Preschool.

My little boy started his second year of preschool! 

I can't believe how fast he's growing up. So far he absolutely loves his teacher and his class. Last year his preschool was at a ladies' house, but this year he goes to a community center so it feels a lot more like he goes to an actual school. He loves that part. The funny thing is that he is literally the only boy in his class. I would think he would hate that, since he loves doing boy things so much...but he told me today that he actually really likes it. I think he gets a lot of attention from it. He's already a little ladies man. I'm going to be in trouble. He also has told me that there's a girl with dark hair who's really pretty and he plays with a lot. That's all I've gotten out of him so far. I can't believe this kid. 

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

The next part of our adventure happens in Old San Juan. As mentioned in my previous post...we had a long day...were hungry and tired. We just wanted to get to our apartment home that was conveniently located in the heart of old san juan and grab some dinner. Seems easy enough, right??? Wrong. That oh so convenient location just happened to not be so convenient on a Saturday night in the most poppin part of town. It literally took us 2 hours. 2 HOURS to go in a 2 mile radius circle around downtown searching for a parking spot, while moving about an inch a minute, in our starving state. Tensions were high and communication was low. And we only had to find parking for one car thanks to our super awesome landlord man standing in the street saving us a spot directly outside our door. That was awesome of him. Finally we split up, and me and Matix filled our tummies with the most delicious food ever. Calamari and flatbread pizza. It sounds a lot less exciting and delicious than it was, but I promise you, it was divine. And I would have said that even if I wasn't starved to death. Eventually we got to bed and got some much needed rest. 

Did I mention how amazing our apartment was? Because it was seriously amazing. Exactly what you would imagine and want when visting Old San Juan. We adored it. Not to toot my own horn...but I did a great job finding accommodations for us. 

The next day we took our time getting ready for the day and then were off to the El Yunque Rainforest. I've never been to a rainforest before so I was pretty stoked. It was gorgeous! And it even started to rain while we were there. How appropriate. The only bummer about this rainforest is there's no real animals. The only mammals they have are bats, which we never saw. Other than that, it was super cool. You could hear birds chirping away like crazy. At the end of the trail is a huge waterfall that we all played in. The water was freezing. Matix was so excited to play in a waterfall. And he was so super brave, up until his excitement wore off and he realized how absolutely freezing cold the water was.  After that he mostly watched with an occasional moment of bravery. We had a blast hiking around and getting wet.

By the time we got back to San Juan it was time to eat. Luckily traffic was way better on a Sunday night so things worked out a lot better and we found prime parking spots in no time. We had a nice formal dinner as a group on our last night of vacation. We played a good game of guess the movie quote, and Matix had some good ones. That kids memory is remarkable. And he loves any chance to join in on our adult conversations. We spent the rest of the evening galavanting through the streets eating ice cream and dreading having to leave en la manana.

Matt and Devin used to work for Del Sol in the Virgin Islands. And visited this exact store several years ago.

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast of pancakes and croissants before saying our final goodbyes to Puerto Rico.

 What a wonderful trip we had!! 

I can't wait for our next adventure, and Matix is already asking to go back.

 For a cuter recap of our trip..visit Anne's blog here. 

Vieques, Puerto Rico

After a short time on mainland Puerto Rico it was time to board a ship and let the fun begin. We were greeted by Rene, our local escort. He carpooled us to our island beach house on the north side of the island. We loved our little home. It was right across the street from the beach and had a balcony that had the most unbelievable view. A lot of time was spent out on that balcony...doing a whole lot of nothing and a little bit of talking. By the time we got there it was pretty late, so we were off to bed not too long after our arrival... 9 people in a six person accommodation...yet somehow we all got a bed. Amazing. 

First thing on the agenda was to rent scooters. Within the first half hour we had a major crash but no major injury. Luckily. But with a group full of handy boys, all ended up being well. There's something about being on a scooter, in what seemed like a foreign country, that makes you feel free and unstoppable. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that we rolled 9 deep, but whatever. We had a blast on those things. Especially Matix. He had no fear and did not like "not winning" the race. Matt and Anne were nominated to be the fearless leaders. But Matix thought he deserved the title and wouldn't take no for an answer. Poor Devin. He heard the words "faster, faster" about a hundred too many times. 

We headed to Duffy's for breakfast and then we were off to some beaches for some fun in the sun. We all were really intrigued by the black sand beach (also known as the playa negra), so we were determined to get there. The journey was a struggle but it ended up being through a jungle, in which we found the biggest hermit crab I've ever seen...which was awesome. The beach itself was cool, but we were mostly entertained by the abundance of conch shells we found. Matix loved snorkeling (minus the snorkel), exploring, and sand castle building. Four year old little boy heaven. 

Our main reason for visiting Vieques was to see the Bioluminescent Bay, or "glowing water" as Matix calls it. If you don't know what it is...google it. 

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Freaking awesome. Right?

Obviously the pictures are a little bit photoshopped, but the water really does glow like whoa. We even went on a full moon night, which is not recommended. However, Matt, Anne, and Devin have all been before and didn't seem to think that the light of the moon made a difference. Plus we got a free tour instead of $35 each...so I think we scored. And we all got to swim in it, which is illegal. Bucket List: CHECK! Another thing on my bucket list (if I actually had a physical list) would have been skinny dipping. That may or may not have been completed that night as well. We were on a roll. 

This was the best glow picture we could get with our waterproof camera. Iagine that...times 5.

The next day we found a last minute scuba dive excursion. Good thing, since I got certified so I could scuba dive in PR. haha. We had the most amazing tropical smoothies and then took one last trip around the island on our scooters and saw this 400 year old tree called Le Ceiba before meeting up with our scuba ladies. We were all pretty sad about parting ways with those beloved scooters. Scooter Crew 12 what what. 5 of us went diving and the other half of the group went to a secret beach not too far, that coincidentally was called secret beach. They said they had the best time entertaining Matix on the most perfect beach. I am so happy that they were willing to watch that little one for me so I could scuba! What great friends I have. 

Before too long it was time to say goodbye to our beautiful island and set sail back to mainland Puerto Rico. It was hard to say goodbye to this beautiful place. The boat ride was a little bit somber. But that may have had something to do with how hungry and tired we were... :)

Adios Vieques.