We had a long weekend and decided that we should run away to see some nature and that, of course, includes a BEACH! The Maldives is just a quick flight away from Mumbai and it was on our "list" of places to see while we are here in India. It just happened that this weekend we did not have work on Monday for the holiday in the United States, and we had General Conference for Church so we did not have any responsibilities we would be missing--so we booked our tickets and went!
The flight was short and amazing once we landed. The sky was a brilliant blue and the water was so clean and pure. The airport was built right on the water and it could not be more perfect. We took a speed boat to our Sheraton Hotel. Now, the reason I have avoided the Maldives is that it is SO expensive. Then after more research I found that you can go REALLY expensive--private island that you have to water plane to etc. Or you can go really budget and stay on a "local" island in a local hotel. But we found a happy medium and stayed at the Sheraton. We were able to get the Marriott hospitality and have a special experience.
One of the first things we did was go tubing. It was so much fun bouncing around and laughing the whole time we were out on the water. Lady Hiva went with Koala Bear and I went with Lucky Dragon. Both Muggles were begging to go back as soon as we stopped! Lucky Dragon said, "This is something I can write about in my journal at school!" (they have to write for creative writing class).
The food was really amazing. We had decided to pay extra for the "full board" option. I am glad that we made that decision because breakfast, lunch and dinner were covered. Had we not done that, we would have been paying 90USD/person for dinner! That is not something that we would have wanted to do!
We had a friend mention to us that we take our children all over. It was funny because we would not have it any other way. We love seeing them explore the world and learn about different people and cultures.
Getting into our taxi from the airport to the island.
We spent every waking moment in the water. We were in the water from sun-up until well past sunset. The guard usually had to come tell us to get out of the water! We loved every minute of it. The second day we were there, we all got burned! We had even put on plenty of sunscreen to start the day, but we did not realize how long we were outside and should have reapplied a few times. The Muggles were making fun of me because Lady Hiva had quickly put sunscreen on my back and so I looked calico! Some random patterns of pasty white and vivid red! HAHA
There were beautiful views wherever we walked on the island. I felt like we could take photos any direction and it was amazing.
Both kids loved to read. It was good for them to sit and have time to read. They would bring books with them to the restaurant and read as they ate.
There was a cultural dance the one night and they wanted so badly for the Muggles to get up and dance. Koala Bear loved watching them but had NO desire to get up in front of everyone to dance. I laughed so hard when she had moved to get a better view and when she saw the lead dancer coming her way how fast she stood up and rushed to the edge of the table to show she was NOT going to dance!
I was so proud of Lucky Dragon though. I could tell he did not want to go either and his face was flushed with embarrassment, but he went...and I went with him. We danced some crazy looking dance that was most definitely NOT to the rhythm of the drums, but we had fun and they seemed to enjoy it too! They seemed so happy to share their culture and that we were willing to join along.
The views at night were just as amazing as the views during the day. We loved the perfect weather and the stars!
We went through more clothes than we planned because most times it was "I just want to look for shells" then "I want to just get my legs wet" and soon enough we were all in the water swimming!
One of the things they do for you is give you a photoshoot. They allow you to choose 1 photo to print--knowing full well that you will purchase all the prints. We did. More than anything it was recognizing the kids are growing up so fast. The last time we took photos was during the pandemic. So it was time to take some. We loved out they turned out.
We had beef burgers for lunch every day. Lady Hiva had steak for dinner every night. It was so delicious!
There were activities for the kids to do every hour. We had a whole list of things that they all wanted to to, but when it was time to do them niether of them wanted to leave the ocean to go. The one they did go to was feeding the fish! It was so much fun. Lucky Dragon's hat fell off and he just "had" to jump off the dock into the ocean to get it. haha
It was his birthday had from the Sherpas in Nepal, so it was not one that he wanted to lose.
The views at night were just as amazing as the views during the day. We loved the perfect weather and the stars! 
We went through more clothes than we planned because most times it was "I just want to look for shells" then "I want to just get my legs wet" and soon enough we were all in the water swimming!
One of the things they do for you is give you a photoshoot. They allow you to choose 1 photo to print--knowing full well that you will purchase all the prints. We did. More than anything it was recognizing the kids are growing up so fast. The last time we took photos was during the pandemic. So it was time to take some. We loved out they turned out. 
We had beef burgers for lunch every day. Lady Hiva had steak for dinner every night. It was so delicious! 
It was his birthday had from the Sherpas in Nepal, so it was not one that he wanted to lose. 
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