6-foot-tall Elmo at the very end. (You may remember this story from my Instagram. It was actually one of my most popular Instas ever!)

And, above all, the kid's club is unbelievable.

The kid's club. All hail the kid's club! We had never been to a resort with a kid's club before, and after that trip, we swore we'd never go to a resort without one again. For the uninitiated, kid's clubs are basically activity centers (a.k.a. glorified day cares) where you can drop off your kids to play for awhile. This might sound sort of cruel, but consider that 1) very little kids don't want to be out in the sun all day. They get bored. (My son was only 18 months last year). And 2) Little kids can't be in the sun all day. It's dangerous. 

And this kid's club is awesome. They have tons of toys, they have a (shaded) kid's pool, and they have cool activities like treasure hunts, cookie baking with Cookie Monster, and arts and crafts. We would take our son every morning for two or three hours, while we hung out with our daughter at the pool. Then, we'd meet up with him for lunch, take him back to the room for his nap, and then we'd all go to the pool again around 4 or 5, once the sun wasn't as strong.

But here's the best part: There were three mornings when my daughter wanted to go to the kid's club, too. So there were three mornings when my husband and I had two or three hours to ourselves! THIS IS UNHEARD OF!!! We spent it by being SUPER exciting: reading and napping by the pool. And you know what? IT WAS GLORIOUS.

Because of those few hours scattered throughout the week where we actually got to relax, the entire trip ended up feeling like an actual vacation (unlike a mere trip like this one). This is nothing short of miraculous.

So, we're heading out to do it all over again. I've already downloaded my books for those few precious kid-free hours by the pool, I've gotten my pedicure, and I am READY for some warm weather.

**If you want to tag along on our spring break trip, be sure to follow me on Instagram and Snapchat (alyssahertzig). I expect to be snapping a TON. (Get ready, Elmo...)

Do you guys have any fun spring break plans? And have you ever been to Beaches?

(BTW, this post is NOT sponsored in any way, shape, or form. We paid the full cost for this trip. Believe me. #oy)