Our First Family Vacation
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
We just got back from our first family vacation to Punta Cana, DR and had an amazing time!
Every year for our wedding anniversary, we take a trip somewhere. Our anniversary is on May 25th but since Ramadan is right around the corner, we decided to take our trip a bit earlier and this time with Hoda! We stayed at The Reserve at Paradisus Punta Cana and it was one of the best resorts we’ve stayed at. It was so family friendly and had a separate kids pool and play area that we could leave Hoda with a babysitter at. The part of the resort that we stayed in had separate access to a secluded beach that was SO nice and relaxing. We had reserved cabana’s by the beach and pool. Yeah, it was pretty amazing and we we’re definitely being spoiled.
Our flight to Punta Cana was at 5:00am which we thought would be a good idea since Hoda is usually asleep. We left our house at 3:00am and Hoda stayed awake on the way to the airport and on the entire flight. She actually fell asleep as soon as the plane landed which also didn’t last long at all. Now we need to rethink red eye flights.
We finally got there at around noon and immediately rushed to see the amazing beach! Hoda was a lot happier to have finally arrived.
Hoda’s first time at the beach was pretty hilarious! She didn’t want to stand on the sand or touch it. When the beach water touched her, as you can see she was not too excited.
Our room was just great! It was like our own apartment with a small kitchenette and a ton of mirrors.
The resort had a ‘Kids Zone’ with a playground for small babies, an obstacle course for older kids and an infant playroom which was the coolest thing ever! I think we had more fun there than Hoda.
Every night we were there, our family concierge made us reservations for dinner. The first night we had italian food. I was not a huge fan of the risotto but dessert was pretty good!
By the end of the night, Hoda was so worn out each day we were there that she fell asleep at 7-7:30pm and slept the ENTIRE night without waking once until 8:45am. We were definitely well rested.
By the next day, Hoda got pretty acclimated with the sand and ocean, she was willing to touch it and started grabbing the sand. She also wanted to get a taste of it so she smashed her face into it but didn’t like the taste. Who can blame her 😉 She even let the ocean water touch her! When the waves would leave her, she would go chase it.
I love wearing my this top/hoodie when I go to the pool or beach. It covers everything, it’s long enough, and dries quickly. I discovered this when we went to Miami last year. It’s from the Gap Fit Breathe line.
The pool was the most fun we had because Hoda was just having a blast! She was enjoying the fact that she could “walk” in the water. She was splashing around like crazy and “swimming” on her own. I got this baby pool float off Amazon. Best decision ever! It folds easily so it was easy to take and bring back in our suitcase.
We got back from the pool and there was a cute little surprise for Hoda in the jacuzzi.
Some Mama and Baba time
I loved the blue jumpsuit I wore with contrasting mustard hijab! I can’t remember where I got the jumpsuit from but it was years ago.
We had mexican for dinner this night. We had a hard time taking family pictures because Hoda would fall asleep before dinner lol
Room service FTW
Some more beach and pool!
My fav outfit on the trip. I love the fancy ruffle sleeves. The top and white jeans are from Zara. Embroidered hijab is from Charming Charlie
Also, how stinkin cute is this hand jewelry?! I’m so obsessed I had to incorporate it into the outfit! I got it from Woven Petals
This stroller is a keeper! We have at home a jogger stroller but it was too big to take with us traveling so we bought this stroller. It’s so lightweight, folds easily and reclines all the way back for naps.
Finally a family picture!
Time to go home and poor baby did not do so well this time either. She slept for about 30 minutes total and cried the whole time. She started running a fever of over 101 and ended up throwing up as we landed. We later found out that she started teething full force. Her top two teeth and bottom two teeth were all coming out at the same time. The good thing was that all this started as we got home and not when we were on vacation.
And that’s pretty much it for our first trip! It was a much needed relaxing getaway. Now that Hoda is all about the sand and beach, we’re going to have to make more trips to the beach on long weekends.
I hope you enjoyed this post!
XOXO