Puerto Rico

Last week Richard, Amber, Erin and myself were able to go to Puerto Rico to visit Blake.  We booked the trip back in January when it was so cold and this spring we have had so much rain, so we were really looking forward to some hot sunshiny weather! We left bright and early Saturday morning. Richard has never been on a plane so it was neat to experience his first plane ride with him.

Once we landed in San Juan we took a cab to the hotel. The cab rides are always exciting due to the craziness of the drivers! But we made it and got all checked in.

We headed down the beach to a restaurant we were familiar with to grab some appetizers. Unfortunately, I guess we brought the rain with us because it did sprinkle on us a little and that whole day was overcast.

That evening, we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and then headed over to Blake's hotel where he is the bartender.  The hotel was gorgeous! We took advantage of the great scenery and had a little photo shoot.

Blake was busy with customers, so we just waited a bit until they left so we could sit up at the bar with him.

Blakes girlfriend, Heydi, joined us and we really enjoyed meeting her and getting to know her.

Day two started with a run down the main strip. I had forgotten that most people in Puerto Rico exercise regularly, so on my run I was constantly dodging people or going around people because there were so many runners on the road. I told Richard this would be a great place to live for that fact alone! By 10 AM I was on the beach soaking in the sun.  But by noon everyone had gotten up and had joined me on the beach.

While we were sitting there we saw an older man trip over the uneven bottom of the ocean and fall. We laughed initially, but then realized that he was unable to get up. His wife went out to try to help him but she too almost fell in. Richard and Blake ended up having to go out and help him up to get his bearings.

We also started Blake's birthday celebration on the beach. Heydi brought cupcakes that we enjoyed to celebrate Blake's big day!

That evening Blake chose sushi for his birthday dinner. We went to a very nice restaurant where the food was so delicious!

There were only four seats in Heydi's car so Amber and Erin decided to take a pedi cab. They had the best time doing this!

We had brought everyone's presents from back home for Blake so he had quite a few to open at the restaurant. Mom even wrapped something little for Heydi since her birthday will be in June. They were so cute opening their presents and showing them off.

The food in Puerto Rico is always pretty good. They have plenty of things that we considered "normal" to eat as well as local food if we wanted to try that as well. One morning I had gourmet waffles and they were delicious!

We also both tried the mofungo which is fried mashed plantains paired with a meet of our choice.

And we shared a gelato treat, which is always delicious.

After two nights in our hotel down near San Juan, we moved to the east side of the island to some condos.  Heydi's boss owned the condos but was not there at that time so he rented them to us for dirt cheap. Everything was so nice and upscale. We did not want to leave!

We had a two-story apartment for all of us with both stories having full bathrooms and kitchens.

We were pretty high up on the mountain so the views down over the ocean were spectacular.

They had several infinity pools around the villas so those were really neat to take pictures in.  The island in the background is Palomino Island.

The first night that we were there we just stayed in after the sun went down and Heydi cooked us fajitas with homemade pico de gallo.

The next morning we were on the first ferry to Palomino Island. Since the condos were on the side of the mountain they did not have a beach associated with them so they would ferry their guests over to Palomino Island. 

These were our condos from the ferry boat. And you can also see the hotel down by the marina.

The whole day was so relaxing just getting to sit and swim in the ocean and search for seashells. That truly is my favorite part about vacationing at the beach.

The iguanas on this island were very large and somewhat friendly. They were fun to watch and take pictures of.

Once we came back over to our condos we decided to check out the waterpark that was there. It was so much fun with no waiting in line so I think we rode the slides 10 times each by the time they closed.

Our last day there we spent shopping and eating in little kiosks. Amber and Erin tried the cold coconut water.

Our whole trip was so enjoyable and I am so glad we were able to take time to just relax and hang out together. It was nice seeing Blake and meeting his girlfriend and hanging out with Amber and Erin as well.  This was a great way to start our summer!

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was very relaxing. Troy and Teague gave me their gifts before they went to their dad's. I love the cute school gifts that they came home with!

And Richard surprised me with new running gear!

And my mom got me a new charm for my mother's charm bracelet.

After church we were able to have lunch with Richard's parents and then I just hung around the house and relaxed! It was a nice weekend to reflect on how great my own mom is, how helpful all the moms in my life are in so many situations, and how blessed I am that God made me a mom!

Chores

Since we have a bigger house now and all the kids are big enough to be helping out, we have started to try to implement some sort of chore schedule.  We let the kids sort of pick what they wanted to do and then we said that they would get a minimal amount of money IF the tasks were completed on a weekly basis.  The one stipulation was that their rooms must be picked up nightly from clutter on the floor, etc... It has been about a month and so far, so good! 

A few of them are even asking to do more things around the house to earn more money.  Baylee is trying hard to earn money for her car this fall, so she too, is eager to do more to make more.  So I decided to try out the Work for Hire board.  I have put some odd jobs that need to be done around the house up there along with a monetary value and how we want them completed correctly.  If they want the money and like the task they can grab it, if not, no big deal, Richard and I will get around to them eventually.  I am anxious to see if they jump on this opportunity or not?  I am hoping that all of this will help with money management skills, a sense of cleanliness that needs to be instilled in every little kid and the common sense of knowing that if you need money, the best place to go is to work!!