Going back home...

Today we woke up at 10:30am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like a dream come true!!! The girls were running around before that, but they actually let us sleep a little bit longer (how sweet)...

We packed, cleaned a bit, ate lunch and headed back home... We stopped by Santiago (the second capital of the country) and pay a visit to one of my aunts... The trip was long, mostly because it started rainning, and we got into our city by 7:00pm.

We called the vet, and he was waiting for us to pick up Sassy. He told me that she was an awesome guest, and that she played very nicely with small dogs and even with 2 cats. We talked about a lot of things, and he warned me that I needed to get ready for her period, because it was just around the corner.

It was nice to come back home, and even though we had forgotten about the mess we left behind, we loved being back home.

The day we didnt plan...

Today we were suppose to go back home... However, we decided to stay one more day as somebody mention about a very nice water park that was VERY inexpensive ($10 bucks for the adults, and all the 3 girls were free as we could still pass Gaby for a 4 years old girl). Kimberly and Cristian were going with us (kids from 5 to 12 were 6 bucks, and they both fit that age..).

We packed the car and off we went! Suddenly hubby noticed that the car wouldnt move correctly after 40 km/hour, and was acting funny... It was already 11am, and we decided to look for a mechanic... Just in case.

FOUR HOURS later, we were still in the mechanic and the car was ready. It was the hottest day from the whole week, and you guys dont want to imagine what it is to deal with 5 kids in a mechanic. Dont even want to look back and remember.

After the mechanic, we decided to go to the local beach that we went on Monday, and I even left the camera in the car so I didnt had to worry about it, and freely be able to get in the water. We ate a bit when we got home, and then hubby and I took a nap while the girls were playing with some of the toys we took for them (mostly Little People). Here is a photo of my now brown little girls:

Then, the girls stayed for a bit with my friend while hubby, me and the two big kids went to the cyber cafe to get online.... I had a few things to take care of, and even though hubby wanted to stay until Saturday so we could go to the park tomorrow, the amount of work that I realized I have became scary (LOL), so we decided it was better to leave tomorrow.

At Cabarete....

Caraberete is another town that belongs to Puerto Plata... The beach from Cabarete is known as one of the best surfing beaches from the American Continent, and has been the spot for Kitesurfing competitions with competitors from all over the world.

Two of hubby's coworkers were staying at a villa in the Bali Hai (they are twin sisters... and both work at the school) and we stopped by to spend some time with them.... My friend was waiting from some family that were coming to stay in with her for the rest of the week, so we took her kids with us again... They both behave very good with us, especially since hubby is Kimberly's teacher, and he was kidding all the time about lowering 5 points from her grade... LOL

The place was beautiful and the girls got to get into a pool (finally)... There are not many photos, cause I was inside of the water for a change, but here are some....








Gaby loved finding purple and pink flowers...

My friend meet us there after her family arrived, and then we all went to have a pizza by the beach.... Sadly, it started to rain, so we had to leave, but it was an awesome time... Hubby and I cant wait to come back again so we can get into the beach from Cabarete.

At Sosua...

Gaby got punished (I will talk about it in a future post), and we took away the trip to have an encounter with dolphins that was scheduled for today, so we needed to find something else to do… My friend still needed to run some errands, so hubby and I took 5 kids with us to a close by town called Sosua.

We had an early lunch, and then left. We spot a very nice place on the beach surrounded by high cliff walls.... We were in the beach area of one resort, and we were mostly the only that were not staying in the resort.... This is one side of the beach:

And this is the other side:

As you can tell it was a very small area, and hubby thought it was the best beach he has been so far in this country. The waves were a bit dangerous for young kids, but the beach was sooo clean, and the sand was also sooo clean and soft, that all you want to do is to lay down in there forever... Here is Mia enjoying the sand:

Gaby loved to watch the waves:

Here I am with Mimi, Kim and Cristian in the water:

All the girls playing in the sand:

Mimi being cute for the camera:

Gaby bringing water to build the sand castles:

More sand play:


Hubby getting ready to be burried in the sand:

Mimi and hubby burried in the sand:


More sand and water so he couldnt get up:

The sitter from the resort that was right there, was around with 2 little girls she was taking care of... The lady asked Gaby to join them:

They are suppose to be mermaids:

After a very fun day, we headed back to the villa. We had dinner, get the girls ready for bed, and then drop them off at my friend's villa because hubby and I were getting a night out!! Our second of the year (and also second in the last 5.5 years).

We have been in this country for so many years already, and hubby havent been to a movie theater since we got here... When we were living in New Jersey, we used to go to the movies SEVERAL times a week!! Sometimes we will go everyday!!

The movie theater was in the mall from Sunday, and it had three movies... Im very much into girly movies, but there werent many options, so we decided to watch "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" (by we decided I mean hubby pushed and I agreed.. LOL)... At home Im the one that normally gets to choose what we watch, so it was his turn...

It was fun as we were the ONLY ones watching that movie, as all the other people decided for a local movie that were playing. After we got out from there, the mall was mostly closed, and we decided to head out to the Casino. We spent less than an hour in the Casino, and we had two incidents!! Just when we were out of the money that we bring in, hubby made $30 dollars... It was suppose to be 30 coins of one dollar, but the machine didnt throw the coins... So, we had to call the people from there, and 15 minutes later, and 4 guys later, we got our $30 bucks... Hubby and I decided to go and cash the 30 coins, when we realized he left the cell phone somewhere... We called security and they started rolling back the camera from the machine we used, when I realized it was in a black spot of the machine, and it was impossible to see it, cause the cell is black...

So, we left $10 bucks richier (as we put $20 bucks to get in), and decided to stop by another Casino at spend those $10 bucks... We got out from there with $10 extra more, and then we left... It may seem like little money, but we cant afford to put money into gambling and we just did it for fun... At least, we left with the same $20 bucks we put in PLUS $20 bucks more!!!

When we got to the villas the girls were asleep, and we transfer them one by one to their bed in our villa... It was a great day and an awesome night!!!

At Playa Costambar

As today is a working day for tons of places, my friend had a few stuff to do, as she is trying to rent long term one of the villas… We took the time to go around the town and get to know it a bit.. We also needed to pay rent today, so we had to stop by the bank to make the transfer because that is not something that I dont like to do in a cyber cafe… We also went to 2 stores, and got a few things that we needed.

Then, we came back to the villa to have lunch, and then we left to the local beach that is 5 minutes away… Her kids went with us, and it was an awesome time… The beach wasnt as clean, and there were little rocks and shells all over the sand, but the kids loved it... Especially Gaby since she now started a shell collection.

We were laughing so hard at Mimi, cause there was this kid (looked German, but we are not sure) that came to her and wanted to take her sand toys away… She fought for her toys, and didn’t let him. She started saying very firmly: “No, Kid, No!” and then “Kid, go away”. Mia and Mimi would have come to me or hubby to tell them what was going on, but not Mimi.. She defended herself!!! And the kid was older than her…

Here is hubby and the girls in the car while I was in the bank:

Here is Kimberly, Mia and Cristian:

Mimi drinking soda:

Gaby and Cristian with a castle they made:

Gaby and Mia in the sand:

Hubby and Mia in the water:

The girls:

Mimi running around:

Hubby and the girls getting out of the water:

Gaby wrote her name on the sand:

Mimi playing with the shells that hubby and Gaby got from the water:

Mimi running... I LOVE how she moves her arms when she runs:

Time to get dry:

After we got dressed, and the beach was mostly empty, we started playing volley.. The girls were running around us, and the two older kids, hubby and me had a blast playing… It was around 7:30pm when we decided to head back to the villa. We had dinner, and then we went for an hour to a cyber café… My friend’s daughter was checking her email, I was doing the same, and hubby and my friend’s son were getting online with the kid’s PSP. Mia and Gaby felt asleep while we were there, and then we headed back to the villa…

Hubby and I stayed up until very late just talking.. It was fun!

At Playa Dorada

Playa Dorada was the first big tourist area of the country. Before Bavaro and Punta Cana ever dreamed to exist, all of my family vacations when I was a child were in Playa Dorada. It is a big area full of resorts, a casino, a disco, and a mall full of stores and restaurants.

The kids played a bit on the kids area, and us -the adults- had something to drink in a very popular restaurant of the area (mostly because I needed Wi-Fi to check my email)…. Then, we left to the beach.. We got back to the villages at night and had a yummy homemade dinner.

Here is Mimi at the Mall:

Here is Mia having fun at the playground:


And now Mimi:


Here is hubby and the girls at the beach:


Here is me with my friend Princesa (the owner of the villas) and the girls in the beach:


Here is Gaby freezing herself:


Back at the Villa here is Mia right outside of our Villa:


Here are Mia and Mimi while I was trying to take a photo of the sign of the villas... They look like clowns (they kind are, though)