Puerto Rico

For spring break this year our family took a trip to Puerto Rico.  Tom and I and the little kids had been about a year ago and we enjoyed it so much we knew we had to take the big kids too.  We started out in San Juan where we saw the forts that were built by the Spanish in the 1600s to protect the harbor from pirates.  We got to explore the forts and enjoy the beautiful views from high up on the cliffs

Next we spent a day in the rain/cloud forest of Yunque.  We hiked to a lookout tower where the clouds were swirling all around and you could occasionally get a glimpse of the ocean far off in the distance before the clouds would close in again.  We also hiked to a waterfall where Taylor decided to see what it was like under the sheet of water.  He was quite surprised when he took a step and then fell into water over his head with the falls pushing him down.  He came up at a full out swim with a look of panic on his face.  Luckily, I had the camera on him the whole time so it has now become immortalized family lore.  

See the look of panic on his face?

For the last few days we stayed at a resort in Fajardo.  It was next to the bioluminescent bay so in the evening we took out the kayaks and paddled up to the bay where we could play in the glowing water.  That experience alone is worth going to Puerto Rico.  Unfortunately, the camera can't take pictures of the glowing so you just have to experience it for yourself but take my word for it, it is amazing!

We also got sunburned after a wonderful beach day.  It wouldn't seem like a beach vacation without a little sunburn, right?  We tried to do a dive trip but the weather did not cooperate and the dive boat couldn't/wouldn't go out in the 9 foot swells.  This is probably for the best as we did take a snorkel trip on a catamaran the next day that left Nick very sick and Miriya barfing.  Too bad Dad passed on those crummy genes.   We did get to see some good fish, however, so the trip wasn't a total fail.  Isaac has become quite a good swimmer and can keep up with the rest of us when we snorkel.  He does tend to chew the bite grip on the snorkel and we have had to replace a few.  This time, his tooth came out while he was in the water.  He was pretty upset that it got lost but we couldn't exactly search the ocean to find it.  We assured him that the tooth fairy would know that he lost it and would still visit.  The hardest thing for the little guys when we snorkel is that they get cold.  I guess I will need to start looking for a kid sized wet suit.  I don't know if they even make those but it would significantly lengthen the amount of time we could spend in the water.

Sleeping off the seasickness

It was so nice to have Miriya join us for the family vacation.  I have really missed her.  The little boys were thrilled when she came to the hotel the first night.  She had one or two special buddies the entire week.  It was sad to send her back to school, but we will get to see her again in 2 weeks when she comes home for her birthday and family pictures.

Found a crab