I've been asked so many times how our vacation was, and it's funny because I just can't even say. Great! Awesome! Really nice! Relaxing! All those words are true, and yet so inadequate. Simply amazing that a year later, we still love it, still didn't want to come home.
The next question is what did you do on your vacation. And again I struggle. We did... nothing? We ate, swam, played in the sand and then did it all over again. And we swam with some dolphins in there too. But mostly? Ate, swam, played in the sand. It was perfect. Oh, and we met some amazingly nice people. In fact, everyone we met was so nice, from Ohio, Jersey, New York, Quebec, everywhere. There was great conversation, other kids for our kids to play with, and just general merriment.
And so, maybe you'll get sick of seeing my pictures. Most of them will be of the sand and the water. But when you spend seven days, just taking it all in, I guess that's what you get! Here we go in whatever order this blog program likes best...
First stop, Abby's hair! Just like last year, she got it all braided, and they're actually all still in yet today.
The very first day we got there, it rained. We took heart that it was 85 and raining, and it didn't phase the kids who stayed in the swimming pool the entire time. At the end, we even got a rainbow. And then 6 more days without a cloud in sight.
Lunch on the beach bed, can't go wrong.
All the kids slept so well. Nolan put himself to bed every night, regardless of what else was going on. Max was dead to the world in the morning. Ava and Abby fell asleep two minutes after hitting the pillow.
Abby's favorite chair. Also a picture of our living room, after we bought our timeshare. It was so nice!
They gave us a golf cart to use... not sure who like driving more, Dave or Ava.
Too cool in the sun.
Dave and his girls, sharing a drink at the bar.
Ava was easy, slept in whatever cabana we put her in!
Part of our hotel pool.
At Ocean World, ready to go snorkeling.
Hi, Ava!
Feeding the birds. Ava was okay with it until they actually landed on her. Then she wasn't so sure.
Abby, Nolan and Dave praying before feeding the stingrays.
Then Abby, out of the water, deciding she did not want to feed the stingrays. Dave said the trainer guy kept saying "Don't hold your hand like this, you'll get bit. Don't put your foot like that, you'll get bit." Nolan was the only kid out of four who stayed in the water. Abby was embarassed that she couldn't do it. I didn't blame her one bit!
Nolan looks a little worried.
And then onto the sharks. Nurse sharks to be exact.
Crazy Max. The second we got out of the plane his hair curled so tight!
Oops, back to snorkeling with the sharks.
Foosball. The kids couldn't wait to play, and played every chance they got. They got pretty good at it!
Dominican butts. We have the same picture from last year. I guess it makes it a tradition?
Something for everyone... Dave sitting on the pool, the kids playing in the sand. There's also, of course, a bar and an ice cream boutique kind of like Coldstone Creamery.
The kids swinging... I should have taken it from behind to get the awesome ocean view from here.
The ice cream boutique. Open from 11-5 daily. Visited at least twice every day by every child of mine.
What a life!
And again.
Serenity Beach has these huge Lazy Loungers. So comfortable, as you can tell!
An awesome place to take in the scenery, look for shells, and, and Nolan did for an entire day, gather hermit crabs.
A girl on a mission.
Every day, the kids wanted to dig a big hole and bury themselves in it. More power to 'em!
The happy family.
The happy family again. But that's because it was before we were going in for dinner! We've always said that we don't go there for the food. It's good, but it is different. The meat and cheese have a distinct taste. But still, everyone gets plenty to eat. We usually go to the buffet because it's just easier, but we also have the chance to make reservations. We went one night to The Blue Lagoon, which is a Carribbean Seafood place. It was good and nice to sit down and be served. In the picture below we're standing in front of Trapiche Paradise, the Mexican Restaurant. We ordered, and everyone but Dave got their appetizer. Then after another hour we still didn't have our food. We ended up leaving and I felt bad, but the kids just couldn't sit there anymore... and neither could Dave! We hit the buffet. :)
Ahhh, the V.I.P. Pool. There's also a Sports bar, disco, V.I.P. beach and restaurants.
Not too shabby.
Information about the sharks that Dave and Nolan swam with.
Abby really, really didn't like the birds. The guy put bird seed in her hair. This is about the only second she was smiling about it.
Mt. Isabel. Miss Biron, this one's for you! Abby studied mountains while on the beach!
We went to Ocean World two days, one to do the dolphin excursions, and then I took the bigs back to do the other things. This is one of those things. A huge slide and trampoline in the water. I went down two times, and it was really fun. The problem, though, is getting up it. The guy literally has to go under water and boost you up so you can climb up. I had no dignity left after that!
No matter where we are, Abby will find a tree and climb it.
A different cabana. With the most comfortable pillows ever.
Max and (gasp!) Amelia. Sorry Rayva... Max had a new girlfriend for the week!
And Nolan and Andrew. It was funny because we met people who had a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, the same ages as our neighbors across the street that Nolan and Max hang out with. They even look similar. Strange!
One of the three huge tubs in our suite.
The old room. It was just a plain hotel room, and we had two of them. It's the same one we had last year, so we knew what it was and were fine with it. But then we got upgraded. And realized what we were missing!
New room kitchen.
New room bedroom #1. The other bedroom had a king size bed.
New room living room.
New room balcony. That lounge over there? My spot.
New room dining room.
Me and my baby girl.
Dave, dancing at the V.I.P. party with a bunny and all the little kids.
In front of all these people.
The kids climbing the rock. Also where Nolan collected hermit crabs with his new friend Nick from North Carolina.
You can see the scar on Abby's thigh. So many times over the course of the week I was so grateful that we could even make this trip at all.
Look! A shark!
Everyone got buried.
Consistently throughout the week, Max would say, "Daddy, I need a drink. I need a pina colada." Me too, Max!
Our hotel pool again.
And the dolphins. They were so fun!
This would have been a great picture, if I hadn't gone up too high so you could see the dolphin jumping over Dave, Abby and Nolan!
Lovin' the cabanas at Harmony Beach.
The boys on our balcony.
More foosball, this time with new friend Nick. Nick is 9, and his sister Katie is 16. Katie ran around with Max and Ava for at least a half hour. It was great! The funny thing is last year there was a kid, Ole, who showed up everywhere we were. It was fine for a little bit, but got annoying. This year, the kids made friends and it was perfect. They weren't there everywhere we went, but it was enough that it gave them stuff to do.
Max loves his dolphin!
Abby and Nolan dolphin dancing.
Nolan getting a push from a dolphin.
And Abby getting a push.
Dave hitching a ride.
Playing on the beach at sunset.
And there it is. Domincan 2011 has come and gone. The plane ride home was fine, with Ava throwing a fit at random, sometimes for 2 minutes, sometimes for 20. But it was so, so worth it. Now, how do we go next year from January through April???
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