Vacation Part 1

I'm going to try something new this year for vacation posting... Instead of waiting until the end, I am going to try to type into notepad on the iPad and transfer it to the blog when I get back. Hopefully much more vivid that way! I am getting a little bit of a rough start as it's already Tuesday, but still...

The plane ride here was great. Ava had one meltdown but was pretty good otherwise. Considering we got up at two in the morning to leave, I would say that's a success! And all the planes were on time and customs coming into Dominican was a breeze. It usually is, but this year was even faster. We got out, found the sign with our name and away we went.

Getting into the hotel wasn't quite so easy. First we had to wait awhile to check in, and then they kept trying to charge us extra for things. And our rooms were a little iffy... Not all connected or even by each other. Apparently it's busier than they expected and rooms were hard to come by. Dave was all worked up and it took much longer than necessary to get checked in. Finally we headed to our rooms and... We had to adjoining rooms and one on a different floor. Brenda and Mayur had two rooms next to each other but not adjoining. This was difficult and Dave went to complain. I took the kids and Brenda to dinner--we hadn't eaten a meal since six in the morning. And we desperately needed a drink! Dave met us there (he was unsuccessful in getting any rooms changed) and then had to go find Mayur. We finally all met up, got a little in our stomachs and were about to call it a night. Mayur, Brenda and Rayva headed back to the room and Dave and I took Kyan and our kids to the beach. That was all it took to wash away the day's travel and troubles. Watching them play in the sand and the surf brought smiles to our faces.

Friday night we got a good night's sleep and on Saturday we were ready to face the day. Such decisions that day... What buffet should we eat breakfast at? What pool should we sit by? Or should we go to the beach? We are staying in a newly purchased and renovated side of the resort and with it comes all new thing to explore. There's Aqua, the swim up vodka bar, which is just really amazing. There's Cheers, half regular bar half swim up bar. For restaurants there's a new buffet called The Pearl which has all kinds of stuff for Abby to eat... And the grown ups as well. French fries, hamburgers, noodles, as well as calamari salad, Sushi and really great fish. There is also a new tapas restaurant (has wine! Vodka and tonics!), an Indian restaurant called Moomtaz, and many others. And of course new pools, although we seem to keep ending up at our favorites... Harmony Beach, Serenity Beach, VIP Beach. There's a reason we love them so much, which may or may not include the bar, food and ice cream place!

Today was a little bit different from just our regular relaxing, at least for some of us. Dave, Brenda and our littles with Rayva and Kyan still hung out and relaxed. I believe Ava played with a monkey and a dog, but I will have to check the pictures to make sure (I guess the pics will need to be a separate post since I can't put them in Notebook!). Meanwhile, Mayur, the bigs and I went to 27 Chacros, or waterfalls. We took a bus to the base and hiked up a mountain for an hour. I was a hot sweaty mess by the time we got to the top, but the kids did great... Amazingly well, really. We started the first waterfall and it was a little rough. Strong current and splashing water made it a little difficult to see. If all were like that one, we were in for a long day! But they quickly got better. We jumped from cliffs ranging from 10 to 25 feet up, between rocks and into deep pools of water. We also slid down natural slides carved into the rock from the water, which had incredibly strong current pushing you down and at the bottom. Nolan was first in the group at nearly each waterfall and very bravely walked up and jumped or slid each time. If he could do it, I had no choice really as he couldn't show me up. The key was not thinking... Just count to three and JUMP!

By the time we were done, I was truly exhausted. I didn't get much sleep the night before as my stomach seems to have turned on me and the bathroom called quite often. Even when not hitting the bathroom I couldn't sleep so I just finished my book (Hunger Games... Recommend!) and finally slept around 3:45. At breakfast I choked down some fruit, but nearly ran to the bathroom at the sight of eggs or anything else, which left me famished after our excursion. Fortunately they served us a good lunch and I could get in some rice and beans before we headed back.

We found everyone else at a pool, one with a bar :) and relaxed with them. On one of the jumps my ear drum popped and it really started to hurt. Some Cuba libres helped, as did the Excedrin, and now I am as good as new. We headed to dinner with all kids, giving Mayur and Brenda the chance to go out to dinner by themselves. Tomorrow it's our turn. But, to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure either Dave or I will make our 8:30 dinner reservations... We are usually in bed by then here! I guess we'll see...