Sun and heat and No Kids. :)

We made it to the Dominican Republic!!!  First off... some pictures of the scenery, because it was beautiful everywhere you looked.  They raked the beaches each morning.  The sand was like powdered sugar.  So soft and clean. We saw workers one morning during our run, and they were picking up the seaweed that had washed up from the night... seriously?  Really pristine grounds to say the least.

The scenery was so pretty, there were several wedding parties going on while we were there.  Kind of cool to see the brides in their dresses walking around.

The water was aqua blue and didn't have that slimy fill on the bottom, or rocks (like you get in west coast beaches and water).  You could see to your feet and it was pure sand as far out as we could reach.  I have to say, quite Perfect Beaches!!

 This was my favorite spot.  Under the shade and feeling the warmth.  Are you jealous yet?? You should be. Taylor hates facebook, because he thinks people just boast about all the great things in their life.  I save that for the Blog. :)  The resort was all inclusive, which means I had a few too many pina coladas and daiquiris, and a lot too much of the all you can eat food! It was a great week. :)

This was a cool shot our friend took of the Pirate ship.  Apparently it was just a boose cruise, but it looked really cool passing by each day!

 The resort grounds were pretty amazing too.  Cobblestone pathways and palm trees and coconut trees.  They were stocked with exotic animals like flamingos, peacocks, ducks, etc.  Kind of fun.  It was a bit annoying to hear the peacocks all through the night, but we'll look over that minor point during my moments of gloating!

 
And of course.... the best part was the people that we got to see.  It was our friends the Franks's 20th wedding anniversary, so Jenn did all the planning for the trip.  That's my kind of trip, because I am a horrible planner (and anyone who knows Jenn, knows she is a great planner!)  It was fun to see them and also made me a little home sick.  That keeps happening when I see my friends!!!

L2R: Craig and Katie Pritchard (Tara Broberg behing - not standing by her man Mark in the yellow shirt over to the right),  Me and Taylor, Robb and Jenn Franks, Mark, Kathryn and Chris Morrill

Here are some pictures of our excursions.  The first day we just hung out on the beach... which was fun since we had been traveling for half the day.  And the next day was our first excursion which was snorkeling.  I don't have many pictures of this yet.  I'm hoping to bum some off of the others. 

 We had to take a 2 minute ride to the catamaran in a little life boat.  Hence the sweet life jackets.  Taylor thinks we look like we are on a river trip! :)

 Me and Katie above... soaking up the rays.  Me and Taylor below (right after we did the reenactment of the Titanic on the bow of the ship).  Sad you are missed it, I'm sure!

 

Day 3... Blue hole

 

We took an excursion to the BLUE HOLE which was a cool natural water pool.. On the trail to the hole we saw a few interesting creatures... a parrot, an iguana, an eerie spider and some sleeping plants.  Seriously, the plants were cool.  Check out this video of them.  They "Fall asleep" when you touch the leaves.

 

 And some photos of the other cool things on the hike to the hole.  Feeding the iguanas below.

A parrot eating nuts.

 This spider was kind of gross, but really cool too... can you see it there?  Right in the middle of the shot.

 Me and Jenn in my shirt to "not look pregnant."  Yeah, that didn't fool anyone.  The guy booking the excursion said I couldn't be pregnant, but once we got there no one cared.  Good thing, because this belly is not being hidden by anything! #gettinghugealready

 A few of us on the hike down to the hole... us, Franks and Pritchards...  Such fun and funny people.  I love them all!  The whole lot of us swimming below. The water was pretty amazing!

 Jennifer trying to photo bomb our picture. :)

 Katie trying to photo bomb our picture.. not so discreetly

And finally, our picture.. ahh  so cute!

Of course, where there is a ledge, Taylor must jump off... here is a video of his flipping.

Day 4 we went surfing... just me and Taylor while the others went to play with the monkeys and do the zip line.  I wasn't allowed to do the zip line, so I opted to go hang on the beach while Taylor showed off his mad surfing skills.

Love my man!

 He got up the first time and did a really good job.  The waves weren't huge, but just perfect to have fun surfing.  It was another great day.  A little overcast so I didn't roast on the beach and I got to start on my book I brought for the trip!

 

a video of him in action

 Ahh... the time is going too fast.  Just one 1/2 more days to play.

 Hanging out in the lobby... with some drinks of course!  Jenn, Katie and Me above, Kathryn and Tara below.  Don't we all look refreshed and happy!!

 Each night we were able to all eat together and it was just a great way to end each day.. We'd just hang out talking until we had eaten all we wanted.  A couple nights we played some games and a couple nights we watch the exciting resort entertainment.  Not quite as good as Vegas, but probably as good as Bar 10 entertainment. :)

 This shot cracks me up... you have to look close, but the signs on the public portion of the beach huts say "target" "jc penny" "walmart" etc.  They were just local trinket shops, but I love that they can get away with using popular American Chain names here in the DR.  pretty funny.

 The last 2 days we just relaxed at the pools and on the beach.  I got fried, but at least it was on the last day. :) Sad to say goodbye to the week... really sad to say goodbye to my friends again... but really excited to get back to the boys.  We kept saying all week, "wouldn't the boys think this was cool."  Funny how you want to get away from them, but then just think about them the whole time.  Now, what, another 5 years until our next get away?  Who is planning that one for me???!!