Two Tickets to Paradise

"I've got two tickets to paradise,
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight..."

That's exactly what we did.  It was Fall Break for Caleb, so we decided that we needed a break too.  While the kids were enjoying themselves with the grandparents, we headed down to Secrets Cap Cana in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for a yoga teaching vacation.

What followed was one perfectly relaxing week full of one perfect day after another.  Sure, it rained every now and then and there was some seaweed along the shoreline, but we were at a top-of-the-line resort...at the beach...with gourmet meals breakfast, lunch and dinner (and second breakfast and poolside afternoon snack...)...with each other...and WITHOUT the kids.  As all parents can attest, we love our children, but they are hard work.  And there's something to be said for spending some time away from them every now and then.  So we took full advantage of our week away (and prayed that our kids would not make the grandparents demand that we come back early).
A typical day looked something like this:
* Breakfast (where we ate too much)

* Work out
* Yoga on the beach (my purpose for being there was to teach yoga classes once a day at 10:00)

Not a bad yoga studio.

* Second breakfast/Elevensies/Early Lunch (where we once again ate too much)
* Nap by the pool/Pool volleyball/Snorkeling/Nap on the beach/Kayaking/Pray that a waiter walks by giving out ice cream

Just look at this paradise we were staying at!

* Afternoon snack

* More of the same...

* Dinner at a fancy restaurant (at which time we were pretty well stuffed from all the food from earlier in the day, but the food was so delectable that you could hardly stop yourself from eating it!)

* Walk around to see what was going on around the resort (which included salsa dancing one night, to my great pleasure...well, there was salsa music by the pool, and Tony was kind enough to indulge me in some salsa dancing!)

 A few days we also took excursions off of the resort property.  One day we went on a zip line tour, at the height of which we could see all over the island.  That same day we also went to the Blue Hole, a mineral water spring partially hidden by overhanging rocks.  It was amazing jumping into the refreshingly cool blue water below!  

 We also some monkeys and really large iguanas.

 A few days later we went on the Reef Explorer excursion, which is basically a few hours on a floating dock/aquarium about a quarter of a mile from shore.  After kayaking around the area, we decided to try out the snorkeling to see if we could see more underwater.  So we donned our masks, snorkels, and flippers and hopped into the ocean water that is blocked off with some sort of netting (to keep certain creatures in and others out).  As soon as we got started, I heard Tony pop his head out of the water and say (his exact words), "That's a shark!  What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks are we doing?!"  Don't worry - it was "just" a nurse shark.  And there were a few sting rays there too.  By my logic, they surely wouldn't purposefully enclose us with any dangerous creature - that would certainly result in bad reviews on Trip Advisor, right?  So we continued on.  In any event, we survived our encounter with the sharks and sting rays.  The most amazing part of the snorkeling was swimming outside of the enclosure where the reef is and seeing all the brightly colored fish.  This excursion also included a massage on the dock, which seemed a little out of place to me, but it was actually quite nice seeing the water below and hearing the sounds of the ocean.

 This was the most wonderful beach trip, but, alas, it could not last forever.  While I normally am ready to come home after a week-long trip, as we drove away from the resort in the airport shuttle, I did feel a little broken-hearted at leaving such a beautiful place and such kind people.  But it wasn't long before I remembered the purpose of this vacation: to leave us restored, relaxed, and ready to return to the daily grind.  It certainly accomplished its purpose and then some, and it was time for us to come home to our babies to continue on in our work of raising up our three precious children.
Other than lots of trips to McDonald's, we don't really know what the kids and the grandparents did while we were away, and no one is talking...As they say, "What happens at Grandma's, stays at Grandma's."  They were happy to see us when we returned, and the feeling was mutual.
After a week back at home, we've more or less returned to business as usual, but I'm already trying to figure out a way to get back - though after using up all our capital with the grandparents, perhaps it will have to be Five Tickets to Paradise next time...

Boys

Wren and I are outnumbered.  3 to 2 (or 4 to 2 if you count our cat Checker).  Boys to girls, that is.  That simply means that there are at least a few things that a lady must accustom herself to when living in a household the majority of which is male.  There are the usual suspects:  loud belching, roughhousing, and toilet seats not being put down.  Then there's bringing live animals into the house.  Of course, Checker has brought his fair share of birds, mice, lizards, and rabbits into the garage, but this was never really an issue with Caleb.  Apparently Judson will not follow in the footsteps of his older brother but rather will choose to follow after our pet cat instead.
Tonight Judson had stepped onto the front porch for less than a minute and was shortly thereafter ushered back in for bath time.  I continued to finish cleaning up the kitchen, while Tony and the boys went upstairs to start the bath routine.  Then I heard Tony say, "Judson, why are you carrying around a dead frog?!" (And, if they were listening, they would have heard me say, "Ewwww!")  Then I heard Tony say, "Wait...It's alive!"  (And I have no doubt that they heard my shrieks from downstairs.)  Judson had apparently had no problem scooping up the little guy in the brief thirty seconds that he was on the front porch.  Thankfully, Tony had no problem capturing him and returning him to his home - outside.
Here was Judson as he was jumping up and down shouting, "I caught a frog!  I caught a frog!"

And here's our little captive being returned to his home:

Aside from wild animals being brought into the house, we, being the girls of the house, also have to contend with practical jokes.  Well our recent example is either a practical joke or some weird torture treatment.  Last week when I went to wake Wren up, she told me, very matter-of-factly, that she didn't want her alarm to go off.  OK...what alarm?  We never even set an alarm for her.  Caleb, however, had another idea.  I guess since he had to wake up to an alarm now, she should have to as well.  So he set her alarm for her...for 2:00 a.m.  I have no idea how long the alarm went off for before it just turned off completely, but I'm guessing it's a fairly significant amount of time.  I also don't know how many nights of this she endured.  Maybe she told us after the first night, but I also know that she has said several mornings since (after I made sure the alarm, should it be turned on again, was set for a time when we all would be awake), "I not hear my alarm last night!" (with great joy).  She's also remarked several times since at bedtime, "I not want my alarm on."  Poor girl.

I guess this just goes with the territory of having brothers.  

We may have many years of frogs in the house and practical joking, but by golly, they will at least learn to put the toilet seat down!
Speaking of Caleb and setting his alarm for school, I guess the saying that it takes 30 days to make a new habit is true.  He's been waking up to his alarm and getting ready for school for over a month now, but getting him to school was a different story.  I was worried that we were setting a very bad habit (him crying as we drug him into the school each morning), but, by some miracle, one day last week, out of the blue, he said he wanted to ride the school bus to school.  And you know the real shocker?  He actually went to the school bus stop and just walked onto the school bus with no fanfare whatsoever!  Then he repeated that for the rest of the week!  Hallelujah!  Now let's just hope that Fall Break in a few weeks won't completely set us back...