Minkin Minkin

Or, for anyone who doesn't speak Max, that's Dominican! There's so much to say, and yet so little. The trip was, in a word, awesome. It met and far exceeded my expectations, and my expectations were high! We didn't want to come home, and still don't want to be home. We're already talking about when we can go back. I'm already looking at next year's spring break.

I don't think I'll go through this chronologically. Rather, there are some themes I'll share. Then, when I get the pics ready to go, the rest of the time will come out!

Ava was a superstar. Seriously. I must have been stopped 50 times a day, and she was probably held by at least 10 other people a day, by both workers at the resort and by guests. They couldn't get over her big eyes and said she looked like a doll. That, coupled with the fact that she was probably the youngest guest there, and she had instant stardom. And she didn't like coming back down to reality--the girl loves the attention!

The kids, in general, were amazingly good. I won't lie and say they were perfect--a few times Max acted up, Abby was crabby, Nolan cried. But not nearly as much as if we were home. They were really great on the flights, went along with everything we did at the resort, Abby even tried a few new foods! They were fun to be with, and I wouldn't hesitate to take them on a long vacation, with long flights, again.

The resort lifestyle is the vacation for us. We really, really relaxed. We spent days on beds on the beach. And by the beds were cold water whirlpools the kids hung out in. And on the beach there were waiters bringing us mai tais. And it was 90 degrees with a cool breeze from the ocean. We said "This so doesn't suck" so many times, I lost track.

The reviews aren't always right. There were some great reviews of this resort, and some really bad. We were nervous. Bad food? Bugs? Unfriendly people? I think it's about expectations. The people were very friendly, as far as a language barrier can take you. Other than a couple of mosquitoes, we saw no bugs. The food was good. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but we ate, it was good, and we went on our way. I never felt like I had to stuff myself. Our biggest problem? We ran out of the four bottles of sunblock that we took with us.

The flights were... well, we made them. We got to O'Hare at 3:30 Sunday morning to check in, waited at the gate, finally got up there, and then they told us Ava needed a ticket because we're going internationally. Ok, let's buy it. But it has to be issued by the Dominican Republic, more than 48 hours in advance. The guy was working it, and after an hour and a half, he got Ava a ticket. I was with the kids and didn't really know what was going on, but Dave truly thought we'd have to scrap the entire vacation. We got to the gate and were the last ones to get on the airplane. Then we got to Atlanta, took the tram, ran through the airport, and got to the gate with 2 minutes before loading. Whew. On the way home, the Dominican airport was fine except it was a very full flight and we were sitting onsie twosie. Luckily, they cleared a row for us, which just happened to be the bulkhead. They plane had tv's in front of each seat, we all watched a movie and some tv, and it turned into the best flight ever. Until we got to New York, where we had to go from plane to bus to terminal. Then get our bags, which were running late because of a broken baggage conveyor belt, then recheck our bags, go through customs and run, run, run through the airport--and me wth Ava on my back and carrying Max. Whooo! I'm still tired, and probably still sweaty! But, we made it. Just as they were closing the door to the plane. And we got into O'Hare and made our way home. All in all, it worked out--but with a total of about 4 minutes of waiting at three out of the four gates, we didn't have much time to spare!

That's it for now! I need some more sleep, dreaming about beach and sun and sand, and tomorrow I'll upload pictures and tell the rest of the stories!