Puerto Rico



En route to PR-toddies at the bar

As far as "vacations" go, this one went well.

Not everything went completely smooth, but it could have been, (and has been in the past), much worse. 

Let's see! Comparison countdown on this trip:

potty accidents:0

visits to the emergency room:0


Arrival!

full-blown temper tantrums in public:0

whining and complaining: too many incidents to count

But I can live with that.



Entertaining ourselves at dinner

Parque de las Palomas



This is a trip I was not looking forward to, because generally, Dyleva is so high maintenance, it is more exhausting than staying home.

However, this time, I must admit.  They were better behaved than their parents.  (Which only leaves us open to more adventurous endeavors in the future....)

I won't go into all the painful details of the unnecessary, inconsistent, tiresome, travel process, but believe me when I say it was a lot to ask of a 6 and a 4 year old.  (It was a lot to ask of an adult.) 



Entrance to the dungeon

I have always said, if our life is a yacht, I am the engineer, and Jeff is the Cruise Director.  He planned the entire trip.

It was divided into 3 parts. 

Part 1: Old San Juan
Culture, history, and exploration



Dyslexic graffiti artist

Part 2: Beach
Swimming and sun in a surfing town.

Part 3: Rainforest
El Yunque and all its marvels.

Dylan's Love Airplane

My poor kids. 

Every year, I make them make their own "homemade valentines."  This year is the first year they haven't embraced it. 


Eva considered it a chore, and just wanted to hurry through them. 

Dylan, had the opposite problem.  He would spend an hour on one.  At one point, he had glued three pieces of paper together and started throwing it around the room. 

I looked at him, and said, "Dylan, you are supposed to be working on your valentines for your friends." 

Completely innocent, he said, "I am Mommy.  This one is for Lola, it is a love airplane." 

Strong ninos

We have been wanting to go to Strong Museum.  We love going, and try to go a couple times a year. 

But it has been challenging to catch my kids between illness.

Today was the day!

We slowed it down this time, and instead of Dyleva running around like crazy for 5 hours, we made sure they found something and interacted. 

This week was a pirate theme...Perfect!  Here are some action shots of the day.

Before we left, I made Eva do her homework.  She recently got cast in a school play.  She has been practicing her singing part non-stop.  So we made her so it on stage.

What a great way to spend the day. 

My Little Picassos

So I asked Dyleva, "What do you want to do today?"

I gave them a laundry list of possibilities...inside and out. 

They both said they wanted to paint pottery and go eat yogurt. 

Done.

It wasn't as busy as I had expected.  We looked at every posible piece.  Dylan wanted each one he looked at. 

Colors.  Eva had a teddy bear, so she chose pink, Brown, and light blue.  Eva took her time.  She meticulously painted every crack and crevice three times. 

Colors.  Who knows. Dylan had chosen a large mug.  He had orange sparkle, blue sparkle, coral, and like four other colors.  Dylan, was done in five minutes.  Apparently, not everyone is at Picasso level painting. 

We had fun.  The woman there was fantastic at engaging Dyleva. 

Bamboozled

Sometimes Eva can be difficult.


No, no.  It's true.

So apparently, during her library time, she remembered a book that was read to her during Kindergarten.  You know, a year ago.

She then asked library teacher #1 to find the book.

Had no idea.

So Eva went back to her classroom teacher and presented the problema.  Her teacher had her write down the title and she found it online.  The next day they would ask the library teacher #2.  

Librarian #2 was Little help.

Well, needless to say, Eva was distressed at the end of the day that no one was able to meet her needs.  

So this weekend we went to the public library, with the Little slip of paper where she wrote down the title, and WE FOUND THE BOOK! 

Snow..Finally!

We love the snow!  And have been missing it!  After dinner, we went right for the heavy wet snow that fell.

We put Dyleva in the sleds and whipped them around the yard! 

There was also some snow angels that appeared in our yard....

The next day Dyleva came home and we created the most pathetic looking snowment ever.  Check them out!

Playing Hookey

In anxious anticipation for a snow day that never arrived, the only one that got called off work was Jeff!

*$%#%@#&!!!!

Anyway, Aunt Jill saved the day...well, kind of...for Dylan at least.  She showed up mid-morning and yanked him out of school to take him sledding with Lola.

The situation did not sit well with Dylan.  "Tia Jill, does Mommy know I'm not in school?  Mommy says I can't miss learning." 

And as they left Tim Horton's for breakfast.  "Are these healthy doughnuts?  Mommy says doughnuts aren't good for your body."

But he eventually relaxed and his Daddy showed up.  The little stinkers had a great time playing hookey from school, and made their own snow day.

The whole experience however did not sit well with Eva......