Las Terrenas

The vacation continues...well actually we are down to 2 days left, but it has been a great three weeks. Las Terrenas, formerly a small fishing village on the north coast of the Samana Peninsula, was our last stop on our road trip of the DR. This town is now the site of major construction every where you look; hotels, apartments, and shops are popping up everywhere. One thing that isn't tainted however, is the beach, Miles and miles of it.
Our four days there were spent searching out remote areas of beautiful coastline, swimming, snorkeling, and eating. Rather than persistent requests such as "What are we doing next?", or "Where are we going now?" our kids actually seemed to understand the idea of relaxation! I think our extended stay in this country is starting to change them. We are learning what it means to simply "chill". (If you can chill when it's 100 degrees!) Our daily routine involved heading down to the French bakery, (there is a strong French influence in this area), picking up some amazing fresh bread (which we cannot get in Jarabacoa), packing a picnic lunch and heading out to the beach. Back around 4, cool off in the swimming pool, and start to think about what to barbecue for supper. We would end the evening off with coffee on the deck, cool showers, and possibly another dip in the pool. The next days were essentially dip, rinse, and repeat.
Except we did go see the El Limon Waterfall. Wow, this is truly a beautiful waterfall. We managed to get there before any other tourists (after a year in the DR one of our primary goals whenever we go somewhere is to avoid other tourists!), and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings all by ourselves for a good half hour.

As we prepare to go back to work, we reflect on our three weeks together as a family. We know the following things:
1. We 'road trip' well together. Hours of hot, sweaty driving and we still love each other :)
2. It's a big world out there. (Ethan)
3. Highlights of the trip rarely involve the big money events, but random moments that were unplanned.
4. We know that it's great to chill out, rejuvenate and refresh.

We took Ethan to Ocean World...

The second week of our vacation found us in Puerto Plata. Although we were only there for two days, we had a lot of fun. The highlights included watching the older two at an all inclusive buffet (YIKES, can they ever eat, it's disgusting!!) and watching Ethan enjoy
Ocean World.
The above picture is of me and Ethan swimming with dolphins. I NEVER thought that we would be able to do something like this,
but watching Ethan bursting with joy was just crazy fun!! We basically stayed from opening to closing.
A stretched out smile never left his face the entire day.
Brodie and Drew had a chance to play with sea lions. This was quite the experience for them as well.
It was an incredible day for the entire family.

So now we have toured the south west portion of the island, we touched some fun spots in the north west, and for our next adventure....
the Samana Peninsula.
Stay tuned.

ROAD TRIP....

Our vacation time finally arrived. As many of you already know, we opted to tour the island as a family instead of heading back to Canada. This was not an easy decision due to the fact that we miss our friends and family very much. However, it would also be a shame to live on the island for two years and only see a very small part of it.

We took three weeks off from work and headed on a ROAD TRIP. First destination was the south west with Terry Jill and Hazel. We saw cacti, iguanas, and a saltwater crocodile. We swam at pebble beaches with rocks that were white and tumbled by the Carribean Sea.

The stories that we could tell could fill this page. We were pulled over by the police for some unknown reason....had Haitian protesters bang on our vehicle while we drove past....a cute Dominican girl asked Brodie for his email address at a Christian rally, and another ' Dominican babe' put her hand on our slowly moving vehicle to touch Brodie's hair (she ended up poking him in the eye!!) The temperature was easily 35+ degrees all the time. BUT we had the BEST time. We are so lucky to have Terry, Jill and Hazel in our life. I cannot tell you how fun it is to explore new areas with the people you really care about.

The downer....when we returned home we learned that our house had been broken into. We had a house sitter (sorry Kristin) but they somehow knew to break in on the one evening that she went out for supper. More suspicious things happened, for some reason, Terry's birth certificate was on our table after they broke in. Hmmm...

Well, we are off again, a different staff member has offered to stay this time. Special thanks to Matt! Terry and Jill are getting Chiquita...Hazel LOVES Kita!

We are now off to Ocean World. Ethan is spinning in circles, he is so excited!! We are hoping to have a video clip to show you.